WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials have directed the FBI to “compile a list of groups or organizations engaged in activities that may constitute domestic terrorism” by early next year and to create a “cash reward system” that would encourage people to report fellow Americans, according to a memo reviewed by The Times.
The Dec. 4 memo instructs law enforcement to identify “domestic terrorists” who use violence or the threat of violence to advance political and social agendas, including “commitment to radical gender ideology, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity.”
While the memo does not directly mention protests against President Trump's crackdown on immigration, it says problematic “political and social agendas” could include “opposition to law and immigration control, extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders.”
The memo, sent by Atty Gen. Pam Bondi to federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials, follows a presidential memorandum signed by Trump immediately after the killing of Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative figure that has civil rights groups mulling potential attacks on political activists, donors and nonprofits opposed to the president.
The memo also outlines the reasons for domestic terrorist activity, including “hostility toward traditional views of family, religion and morality.”
“Federal law enforcement will prioritize this threat. Federal agents will act if federal criminality is detected,” the memo states.
Some national security experts said the memo represented a dramatic operational shift, directing federal prosecutors and agents to approach domestic terrorism in an “ideologically one-sided way.” At worst, critics say, the memorandum provides legal justification for criminalizing free speech.
“I think it has a chilling effect because it certainly steers enforcement toward certain viewpoints,” Mary McCord, a former acting assistant attorney general for national security, said in an interview.
The memo, for example, focuses on anti-fascist extremism but overlooks other trends that have been identified in recent years as growing domestic threats. such as violent white supremacy. Since Trump returned to power, the FBI has reduced its office dedicated to combating domestic extremism and pulled resources away from investigations into white supremacists and right-wing anti-government groups.
The memo's push to gather intelligence on antifa through internal lists and public lines of communication also raised questions about the scope of the investigative mission and how wide a net investigators could cast.
“Whether you're going to a protest, whether you're considering a piece of legislation, whether you're considering a particular business activity, ambiguity will affect your risk profile,” Thomas Brzozowski, a former domestic terrorism adviser at the Justice Department, said in an interview.
“People will be afraid of the unknown,” he added.
Protesters wearing 1980s-style aerobic suits work out during a demonstration called “Sweatin' Out the Fascists” on Sunday in Portland, Oregon.
(Natalie Behring/Getty Images)
Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have expressed alarm about the new policy, which could be used by the Justice Department to target civil society groups as well as democratic individuals and organizations through burdensome investigations.
But the White House says Democratic appointees under the Biden administration have similarly targeted conservative extremists.
Members of Trump's team embraced political retaliation as policy. Ed Martin, the president's pardon lawyer, has been a vocal advocate for Justice Department investigations that would burden those Trump views as his enemies, as well as leniency for his friends and allies.
“Maga has not been left behind,” Martin wrote on social media in May.
The memo instructs law enforcement agencies to “vigorously” investigate individuals involved in so-called potential domestic terrorism activities, including law enforcement “doxing.” Authorities are also tasked with “mapping the entire network of perpetrators” potentially linked to the crime.
Domestic terrorism is not an official definition in US law. But the directive cites more than two dozen existing laws that could support charges against domestic extremists and their supporters, such as conspiracy to injure an officer, seditious conspiracy and mail and wire fraud.
Only in a footnote to the memorandum does the Justice Department acknowledge that the U.S. government may not “investigate, collect, or maintain information about U.S. persons solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the First Amendment.”
“No investigation may be brought solely on the basis of activities protected by the First Amendment or the lawful exercise of rights guaranteed by the Constitution or laws of the United States,” the footnote states.
Some tension may arise when citizens report what they believe is a domestic terrorism suspect to the FBI.
The memo calls for an online FBI hotline to allow “witnesses and citizen journalists” to report videos, recordings and photographs of what they believe to be domestic violence suspects, and to establish a “cash reward system” for information leading to an arrest.
“People will report because they want to get paid,” Brzozowski said. He added that some of the information may not be accurate and is likely related to other Americans exercising their constitutional rights.
State and local law enforcement agencies that comply with the Department of Justice directive will have priority in receiving federal grant funding.
A man dressed as a bee participates in the Kingless Day of Peaceful Action in downtown Los Angeles on October 18.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
One of the directives in the memo would require the FBI to disseminate “an intelligence bulletin on Antifa and anarchist violent extremist groups associated with Antifa” early next year.
“The bulletin must describe appropriate organizational structures, funding sources, and tactics so that law enforcement partners can effectively investigate and policymakers can effectively understand the nature and severity of the threat posed by these extremist groups,” the memo states.
The mission will span multiple agencies, with the FBI working alongside joint counterterrorism task forces across the country, as well as the Counterterrorism Division and the National Threat Operations Center, among others, to provide updated information to DOJ leadership every 30 days.
