Are White Racists a Threat to U.S. Security?

"Timothy McVeigh could happen any day, any week" - Bart McEntire, former ATF Special Agent

Not what you would think; this is actually a special agent who worked undercover to get the goods on the white supremacist movement. Bart McEntire was with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Photo by John Healey Courtesy: SPL Center

(SALEM, Ore.) - Are racist white Americans a threat to the country's security?

Federal agents Bart McEntire (left) and Tony Waldrop give the sieg heils at a KKK rally.

Experts say the answer is yes. It was only last spring when the U.S. Homeland Security Department issued a report cautioning that Rightwing extremists are now, "The most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States"^{1} .

The report by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano offended veterans and she ultimately issued an apology, but the point had been made^{2}.

As Al Jazeera shows us in the video below, a pair of filmmakers, Rick Rowley and Jacquie Soohen took their camera inside the white nationalist movement to investigate. The results are chilling.

Bart McEntire was a Special Agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. He says the nation's current economic picture, the mere fact that Obama is a black President, and a Democratically controlled Congress, are factors fueling the fires of racist sentiment in the U.S.^{3} .

He says that the problems posed by white racists could quickly spiral out of control.

"The numbers might be small in the U.S. but you know there is an event sitting out there that could spark the movement and all of a sudden you would see those numbers increase exponentially."

People & Power - White Power USA

The video report reveals that racially motivated threats against Obama rose to new heights in the first months of his presidency, with up to 30 death threats a day against the President.

Adding to that is the fact that there were nine high-profile racially-based killings in 2009, that we know about. Driving the stakes even higher, white supremacist groups have found a home in the "tea parties" that hardline Rightwing conservatives have held since Obama took office.

The events are almost exclusively attended by whites.

Images from these events in the U.S. show an endless stream of racist signs and slogans, and the program by Rick Rowley and Jacquie Soohen, establishes a connection between some of the tea party's biggest organizers, and early organizations in the deep south that are directly tied to racist ideologies.

Other startling information from McEntire involves members of the U.S. military stealing federal weapons and in turn providing them to groups that could in turn, use them against regular U.S. troops and police.

"Soldiers in Columbus, Georgia stealing military guns and and explosives off the military base, they were tied to the white supremacist movements."

He also reminds Americans that Timothy McVeigh was a decorated Gulf War veteran. He says incidents like the Oklahoma City federal building bombing should by no means be ruled out as something we could again face, "The potential is tremendous," the retired ATF agent said.

"Timothy McVeigh could happen any day, any week."

Another part of this puzzle is the high octane fuel constantly tossed on the fire by Rightwing spokesmen like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Their specific words, Beck in particular, are clearly statements geared toward angering white Americans^{4}.

^{1} DHS Report on Right Wing Extremism

^{1} CNN: Homeland security chief apologizes to veterans groups

^{3} Southern Poverty Law Center: Going Under - An Infiltrator of Hate Groups Remembers

^{4} Beck, Limbaugh, O'Reilly; Ties to Racism & Murder? - Commentary by Tim King Salem-News.com

Special thanks to Al Jazeera English

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com