Face of Nation : The US has struggled to confront the rise of domestic terrorism threats, drawing concern from lawmakers and former officials that there is a lack of a cohesive strategy to deal with the problem and the limited resources available skew towards international efforts.
The FBI has seen a significant rise in the number of white supremacist domestic terrorism casesin recent months, a senior bureau counterterrorism official told CNN recently. Congress and the executive branch, critics say, have been slow to react.
A US Department of Homeland Security-sponsored study this year found that there are “major gaps in national terrorism prevention efforts,” stemming from limited investment and a lack of focus. Federal initiatives have also been stymied by a “sustained opposition” to some if its terrorism prevention efforts. DHS funding for efforts aimed at countering violent extremism were also found to be significantly lower than other western democracies, according to the study.
The administration has also made changes to federal funding for grants meant to counter violent extremism and the staff in the Homeland Security office that administers them has been diminished.
On Sunday, US Attorney for the Western District of Texas John Bash said the Justice Department is treating the El Paso shooting that took the lives of at least 20 people over the weekend as a “domestic terrorist case” — placing an issue this administration, like those before it, has had to contend with at the forefront.
Despite the rise in domestic cases, there is no federal charge for “domestic terrorism.” The US doesn’t have a domestic terrorism law and no government agency designates domestic groups as being terrorist organizations. That means many cases the FBI calls domestic terror-related end up with a variety of charges for violations of laws related to guns or even other state charges.
For instance, in several past race- and religion-motivated mass shootings by extremists, like at a Charleston, South Carolina, church in 2015 and at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh last fall, the shooters have faced hate crime and murder charges.
“We prosecute domestic terrorists for their criminal acts, not for their beliefs or based on their associations,” Brad Wiegmann, a deputy assistant attorney general with the Justice Department’s national security division, testified at a US House hearing in May. “The FBI opens cases on suspected criminal violations, not ideologies.” In a statement Sunday night, the FBI said it “remains concerned that U.S.-based domestic violent extremists could become inspired by these and previous high-profile attacks to engage in similar acts of violence.”
When mass shooters in the US are linked to known international terrorist groups, terrorism charges then come into play. Critics say those laws disproportionately apply to Muslim extremists.
“Killing random civilians to spread a political message is terrorism,” former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tweeted Sunday. “FBI classifies it as domestic terrorism, but “white terrorism” is more precise. Many of the killers are lone-wolf losers indoctrinated to hate through the internet, just like Islamic terrorists.”
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan in June testified in a congressional hearing that “white supremacist extremist violence” a “huge issue” and called it an “an evolving and increasingly concerning threat.” Louisiana Republican who was the victim of a mass shooting two years ago, also cited the internet, although he added a note about “mental health.”
“These events should be classified as domestic terrorism, and I’m glad that in the case of El Paso, the FBI is treating it as such,” he tweeted. “There is clearly a culture of death in America today. Violence is glorified and normalized on our screens every day. Instead of seeking professional help for mental health problems, men are being radicalized in online forums. This must stop.”
