On July 11th, the FBI posted a tweet asking people to report signs of “mobilization to violence” and to help prevent “homegrown violent extremism”. The included a link to a document created in 2019 that lists a lot of common-sense ways of telling if someone is potentially going off the deep end.
The document focuses on homegrown Muslim violent extremists and specifically mentions ISIS and al-Qa‘ida (OK, so maybe it needs updating).
I think we can all agree that if someone could prevent another 9/11 that would be a good thing. If you saw a Muslim-looking person taking flying lessons, but not landing lessons, I’m pretty sure you’d have no problem at all calling the FBI to report what you’d seen.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “but the 9/11 terrorists weren’t ‘homegrown’”. I agree.
So, let’s talk about San Bernardino in 2015. Syed Rizwan Farook, a U.S. citizen born in Chicago, and his Pakistani wife attacked the Inland Regional Center. They killed 14 people and injured 22 others. They were Muslim extremists and, in the case of Farook, his extremism was homegrown.
So, if you could go back in time, point authorities in Farook’s direction, and prevent the attack, would you do so? Would you report the suspicious behavior of an American citizen? Of course you would.
OK. So now we’ve nailed down that everyone would report suspicious activities by Muslims. Let’s continue.
Consider Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two students at Columbine, CO who killed 11 students, one teacher and wounded 24 others. They had been planning the attack for at least a year. In that time, someone must have seen them do something that seemed suspicious. But no one said anything.
If you have a kid in school, do you encourage them to “see something, say something”? Of course you do.
If you could prevent another Las Vegas, or Sandy Hook or First Baptist Church (Sutherland Springs, TX) by reporting someone’s suspicious behavior, I’m nearly certain you’d do it.
OK. That covers “mobilization to violence”. I think we’re all on the same page here. If you have to report on your neighbor to save innocent lives, you’d do it. Especially if your neighbor is a Muslim.
Now let’s focus on “prevent homegrown violent extremism”.
Remember Timothy McVeigh? He’s the guy who blew up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. He killed 168 people and injured nearly 700 others. McVeigh was upset about Waco and Ruby Ridge and disagreed with American foreign policy. He was homegrown, violent and most would agree what he did was extreme.
McVeigh probably exhibited about half of the items listed in the FBI document. He was a textbook homegrown violent extremist. Regardless of his motivations, blowing up a building filled with innocent people isn’t something anyone would consider to be an appropriate response. So, knowing then what you know now, would you have reported him to authorities? Of course you would.
I think we’re all still in agreement so far. There’s a lot about the whole see “something, say something” thing that everyone agrees with. You report some suspicious behavior and stop something bad from happening. What’s not to like?
It’s not where we are that worries people. It’s where all this is headed.
It’s easy to see that the government is using the Justice Department to quash anyone who disagrees with them while ignoring people who are literally destroying the country.
If you broke into the Capitol building to take selfies on January 6th, the Justice Department will hunt you down and punish you. They’ve mounted an all-out effort to find anyone involved and are asking people to call in with information. If/when they catch someone, that person gets punished. Hard.
Conservatives want to see the exact same amount of effort, put into punishing ANTIFA/BLM members for burning cities, jury intimidation, beating up the elderly and causing the deaths of dozens of people. Hell, we’d settle for even a little effort. Where are the billboards requesting information on ANTIFA/BLM activity? What’s the tip line number?
The “narc on your neighbor” initiative only works if everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. If people are treated differently because it is politically advantageous to do so, then this is going to turn into nothing more than a tool for an increasingly-Socialist government to use to control the population by flushing out “subversive” people.
That is where we’re headed.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m still going to report activity that may save innocent lives. I’m going to report potential “homegrown violent extremism” regardless of race, color or creed. Because it’s the right thing to do. As a good citizen, I’ll do my part to keep this country safe for everyone.
And I expect the government to do the same.
