Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com is following the ConWeb template of criticizing the Department of Homeland Security report on right-wing extremismby not telling the full truth behind the claims made in the report.
An April 15 article by Susan Jones repeats claims that "Veterans and pro-life groups are among those protesting" the report. Jones asserted that the report "label[ed] pro-life supporters as rightwing extremists" without noting the history of violence perpetrated by some anti-abortion extremists.
Jones repeated criticism by the American Legion of the report for noting that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was a former member of the military without also noting that, as we've mentioned, a 2008 FBI report stated, in the words of the DHS, that "some returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups," adding: "A review of FBI white supremacist extremist cases from October 2001 to May 2008 identified 203 individuals with confirmed or claimed military service active in the extremist movement at some time during the reporting period." (One abortion clinic bomber, Eric Rudolph, was also a former member of the military.)
Jones also seems to justify Richard Poplawski's killing of three Pittsburgh policemen by writing that "People who knew the suspect said was worried about his weapons being seized during the anti-gun Obama administration." At no point does Jones offer any evidence that Obama is "anti-gun" -- perhaps because there isn't any.
An April 16 article by Jones claiming that "Many conservative gun owners will feel threatened and insulted by the report" (though quoting only one) basessly suggests that a call for "re-imposing the ban on semi-automatic weapons" by "Obama’s own Justice Department" is a direct contradiction of Obama's statement during the campaign that "he would not take their weapons away." In fact, the weapon ban that the Obama administration has shown interest in re-instituting does not ban all "semi-automatic weapons," as Jones falsely suggests, but only selected types of semi-automatic military-style guns.
CNS has yet to address the DHS report on left-wing extremism, which was obtained by WhoRunsGov's Greg Sargent.
