A bus was driven into an office building in Idaho that was set to house federal agencies, including ICE and DHS. Gasoline was poured inside. This was not vandalism. It was a domestic terror attack directed at a symbolic target.
A lot of people were surprised this happened in Idaho. They associate this kind of activity with larger cities. That assumption is dangerous.
What concerns me more than where it happened is what happened before it.
In the days leading up to the attack, I was watching Idaho 50501 on Facebook. The tone was shifting. People were openly discussing the building. They were naming ICE. They were saying something needed to be done.
When someone raised concerns about St. Luke’s Hospital employees being affected, anonymous accounts claiming to work there responded by encouraging action anyway. That tells you something about where the emotional temperature was.
This was not subtle.
The language moved from disagreement to urgency. From frustration to moral justification. Once that shift happens, the risk level changes.
After nearly three decades in law enforcement, I can tell you this: violence rarely begins with the act. It begins with permission. Groups give themselves permission first. They justify it. They convince each other it is necessary. By the time someone drives a vehicle into a building, the groundwork has already been laid.
The Idaho attack did not appear out of nowhere. It formed in public view.
Churches need to understand that.
Churches Need an Intelligence Officer, Not Just a Security Team
Most church security teams focus on the physical environment. Doors. Cameras. Medical kits. Radios. Armed volunteers. All of that is necessary.
Very few teams assign someone to monitor the information space.
That is a mistake.
If no one on your team is responsible for tracking local activist groups, then no one is watching the early indicators. You are waiting for something to show up in your parking lot instead of recognizing it while it is still forming online.
Groups that oppose ICE have already targeted churches in other parts of the country. Sometimes it is because ICE agents attend the church. Sometimes it is because a church publicly supports law enforcement. Sometimes it is nothing more than a rumor or a social media post that creates an association.
Real association or perceived association does not matter. If activists believe your church is connected, that belief can be enough to justify protest or disruption in their minds.
That is why every serious church security team should designate one person as an intelligence officer.
This does not mean infiltrating groups. It does not mean engaging in arguments. It means monitoring publicly available information.
That person should:
Monitor local activist pages and groups.
Track tone shifts in rhetoric.
Document repeated references to specific facilities.
Note calls for “direct action.”
Watch for event timing tied to your service schedule.
This role should report regularly to the security director and senior leadership. A short weekly brief is enough. The purpose is awareness, not alarm.
We already teach pre attack indicators at the individual level. Before someone throws a punch, their body shifts. Their jaw tightens. Their stance changes. The same principle applies in the digital space.
Before someone drives a bus into a building, the language shifts.
Opposition turns into agitation.
Agitation turns into justification.
Justification turns into a call for action.
If you are not watching that progression locally, you are blind to the early stages of a threat.
Assigning an intelligence officer is not paranoia. It is stewardship.
Digital Pre Attack Indicators Churches Should Not Ignore
If you assign someone to monitor local groups, you need to be clear about what they are looking for.
Not every angry post is a threat. Not every protest leads to violence. The goal is not to overreact. The goal is to recognize escalation.
There are patterns.
First, repeated naming of a specific church or facility. When a building goes from being part of a general complaint to being identified by name, that is target fixation. In Idaho, the building housing ICE was no longer an abstract symbol. It was a location people were discussing directly.
Second, language that shifts from disagreement to urgency. Words like “something needs to be done” are not instructions by themselves, but they create psychological permission. When multiple people reinforce that language, the tone changes.
Third, moral justification. When people begin framing action as necessary, righteous, or unavoidable, the barrier to violence lowers. In the Idaho case, even when concerns were raised about St. Luke’s employees being affected, some accounts claiming to work there encouraged action anyway. That tells you the justification had already taken hold.
Fourth, event specific timing. If discussion begins tying action to dates, service times, or known gatherings, your risk posture changes immediately. That is no longer abstract frustration. That is planning language.
Fifth, doxxing or attempts to identify staff and members. Once names and faces are circulated with hostile commentary, the situation has moved into a more serious phase.
An intelligence officer should not guess at intent. They should document patterns. Screenshot posts. Record dates. Track progression. If escalation continues, that information can be shared with law enforcement partners in a clear and organized way.
This is how you stay ahead of the curve.
Waiting for a threat to show up at the door is reactive. Watching escalation develop in public is proactive.
The Responsibility of the Watchman, Ezekiel 33:6
Ezekiel 33 describes a watchman assigned to stand guard over a city. His job was simple. If he saw the sword coming, he was to blow the trumpet and warn the people.
Verse 6 is direct:
“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned… his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.”
The watchman is not responsible for stopping every attack. He is responsible for seeing and warning.
That distinction is important for church leadership and security teams.
No church can prevent every hostile act. You cannot control the national climate. You cannot control activist movements. But you are responsible for whether you are paying attention.
If escalation is visible online in your own community and no one on your team is assigned to monitor it, that is not a technology problem. It is a leadership decision.
God takes the role of the watchman seriously. The watchman is not dramatic. He is not reactionary. He is observant. He is disciplined. He understands that danger often appears in the distance before it reaches the gate.
The Idaho terror attack should not be viewed as an isolated event in a quiet state. It should be viewed as a reminder of how violence forms. It develops in language. It grows in groups. It becomes justified long before it becomes physical.
Churches that want to remain open, faithful, and steady must also be alert.
Assign someone to watch.
Blow the trumpet when escalation appears.
That is not fear. That is obedience.
