//The Wire//2230Z July 2, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: DPRK TESTS NEW MISSILE. HURRICANE BERYL REACHES CAT 5. ACID ATTACK STRIKES GERMANY. VIOLENT RHETORIC INCREASES IN US BEFORE ELECTION.//

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-International Events-

Far East: North Korea has tested their newest ballistic missile, the Hwasongpho-11 Da-4.5. Two missiles were launched during the test, one of which appears to have suffered a failure at one of its early stages, according to South Korea. AC: Though the success of this test is uncertain, this is the first time the DPRK has tested this new platform, which North Korea claims is capable of carrying a “super large” 4.5 ton warhead.

Caribbean: Hurricane Beryl has strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane. So far, widespread damage has been reported in Grenada as the hurricane briefly made initial landfall. Further projections and forecast modeling at the moment predicts Hurricane Beryl will make final landfall on the eastern coast of Mexico, to possibly include parts of Texas.

Germany: An unidentified male conducted an acid attack in a café in Bochum on Sunday. So far, police have indicated that this may have been a targeted attack on one person at the café. However, as many as 14 people were either directly burned in the attack, or were otherwise involved or wounded. AC: Almost all details of the attack have been concealed by authorities at this time (which is typical of terror attacks throughout Europe), however the assailant was arrested shortly after the attack.

-HomeFront-

USA: Following the wake of various SCOTUS rulings, to include ruling in favor of President Trump with regards to his immunity from prosecution for official acts as President, violent rhetoric has become common on social media, mostly among various far-left activists (and many celebrities, journalists, pundits, etc).

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Analyst Comments: Ordinarily, the violent rhetoric originating from mostly leftist groups would be not worthy of mention as the political far-left has been allowed to say such things on social media without repercussion for some time now. This textbook threatening language has evolved to the point of Leftist groups threatening a President, which normally is the most-forbidden topic that results in immediate investigation under normal circumstances. However, legalities aside, this does shift the baseline of acceptable social behavior to the point that pundits on mainstream media are either outright encouraging such violent rhetoric, or passively agreeing with it. Even though a tidal wave of violent rhetoric has become common in the digital sphere in the lead up to Presidential elections, shifting the goalposts to normalize increasingly violent rhetoric should be noted as it is a strong indicator of violent speech eventually becoming violent behavior. Right now, violent speech (despite the legalities) can generally be attributed to meaningless internet outrage. However it would be wise to remain aware of some of the more specific and widespread rhetoric, or threats that are made by groups well known to resort to violence; taking random threats on the internet seriously would be prudent just in case malign actors decide to make good on their threats. 

Analyst: S2A1

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