Homeland Security warned 'domestic terrorist actors' will exploit George Floyd protests: report

On Monday, Politico reported that the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo last week warning "domestic terrorist actors" will use the chaos of the George Floyd protests for nefarious purposes.

"The memo, dated May 29 and marked unclassified/law enforcement sensitive, cites 'previous incidents of domestic terrorists exploiting First Amendment-protected events' as one reason for DHS’ concern of additional targeted violence by 'domestic terrorist actors,'" reported Betsy Woodruff Swan and Natasha Bertrand.

"It also reveals, citing the FBI, that on May 27, two days after Floyd’s death, 'a white supremacist extremist Telegram channel incited followers to engage in violence and start the ‘boogaloo’ — a term used by some violent extremists to refer to the start of a second Civil War — by shooting in a crowd,'" continued the report. "One Telegram message encouraged potential shooters to 'frame the crowd around you' for the violence, the document said. And on May 29, 'suspected anarchist extremists and militia extremists allegedly planned to storm and burn the Minnesota State Capitol,' the memo reads, citing FBI information."

"The body of the memo says the plans about the state capitol were made in 2019, but a footnote describing the FBI’s information says twice that the plans were made in 2020," said the report. "Spokespersons for DHS and the FBI did not respond to requests for clarification on the dates, but a source familiar with the report said 2019 was a typo, and the plans were made in 2020. A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said he was unable to confirm or deny the report for security reasons. A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment. DHS spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment."