Federal authorities are warning of an increase in threats to law enforcement after the F.B.I. search from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified the threats, which “occur primarily online and across multiple platforms, including social networking sites, web forums, video sharing platforms and image boards “, in the days following the FBI. authorized the seizure of 11 sets of classified documents from the former president’s home, including four sets that were classified as “top secret,” according to the unsealed search warrant.
“The FBI and DHS would like to ensure that law enforcement, courts, and government personnel are aware of the range of criminal and violent threats and incidents,” the memo said.
The internal intelligence memo was shared with state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement officials across the country Friday night.
According to the bulletin, “The FBI and DHS have observed an increase in violent threats posted on social media against federal officials and facilities, including a threat to place a so-called dirty bomb outside the headquarters of the “FBI and issuing blanket calls for ‘war’ and ‘armed rebellion'”.
This includes threats that are “specific to identify proposed targets, tactics, or weaponry,” the bulletin notes.
“Since August 8, 2022, the FBI and DHS have identified multiple articulate threats and are calling for the targeted killing of judicial, law enforcement and government officials associated with the Palm Beach search, including the federal judge who approved the ‘Palm Beach search warrant’. the newsletter continued. “The FBI and DHS have also observed personally identifiable information of potential targets of violence, such as home addresses and identification of family members, disseminated online as additional targets.”
The assessment noted that three days after the search, “Ricky Shiffer, Jr., wearing a technical vest and armed with an AR-style rifle and a nail gun, attempted to force his way into the office of the FBI field in Cincinnati,” and described the standoff. with the FBI and law enforcement officers ultimately leading to Shiffer’s death.
Hours before Shiffer’s showdown, he had seemed to post on former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social social media platform that he wanted to kill federal agents.
The post, which has since been removed by the site’s moderators, appeared shortly after the FBI searched the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence last Monday.
“When they come for you, kill them,” the suspect wrote. “Be an American, not a cow.”
The posts represent just some of the violent extremist content flooding far-right message boards and social media platforms in the wake of the FBI search of the Mar-a-Lago resort. Phrases like “civil war” and “lock and load” trended on Telegram channels, Gab, Reddit and TheDonald, a forum popular with Trump supporters.
“As a result of recent activity, we assess that potential targets of DVE violence moving forward could include law enforcement, judicial officials, individuals involved in conspiracy theories, and perceived ideological opponents who challenge their views of the world,” the joint newsletter continues.
It warns that the events could “further escalate the threat environment,” including “possible future legal or law enforcement actions against individuals associated with the Palm Beach search, statements by public officials inciting the violence, high-profile DVE attacks that inspire copycats, or the emergence of additional conspiracy theories.”
The bulletin also states that the threats seen so far from the research point to the possibility that violent domestic extremists could see the 2022 mid-term elections in November as “an additional flashpoint around which to escalate threats against perceived ideological opponents, including federal law enforcement personnel.”
ABC News was the first to report in the intelligence bulletin. DHS declined to comment.
In a statement, an FBI spokesman said the agency is “always concerned about violence and threats of violence against law enforcement, including the men and women of the FBI.”
“We work closely with our law enforcement partners to assess and respond to these reprehensible and dangerous threats,” the statement continued. “As always, we would like to remind the public that if they observe anything suspicious, report it to law enforcement immediately.”
Jeff Pegues and Jake Rosen contributed to this report.
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Nicole Sganga
