Refugees fleeing the Biden-induced human rights catastrophe in Afghanistan are streaming into Washington, D.C., and flowing into the area's hospitals amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the district's emergency management agency has issued a stern warning about the threat of online extremism.
The District of Columbia's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency warned law enforcement officials earlier this week that "extremist rhetoric has risen online following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan." According to an intelligence assessment obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, the agency assessed that "the increase in extremist rhetoric may presage targeted violence against Afghan refugees." The evidence cited to support that assessment, however, was rather scant—just a handful of examples from "known online forums," such as 4Chan, Free Republic, BitChute, and the official QAnon Telegram channel.
The report, dated Sept. 7, quotes an anonymous 4Chan user who responded to a series of posts about the resettlement of Afghan refugees. "Hello…don't yall [sic] see the democratic strategy here?" the anonymous poster posted. "[The refugees] arent [sic] going to strong blue states but the key electoral swing states." It goes on to note that the deranged North Carolina man who precipitated a standoff with law enforcement outside the U.S. Capitol Building last month had "shared frustration with the US withdrawal from Afghanistan on Facebook."
Additional evidence includes "open-source comments" on Free Republic containing "implied threats" against President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), and a post suggesting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) wants to bring in "200,000 [evacuees], that is 4000 new terrorists…per state." The assessment also cites two comments from "identified" BitChute users who referenced "replacement theory" and "white genocide" in response to posts about refugee resettlement, and another from the QAnon Telegram channel describing the resettlement of Afghan refugees as "an enemy invasion."
There are a couple posts that could realistically be defined as vague threats against refugees, such as one from a QAnon Telegram user who urged Americans to "Arm yourself!...citizens should storm the airports and blow up the runways."
The report did not elaborate as to whether any (or all) of the posts were written by law enforcement agents and informants, nor did it discuss the amount of taxpayer dollars and government manpower the agency devotes to perusing online forums.
Radical Online Posts Could ... by Washington Free Beacon
Update 4:51 p.m.: This piece has been updated.