Last year, intelligence officials stressed the danger of homegrown extremists. This year, they went virtually unmentioned during the hearing. The assessment takes them on, noting that for now, they appear to be disorganized, and not showing any tendency to unite or work together to carry out any attacks within the US.
鈥淎t least in the near term,鈥� the threat in the United States from what intelligence officials call 鈥渉omegrown violent extremists鈥� 鈥� whom they have dubbed 鈥淗VEs鈥� 鈥� will consist of mainly lone actors perhaps inspired by Al Qaeda, but 鈥渘ot formally affiliated with it or other related groups.鈥�
What鈥檚 more, most HVEs 鈥渁re constrained tactically by a difficult operating environment in the United States.鈥�
