New Jersey’s 2019 Terrorism Threat Assessment Has National Relevance

The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness has published its 2019 Terrorism Threat Assessment, which is intended to inform partners within the state about the state of the threat environment but can be used by security practitioners elsewhere. It includes a section on domestic terrorism, which recounts incidents that happened across the U.S. in 2018 and discusses the threats posed by anarchists, militia groups, sovereign citizens, and white supremacists. The international terrorism section that follows includes a review of al Qa’ida’s activities in 2018 and discusses the Islamic State’s “post-caliphate” strategy. Other areas of interest in the document include a visual assessment of the terrorist groups that poses the greatest threats to New Jersey (with homegrown violent extremists at the top and Pakistani terrorist group Tehrik-e-Taliban at the bottom), a discussion of cybersecurity threats, and a “SEE Something, SAY Something” section that describes how to report suspicious activity and offers eight potential signs of terrorist activity.