Countering Violent Extremism Task Force
{{Short description|U.S. counterterrorism program}}
{{infobox government agency
| name = Countering Violent Extremism Task Force
| formed = {{start date and years ago|2011}}
| jurisdiction = United States
| headquarters = Washington, D.C.
| parent_department = US Department of Homeland Security{{br}}US Department of Justice
| parent_agency = Federal Bureau of Investigation
| preceding1 =
| keydocument1 =
| keydocument2 =
| keydocument3 =
| website = [https://www.dhs.gov/countering-violent-extremism dhs.gov]
}}
Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) was a US government program established under the Obama administration to counter all violent ideologies held by groups or individuals in the US by engaging communities in the counterterrorism effort and by education programs or counter-messaging. The program worked with community groups such as local governments, police departments, universities, and non-profits. It recruited community leaders, teachers, social workers, and public health providers to help the government in identifying people "at risk" of becoming violent extremists.
CVE was criticized for employing flawed indicators of extremism such as mistrust of law enforcement or feelings of alienation and for using religion as part of its metrics targeting Muslims.{{Cite web|date=September 9, 2019|title=Why Countering Violent Extremism Programs Are Bad Policy|url=https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/why-countering-violent-extremism-programs-are-bad-policy|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212081830/https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/why-countering-violent-extremism-programs-are-bad-policy |archive-date=2019-12-12 }}{{Cite web|title=Countering Violent Extremism: A Guide for Practitioners and Analysts|url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1657824-cve-guide.html|url-status=live|website=National Counterterrorism Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323220137/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1657824-cve-guide.html |archive-date=2015-03-23 }} In April 2017, the Government Accountability Office published a critical report evaluating federal CVE efforts that stated, “The federal government does not have a cohesive strategy or process for assessing the overall CVE effort.” Also, its investigators could not “determine if the United States is better off today than it was in 2011 as a result of these tasks.”{{Cite web|date=April 2017|title=Countering Violent Extremism: Actions Needed to Define Strategy and Assess Progress of Federal Efforts|url=https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-17-300.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215043424/https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-17-300.pdf |archive-date=2020-02-15 }}
In December 2016, the incoming Trump presidential transition team planned to stop the program from targeting white supremacists, which have committed bombings and shootings such as at a black church in Charleston. The program was also planned to be renamed to Countering Radical Islamic Extremism. Congressional Republicans criticized CVE for being politically correct and argued that using the term "Radical Islam" would prevent violent attacks.{{cite news|last1=Ainsley|first1=Julia Edwards|last2=Volz|first2=Dustin|last3=Cooke|first3=Kristina|last4=Hosenball|first4=Mark|title=Exclusive: Trump to focus counter-extremism program solely on Islam - sources|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-extremists-program-exclusiv-idUSKBN15G5VO|accessdate=August 12, 2017|work=Reuters|date=February 1, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Acosta|first1=Jim|last2=Watkins|first2=Eli|title=Trump admin eyes scrapping anti-extremism program|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/politics/trump-countering-violent-extremism/index.html|accessdate=12 August 2017|work=CNN|date=February 3, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Gjelten|first1=Tom|title=Trump Reportedly Plans To Refocus Violent Extremism Initiative On Muslims|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/02/10/514566938/trump-reportedly-plans-to-refocus-violent-extremism-initiative-on-muslims|accessdate=August 12, 2017|work=NPR|date=February 10, 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Evon|first1=Dan|title=Did President Trump Remove White Supremacists from the Terror Watch Program?|url=http://www.snopes.com/trump-terror-watch-program/|website=Snopes|accessdate=12 August 2017|date=February 2, 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Beirich|first1=Heidi|title=Trump's planned changes to government's 'Countering Violent Extremism' program are politically motivated, dangerous|url=https://www.splcenter.org/news/2017/02/02/splc-trumps-planned-changes-governments-countering-violent-extremism-program-are|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|accessdate=August 12, 2017|date=February 2, 2017}} Community groups have had concerns that the program could be used to target faith groups for surveillance.{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Emma|title=What Lies Ahead for Obama's Countering Violent Extremism Program?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/countering-violent-extremism/519822/|accessdate=August 12, 2017|work=The Atlantic|date=March 17, 2017 |url-access=subscription}}{{cite news|last1=Southers|first1=Erroll|title=The U.S. government’s program to counter violent extremism needs an overhaul|url=http://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-fg-global-erroll-southers-oped-20170321-story.html|accessdate=August 12, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 21, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Montemayor|first1=Stephen|title=As Washington debates how to counter terrorism, Minnesota groups press ahead|url=http://www.startribune.com/as-washington-debates-how-to-counter-extremism-minnesota-groups-press-ahead/439497193/|accessdate=August 12, 2017|work=Star Tribune|date=August 10, 2017}}{{cite web|title=Countering Violent Extremism|url=https://www.lawfaremedia.org/topics/terrorism-extremism|website=Lawfare|access-date=August 12, 2017}}{{cite web|title=The Problem with "Countering Violent Extremism" Programs|url=https://www.aclu.org/other/problem-countering-violent-extremism-programs|website=American Civil Liberties Union|accessdate=August 12, 2017}} In May 2017, the Trump White House proposed to cut all funding to CVE.{{cite news|last1=Ainsley|first1=Julia Edwards|title=White House budget slashes 'countering violent extremism' grants|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-budget-extremism-idUSKBN18J2HJ|accessdate=12 August 2017|work=Reuters|date=May 23, 2017}} In July 2017, George Selim, a Republican who worked in the Bush administration and headed the CVE, resigned. Selim said that government cooperation with Muslim communities had proven crucial to preventing terrorist attacks but that Trump appointees saw no value in this effort.{{cite news|last1=Beinart|first1=Peter|title=The U.S. Government's Fight Against Violent Extremism Loses Its Leader|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/a-breaking-point-for-muslim-representation/535428/|accessdate=August 12, 2017|work=The Atlantic|date=July 31, 2017 |url-access=subscription}}{{cite news|last1=Lanktree|first1=Graham|title=Is the U.S. Turning its Back on the Muslim Community in its Fight Against Extremism?|url=http://www.newsweek.com/us-turning-back-muslim-community-fight-against-extremism-644758|accessdate=12 August 2017|work=Newsweek|date=August 1, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Hudson|first1=John|title=The Anatomy Of A Trump Administration Resignation Letter|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/johnhudson/the-anatomy-of-a-trump-administration-resignation-letter|accessdate=12 August 2017|work=BuzzFeed News|date=August 7, 2017}} In August 2017, reacting to reports that the Trump administration rescinded a grant to an organization fighting against neo-Nazism, the Southern Poverty Law Center warned that the threat of domestic terrorism from white supremacists remained high, pointing to an attack in Portland that happened in May.{{cite web|last1=Beirich|first1=Heidi|title=Domestic terror threat remains serious five years after Sikh massacre|url=https://www.splcenter.org/news/2017/08/04/domestic-terror-threat-remains-serious-five-years-after-sikh-massacre|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|accessdate=12 August 2017|date=August 4, 2017}}
In October, 2018, the task force existed in name only. Its staff members had returned to their home agencies and departments.{{cite news |last1=Beinart |first1=Peter |title=Trump Shut Programs to Counter Violent Extremism |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/trump-shut-countering-violent-extremism-program/574237/ |accessdate=July 30, 2019 |work=The Atlantic |date=October 29, 2018 |url-access=subscription}} In July 2019, the grant for the program expired. The program was in the Office of Community Partnerships, which by August 2019 became the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP).{{cite web |last1=Sherman |first1=Amy |title=Fact-checking whether Trump cut money to combat white nationalism |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/aug/09/pete-buttigieg/fact-checking-whether-trump-cut-money-combat-white/ |website=PolitiFact |publisher=The Poynter Institute |accessdate=August 30, 2020}} The new office was a rebranding of the Obama-era initiative.{{cite news |last1=Strickler |first1=Laura |last2=Ainsley |first2=Julia |title=DHS won't answer questions about staff, funding for office to fight domestic terror |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/dhs-won-t-answer-questions-about-staff-funding-office-fight-n997821 |accessdate=August 30, 2020 |work=NBC News |date=April 29, 2019}}