Fast Facts for June 15, 2021
Domestic Violent Extremism or domestic terrorism.
I know those words trigger a lot of you. But I want you to think outside yourself and your own political beliefs for a second and listen.
Today, the attorney general echoed what federal law enforcement has said for months … domestic violent extremism is the biggest threat to national security and that’s reflected in the increased number of FBI investigations in 2021. We’re talking about racially or ethnically and politically or militia motivated homegrown extremists with the propensity for violence.
Today the a-g unveiled a new report and a four pillar strategy to try and combat it.
He made clear this is not about targeting people based on their beliefs – or even about them sharing those beliefs — this is about criminal activity associated with those beliefs.
The department of justice four pillar strategy includes – a more coordinated system to share information between all government agencies, thwarting domestic violent extremist recruitment and mobilization efforts especially on social media and in online chat rooms, disrupting DVE activities before violence occurs and addressing the long term issues that lead to domestic violent extremism like economic insecurity, and structural racism.
Though you won’t be prosecuted simply because of your ideology, if you commit crimes as a result of that ideology, the AG said the federal government will use it to classify you.
The new strategy does *not* include any new domestic violent extremist laws. The AG says there could be one in the future.
He also said … it’s impossible to prevent all attacks but the justice department can combat the root cause of domestic violent extremism. These efforts are already underway.
Read the DOJ report here.
Read the White House fact sheet here.
PLUS
I just want to warn you — in 15 days the federal eviction moratorium expires.
That means millions of Americans may evicted from their homes because of their inability to pay current or back rent.
If that’s you – first check with your state, county or city to see if there are any local moratoriums that remain in effect even after the federal one expires. If there aren’t any other protections, go watch this video that I posted on April 16th titled “rental assistance how to get it.”
Through two stimulus packages – the federal government set aside almost $50 billion in rental assistance and if you qualify, you may be able to get help paying at least a portion of your rent and utility bills. That may help you with your landlord if he or she is threatening to evict you. I did some digging and found a website that has a list of all the rental assistance websites in each state. It’s in the video.
You have to understand – as I’ve been telling you from the beginning – the eviction moratorium was not rent forgiveness – if you took advantage of it, you were always going to be responsible for paying all your rent back.
There is no word yet on if the Biden Administration or congress will extend the eviction moratorium any further, but as the country continues to open back up, the virus gets more under control, vaccines are being administered, and people are going back to work, it’s unlikely that it’ll be extended any further.
Find rental assistance in your state here.
