Oppose Cash Bounty Program Targeting Civil Rights Activists

I am writing to urge you to oppose Attorney General Pam Bondi's December 5 Justice Department memo establishing a cash reward system for information on individuals in leadership positions of domestic organizations. This directive specifically targets "Antifa-aligned extremists" and those promoting "radical gender ideology" as domestic terrorists while completely ignoring far-right extremism, which data conclusively shows poses the greatest domestic terror threat. This approach contradicts decades of research. A 2020 Center for Strategic and International Studies study reviewing 25 years of domestic terrorist incidents found that far-right actors were responsible for the majority of attacks, with their share increasing to 90% in 2020. A 2024 National Institute of Justice study showed that since 1990, far-right extremists were responsible for 227 attacks killing over 520 people, while far-left extremists committed 42 attacks with 78 deaths. Despite this overwhelming evidence, Bondi's memo makes no mention of far-right domestic terror attacks, white supremacy, or antisemitism. The memo prioritizes investigating activities such as "doxing of law enforcement" and "violent efforts to shut down immigration enforcement." This language reveals the true purpose: criminalizing political opposition and civil rights advocacy. Creating financial incentives for reporting on trans activists and immigration advocates transforms constitutionally protected dissent into suspected terrorism. This is not national security policy but political persecution dressed in security language. The Justice Department has already removed the 2024 National Institute of Justice study from its website and cut staffing in its domestic terrorism office while scrapping tracking tools that targeted far-right extremists and white supremacists. These actions demonstrate a deliberate effort to ignore actual threats while manufacturing new ones based on ideology rather than evidence. I urge you to publicly oppose this cash bounty program and demand that the Justice Department base its domestic terrorism priorities on factual data rather than political targeting. Our constituents deserve security measures grounded in reality, not programs designed to intimidate activists exercising their First Amendment rights.