Group behind Project 2025 urges FBI to brand ‘transgender extremists’ a domestic terror threat
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation proposed a broad definition of ‘extremist’ rhetoric that would seemingly cover a wide range of pro-LGBT+ activism
The influential conservative think tank behind Project 2025 has urged the FBI to treat "violent transgender ideology" as a new domestic terror threat.
In a petition launched on Thursday, the Heritage Foundation — along with its spin-off group, the Oversight Project — called on the agency to add "Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism" aka "TIVE" to its list of domestic extremist groups so that it could “detect, disrupt, and dismantle TIVE cells.”
They cited the assassination of Charlie Kirk as only the "latest example" in a long line of home-grown terrorists "brainwashed by trans ideology," though evidence for such a trend is thin at best.
For example, according to the Gun Violence Archive, around 0.1 percent of mass shootings that took place over the last ten years were carried out by transgender people. A study from The Violence Prevention Project at Hamline University backs this up. PolitiFact also reported found that “trans people are more likely to be victims of violence than their cisgender peers.”
And while the Heritage Foundation and the Oversight Project insisted that they were not accusing all trans people of being terrorists, their public explanation of "TIVE" rhetoric appeared extremely broad, encompassing many arguments made by trans rights activists.
"TIVE adherents have carried out horrific acts of political violence through assassination and targeted mass shootings of Christians in furtherance of their ideology," said the Oversight Project.
"The time has come for the federal government to use the full weight of federal law enforcement to crush this threat and keep Americans safe."
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The Heritage Foundation is known for its close ties to both Trump administrations; the second Trump administration has followed many “Project 2025” proposals.
The Oversight Project was previously part of the Heritage Foundation until being spun off as an independent entity earlier this year. Its president, Mike Howell, remains a visiting fellow at Heritage.
The petition dovetails with a years-long effort by many within the MAGA movement to smear America's estimated 2.8 million trans people as exceptionally violent, unstable, and prone to perpetrating mass shootings.
In the immediate aftermath of Kirk’s death, The Wall Street Journal published a report alleging — wrongly, as it turned out — that shell casings had been found etched with messages of ‘transgender ideology’, prompting a response from The Human Rights Campaign.
“This reporting was reckless and irresponsible, and it led to a wave of threats against the trans community from right-wing influencers — and a resulting wave of terror for a community that is already living in fear,” the organization said in a press release.
California state senator Scott Wiener likewise said: “The obsession with tying trans people to shootings is vile and dangerous.”
“First they try to say the shooter might be trans, and WSJ amplifies that lie. Once that fell apart, they pivot to ‘he lived with a trans person.’ Even if true, who cares? It’s McCarthyism and truly disgusting.”
It follows Donald Trump's declaration that he would designate antifa — a loose, decentralized left-wing anti-fascist movement with no clear hierarchy or structure — a "major terrorist organization".
‘Transgender ideology is violent at its core’
The U.S. government lacks the legal authority to designate U.S. organizations as terrorist groups. Still, the FBI maintains a list of broad domestic terrorism classifications such as "Racially/Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism", "Anti-Government/Anti-Authority Violent Extremism", and "Abortion-Related Violent Extremism".
In Thursday‘s explanation, the Oversight Project and Heritage explicitly avowed that not all trans people or their supporters should be treated as terrorists, and that "individuals are free to identify as transgender, or support... transgenderism in a non-violent way."
They defined "TIVE" as “encompassing” any ”potentially unlawful” threats, violence, or incitement intended to further “ideological agendas derived from transgender ideology”.
One such agenda, they said, was "the belief that violence is justified against people who oppose transgender ideology... or who are silent or indifferent."
But the other “agenda” was far broader: the belief that anti-trans rhetoric or policies "constitute a form of violence" towards trans people, or that they threaten trans people's lives by contributing to the community’s high suicide rate.
If adopted by the FBI, that would brand a wide range of arguments common among progressive activists and writers as “extremist” rhetoric.
It’s unclear what the two campaign groups meant by “potentially unlawful”, or what they would define as incitement. Yet in follow-up posts on social media, the Oversight Project claimed that accusing conservatives of wanting to “eradicate” trans people was “TIVE” rhetoric that “leads people to justify violence.”
“So according to the Heritage Foundation, a trans person who points out that Daily Wire commentator Michael Knowles has called for our eradication should be designated a violent extremist by the FBI?” asked Ari Drennen of the left-wing campaign group Media Matters for America.
The Heritage Foundation and Oversight Project further gave a list of "terminology used by TIVE[s]", which included widely-used terms such as "cisgender", "deadnaming", and "misgendering".
Also listed was "Gillick Competence" — a legal test originating in British case law which defines the point at which a person under 16 can consent to medical treatment, such as contraception, abortion, or hormone therapy, without their parents' permission or knowledge.
They gave 11 examples of attacks on people or property said to be motivated by "TIVE", including Kirk's shooting, but only four appeared to have any political motive.
One of the 11 was Minneapolis shooter Robin Westman, whose diary expressed regret about transitioning and echoed the Heritage Foundation's own rhetoric by saying they felt "brainwashed" into it.
"To understand transgender ideology is to understand that at its core, it's wrapped in violence — at its very essence," said Mike Howell.
The group said it would soon submit a formal mock designation for the FBI to implement, and would publish this once it was ready.
What we know about the motive for Kirk’s killing
Early reports and court documents suggest that Kirk's alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, grew up in a pro-Trump family but had recently become more left-wing, telling his romantic partner that he'd "had enough of [Kirk's] hatred".
His partner, who is reportedly transgender, was said to be "aghast" at Robinson's confession and has cooperated fully with the police, including by handing over messages from Robinson.
The investigation is in its early stages, and Robinson has made no explicit statement to investigators about his beliefs or motives.
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino, a former police officer and podcaster, has said he is probing whether Robinson was "aided and abetted" by an "extended network”.
Separately on Thursday, independent journalist Ken Klippenstein reported that the FBI was already planning to focus more on transgender suspects and treat them as a form of "nihilistic violent extremist", citing inside sources.
The Independent has not been able to verify that report, and the FBI declined to comment.
This story was updated at 1:33 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday Sep. 19, 2025 to add further reaction and more precise language about the proposal, then again at 4:12 p.m. to reflect a response from the FBI.