US Right-Wing Extremists Use Obama as Recruitment Tool

US Right-wing extremist groups may be using the recession and the election of the nation's first African-American president to recruit members, the US Department of Homeland Security has stated.

The US Department of Homeland Security report, prepared in coordination with the FBI and published April 7, was distributed to federal, state and local law enforcement officials under the title "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."

It compares the current climate to the 1990s, "when right-wing extremism experienced a resurgence fueled largely by an economic recession, criticism about the outsourcing of jobs, and the perceived threat to U.S. power and sovereignty by other foreign powers."

It cites proposed restrictions on weapons as likely to increase membership in extremist groups and expresses concern the groups might try to recruit veterans, CNN reported.

The report also cites concern about anti-Semitism, saying that some groups are blaming the loss of U.S. jobs and home foreclosures on "a deliberate conspiracy conducted by a cabal of Jewish 'financial elites' " in an attempt to recruit members.

The election of President Barack Obama is cited as a key recruitment tool. "Many right-wing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration and its perceived stance on a range of issues, including immigration and citizenship, the expansion of social programs to minorities, and restrictions on firearm ownership and use," the report said.

It said that twice in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, "extremists appeared to be in the early planning stages of some threatening activity targeting the Democratic nominee, but law enforcement interceded."

The report said that "lone wolves and small terrorist cells" represent the nation's biggest terrorist threat because their low profile makes it difficult to intervene before they act.

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