'A Long Time Coming': Given DHS Warning, A Look At U.S. Domestic Extremism Threats

President Biden is reviewing the U.S. government's response to domestic extremism, including threats that gained traction under President Donald Trump.

The assessment begins as the Department of Homeland Security issued a public warning of possible attacks on government facilities or officials. The advisory referenced the Jan. 6 attack on democracy at the U.S. Capitol and other incidents going back years, such as the 2019 mass murder in El Paso, Texas, blamed on a man who had written an anti-immigrant screed. The advisory says extremists are motivated by election conspiracy theories as well as pandemic conspiracy theories.

The Trump administration was often accused of downplaying the danger of white supremacists and other extremists — but the DHS bulletin shows that security officials within the government now feel free to express their concerns.

"My sense of that alert is that it was probably a long time coming," says Chris Krebs, who was a top DHS official appointed by Trump and then fired by Trump for accurately saying that last year's election was secure.