WASHINGTON – Sen.
Chuck Grassley, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s incoming Ranking Member today sought
details on actions by the Justice Department and FBI before and during a series
of anti-law enforcement and anti-government riots that began last summer and
have continued in recent weeks. The letter follows
a
similar joint inquiry by Grassley and incoming Judiciary Committee Chairman
Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) focused on the agencies’ actions surrounding the January
6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol complex.
“I am
writing this follow-on letter to gather additional information regarding the
security posture and planning provided in advance of and during the events of
summer 2020 and recent events in Oregon and Washington. Like many Americans, I
have been deeply troubled by the rioting, looting, anti-police attacks, and
deaths which have occurred this summer. While many legitimately protested in a
peaceful manner consistent with their rights under the First Amendment,
thousands of others did not,” Grassley
wrote.
Civil
unrest over the summer took a serious toll: more than 900 law enforcement
officers were injured responding to violent riots, including 277 federal
officer injuries defending a courthouse in Portland, Ore., and 60 Secret
Service officers defending the White House. At least 14,000 people were
arrested in riots that occurred in 49 cities across the country over the
summer. At least 25 people were killed in those riots. Damage sustained to
businesses and other personal property could exceed $2 billion. As a result of last
summer’s violence perpetrated largely by anti-government or anti-law
enforcement extremists, the FBI opened more than 300 domestic terrorism cases.
Grassley
is seeking details on the level of coordination between the Justice Department,
FBI and other intelligence and law enforcement agencies ahead of violent
demonstrations over the summer, as well as recent events in Oregon and
Washington. He’s also seeking details and documents related to the agencies’
awareness and response to the anarchist extremist movement as well as militia
extremists and white supremacists. Further, Grassley is requesting statistical
information regarding the agencies’ response to violent demonstrations and civil
unrest over the summer and in recent weeks, including arrests and injuries to
officers.
February 2, 2021
Monty
Wilkinson
Acting
Attorney General
U.S.
Department of Justice
950
Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington,
D.C. 20530
The
Honorable Christopher A. Wray
Director
Federal
Bureau of Investigation
935
Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington,
D.C. 20535
Dear
Acting Attorney General Wilkinson and Director Wray:
Today,
Senator Durbin and I sent a letter to you regarding the January 6 Capitol
Complex attack. I am writing this
follow-on letter to gather additional information regarding the security
posture and planning provided in advance of and during the events of summer
2020 and recent events in Oregon and Washington. Like many Americans, I have been deeply
troubled by the rioting, looting, anti-police attacks, and deaths which have
occurred this summer. While many legitimately protested in a peaceful manner
consistent with their rights under the First Amendment, thousands of others did
not.
One of
the most upsetting aspects of the violence this summer has been how it has targeted
innocent law enforcement officers. Over 700 officers were injured between May
27 and June 8,
2020 alone.
[1] This
number is likely underreported, as nearly 300 of those injuries occurred only
in New York City. Then-acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli
testified at a hearing in front of this committee’s Subcommittee on the
Constitution that there had been 277 federal officer injuries at the federal
courthouse in Portland, adding further to that total. Officers were assaulted
nightly there for months—slashed, hard objects thrown at them, struck with
objects like hammers and baseball bats, and blinded with lasers. In another
offensive, 60 secret service officers were injured during a sustained attack on
the White House, which caused then-President Trump to be brought into a secure
bunker. The church across the street from the White House was lit on fire as a
part of that continued assault.
Over
300 people were charged federally for their roles in these weeks and months of
violence. Eighty of those charges related to the use of arson and explosives.
[2]
Others involved assaults on officers and destruction of government property.
However, the nationwide riots, which broke out in nearly every major city in
the country, were predominantly state offenses. At least 14,000 people were
arrested in 49 cities. At least 25
people died in violence related to the riots. Property Claim Services, a
company that tracks insurance claims relating to riots and civil disorders,
estimated that the insurance losses from the summer’s civil unrest “far
outstrip” all previous records to possibly exceed $2 billion.
[3] And, unfortunately, such civil unrest has continued
in Oregon and Washington in recent weeks by left wing groups.
[4]
It is
essential to obtain a complete accounting of your preparation for and response
to these events. To that end, please
answer the following questions no later than February 16, 2021:
- How did DOJ and FBI coordinate planning for the events
that took place in summer of 2020 and recent events in Oregon and
Washington with other intelligence and law enforcement agencies and
departments?
- Did the FBI have adequate intelligence about
antigovernment extremist movements before the civil unrest to foresee
these events?
- Does the FBI have sufficient visibility into the
anarchist extremist movement in order to anticipate future violence by
members of that movement?
- Does the FBI have sufficient undercover, confidential
human source, and open source media review assets to uncover anarchist
extremist threats before they occur? How many undercover agents and
confidential sources are assigned to anarchist extremism compared with
militia extremism and white supremacism?
- What information did you possess about threats or
threat actors related to those events in question 1, including individuals
listed on the Terrorist Screening Database (or any other federal watch
list available to the FBI) or otherwise affiliated with domestic violent
extremist movements?
- Please produce all documents and
communications that refer or relate to such threats, including
intelligence bulletins, threat assessments, situational information
reports, briefing materials, and requests for assistance.
- Did you prepare an intelligence bulletin
or threat assessment about the risk of violence for external or internal
consumption? Why or why not?
- What information about these threats did
you share with federal, state, or local departments and agencies, and
with which departments and agencies did you share it and when?
- What communications did you have with
technology companies about posts on their platforms concerning plans for
violence before the events?
- With respect to the civil unrest during the summer of 2020
and in recent weeks in Oregon and Washington, please answer the following:
- How many criminal investigations and cases
have been opened?
- How many of those investigations and cases
have been classified as domestic terrorism cases?
- How many of those investigations and cases
qualify as “antigovernment extremism”?
- How many of those investigations and
cases qualify as “anarchist extremism”?
- How many of those investigations and cases
involved defendants who admit they are Antifa?
- How many of those investigations and cases
have been classified as rioting and/or civil disorder offenses?
- How many officers were injured during the civil unrest
in summer of 2020 and in recent weeks in Oregon and Washington? How many people were killed?
- What portion of the FBI’s active domestic terrorism
cases relate to civil unrest?
- Was May and June of 2020 the first time that every FBI
field office activated a command post at the same time?
- In light of the recent events, does the FBI consider
antigovernment extremism, including anarchist extremism and Antifa
adherents, a serious domestic terrorism threat?
Thank
you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
[1] Ebony Bowden,
More than 700 officers injured in George
Floyd protests across US, N.Y. Post, June 8, 2020,
https://nypost.com/2020/06/08/more-than-700-officers-injured-in-george-floyd-protests-across-us/.
[2]Over 300 People Facing Federal Charges For Crimes
Committed During Nationwide Demonstrations, DOJ Press Release, Sept. 24, 2020,
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/over-300-people-facing-federal-charges-crimes-committed-during-nationwide-demonstrations.
[3] Jennifer A.
Kingston,
$1 billion-plus riot damage is
most expensive in insurance history, Axios, Sept. 1, 2020,
https://www.axios.com/riots-cost-property-damage-276c9bcc-a455-4067-b06a-66f9db4cea9c.html?stream=top.
[4] Caroline Radnofsky, Janhvi Bhojwani and Kimberly Flores
Gaynor, Oregon Democratic Party offices vandalized amid post-inauguration
protests,
NBC News (Jan. 21, 2021).
-30-