This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Department of Homeland Security has, stunningly, issued a warning about possible attacks on churches heading into the 2024 election.
It has issued a new bulletin claiming that the U.S. now is in a "heightened threat environment."
"Lone offenders and small groups motivated by a range of ideological beliefs and personal grievances continue to pose a persistent and lethal threat to the Homeland. Both domestic violent extremists (DVEs) and those associated with foreign terrorist organizations continue to attempt to motivate supporters to conduct attacks in the Homeland, including through violent extremist messaging and online calls for violence," it warns.
"In the coming months, factors that could mobilize individuals to commit violence include their perceptions of the 2024 general election cycle and legislative or judicial decisions pertaining to sociopolitical issues. Likely targets of potential violence include U.S. critical infrastructure, faith-based institutions, individuals or events associated with the LGBTQIA+ community, schools, racial and ethnic minorities, and government facilities and personnel, including law enforcement."
The warning, oddly, came just days after reports revealed that the Joe Biden administration, through the DHS, was "doling out taxpayer money through an anti-terrorism grant initiative to a university program that has explicitly lumped the Republican Party, as well as Christian and conservative groups, into the same category as Nazis."
Media Research Center founder Brent Bozell released the findings. He explained MRC obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing a DHS program meant to fight terrorism was paying a group whose work has explicitly targeted the American political right.
The report said DHS's Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program provides funds to various public, private, and non-profit institutions — such as universities and county governments — "to establish or enhance capabilities to prevent targeted violence and terrorism." Grant applicants must be based in the U.S. and implement a U.S.-based program.
Among the grants awarded to the University of Dayton for its PREVENTS-OH program. That included charges, in its grant application, that lumped the "Republican Party, the Heritage Foundation, the American Conservative Union, Fox News, Breitbart News, the National Rifle Association, PragerUniversity, Tea Party Patriots, the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, the pro-police Blue Lives Matter movement, and the Christian Broadcasting Network" with hate groups like various neo-Nazi paramilitary groups and publications.
It is Just the News that explained the new warning from the DHS cited a list of violence acts in recent weeks.
"The agency said the start of the presidential election campaign season and expected controversial decisions by the courts and Congress and state legislatures could further activate people and groups seeking to commit violence," the report said.
It cited a recent plot to attack electrical substations in Maryland, anarchists' move to destroy work on an under-construction police training center near Atlanta, and more.
The government warning continued, "In May 2023, a now-deceased individual killed eight and injured seven others at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas. Law enforcement continues to investigate the motive behind the attack, but initial reporting suggests the attacker fixated on mass shootings and held views consistent with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist (RMVE) and involuntary celibate violent extremist ideologies."
There also was the March shooting at a Christian school in Nashville, an attempt to burn down an Ohio church and a suspect from Maine who was accused of attacking New York police officers.
