FBI Continues Targeting Black Political Organizations Through 'Black Identity Extremist' Designation

In August 2017, the FBI's Domestic Terrorism Analysis Unit published an intelligence assessment designating 'Black Identity Extremists' (BIE) as a domestic terrorism threat, citing anger at police killings. The report was leaked to Foreign Policy magazine in October 2017. Civil rights organizations said the designation echoed COINTELPRO's targeting of civil rights organizations and could be used to surveil Black Lives Matter activists, community organizers, and others engaged in constitutionally protected protest. The FBI did not produce a similar category for white nationalist violence. Following Congressional pressure, the FBI reportedly replaced the BIE designation in 2019.