Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism

"I. Overview of Reporting Requirement

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (the Act) requires the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), to jointly produce a report containing a strategic intelligence assessment and data on domestic terrorism (DT).1 The Act requires the report to contain a strategic intelligence assessment, a discussion of activities, certain data on DT matters, and recommendations.

II. Executive Summary

Preventing terrorist attacks remains a top priority for both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The threat posed by international and domestic threat actors has evolved significantly since 9/11. The greatest terrorism threat to the Homeland we face today is posed by lone offenders, 2 often radicalized online, who look to attack soft targets with easily accessible weapons. Many of these violent extremists are motivated and inspired by a mix of socio-political goals and personal grievances against their targets. With this report, we are providing our strategic intelligence assessments on DT, a detailed discussion of our procedures and methods to address DT threats, as well as data on DT incidents and our investigations.

III. Introduction

The FBI and DHS are both charged with preventing terrorist attacks in the United States, including those conducted by Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs).3 This goal drives the FBI’s mission to proactively lead law enforcement and domestic intelligence efforts to defeat terrorist attacks against US citizens and US interests through an integrated strategy to detect, penetrate, disrupt, and dismantle criminal DT plots, and the FBI and DHS missions to provide strategic analysis of the DVE landscape..."
Domestic Terrorism