PHOENIX — The FBI's Phoenix office -- the same office that alerted higher-ups almost 20 years ago to Osama Bin Laden's use of American aviation schools -- has issued the agency's first warning that labels fringe conspiracy theories as a domestic terrorist threat.
"Anti-government, identity-based, and fringe political conspiracy theories very likely motivate some domestic extremists, wholly or in part, to commit criminal and sometimes violent activity," according an "intelligence bulletin" issued to law enforcement at the end of May. It was first reported last week by Yahoo News.
"In some cases, these conspiracy theories very likely encourage the targeting of specific people, places and organizations...increasing the likelihood of violence against these targets. These assessments are made with high confidence."
The FBI has faced pressure in Congress over its efforts against domestic terrorism. The massacre in El Paso this weekend, which prosecutors are treating as domestic terrorism, highlights the growing threat of white supremacists.
The Phoenix office's report lists the 2018 mass murder at the Tree Of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh as an attack motivated by a conspiracy theory involving Jews bringing in "invaders ... that kill our people."
Also singled out in the report: A wild conspiracy theory that claimed the Clintons and the Jewish Rothschild banking family backed a Mexican-owned bunker in the Tucson desert where conspiracy theorists believed children were raped.
Perpetrators alleged there was a massive cover-up of the site by law enforcement and government, and they accused specific residents, businesses and local officials of aiding child sex-trafficking, according to the report.
The bulletin goes on to warn: "These conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve ... and are likely to increase during the 2020 presidential election cycle."
The Phoenix FBI office declined to comment on the bulletin.
The national FBI press office issued this statement: "While our standard practice is to not comment on specific intelligence products, the FBI routinely shares information with our law enforcement partners in order to assist in protecting the communities they serve."
In July 2001, special agent Kenneth Williams wrote the so-called "Phoenix Memo," warning that Osama Bin Laden was sending potential terrorists to aviation schools in the U.S.
The memo was largely ignored by the FBI's Washington and New York offices.
Two months later, Bin Laden attacked America with domestic passenger jets, on Sept. 11, 2001.