ABC News is reporting that the Dept. of Homeland Security has notified government leaders and law enforcement that resisters to stay-at-home orders may attack if challenged. The report indicated that essential workers and authority figures are at the highest risk of being victimized.
The news comes as anger is bubbling over about continued extensions of shutdown orders across the nation. Many have questioned the orders, which impose rules on which businesses and facilities can open and mandate social distancing requirements. High unemployment, and the feeling that the rules are not Constitutional and somewhat arbitrarily applied, has sparked angry confrontations in many states and arrests of violators whose businesses have opened despite the restrictions.
Counter-terrorism analysts at the Dept. of Homeland Security sent the report out Thursday, according to ABC News, which obtained the report.
“Some illicit actors probably will view any continued state-mandated orders as government overreach, and anticipated safety guidelines and policies—specifically the use of face masks—probably also will serve as a driving factor behind continued violent incidents related to the pandemic,” the analysts wrote.
*story by Deadline