Washington State Launches ‘Public Health’ Task Force To Address ‘Domestic Violent Extremism’

Washington State launched a “Domestic Violent Extremism and Mass Violence Task Force” spearheaded by the Attorney General’s (AG) Office — and its first meeting is Friday.

The AG’s Office was granted $247,000 in the state’s 2024 budget to create a “public health” approach for tackling “extremism and mass violence,” according to Washington State Senate Bill (SB) 5950, which became effective in March. Washington’s Attorney General is Bob Ferguson, and he won his bid to be the state’s next governor.

The money awarded to the AG’s office is for the 2025 fiscal year. The legislation states that the AG must work with the department of health to appoint at least 10 people to the task force. (RELATED: Washington State Enacts Law Forcing K-12 Schools To Teach LGBTQ History)

The members include community organizations, law enforcement groups and “public health and nonprofit organizations” that combat the effects of mass violence and extremism, according to the bill.

🚨WA: Ferguson got his “domestic violent extremism” task force through the 2024 budget passed by #waleg

The Attorney General’s office was awarded $247,000 in the 2024 budget to create a task force to devise a statewide approach to combating political extremism and mass violence.… pic.twitter.com/2nvMI0ZNwF

— Julie “Florida Woman” Barrett (@juliecbarrett) November 20, 2024

After the task force’s first meeting in November it will send a preliminary report to the governor and certain legislative committees by June in addition to a “final report” by December 2026. The latter report must contain recommendations for creating a “comprehensive framework.”

The Daily Caller reached out to the AG’s office for comment and information on the task force’s members but has not heard back.

The task force is similar to an outline in a 2023 proposal. The bill, HB 1333, would have created a commission consisting of members from various minority groups.

The original text wanted the task force to include representatives from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). (RELATED: Blue State Doled Out Over $330 Million From COVID Funds To Illegal Immigrants)

However, the ACLU representative was removed via a committee amendment, according to Clark County Today.

HB 1333 anyone? https://t.co/gDxVxDE9sL

— Washington State Political Watch (@WApolwatch) September 18, 2023

The bill was in response to a 2022 report on domestic terrorism from Ferguson’s office. The first recommendation of the report was to create a commission designed to respond to DVE (domestic violent extremism) using a public health model.

The public health model focuses on addressing the roots of “radicalization,” addressing its impacts and deradicalizing “extremist groups,” the document reads.

“Secondary prevention refers to efforts to mitigate the impacts of already radicalized people and groups, primarily through surveillance, monitoring, arrest, interruption of plots, barricading of doors, hardening of soft targets, etc.,” the study explains. (RELATED: ‘Bomb Cyclone’ Tears Across Northwest, Killing Two And Triggering Power Outages)

Washington will be the first state in the country to implement a public health approach to address DVE, according to the report.

Dare to disagree with the Government?

Democrats want to set up a commission to investigate you.

HB 1333 is a direct assault on free speech and a major abuse of power.

Comment against this bill here: https://t.co/6Z8KlkHB9d

— Washington State GOP (@WAGOP) January 25, 2023

The report is similar to President Biden’s 2021 “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism,” citing the intelligence community’s assessment that domestic violent extremists (DVEs) threatened homeland security.

The document claimed developments including “narratives of fraud” and “conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic” would likely result in violence.

The task force is not the only step Washington has taken to address “extremism.” The state is also rolling out a “hate crime hotline” in three counties, and it has established an advisory committee on “hate crimes and bias incidents.”

The Task Force is meeting on Nov. 22 and people can watch the meeting via Zoom or in person to give their input.