UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE
| UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
(U) Source Summary Statement (U//FOUO) This intelligence bulletin draws upon a wide body of reporting derived from other law enforcement agencies, open source information, documentary sources, human source reporting with varying degrees of access, and FBI investigations from 15 January 2008 to 30 January 2019. Reporting from other law enforcement agencies and open source information was deemed the most critical in supporting the key analytic judgements in this paper. News articles provided contextual details of various incidents and background on specific conspiracy theories not contained in law enforcement reporting, while academic publications aided in clearly defining the topic, limiting the scope of the paper, and developing the key analytic judgments. Documentary sources consisting of plea agreements, a Court of Appeals Opinion, a criminal complaint, and an indictment provided additional details concerning the incidents discussed, including the charges brought against the perpetrators and, in some cases, the conspiracy theory-based motives of their actions. The use of reporting derived from human sources and FBI investigations was limited, although these sources did provide intelligence that corroborated open source information. Human sources included an established human source with indirect access, much of whose reporting since 2014 has been corroborated, a liaison source with indirect access, a limited history of reporting, and extensive knowledge of domestic extremist groups throughout the United States, and a member of the public with indirect access, reporting for the first time, and whose reliability cannot be determined. The intelligence encompassed within this intelligence bulletin was collected between 1 November 2013 and 30 January 2019 and is current as of 31 January 2019. |
(U//LES) Anti-Government, Identity Based, and Fringe Political Conspiracy Theories Very Likely Motivate Some Domestic Extremists to Commit Criminal or Violent Activity
(U//LES) The FBI assesses anti-government, identity based, and fringe political conspiracy theories very likely motivate some domestic extremists, wholly or in part, to engage in criminal or violent activity. This assessment is based on events in which individuals committed crimes, plotted attacks, or successfully carried out deadly violence and who—either before or after their arrests—attributed their actions to their conspiratorial beliefs. These events include instances in which the perpetrators intended to kill groups identified by such theories as hostile and malevolent, or to simply carry out dangerous, unlawful acts in an effort to draw attention to or expose a perceived conspiracy.
- (U//LES) On 19 December 2018, a California man was arrested after being found in possession of bomb making materials with the intent to construct an explosive device, according to information obtained from a law enforcement agency.[1] According to information obtained from a separate law enforcement agency, the individual stated he planned to travel to Springfield, Illinois and blow up a satanic temple monument at the Illinois Capitol rotunda in order to "make Americans aware of 'Pizzagate' and the New World Order (NWO), who were dismantling society."[2]
- (U//FOUO) On 27 October 2018, an identified individual killed 11 people and injured several others at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, according to a criminal complaint filed in US District Court.[3] According to a copy of his social media postings obtained via open source, shortly before the attack the individual reposted a cartoon depicting the Zionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory and stated that
UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE
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