A core pillar of President Biden’s National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism is what the administration calls a “public health” approach to violence prevention. Though branded as a “public health” approach, the initiatives promoted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through its Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) weave law enforcement and the intelligence apparatus into efforts by civil society actors to connect individuals with mental health and social services because they may display some combination of vague and commonly occurring signs – such as having a grievance, being socially alienated, or being depressed – that DHS links to violence. Such an approach threatens to discourage people from getting the support they may need, and opens the door for racial and religious biases to influence who is considered a potential mass shooter or terrorist.
This webinar critically examines DHS’ violence prevention strategy, with panelists interrogating its empirical foundations, illuminating its harms, and tracing its evolution from discredited Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programs of the Obama era, which failed to prove their value and instead painted their targets—American Muslims—as a community of potential terrorists.