Security personnel wait for voters outside the Leon County Election Supervisor office on November 3, 2020, in Tallahassee, Fla.
Image of Mark Wallheiser / Getty
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Image of Mark Wallheiser / Getty
Security personnel wait for voters outside the Leon County Election Supervisor office on November 3, 2020, in Tallahassee, Fla.
Image of Mark Wallheiser / Getty
US security agencies have issued a heightened threat advisory, warning of a potential attack on political candidates, election officials and others. The warning was issued on Friday, the same day that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi husband is attacked at their home in San Francisco.
NPR received bulletins issued by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the U.S. Capitol Police.
The bulletin warns that attacks by loners are the most legitimate threat to potential targets. The risk of violence is fueled by an increase in violent extremism in the country, and those who carry out attacks are likely to do so for ideological reasons.
Most likely to cite the 2020 presidential election, repeating the false narrative that the results were skewed and that former President Donald Trump was the rightful winner, according to the warning.
Since 2021, perceptions of a rigged election have contributed to a number of violent attacks or plots, and the bulletin added that new theories of fraud undermining the midterm elections have appear.
The adviser said last month that violent extremists in the country were identified as having claimed the electoral system was being “hacked” and threatened violence against politicians.
With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, President Biden on Friday called out political figures “clearly and unequivocally” rejects political violencecalled the attack on Pelosi “despicable”.
The president, citing news reports, drew a connection between what Friday’s attacker is said to have said – chanting, “Where’s Nancy?” – and what the rioters said when they stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“What makes us think one side can talk about stolen elections, COVID is a hoax, it’s all a bunch of lies – and it doesn’t affect people who may not be able to balance it. What makes us think it won’t corrode the political environment?” he said.
In the news, law enforcement officials warned that the threat of violence wasn’t just politicians, with religious minorities also listed as potential targets.
“We evaluate some [domestic violent extremists] motivated by election-related grievances will likely view election-related infrastructure, personnel and voter participation as attractive targets – including at publicly accessible locations such as polling places, polling places, voter registration locations, campaign events and newsletters.
It warned that extremists could target election-related locations in the hope of “shaking voting habits, undermining perceptions of the legitimacy of the voting process or making government response.”
