- Elizabeth Neumann beganher domestic security career

in the Bush Administration in 2003.

Most recently, she servedas assistant secretary

for counter terrorism in theHomeland Security Department.

During that time, she witnessed the rise

of a domestic threat the likesof which she had never seen.

It started in 2017 with hate crimes

against Jewish cemeteries.

A turning point for Neumanncame in August, 2017,

an outpouring of extremistsin Charlottesville, Virginia,

with a boldness that caughther and many people off guard.

- You had people blatantly out in public,

they weren't covering their face,

they're carrying tiki torches

as if they're going to a fraternity party.

And they're saying "Youwill not replace us."

- [Heather] That phrase is part

of what's known as replacement theory,

a fear stoked by these groups

that whites will bereplaced by other races,

but their end goal isperhaps the biggest threat.

- The root of theirideology is this belief

that the only way to trulypreserve the white race

is to overthrow the US Government

and establish a white nation.

- [Heather] The latest case in point,

extremists who planned to storm

the Michigan Capitol building,

and kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

In a new threat assessment report,

Homeland Security ActingSecretary Chad Wolf

cites specific concernabout white supremacists.

In the last two years alone,

they have organizedthe majority of attacks

by violent extremists, killing 39 people.

And these groups, like the Boogaloo Boys,

Atomwaffen Division,

and the Rise AboveMovement, are not amateurs.

These are people that areincreasingly sophisticated

and educate themselveson what law enforcement

can and can't do, what theFirst Amendment allows for.

And they walk right up to that line

of incitement to violence,and they're careful

not to cross it.

- Another concern, the pandemic,

it's increased the numberof vulnerable people

who are susceptible to being recruited.

- The vulnerabilitiestend to be for people

who have had a number ofstress factors in their life,

and right now we all havestress factors in our life,

increased social isolation,

we're all dealing withincreased social isolation

because of the pandemic.

Loss of the job, loss of afamily member, financial stress.

- [Heather] Extremists workto convince those suffering

that these legitimate grievances

can threaten their very existence,

and that violence isnecessary to defeat it.

Neumann says they are also intentional

about using statements fromthe President to build support.

This observation becameclear during her time at DHS.

One big moment came afterthe El Paso massacre.

When investigators foundthe President's language

about immigrant invasionsin the shooter's manifesto.

White supremacists have also benefited

from his refusal attimes to denounce them.

- I understand the argumentthat he has condemned.

Why are you making him condemn again?

It's because of the waythat these people think.

They view the dancing around the issues

and the unwillingness to condemnhate when it first shows up

as you know, actually likeI'm really with you guys,

and that emboldens people.

- [Heather] Looking forward,

Neumann warns that white supremacists

and other extremists may targetevents around the election.

For those who want to promote peace,

she encourages the simpleact of listening to someone

with a different viewpoint.

That alone, she says., couldhelp bring our country back

to the practice of civil dialogue.

Heather Sells, CBN News.