On Monday, the Assistant U.S. Attorney General, John Carlin, stated that more than 110 individuals had been publicly charged in federal court since late 2013 on counts related to the Islamic State militant group. Further details on the cases were not provided. Last year alone, the Department of Justice charged 60 individuals for ties to ISIS, which is the largest annual figure on record.
However, from our optic, what is perhaps more troubling is the unreleased number of investigations that are underway on individuals suspected to have extremist ties in the United States, and those which the government has little or no knowledge of. While our staff is not at liberty to provide specific information on ISIS activity within the United States, it is important for the populous to know that while the greatest of efforts are made to bring the fight to the enemy abroad, there is still sadly a significant and growing presence in the U.S. As such, the intelligence and law enforcement communities are ill equipped to handle the volume of cases, which subsequently places the American populous in more danger. We state this only to emphasize that regardless of whether there is a spike in Islamic State related arrests or a dip, the reality is the level of extremist activity is growing and Americans need to be alert and aware of the fact that we do not live in the same world that we once did. Anything can happen anywhere, at any time.
By OpsLens Staff
