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September 13, 2021 RAPID RESPONSE

Stopping Domestic Terrorism: A Critical Examination of the Department of Homeland Security’s Violence Prevention Strategy

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.

Panelists

  • Fatema Ahmad, Executive Director, Muslim Justice League
  • Jennifer Mathis, Deputy Legal Director and Director of Policy & Legal Advocacy, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law 
  • Amelia Vance, Director of Youth & Education Privacy, Future of Privacy Forum

Moderator

  • Harsha Panduranga, Counsel, Liberty and National Security, Brennan Center for Justice; Vice Chair, National Security and Civil Liberties Committee, ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Resources

Getting the Facts Straight: Facts about Gun Violence and Mental Health Disabilities

Bazelon Report - WRONG FOCUS: MENTAL HEALTH IN THE GUN SAFETY DEBATE 

Exclusive Data: An Inside Look at the Spy Tech That Followed Kids Home for Remote Learning — and Now Won’t Leave

Community Investment, Not Criminalization

School Surveillance: The Consequences for Equity and Privacy

Reopening Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Issue Briefs

School Safety & Privacy: An Animated Introduction

40 Organizations Release Privacy Principles for Student Safety

Education During a Pandemic: Principles for Student Data Privacy and Equity

U.S. Department of Education Opens an Investigation into Pasco County’s Predictive Policing Program

Targeted: A Family and the Quest to Stop the Next School Shooter

P.A.S.C.O. COALITION: PEOPLE AGAINST THE SURVEILLANCE OF CHILDREN AND OVERPOLICING

Plan for White nationalist extremism seems like joke | CommonWealth Magazine, September 11, 2021

#StopCVE

#StopCVE Now Primer by Muslim Justice League

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