DHS Issues ‘Heightened Threat Environment’ Bulletin Through April

Washington, DC, June 4, 2009 -- Part of the DHS seal, the FEMA logo and the DHS Flag, on the wall in the National Response and Coordination Center. FEMA/Bill Koplitz

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a ‘heightened threat’ bulletin and warned of potential violence in the following weeks of the presidential inauguration. The ‘heightened threat’ bulletin will remain in place until the end of April.

The bulletin, which was posted on the DHS website on Wednesday, stated “Some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.”

The DHS stated that Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs) are motivated by “anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force,” stating that the DVEs have “plotted and on occasion carried out attacks against government facilities.”

The bulletin asserted that the “DHS encourages state, local, tribal, and territorial homeland security partners to continue prioritizing physical security measures, particularly around government facilities, to protect people and critical infrastructure.”