As mentioned in Part One, the Colorado Health Foundation sent out an email earlier this week expressing concern about a federal memorandum published on the White House website at the end of September.
CHF defines its mission as helping to provide health access to underserved populations, which — uncomfortably enough — include populations currently defined by the Trump administration as adversarial groups:
Immigrants. The homeless. Non-Christians. People of color. Anyone defining themselves as LGBTQ+. And anyone, apparently, trying to help these groups obtain, or retain, their civil rights. Anyone who supports diversity, equity and inclusion. Also, educators, scientists, and environmentalists.
Basically, anyone who does not fully support the MAGA agenda. The Americans who constitute — to use the term favored by our current President — “the enemy within.”
From the CHF email, noting the threats implied in the new White House memorandum, “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence”:
The memo’s vague and sweeping language wrongly conflates constitutionally protected community organizing, peaceful protest, nonprofit advocacy and philanthropic support with violence and extremism. This overreach risks destabilizing the very nonprofit ecosystem that Coloradans rely on to build healthier, more just communities. Policies that restrict civic participation and freedom of speech, silence nonprofits or stigmatize communities undermine the conditions required for all Coloradans to thrive.
What, exactly, is CHF referring to, when they use the phrase “vague and sweeping language”?
Does the White House memo truly intend to undermine efforts to build healthier, more just communities in Colorado by conflating CHF activities with “violence and extremism”?
Let’s consider that idea.
From the new Trump administration memorandum:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct the following:
Section 1. Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.
Heinous assassinations and other acts of political violence in the United States have dramatically increased in recent years. Even in the aftermath of the horrifying assassination of Charlie Kirk, some individuals who adhered to the alleged shooter’s ideology embraced and cheered this evil murder while actively encouraging more political violence. This was preceded by the 2024 assassination of a senior healthcare executive and the 2022 assassination attempt against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Two separate assassination attempts against my own life in less than 3 months took place during the 2024 Presidential election cycle. Riots in Los Angeles and Portland reflect a more than 1,000 percent increase in attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers since January 21, 2025, compared to the same period last year. Just yesterday, a shooting targeting an ICE facility in Dallas resulted in multiple casualties. Separate anti-police and “criminal justice” riots have left many people dead and injured and inflicted over $2 billion in property damage nationwide.
This is a fascinating introductory paragraph, in my humble opinion. The section is titled “Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence” but none of the events mentioned constituted “Organized Political Violence”. The heinous and well-publicized murders and attempted murders that have taken place in the United States over the past decade — in schools, in homes, in churches, on campuses — have been, almost universally, perpetrated by mentally ill individuals, acting alone.
The introductory paragraph of the White House memorandum would have us believe these acts are part of an organized effort at terrorism. This is a ridiculous assertion, but the White House wants us to accept it as a fact.
The word “terrorism” once had a useful, accepted definition. “Terrorism” was, once upon a time, defined as political violence against seemingly random persons and property with the intention of terrorizing a general population.
None of the acts mentioned in the introductory paragraph of the White House memo constitute “terrorism” as usefully defined.
But the U.S.government, long ago, began using the term “terrorism” to refer to any type of political violence perpetrated by opponents of U.S. national interests — as those “national interests” may have been defined by the federal government.
We will also note that the introductory paragraph fails to mention numerous acts of political violence by supporters of the MAGA agenda — which were also “unorganized” acts by individuals, acting alone, or in apparently spontaneous riots such as the attack on the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.
The White House memorandum continues:
This political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically. Instead, it is a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society. A new law enforcement strategy that investigates all participants in these criminal and terroristic conspiracies — including the organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources, and predicate actions behind them — is required.
These campaigns often begin by isolating and dehumanizing specific targets to justify murder or other violent action against them. They do so through a variety of fora, including anonymous chat forums, in-person meetings, social media, and even educational institutions.
When we look at the actual evidence, we can confirm that the political violence mentioned in the memorandum’s introduction was, in point of fact, “a series of isolated incidents”, and did, in point of fact, “emerge organically.” The event closest to the description in this memo was the January 6 riot.
In point of fact, we have no evidence whatsoever that any of the political acts mentioned in the memorandum’s introductory paragraph were aided by “organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources…”
Nor by “educational institutions.”
But the White House wants us to believe lies, misinformation, and distortions of fact, in apparent service of the MAGA agenda.
If anyone is currently conducting an organized campaign to isolate and dehumanize “specific targets”, it is the White House and the political supporters of the current administration.
And the “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence” document is part of that campaign.
But the documented White House distortions get even worse, as we shall see.