While the country is up in arms over the multi-country ban put in place by Trump, he stealthily removed the KKK and other white supremacy groups from the “Countering Violent Extremism” or CVE list. Why?  Trump claims he is only targeting Muslims, but when you consider the bigoted and hateful things he’s said and done, I believe it is more than that. Trump claims that he wants to change this program to “Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism” in order to focus entirely on Muslims. It wouldn’t be so bad if Trump created another list to put these groups on, but he did not. Doesn’t surprise me at all. Remember during the election he, very reluctantly, had to denounce the support from the KKK? He tried to lie his way out of it, too.

Breitbart is well-known for being a far-right website rumored to have ties to white nationalists and their white supremacy groups. Trump’s newly appointed chief advisor, Steve Bannon, is an executive chaiman of Breitbart. The dots are easy to connect on this one. There were not any controversies, disputes or incidents recently that would have drawn the public’s attention – or Trump’s attention, for that manner –  to this list. Trump took advantage of the fact that while most of the country is focused on his unconstitutional ban, it was easy for him to “slip in the back door” to help the “good ol’ boys” out. 

Do white supremacy groups really need to be be on this CVE list? Absolutely. Here are some examples why:

Timothy McVeigh detonated a bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. This action killed 168 and injured over 600 men, women, and children. McVeigh bombed the building to protest the federal government’s involvement against white supremacist groups at Waco and Ruby Ridge, which resulted in multiple deaths. McVeigh’s influence was The Turner Diaries, a handbook for domestic terrorism.

Dylann Roof, just recently sentenced to death, is the white supremacist who killed nine African-American churchgoers in a brazen racial rampage almost 19 months ago. It was an outburst of extremist violence that shocked the nation.

Unknown – Homegrown white supremacist groups commit almost all terrorist activities in this country. For example, radicals burned a mosque to the ground after Trump’s announcement of the immigration ban.

What is absolutely crazy is that the seven countries targeted by Trump’s ban have never committed a terrorist attack against the United States. And none of the countries from which terrorists came are on the list.

Trump is ignoring the truth only because it doesn’t fit his plan. According to the “Law Enforcement Assessment of the Violent Extremism Threat,” June 25, 2015, “Law enforcement agencies in the United States consider anti-government violent extremists, not radicalized Muslims, to be the most severe threat of political violence that they face.”

From the same study:

Table 1. What are the main violent extremist threats that your agency faces? Please check up to three items below. (page 4)

I cannot believe Trump actually did this. Well, actually I can, but this took me by surprise. A part of me was hoping that he would find a small amount of humanity within his narcissistic self and occasionally do the right thing. Sadly, he will not. After usurping Hillary, the predicted winner of the election, he is now in a position that gives him access to anything and everything classified which is a part of what he wants. Mostly, though, Trump craves to be the center of attention in addition to the power that goes along with his position. To him, it’s like a drug. There is one thing for sure, though, and that is…

…we must get Trump out of office as soon as possible.

References

LearnProgress: ALERT: Trump Removes EVERY White Nationalist Group from Terror Watch List. My God.

Homeland Security: Countering Violent Extremism

Reuters: Exclusive: Trump to focus counter-extremism program solely on Islam – sources

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