youThe Department of Homeland Security used a counterterrorism program to fund a “media literacy” initiative linking religious and conservative organizations with neo-Nazis and white supremacists, documents reveal.
DHS accepted a grant request for $352,109 under the Terrorism and Targeted Violence Prevention Grant Program for the University of Dayton to research “increasing social awareness, media literacy, and critical thinking initiatives online,” according to documents obtained by the Media Research Center.
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Dayton’s grant application sought to fund its project “Preventing Radicalization of Extremist Violence Through Education, Networking, and Training in Southwest Ohio (PREVENTS-OH),” which aims to “prevent Domestic Violent Extremism in Southwest Ohio”. Dayton cited the Southern Poverty Law Center in its assessment that Ohio ranks high among “extremist anti-government groups.”
Prevention tactics include developing awareness of “violence radicalization factors related to online media literacy and critical thinking for students.”
Dayton cited the work of its Center for Human Rights that assessed “regional needs and capacities for the prevention of violent extremism” to show the types of content that a DHS grant could help produce.
That appointment included a presentation titled “Extremism, Rhetoric, and Democratic Precariousness,” which has a pyramid of influence that host Michael Loadenthal, a researcher at the University of Cincinnati, said shows the “modern far right.”
The submission was made before Dayton was a grantee, but was used in their grant application to DHS as part of Dayton’s funding offer.
“The Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization” from a presentation by Dr. Michael Loadenthal for the University of Dayton “Center for Human Rights.”
Dr Michael Loadenthal
According to Loadenthal, the “far-right radicalization pyramid” displays “conventional conservatism” in the first section, which includes Fox News, the Christian Broadcasting Network, the Heritage Foundation, the Republican National Committee and the National Rifle Association.
The second, more radical tier, which Loadenthal says is “falsely called the alternative light,” includes Trump supporters, Breitbart NewsPragerU and Turning Point USA.
The next two tiers, which Loadenthal calls “alt-right” and “accelerationists,” begin to include neo-Nazi and white nationalist entities such as the daily stormer.
“This counterterrorism task force is engaged in an active effort to demonize and eliminate Christian, conservative, and Republican organizations using federal taxpayer dollars,” MRC founder and president L. Brent Bozell III said. washington examiner in a sentence. “What we have discovered calls for criminal prosecution. The American people need to know that those who abuse their positions in the federal government will be held accountable for their criminal behavior.”
MRC sent a letter Tuesday to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) requesting that the Federal Government Subcommittee on Weapons investigate DHS.
“The Center for Media Research has uncovered disturbing documentation proving that the government is colluding with left-wing activists, academics, and state and local officials in an active effort to attack some of the most prestigious conservative, political, religious, and media groups. prominent in the country, linking them directly to Nazis and terrorists,” the letter, obtained by the washington examinerstate.
DHS, however, has denied the claims.
“This seminar was not funded, organized or sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security,” a DHS spokesperson told the washington examiner. “Similarly, the table presented was not developed, submitted, or endorsed by the Department of Homeland Security and was not part of any successful grant application to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS does not profile, target, or discriminate against any person for exercising its constitutional rights protected by the First Amendment.”
Despite the statement, DHS’s own JR Masztalics, regional prevention coordinator for the DHS Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, or CP3, was a presenter at the same event Loadenthal spoke at. CP3 manages the TVTP program.
When questioned about Masztalics and the inclusion of the presentation in the University of Dayton’s grant application, DHS decided not to change its statement.
TVTP began during the Trump administration to study the prevention of terrorism. It was revamped during President Joe Biden’s term to “comprehensively combat domestic violent extremism.” The Biden administration has previously labeled parents who speak on school boards and Catholics domestic terrorists and extremists.
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“On the heels of the Durham report, we now have evidence that the Biden administration is stepping up its anti-American attack on Christians, conservatives, and Republicans. This is abhorrent and criminal,” MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider said in a statement to the washington examiner. “We call on federal prosecutors to hold violators accountable under our civil rights laws.”
The University of Dayton and Loadenthal did not respond to requests for comment from the washington examiner.
