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The Trump administration plans to eliminate the Homeland Security Terrorism Prevention Program, which former government officials and experts say, have thwarted attacks in the United States. The DHS budget, submitted to Congress last month, canceled the $18 million prevention of terrorism grant program and said it was “not in line with DHS priorities.”
“This line should be cited after all events of major future casualties in the country,” said a current senior DHS official who refused his name, citing the fear of being fired.
Former DHS officials say they believe a modest program that costs around 4% of the military’s marching band budget has halted violent attacks. It is designed to prevent a type of terrorism that is becoming increasingly common. It is a lonely attack by individuals who are not members of an organized group.
Examples include the recent firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado, about demonstrators marching in support of Israeli hostages. Murder of a young couple outside the Jewish museum at the Capitol. Fourteen people were killed in a New Year’s attack in New Orleans. United Healthcare Executive Shooting in Manhattan.
“When people say, ‘I can’t prove that prevention isn’t working,’ I ask them, ‘Are you going to the doctor? Do you have a smoke detector in your home?’ And then you believe in prevention,” said Biden administration appointee Bill Braniff, who oversees the program as director of the DHS Prevention Partnership and Program Center.
John Cohen, a former senior DHS anti-terrorist official in the Obama and Biden administrations, said the threat is on the rise. “Why was the DHS created? To help the country prepare to stop the terrorist attacks after September 11th,” he said. “We’ve had many school shootings and four terrorist attacks since January, all by people who fit these behavioral profiles.”
The White House and DHS did not respond to requests for comment.
Formally known as a targeted violence and terrorism prevention grant program, the program recently went through scrutiny when Propublica published an article about the successor to Braniff, a 22-year-old former Trump campaign worker with no related experience.
But experts say the bigger problem is that the program is zero. They call this myopia decision at a time when marginalized lonely people attempted massive violent attacks at an unprecedented rate.
“Are you sure you helped avoid school shootings and massive casualty attacks? We’re sure we helped avoid many of them,” said Branif, who currently leads the American University’s Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab.
There is high interest and demand for the programme, and is countrywide. In 2024, DHS reported that it had received 178 eligible applications from 47 US and regions claiming $98.9 million with available grants. Money funds are state and local programs designed to help identify radical and potentially violent people. They included school-based threat assessment teams, mental health teams, and programs designed to inoculate children against extremist messages on social media.
It is difficult to cite a particular example. This is because, in many cases, it is difficult to draw a straight line between government programs and blocking attacks. However, the DHS document cites the 2022 case as an example of how they believe the program will help stop school shootings.
After an outreach campaign at Palm Beach State College in Florida, students urged them to be vigilant about the threat of online violence, the students anonymously reported to authorities about online posts threatening mass shootings. According to court records, the post included a threat of committing a “genocide” and a survey of “Who is selling the AR-15?”
Authorities arrested and charged a young man who was ultimately sentenced to probation and was also subject to a risk protection order, records show.
“This is not the time to finish that office,” said Cohen, a former senior DHS anti-terrorism official. “This is time to expand activities designed to detect new threats.”
This story first appeared on nbcnews.com. More from NBC News:
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