The FBI would not confirm on Tuesday whether it is looking into individuals who are identifying themselves as members of a foreign terrorist organization and were heard chanting “We are Hamas” outside U.S. universities including Columbia.
A video shows masked Islamists harassing Jewish students outside the university where President Barack Obama studied. One woman shouted at a pro-Israel activist, “We are Hamas” while standing outside Columbia University. “We’re all Hamas.”
Another masked man was seen on video making threats of mass violence, assault, and abduction: “Remember the 7th of October! That will happen not just one more time, not five more times, not 10 more times, not 100 more times, not 1,000 more times, but 10,000 times!”
“Never forget the 7th of October,” another unidentified man wearing the Palestinian flag outside the university shouts in a video. “Are you ready? Seventh of October is about to be every day. Every day. Seventh of October is going to be every day for you.”
The Federalist asked the FBI whether they would investigate the self-proclaimed terrorists.
“Thank you for your inquiry. However, we decline comment on this matter,” the bureau replied.
The FBI recognizes Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Perhaps the FBI’s reluctance to inform the public about monitoring self-proclaimed terrorists is because the agency reportedly trained some of its personnel. using material that classified people who are against abortion, pro-life activists, as a greater threat than Islamists, according to former special agent Steve Friend who spoke to the.
Friend stated that he received the training material in 2014 but was uncertain whether the agency still utilized it. The materials, he said, were created by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a hate group whose materials inspired a gunman to attack the offices of a conservative DC organization in 2012, and another gunman to try to murder a member of Congress in 2017.
As of 2023, the FBI still uses some SPLC materials. SPLC responded to the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel by claiming that, while “all acts of hate violence” are wrong, Israel targets Palestinian civilians. That is a Hamas propaganda refrain.
The FBI also cited SPLC in a 2023 document targeting traditional Christians for opposing abortion and holding orthodox views about the sexes. It labeled them “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” and even suggested cultivating FBI informants within local churches.
The FBI has also smeared Americans who support former President Donald Trump as potential terrorists by including them in their “domestic extremism” definition, a 2023 report from Newsweek found. Newsweek found “nearly two-thirds of the FBI’s current investigations” focus on Trump supporters who allegedly disregarded “anti-riot” laws.
After Jan. 6, 2021, the agency also expanded its “anti-government or anti-authority violent extremists-other” classification so it could monitor anyone who disagrees with any government action. A 2021 inspector general report found that multiple FBI employees lied to hide agency mistakes and criticized the agency for its widespread failure to quickly investigate Larry Nassar, who was later convicted of sexually abusing children.
