Different Views vs. Real Threats

Our view: Holding different political or religious views shouldn’t prompt a terrorism label, but offense over recent government reports could stifle work to monitor real threats.

Recent reports assessing America’s domestic terrorist threats have raised the ire, and decibel, of groups across the political spectrum. Many with shared purposes – environmentalists, faith organizations, even historically black colleges – feel threatened by the reports, which outline possibilities for growth in extremist radical behavior in such groups.

But government agencies charged with determining terrorist threats must be able to do their work. And the real threat here is in overreacting to the memos, or in taking such offense that the real dangers are overlooked.

Earlier this month, a report from the Department of Homeland Security concluded that some former sailors and soldiers are at risk of being recruited by anti-government groups. In 2008, the FBI issued a warning about white supremacist groups that might try to sway veterans.

The Homeland Security report also warned that the ongoing recession and the election of the nation’s first black president could entice some people to join radical groups.

Now, according to a story in The Virginian-Pilot, a document created by the Virginia Fusion Center calls the state’s college campuses “a radicalization node for almost every type of extremist group.” The report specifically mentioned some of Virginia’s historically black colleges and Regent University, based in Virginia Beach.

So Virginia’s colleges and universities are actually breeding ground for terrorists? What happened to free thought in higher education?

On Tuesday, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine ordered an investigation of how the Virginia Fusion Center, a unit of the Virginia State Police, arrived at its conclusion.

“Somebody who doesn’t think we should have abortion on demand is suddenly labeled a terrorist,” Regent University’s Pat Robertson said in reaction to the DHS report. “It’s outrageous. ... This is stigmatizing a vast swath of our people.”

We understand the umbrage.

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security released a report on left-wing extremists that warned about the risks those groups pose to high-tech infrastructure. The report went largely unnoticed.

The report from the Virginia Fusion Center, an intelligence gathering clearinghouse that operates out of the Virginia State Police headquarters in Chesterfield County, was leaked. It’s worth noting that the report was required by law, but it’s a misdemeanor to distribute information from the fusion center.

It is our right as Americans to have differing opinions and views. Every respectable college and university should encourage students to test their views, debate their merits and express ideas. Institutes of higher learning are famous for encouraging young people to express their views, even radical ones. That’s the whole purpose of higher learning – to put critical thinking to the test.

Kaine is correct to note that without a specific link to potential terrorist activity, “it is improper to single out these institutions for special mention.”

Labeling students, or minorities, or veterans, or any other group incites fear. Too many other citizens, who have never set foot on the campus at Regent, or Norfolk State University, or any other institution mentioned, might believe simplistic, fear mongering about them.

We agree with the American Civil Liberties Union, which said the report makes unwarranted assumptions based on race, religion and other demographic data and could have a chilling effect on Virginians’ First Amendment Rights.

Overreacting fosters fear and that fear is the bigger threat to society.