While the FBI claims it "Does not categorize investigations as domestic terrorism based on the religious beliefs-to include Catholicism-of the subject involved," an FBI-wide memorandum originating from the FBI's Richmond Field Office did just that.
Under the guise of tackling the threat of domestic terrorism, the memorandum painted so-called certain "Radical-traditionalist Catholics" as violent extremists and proposed opportunities for the FBI to infiltrate Catholic churches as a form of "Threat mitigation." The FBI's Richmond memorandum is a startling reminder that Americans' civil liberties and core Constitutional rights must be vigorously guarded against government overreach, including in this case from an overzealous federal law enforcement agency.
In addition to the investigation in Virginia, FBI Richmond relied on reporting from other field offices across the country, including FBI Los Angeles, FBI Milwaukee, and FBI Portland in making its assessment.
The two FBI employees who co-authored the memorandum later told FBI internal investigators that they knew the sources cited in the memorandum had a political bias-sources including the Southern Poverty Law Center, Salon, and The Atlantic.
The FBI still has no idea how many FBI employees accessed the memorandum before its removal and cannot confirm whether any outreach occurred to Catholic parishes as a result of the memorandum.
The Committee on the Judiciary, through and with its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, is charged with investigating "Violations of the civil liberties of citizens of the United States." This interim staff report fulfills the ongoing obligation to identify and report on instances of the weaponization of the federal government- here, the FBI's mishandling of domestic violent extremism investigations against Catholic Americans exercising their First Amendment rights.
Personally, I find the FBI going after tradcaths and conducting " domestic violent extremism investigations against Catholic Americans exercising their First Amendment rights" so abhorrent, I can barely write about it without my blood boiling.
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