Democrats: Charleston shooter proof that white supremacists, anti-government groups pose significant national threat

A group of Senate Democrats are pushing for a congressional inquiry into whether the threat of white supremacist domestic terror is on the rise in the wake of the killing of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17.

The lawmakers, all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, claim that alleged shooter Dylan Roof’s racially charged ramblings ahead of the incident make it apparent that he was acting at behest of domestic hate groups.

“If this same act had been perpetrated by someone claiming a desire to harm Americans in the service of Islamist principles, it would immediately be labeled an act of terror,” the senators, led by ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont, said in a written petition for hearings. “A violent act motivated by a racist desire to intimidate a civilian population falls squarely within the definition of domestic terrorism.”

The letter, addressed to Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), was signed by Leahy along with Democratic Sens. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Dianne Feinstein of California, Chris Coons of Delaware and Al Franken of Minnesota.

“In the past, mass violence in our country has been explained away as an act of insanity to be treated as a mental health issue. What we saw in South Carolina is about hate, and it is about evil,” the Democrats said.

The lawmakers’ request comes after the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization which has long claimed that right-wing domestic terror poses a larger threat to the U.S. than Islamic jihad, similarly asked Congress to hold hearings on the matter.

“There’s a growing recognition that the resources the federal government devotes to combating terrorism may be too skewed toward jihadism, even as deadly attacks by non-Muslim extremists are becoming increasingly common,” said SPLC President Richard Cohen. “Congress should hold hearings to determine how the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are working to respond to this threat.”

SPLC included in its call for congressional action findings from a recent report from the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, which names anti-government groups as a bigger threat to U.S. law enforcement that radicalized Muslims.

According to the report, a survey of 382 law enforcement agencies showed that “74 percent reported anti-government extremism as one of the top three terrorist threats in their jurisdiction; 39 percent listed extremism connected with al Qaeda or like-minded terrorist organizations.”

The post Democrats: Charleston shooter proof that white supremacists, anti-government groups pose significant national threat appeared first on Personal Liberty.

from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/democrats-charleston-shooter-proof-that-white-supremacists-anti-government-groups-pose-significant-national-threat/

from WordPress https://toddmsiebert.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/democrats-charleston-shooter-proof-that-white-supremacists-anti-government-groups-pose-significant-national-threat/