The Obama administration has officially pulled a Department of Homeland Security Report that claims pro-life people may engage in violence or extremism. The document, which has already been sent to police and sheriffs offices across the country, sparked national outrage.
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According to a report in LifeNews.com, the DHS document warned law officials about a supposed rise in “rightwing extremist activity,” saying the poor economy and presence of a black president could spark problems.
A footnote attached to the nine-page report from the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis said the activities of pro-life advocates is included in “rightwing extremism in the United States.”
“It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration,” the warning said.
During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told lawmakers the report has been withdrawn.
The wheels came off the wagon because the vetting process was not followed,” Napolitano said, according to the Washington Times. “The report is no longer out there,” Napolitano added. “An employee sent it out without authorization.”
Napolitano did not say when the report was taken off the Obama administration’s web site but she said it was being “replaced or redone in a much more useful and much more precise fashion.”
The Obama official told lawmakers that “Appropriate personnel action is being taken,” when she was asked whether the staff person who released the memo had been fired.
Even Democrats on the panel took umbrage with the report from Napolitano’s department. Rep. Christopher Carney, Pennsylvania Democrat, said he “took offense personally,” to the document, as did his constituents.
“It really hit home hard to me and in our district,” Mr. Carney said. “It’s not a good start when I go to town hall meetings and I hear people calling for your resignation.”
The Obama administration sent the document to police and sheriff’s departments across the country on April 7 under the headline, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.”
A second report, called the Domestic Extremism Lexicon, also raised the ire of pro-life advocates. It is essentially a terrorism and political extremism dictionary for the Obama administration’s internal use.
The March 26, 2009 document features numerous definitions and the headline “antiabortion extremism,” appears on page two of the eleven-page manual.
The Obama administration calls pro-life advocates violent and claims they employ racist overtones in engaging in criminal actions.
The definition reads: “A movement of groups or individuals who are virulently antiabortion and advocate violence against providers of abortion-related services, their employees, and their facilities. Some cite various racist and anti-Semitic beliefs to justify their criminal activities.”