Confessions of a Domestic Violent Extremist Amplifier

We questioned the COVID narrative. That made us dangerous.

The media outlet, Public, recently revealed newly declassified reports by former President Joe Biden’s National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) from 2021-22. The records, approved for release to the public by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, reveal important insights into how the leadership of the prior administration viewed a large segment of American citizens during the COVID years.

The “Wrong Think” Files

Although the report draws a distinction between domestic violent extremists (DVE) who seek “to further political or social goals, wholly or in part, through unlawful acts of force or violence” and those Americans who are exercising constitutionally protected free speech rights, the blurry lines drawn between the two groups strongly indicate Biden and his team saw all of us who questioned the official COVID narrative as extremists. Some extremists qualified for the official designation of “DVE” while others were merely amplifiers of the extremist narratives shared by both DVEs and those exercising constitutionally protected speech.

One of the co-authors of Public’s article, Catherine Herridge, commented, “The newly declassified report seems to draw a straight line between opposition to vaccine mandates and elevated levels of domestic terrorism.”

A Straight Line to Tyranny

This straight line can be seen in an explanatory footnote which begins, “Some DVEs employ a number of techniques, some of which may be criminal, whereas others may constitute the exercise of rights protected by the US Constitution.”

In other words, some domestic extremists employ criminal behavior while other domestic extremists restrict themselves to First Amendment-protected activities. But, according to the Biden Administration, we’re making it known that anyone in opposition to or merely questioning the official COVID narrative is an extremist. That straight line is clearly drawn.

The footnote goes on to add,

“The mere advocacy of political or social positions, political activism, use of strong rhetoric, or generalized philosophic embrace of violent tactics may not constitute violent extremism and are constitutionally protected.”

How nice of them to clarify that the Biden Administration was still willing to allow advocacy of political and social positions. They strongly encouraged tech companies to censor you and your employer to fire you, but they resisted the urge to arrest you. Wonderful.

Science Was Never the Standard

A February 2022 report contains a section entitled, “Diverse Sociopolitical Factors Amplifying Persistent Domestic Violent Extremist Threat.” The report lists factors that “will probably” motivate plots or attempts of violence. These factors include anger over so-called “mitigation efforts” such as vaccine mandates for school-age children.

Outraged over the idea that your kid’s school might inject an untested, experimental gene therapy into your child without your permission? And you have the gall to express that opinion? You’re amplifying extremist narratives. You’re giving the green light to DVEs. How? “DVEs may interpret or exploit the public prevalence of violent extremist narratives to justify violent extremist action.”

If you opposed or questioned the official narrative and accompanying policies of the COVID response, you were, at the very least, an amplifier of domestic violent extremism. This is how the Biden Administration viewed us.

Confession: I’m One of Them

I strongly questioned the official narrative on COVID origins. It was absurd on its pangolin face. I’m not much of a science guy but I can stumble my way through journal articles. I was at least smart enough to understand the literature which concluded that surgical masks were ineffective at stopping the flu particle. I could also see that the COVID particle was much smaller than the flu particle. Therefore, surgical masks and other lame face coverings were no match for COVID. So, I very much opposed mask mandates because of common sense as much as on liberty grounds.

Apparently this made me a domestic violent extremism amplifier.

I also faced the termination of my career due to the vaccine mandate. That tends to make you feel a certain way. Thankfully, unlike thousands of others, I was able to secure a religious exemption and continue my career. But we never should have been forced into that position to begin with.

The Rallying Cry Fallacy

When I expressed my opinions about the threat to my career on social media, according to this politicized report, my posts “could serve as a rallying cry for violence.” These reports are filled with vague accusations about how so-called extremist narratives could, may, or probably will contribute to motivating DVEs to go ahead and commit acts of violence.

Herridge is right.

These reports drew a straight line from average citizens expressing their unwelcome opinions contrary to the official narrative and acts of violence.

And the Administration used these politicized threat assessments to censor, threaten, bully, coerce, and end the careers of thousands and thousands of peaceful, law-abiding citizens.

The Reckoning and the Remnant

I wish I had done more to voice my opinions and stand against this ugly, vicious, un-American authoritarianism. The election of 2024 was, in part, a response to COVID tyranny. Hopefully, we will continue to see measures put in place to ensure we never have a repeat of the Biden-Fauci COVID agenda. But we must not forget what was done to us. We must remain vigilant.

They called us amplifiers. Fine. Then hear this loud and clear: we’re not done speaking.