DHS-Funded College Program Tries to Link Conservatives, Christians To Neo-Nazis
A taxpayer-funded college program, which receives its funds from the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has created a chart that equates conservatives and Christians to militant neo-Nazis.
Conservative media watchdog group MRC Free Speech America obtained documents that show the DHS’ Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention gave $352,109 in fiscal year 2022 to a program at the University of Dayton that aimed to “develop and implement modules on the risks of and protective factors for radicalization to violence related to media literacy and online critical thinking for students,” according to the New York Post.
According to an internal memo obtained by MRC, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas referred to the agency’s Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program as a “high priority.” Through the program, the DHS has awarded 80 grants totaling almost $40 million to establish “media literacy and online critical thinking initiatives.”
The MRC reports that the University of Dayton’s PREVENTS-OH was “among the most radical” groups to receive grants through the DHS initiative. The college’s program reportedly vowed to fight “domestic violence extremism and hate movements.”
The most egregious thing to come out of this program thus far is a shocking chart that compares mainstream conservative groups with Nazis and other radical groups.
The MRC wrote: “For example, a chart used by DHS and its grantee in a training program equates mainstream groups with militant neo-Nazis, including: The Heritage Foundation, Fox News, the National Rifle Association (NRA), Breitbart News, PragerU, Turning Point USA, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the American Conservative Union Foundation (ACUF) and the Republican National Committee, among others.”
The chart is titled “The Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization,” and includes several Christian and Christian groups and organizations alongside neo-Nazi groups. At or near the top of the pyramid are “smaller” organizations with an “increased level of extremism.”
During a seminar on the pyramid held at the university, the presenter said that the groups at the bottom of the pyramid — including the Republican Party, Fox News, the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Heritage Foundation — represent “mainstream conservatism.
Breitbart News Network, PragerU, Turning Point USA, Infowars and the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement are all included in the second tier of the pyramid — which the presenter called the “alt-lite.”
The third tier represents the “alt-right” and the fourth tier represents “accelerationist terrorism,” both of which contain several radical hate groups.
Meanwhile, the seminar also included a conversation comparing “former President Donald Trump to Pol Pot and suggested Florida Governor Ron DeSantis might wish to start a second Holocaust,” according to MRC.
In a statement to the New York Post, the DHS attempted to distance themselves from the issue, with a spokesperson claiming that the “seminar was not funded, organized, or hosted by the Department of Homeland Security.”
“Similarly, the presented chart was not developed, presented, 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 individual for exercising their constitutional rights protected by the First Amendment,” the spokesperson added.
However, it appears that the statement was a lie — as a DHS employee directly participated in the seminar, discussing the department’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnership. Dayton researchers also confirmed that the seminar was part of the DHS grant program.
In response to the false claims in the DHS’ statement, MRC vice president Dan Schneider accused the department of “lying through its teeth once again.”
“DHS did indeed fund the PREVENTS-OH program a year after a graph and documents were presented that equated Nazis to conservatives, Christians, and Republicans,” Schneider said.
“Laughably, the DHS Ohio grantee quickly scrubbed its website following this report, something innocent groups don’t do. But it is too late; we have already copied it. We also have proof that ‘PREVENTS-OH’ actually hosted the conference and that DHS was an active participant, including featuring a senior DHS official at the conference,” he added.
Schneider went on to demand that Mayorkas “step down immediately,” and called on Congress to launch an investigation into the DHS.
The Heritage Foundation has also condemned the program, sharing a Twitter thread that delves into the people behind the pyramid.
