If You Bought a Hat at Cabela’s, You Might Be a “Violent Extremist”
You ask, are you serious? Unfortunately, yes, I am.
Last week the House Judiciary Committee released information detailing the financial surveillance that our Federal government is performing on average Americans.
Government surveillance of purchases by citizens is not new. Back in the 1970s the FBI tracked purchasers of “The Anarchist Cookbook” which outlined how to build bombs. That book caused a lot of fingers to be lost but also pointed the FBI to possible subversives.
But now the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has expanded the search to include a lot of financial transactions that may ensnare you and me.
FinCEN has expanded its “suspicious behavior” definition to track “extremism” indicators to include “transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,” or “the purchase of books (including religious texts).”
If you bought a gun or ammo since 2021 bureaucrats may have classified you as a “potential active shooter.”
FinCEN is looking at codes used by stores to identify the type of transaction. For example, code 3484 is used for “Small Arms,” code 3489 is used for “Ordinance” (ammo).
But within these transactions, FinCEN looks for dozens of keywords like “Bass Pro Shop,” “Cabela’s,” “Dick’s Sporting Goods,” and “Glock.”
So, if you bought a flashlight or hat at Dick’s, you may be on a list of “Violent Extremists.”
The lesson here? Pay cash.
At least while you can because the Federal government wants to eliminate cash with its own version of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). I’ve written about CBDCs here and here. Basically, a CBDC replaces cash. This enables the government to track each and every payment you make or receive. Buy a pack of gum? Uncle Sam knows about it. Pay the plumber cash under the table for that repair? Can’t do it anymore.
But the government hasn’t limited the search for domestic terrorists. According to Newsweek the Richmond office of the FBI issued a document titled "Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities."
By “Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology,” the FBI means the traditional Latin mass performed at many Catholic churches.
The document also included a list of Catholic organizations that are defined as hate groups by civil rights advocates the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). These include the Catholic Apologetics International in Pennsylvania and the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in New Hampshire.
So, if you attend Latin mass, you might be a “Violent Extremist.”
But wait, there’s more!
The FBI issued another document “Federal Bureau of Investigation Domestic Symbols Guide” which lists certain symbols such as the Gadsten Flag and the Betsy Ross Flag. The assertion the FBI is making is that if you display certain symbols, it’s an indicator that you could be a member of a militia and be a “Violent Extremist.”
So, if you fly the Betsy Ross Flag (I do), you might be a “Violent Extremist.”
There’s still more.
According to whistleblowers, the FBI has been charged with targeting parents who protest at school board meetings. So, basically, moms in yoga pants who speak out against certain curriculum at their kids’ school can end up on a terrorist list.
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So, what’s going on here? It seems to me that politicians speak as though large numbers of citizens are “Violent Extremists.” Because that’s probably not true, the Federal government is looking everywhere to identify these people. Basically, the supply of domestic terrorists is small, but the government’s demand to expose them is large, so the government is expanding the scope of what it considers a “Violent Extremist.”
We should all be afraid.