Washington — A joint intelligence bulletin issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI warned of the possibility that domestic violent extremists “with election-related grievances” could target political candidates and elected officials in the coming weeks.
The bulletin, obtained by CBS News, is dated October 3 and states that domestic extremists “pose a threat of violence against a range of targets directly and indirectly associated with the election, at least until the presidential inauguration” on January 20. 2025.
Election workers, judicial personnel involved in election-related legal cases, members of the media, political party representatives, and suspected political opponents are also potential targets. Publicly accessible locations, including polling places and campaign events, also make for “attractive targets,” the bulletin said, emphasizing the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
It also refers to the second assassination attempt against the Republican presidential candidate at his private golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, claiming that “threat actors may seek to target individuals in their private residences or other non-public locations” .
Domestic extremists “may seek to use a range of violent or disruptive tactics against these targets, including, but not limited to, physical attacks, threats of violence, crushing and doxing, sending post or delivery of suspicious items, arson and other means of destruction of property. ” according to the bulletin.
There have already been a number of election-related threats during the 2024 campaign, including letters containing white powder sent to election officials, fake bomb threats against state Capitol buildings, and calls “swatters,” in which a caller makes a false crime report in an attempt to lure law enforcement to people’s homes.
“In many of these incidents, the perpetrators and their motivations are still under investigation, but their actions are likely aimed at sowing fear and disrupting election operations,” the bulletin said.
The bulletin also notes that there has been an increase in threats against election workers in recent months, which tends to “correlate with jurisdictions where results are contested via recounts, audits or election disputes public”.
A senior DHS official told CBS News on Wednesday that there was concern that election workers could be targeted on Election Day “in an attempt to derail the process that these workers helped oversee.”
Domestic extremists are not the only threat to the democratic process. Federal law enforcement officials have long warned of foreign interference in elections from Russia, China and Iran.
Nation states have become “increasingly sophisticated” and more effective in using new technologies such as artificial intelligence to “expand the scope and scale of these efforts,” the DHS official said.
Matthew Olsen, who heads the Justice Department’s National Security Division, recently said According to CBS News, Russia, Iran and China are “looking for ways to change the outcome of our elections or find issues that divide us in ways that support their national interests over ours.”
