The Department of Homeland Security used an anti-terrorism program to fund a "media literacy" initiative linking religious and conservative organizations to neo-Nazis and white supremacists, documents reveal.
The DHS accepted a $352,109 grant application under the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program for the University of Dayton to look into "raising societal awareness, media literacy and online critical thinking initiatives," according to documents obtained by the Media Research Center.
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Dayton's grant application sought to fund its "Preventing Radicalization to Extremist Violence through Education, Network-Building and Training in Southwest Ohio (PREVENTS-OH)" project, which has a goal to "prevent domestic violent extremism in Southwest Ohio." Dayton cited the Southern Poverty Law Center in its assessment that Ohio ranks highly for "anti-government extremist groups."
Prevention tactics include developing awareness about "factors for radicalization to violence related to media literacy and online critical thinking for students."
Dayton cited work from its Human Rights Center that assessed "regional needs and capacities for violent extremism prevention" to show the kinds of content a DHS grant might help produce.
That citation included a presentation titled "Extremism, rhetoric and democratic precarity," which has an influence pyramid that presenter Michael Loadenthal, a research fellow at the University of Cincinnati, said displays the "modern far-right."
The presentation was given before Dayton was a grantee but was used in its grant application for DHS as part of Dayton's bid for funding.
According to Loadenthal, the "pyramid of far-right radicalization" shows "mainstream conservativism" in the first section, which includes Fox News, the Christian Broadcasting Network, the Heritage Foundation, the Republican National Committee, and the National Rifle Association.
The more radical second tier, which Loadenthal says is "falsely called the alt-light," includes Trump supporters, Breitbart News, PragerU, and Turning Point USA.
The next two tiers, which Loadenthal dubs the "alt-right" and "accelerationists," begin including white nationalist and neo-Nazi entities such as the Daily Stormer.
“This terrorism task force is engaged in an active effort to demonize and eliminate Christian, conservative and Republican organizations using federal taxpayer dollars,” MRC founder and President L. Brent Bozell III told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “What we have uncovered calls for criminal prosecution. The American people need to know those who are abusing their positions in the federal government will be held accountable for their criminal behavior.”
MRC sent a letter Tuesday to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) asking for the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government to investigate the DHS.
"The Media Research Center has uncovered disturbing documentation that proves that the government is colluding with left-wing activists, academics, and state and local officials in an active effort to target some of the most prestigious conservatives and prominent political, religious, and media groups in the country, linking them directly to Nazis and terrorists," the letter, obtained by the Washington Examiner, states.
The DHS, however, has denied the claims.
“This seminar was not funded, organized, or hosted by the Department of Homeland Security," a DHS spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. "Similarly, the presented chart was not developed, presented, or endorsed by the Department of Homeland Security and was not part of any successful grant application to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS does not profile, target, or discriminate against any individual for exercising their constitutional rights protected by the First Amendment.”
Despite the statement, the DHS's own J.R. Masztalics, regional prevention coordinator for the DHS Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, or CP3, was a presenter in the same event at which Loadenthal spoke. The CP3 administers the TVTP program.
When asked about Masztalics and the inclusion of the presentation in the University of Dayton's application for a grant, the DHS decided not to amend its statement.
TVTP began during the Trump administration to study terrorism prevention. It was revamped during President Joe Biden's tenure to "comprehensively combat domestic violent extremism." The Biden administration has previously labeled parents who speak at school boards and Catholics as domestic terrorists and extremists.
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“On the heels of the Durham report, we now have evidence that the Biden administration is ratcheting up its anti-American targeting of Christians, conservatives, and Republicans. This is abhorrent and criminal,” Vice President of MRC Free Speech America Dan Schneider said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “We call on federal prosecutors to hold violators accountable under our civil rights laws.”
The University of Dayton and Loadenthal did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.