The 58 “fusion centers” in the nation are government intelligence-gathering units that were formed after the 9/11 attacks. A leaked terrorist assessment from the Virginia Fusion Center, reports Scott McCabe at the Washington Examiner, calls the state’s universities and colleges “nodes for radicalization” and breeding grounds for extremist groups. The assessment, which claims 50 terrorist or extremist groups exist in the commonwealth, “fuses” information from federal, state, and local sources with general observation.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia is up in arms, claiming that the internal document relies on sparse evidence and encourages law enforcement officials to focus on certain people on the basis of race, religion, or school affiliation.

A police spokeswoman responds, “The Virginia Fusion Center upholds the liberty and constitutional rights of all citizens.”

(Tip: Mal Kline)