Extremism in US military is ‘sleeping danger’ says author of Pentagon report
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New Year’s Day attacks by US service members highlight threat, says Bishop Garrison who led DoD investigation. The decorated combat veteran who led the Biden administration’s efforts to counter extremist activity in the US military has warned there could be further domestic attacks by individuals with current or past military ties if the Pentagon fails to take the threat seriously.
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Both of the deadly incidents on New Year’s Day were carried out by discharged or serving members of the armed forces. The driver of a pickup truck who killed 14 revellers in New Orleans was a veteran with 13 years service in the US army, while the man who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Las Vegas Trump hotel, killing himself, was an active-duty Green Beret.
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Bishop Garrison, who spearheaded an internal Department of Defense investigation into extremist activity within the military in 2021 and who became the target of a virulent rightwing smear campaign to discredit him and his mission, said that the New Year’s Day attacks should be a wake-up call. “Both incidents demonstrate the sleeping danger that we have failed to deal with as a country.”.
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In an interview with the Guardian, Garrison said the defense department needed to tackle the dual challenges of radicalisation among military veterans, as displayed in New Orleans, and distress among serving soldiers, as shown by the Las Vegas suicide bomber. “I am worried that we will see more of this type of action taking place, that it will become more bombastic and stronger, and that more people will be injured or killed,” he said.
