Countering Violent Extremism Task Force

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Countering Violent Extremism Task Force
Agency overview
Formed2011;13 years ago (2011)
Jurisdiction United States
Headquarters Washington, D.C.
Parent department US Department of Homeland Security
US Department of Justice
Parent agency Federal Bureau of Investigation
Website dhs.gov

Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) was a US government program established under the Obama administration to counter all violent ideologies held by groups or individuals in the US by engaging communities in the counterterrorism effort and by education programs or counter-messaging. The program worked with community groups such as local governments, police departments, universities, and non-profits. It recruited community leaders, teachers, social workers, and public health providers to help the government in identifying people "at risk" of becoming violent extremists.

CVE was criticized for employing flawed indicators of extremism such as mistrust of law enforcement or feelings of alienation and for using religion as part of its metrics targeting Muslims. [1] [2] In April 2017, the Government Accountability Office published a critical report evaluating federal CVE efforts that stated, “The federal government does not have a cohesive strategy or process for assessing the overall CVE effort.” Also, its investigators could not “determine if the United States is better off today than it was in 2011 as a result of these tasks.” [3]

In December 2016, the incoming Trump presidential transition team planned to stop the program from targeting white supremacists, which have committed bombings and shootings such as at a black church in Charleston. The program was also planned to be renamed to Countering Radical Islamic Extremism. Congressional Republicans criticized CVE for being politically correct and argued that using the term "Radical Islam" would prevent violent attacks. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Community groups have had concerns that the program could be used to target faith groups for surveillance. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] In May 2017, the Trump White House proposed to cut all funding to CVE. [14] In July 2017, George Selim, a Republican who worked in the Bush administration and headed the CVE, resigned. Selim said that government cooperation with Muslim communities had proven crucial to preventing terrorist attacks but that Trump appointees saw no value in this effort. [15] [16] [17] In August 2017, reacting to reports that the Trump administration rescinded a grant to an organization fighting against neo-Nazism, the Southern Poverty Law Center warned that the threat of domestic terrorism from white supremacists remained high, pointing to an attack in Portland that happened in May. [18]

In October, 2018, the task force existed in name only. Its staff members had returned to their home agencies and departments. [19] In July 2019, the grant for the program expired. The program was in the Office of Community Partnerships, which by August 2019 became the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP). [20] The new office was a rebranding of the Obama-era initiative. [21]

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References

  1. ↑ "Why Countering Violent Extremism Programs Are Bad Policy". September 9, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12.
  2. ↑ "Countering Violent Extremism: A Guide for Practitioners and Analysts". National Counterterrorism Center. Archived from the original on 2015-03-23.
  3. ↑ "Countering Violent Extremism: Actions Needed to Define Strategy and Assess Progress of Federal Efforts" (PDF). April 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-02-15.
  4. ↑ Ainsley, Julia Edwards; Volz, Dustin; Cooke, Kristina; Hosenball, Mark (February 1, 2017). "Exclusive: Trump to focus counter-extremism program solely on Islam - sources". Reuters. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  5. ↑ Acosta, Jim; Watkins, Eli (February 3, 2017). "Trump admin eyes scrapping anti-extremism program". CNN. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  6. ↑ Gjelten, Tom (February 10, 2017). "Trump Reportedly Plans To Refocus Violent Extremism Initiative On Muslims". NPR. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  7. ↑ Evon, Dan (February 2, 2017). "Did President Trump Remove White Supremacists from the Terror Watch Program?". Snopes. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  8. ↑ Beirich, Heidi (February 2, 2017). "Trump's planned changes to government's 'Countering Violent Extremism' program are politically motivated, dangerous". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  9. ↑ Green, Emma (March 17, 2017). "What Lies Ahead for Obama's Countering Violent Extremism Program?" . The Atlantic. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  10. ↑ Southers, Erroll (March 21, 2017). "The U.S. government's program to counter violent extremism needs an overhaul". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  11. ↑ Montemayor, Stephen (August 10, 2017). "As Washington debates how to counter terrorism, Minnesota groups press ahead". Star Tribune. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Countering Violent Extremism". Lawfare. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  13. ↑ "The Problem with "Countering Violent Extremism" Programs". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  14. ↑ Ainsley, Julia Edwards (May 23, 2017). "White House budget slashes 'countering violent extremism' grants". Reuters. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  15. ↑ Beinart, Peter (July 31, 2017). "The U.S. Government's Fight Against Violent Extremism Loses Its Leader" . The Atlantic. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  16. ↑ Lanktree, Graham (August 1, 2017). "Is the U.S. Turning its Back on the Muslim Community in its Fight Against Extremism?". Newsweek. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  17. ↑ Hudson, John (August 7, 2017). "The Anatomy Of A Trump Administration Resignation Letter". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  18. ↑ Beirich, Heidi (August 4, 2017). "Domestic terror threat remains serious five years after Sikh massacre". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  19. ↑ Beinart, Peter (October 29, 2018). "Trump Shut Programs to Counter Violent Extremism" . The Atlantic. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  20. ↑ Sherman, Amy. "Fact-checking whether Trump cut money to combat white nationalism". PolitiFact. The Poynter Institute. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  21. ↑ Strickler, Laura; Ainsley, Julia (April 29, 2019). "DHS won't answer questions about staff, funding for office to fight domestic terror". NBC News. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
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