An attack on power substations by gunfire on Saturday in North Carolina put radical homegrown extremists on America’s radar.
The blackouts persist along with a curfew and state of emergency. Homegrown terrorism of this nature is typically not treated as so severely as foreign.
"The difference between AQ and U.S. citizens who are white supremacists or who belong to domestic violent groups is that with an individual who is part of al-Qaeda there is a foreign connection," one former senior law enforcement official told Newsweek. "That means we can bring a different approach."
"Meanwhile, a U.S. citizen, regardless of the racism or ideology they espouse, is afforded all the rights under the Constitution," he added.
Mubin Shaikh, a counter-extremism and counterterrorism specialist, explained how there is a proven blindspot for U.S. law enforcement.
"Without a domestic terrorism statute to treat these hostile actors in the way the government has dealt with Al Qaeda or ISIS," Shaikh told Newsweek, "the full weight of U.S. law cannot be brought to bear in this setting."
"This means that other groups, even state-backed adversaries, can draw inspiration from such tactics as demonstrated," he added, "perhaps unwittingly by their domestic extremist compatriots."
Shaikh believes a more aggressive strategy is needed.
"We have to go after these groups in the same way we did AQ and ISIS," he said. "I'm talking about infiltration operations, supported by strong prosecution and sentencing. The domestic counterterrorism lessons learned from the post 9/11 period must not be simply put to the side just because today's perpetrators look like the majority demographic."
Investigators have yet to establish a motive or a link to any particular ideologies, but the power was cut the same time a drag event was to occur.
Among the most vocal opponents of the drag show was Emily Grace Rainey, a former U.S. Army psychological operations officer implicated in the January 6 riot at the Capitol. She recently took up the title of director for a group called Moore County Citizens for Freedom.
After the power went out on Saturday, Rainey took to social media to say, "I know why" the electricity went out. She then wrote the Moore County Sheriff's Office had visited her home but had "wasted their time" in doing so, as "God works in mysterious ways and is responsible for the outage."
"I used the opportunity to tell them about the immoral drag show and the blasphemies screamed by its supporters," she wrote. "God is chastising Moore County. I thanked them for coming and wished them a good night."
DHS Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection Brian Harrell referenced the infamous yet still unattributed April 2013 attack that saw a seemingly organized group open fire on a substation in Metcalf, California, as well as "what now looks like a coordinated attack on N.C. substations," as "proof positive that domestic terror groups are intently looking at critical infrastructure as targets."
"I suspect that we will not see a group come forward and take responsibility," Harrell said. "If they stay underground, don't highlight themselves, and don't get caught, they preserve their ability to attack again."