“We've seen this movie play before,” he said. He said the Pentagon has to take the threat seriously, noting that the Islamic State and other terror groups in the Middle East used social media to recruit followers. But, he added, “there’s communication going back and forth, especially in light of 6 January, about who do we need to pay attention to and so on.” Speaking to a small number of reporters at the Pentagon, Colón-López said he is not aware of any specific coordination that has started between the Defense Department and law enforcement. Of those, as many as 33 individuals had military backgrounds, including 31 veterans and a member of the National Guard and a member of the Army Reserves, according to the Program on Extremism, which is based at George Washington University. More than 300 people have been charged so far in the riot that resulted in the deaths of five people, and at least 100 more are expected to be charged. But Pentagon leaders launched an all-out effort to root out extremism in the force after it became clear that a significant number of military veterans and some current military members were present at the January insurrection in Washington, D.C. ![]() The military has long been aware of small numbers of white supremacists and other extremists in its ranks. It’s not good for the department and it’s not good for the image of the military.” “And we need to make sure that they stand clear from them. ![]() “We do know that our force is being made aware of those organizations that are out there that are actively recruiting people,” said Colón-López. Military leaders are intent on developing training for troops that makes clear they should not get involved with such groups. Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramón Colón-López said Thursday that the Defense Department is talking with federal law enforcement agencies as they develop databases on domestic extremists groups, in the wake of the Jan. A top official compared the recruitment effort to that undertaken by international terrorist groups trying to lure the support of servicemembers. military is focusing on identifying extremist organizations in the United States that are trying to recruit members from within the armed forces.
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