FBI, DHS Warns Of ‘Retaliatory’ Attacks In The Wake Of Trump Rally Shooting

Authorities are reportedly warning of possible retaliatory attacks in response to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a Saturday afternoon campaign rally in western Pennsylvania.

Violent extremists or others “may attempt follow-on or retaliatory acts of violence” at events related to the 2024 presidential election over the next few months, according to a joint Department of Homeland Security and FBI bulletin that was sent out to law enforcement across the country Monday night.

“The FBI and DHS remain concerned about the potential for follow-on or retaliatory acts of violence following this attack, particularly given that individuals in some online communities have threatened, encouraged, or referenced acts of violence in response to the attempted assassination,” the bulletin reads, according to Politico, which obtained a copy of the bulletin.

The bulletin comes just two days after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks allegedly shot at Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania with a semiautomatic AR-style weapon, killing one attendee and injuring three — including the former president.

Crooks was killed by a sniper almost immediately after he fired his gun.

Law enforcement agencies later discovered the suspected gunman also had improvised explosive devices in his car and at his home.

Federal authorities are still investigating why the shooter carried out the attack, according to the bulletin, including whether he was “motivated by a violent extremist ideology or had any association with additional plotters or co-conspirators”

“This attack reinforces our assessment that election-related targets are under a heightened threat of attack or other types of disruptive incidents,” the bulletin reportedly reads, noting that “the resonance of divisive topics in public discourse” could contribute to the current threat environment.

“Lone actors” or small groups of extremists “likely will continue to view” political rallies and campaign events as “attractive targets,” the bulletin says, according to ABC News.

Though this is by far the most serious, it’s not the first time we have seen politically inspired attacks and schemes targeting government officials in the past several years. Not long after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) husband was attacked by a man with a hammer at their California home in 2022. 

In the past year alone Trump supporters sent death threats and envelopes full of white powder to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, while his office led the hush money case against the former president. Similarly envelopes containing white powder were sent to Republican lawmakers and officials in at least three states — Kansas, Tennessee, and Montana. The white powder was later found to be harmless.

And Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ home was “swatted” last year after she found Trump to be ineligible to appear on the state’s 2024 primary ballot.

“Domestic violent extremists across ideologies are likely to view a wide range of entities directly and indirectly associated with elections as viable targets for violence,” and they “could seek to use a range of violent or disruptive tactics against election-related targets,” the bulletin said, according to ABC News.

“We continue to face very real threats from those who seek to undermine our elections,” the FBI told TPM in response to an inquiry about the bulletin. “The FBI remains vigilant in our efforts to detect and assess possible threats and, as always, we encourage the public to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety.”