The Fight Against Domestic SELF-Radicalization in the U.S.
“Self-radicalization refers to the phenomenon wherein individuals radicalize by consuming extremist literature but have few, if any, formal ties to any terrorist organization.” (Lawfare 2016)
In the past when America has dealt with active shootings, violent hate crimes, and lone wolf terrorist attacks that were domestic in nature; we typically saw individuals who were mentally disturbed, or had previous violent tendencies and encounters that were well documented (despite the lack of attention to them), or a hate group which were on the fringes of society. We cannot and should not diminish or lower the horrific nature of some of the attacks perpetrated by some of those people and groups, but fortunately or unfortunately they were events that law enforcement, the legal establishment and American society as a whole felt able too, penalize and rationalize why it likely happened. However, what we see currently in our society now, is an uptick of primarily ONLY violent crimes, an increase of hostile and unbelieving perceptions of mainstream establishments by everyday people, and the downright autocratic slant of some political parties in recent years, has created a TIPPING Point in our American society that we have to drastically fight our way back from before we are reshaped into something much worse than what we saw after the civil war.
To be quite frank the fact that 74 Million or more people voted for the losing President and supported the majority of his rhetoric is more telling than ANYTHING that has happened before or after the most recent election. I’m not a political person, I’ve always worked for “a-political” organizations such as the U.S. Military, the U.S. Capitol Police, the Central Intelligence Agency, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and although each of us who work in those organizations have our own personal and private beliefs, most of us believe that what we do in those organizations is BIGGER than all of us and that the Service that we provide is what keeps AMERICA safe and free. However, with that said I am not blind to the reality that people generally gravitate to the interests and people which they most feel comfortable with overall. Security-wise we are facing a threat from forces that previously were forced underground after the civil rights changes and updates of the 60′s through early 80′s. Something has changed to make over half of the majority demographic in this country feel less safe and less entitled to the freedoms they were born into. Maybe it’s a social behavioral problem at its root, but for the purposes of this “Intelligence Bite” (blog) and the profession I have carved out for over the last 26 years, it is the THREAT of violence that seems inevitable and what we have to prepare for and fight against.
Below are a few ACTIONABLE STEPS we recommend people do to pull ourselves off the radicalization wagon.
1. Be aware that when you use social media there is an entire opposition force within adversary countries such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, who have the capacity, motive and intent to covertly influence your perceptions of another group of people of whom you may or may not agree.
This is dangerous because say a person doesn’t quite understand BLACK LIVES MATTER (BLM), they grew up in the early to late 90′s thus they did see the civil rights struggle firsthand; they believe that the fact we had a Black President is indicative that the civil rights struggle is pretty much over, and that overall those Black Americans who protest inequality missed the memo on the 44th President. Those factors about a person can easily be seen and understood by the groups that users join, the threads users read, and the posts that users make. So then that Foreign Troll throws gas on the fire and digs into a RED line psychological area that you (the user) care most about.. such as “Post: BLM was founded by Marxist and they hate America”; thus the easy assumption is All people who fly under the BLM banner MUST hate America.
Looking at this critically, even if you are a “Marxist” it doesn’t automatically mean you Hate America; also BLM to most Black Americans has nothing to do with Marxist philosophy or ideology, and I’d wager that the majority that support and believe in the movement know nothing about the political roots of its founder real or unreal. The POINT is, that what may have been a guy or a girl on the fence and minding their business about BLM, suddenly they are emotionally and politically involved. Thus, one by one, this causes damaging rifts between everyday people, damaging rifts between political parties, and damaging rifts within the fabric of our Democracy.
2. Research the people and institutions that mean so much to you.
This is a fairly direct and simple one, before we pledge ourselves to a way of thinking that makes us feel most comfortable. Please learn where the information came from, and if possible learn about the person(s) and groups/organizations that you support. A lot of the time people react off of emotion, which may lead to them following a group or person that is often many times less than scrupulous and not really the kind of person an average American would want to be affiliated with overall. Thinking and living critically and with purpose is the key to seeing the truth, for whatever it may be. There is no ONE source of information that has all the answers, go through at least TEN sources and then see how many out of SIX of those sources seem to say the same thing and then consider what the opposing sources say and if they make sense in the larger scheme of things. Once that’s the done, then get the opinion of someone you trust. Then make a decision about what you read.
What we ask above in our actionable steps is easy but it is not normal and thus likely very difficult. However we at S3 GSG feel it is part of the solution to keep Americans from SELF-radicalization and future catastrophe. S3 Global Security Group CEO - Bobby L. Sheppard Mr. Sheppard has spent over 25 years serving in the National Security Community beginning in law enforcement and then over 15 years with the intelligence community. Mr. Sheppard is the CEO of S3 Global Security Group LLC and the Physical Security-As-A-Service start up Malwork.com.