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Newly declassified documents reveal the Biden administration flagged COVID-19 mandate critics as possible domestic violent extremists.

Americans who opposed COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates were labelled “domestic violent extremists” by the Biden administration, according to intelligence documents declassified last Friday by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

The classification, first reported by Public and journalist Catherine Herridge, was applied to individuals and groups expressing opposition to vaccine and mask mandates.

The documents were originally compiled in December 2021 by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), under the title “DVEs and Foreign Analogues May React Violently to COVID-19 Mitigation Mandates”.

This designation provided an “articulable purpose” for federal agents to begin surveillance or initiate investigations — known as “assessments” — on American citizens who voiced concerns about the Biden admin’s public health policies.

The idea that the Biden administration viewed millions of Americans as a terrorist threat sounds like a conspiracy theory, but it’s not. Newly declassified documents show that in December 2021, the FBI and DHS labeled opponents of Covid mandates “Domestic Violent Extremists.” pic.twitter.com/9GyQdIoptn

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) May 23, 2025

Vague Definitions Cast a Wide Net

According to the report, critics of COVID-19 mandates were included under the category of “anti-government or anti-authority violent extremists,” particularly those associated with militias or allegedly influenced by QAnon.

Among the so-called “prominent narratives” linked to extremism were:

• Beliefs that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe, especially for children
• Concerns about loss of civil liberties and livelihoods
• Suspicions of a coordinated government or global agenda
• Fears that mandates would usher in a new political or social order

The report acknowledges that some expressions of dissent may involve constitutionally protected speech, but the line between lawful activism and suspected extremism was left blurred.

“The mere advocacy of political or social positions… may not constitute violent extremism and are constitutionally protected,” the report states. However, such language is followed by caveats that allow agencies to justify monitoring those same expressions.

Former FBI agent Steve Friend told Public that the purpose of the report appeared to be aimed at social media suppression. “It’s a way they could go to social media companies and say, ‘You don’t want to propagate domestic terrorism, so you should take down this content’,” he explained.

NEW: Biden Administration Labeled Opponents Of Covid Mandates As “Domestic Violent Extremists,” Newly Released Documents Show

The designation infringed on the First Amendment and opened the door to investigating Americans for vaccine mandate skepticism.

The Biden Administration… pic.twitter.com/BFbffO0xUC

— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) May 23, 2025

Free Speech at Risk Under the Guise of Security

Tulsi Gabbard, serving as Director of National Intelligence under President Donald Trump, declassified the reports, stating the documents reveal a troubling trend of criminalising dissent.

Speaking to Fox News, she said, “There’s a consistent thread through here that these ideologies… happen to be people who were using their First Amendment rights to oppose certain policies of the Biden Administration.”

She warned that vague definitions could be exploited to stifle legitimate political discourse: “Some of the examples that are focused on here have to do with those who oppose the COVID vaccine mandates, those who oppose the mask mandates, and parents concerned that their children going to school may be forcibly vaccinated… without the consent or awareness of parents.”

Gabbard explained that while the documents do not outright declare such individuals as terrorists, they place them on what she called a “continuum” — a trajectory from dissent to extremism. In practice, this means anyone expressing opposition to COVID-19 mandates could be flagged for further scrutiny simply because such views are associated with individuals who have committed violent acts.

Her Fox News host likened this logic to a flawed syllogism: “It’s like saying all baseball players wear hats, but then suggesting that everyone who wears a hat must be a baseball player.” The implication, Gabbard warned, is that merely holding contrarian views — such as skepticism about the vaccine rollout — could have been interpreted as a red flag for potential domestic terrorism.

“It’s the weaponisation and politicisation of the intelligence community and national security state against the American people,” Gabbard explained.

The declassified documents can be viewed here.

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.