The threat of right wing extremism

Homeland Security officials are warning that right-wing extremists could use the bad state of the U.S. economy and the election of the country's first black president to recruit members to their cause.

In an intelligence assessment issued to law enforcement last week, Homeland Security officials said there was no specific information about an attack in the works by right-wing extremists.

The agency warns that an extended economic downturn with real estate foreclosures, unemployment and an inability to obtain credit could foster an environment for extremists to recruit members who may not have been supportive of these causes in the past.

Homeland Security spokesman Sean Smith said the report is one in a series of assessments issued by the agency's intelligence and analysis unit. The agency describes these assessments as part of a series published "to facilitate a greater understanding of the phenomenon of violent radicalization in the United States."

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In this report, the agency warns that imposing new restrictions on firearms and returning military veterans who have difficulties assimilating back into their communities could lead to terror groups or individuals attempting to carry out attacks. The returning war veterans have skills and experience that are appealing to right-wing groups looking to carry out an attack, according to the report.

The agency cites the killings of three Pittsburgh police officers as an example of violence tied to right-wing rhetoric.

In the 1990s, the report said, a resurgence in right-wing extremism was brought on by the poor economy and the outsourcing of jobs, with extremist groups targeting government facilities, law enforcement officers and banks.

The growth was slowed after intense government scrutiny of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings, according to the report, but the Internet now gives extremists more access to information about making bombs and weapons training. The new technologies also make it easier for extremists to communicate, the report said, and make it more difficult for law enforcement to detect or prevent an attack.

In November, after Barack Obama's election, law enforcement officials were seeing more threats and unusual interest against a president-elect than ever before.

One of the most popular white supremacist Web sites got more than 2,000 new members the day after the election, compared with 91 new members on Election Day, according to an Associated Press count. The site, Stormfront.org, was temporarily off-line Nov. 5 because of the overwhelming amount of activity it received after Election Day.

A memo prepared by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warns right-wing "extremists" are stockpiling weapons and ammunition in anticipation of new restrictions and bans.

The 10-page document, which agency officials said was not supposed to be made public, also warns that economic chaos, including foreclosures and unemployment, could provide "a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists."

But it says these groups have not yet turned to actually planning an attack.