Lone wolf terrorist attacks have become such a pervasive danger that they can be thwarted only by local law enforcement “getting into people’s business” to investigate potential dangers, according to the top Homeland Security official.
“Every small town [and] big town, is at risk from this lone wolf stuff,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told a Senate panel on Tuesday. “I don’t know, as hard as I’ve thought about it, if there’s a way to prevent it, predict it, get our arms around it, other than local cops and sheriffs getting into people’s business, legally — outreach, and all that kind of thing.”
Kelly offered that assessment in the wake of the London Bridge attack that killed seven people, and while he was defending President Trump’s budget request for funding his department in coming fiscal year. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., questioned the Trump team’s plan to cut FEMA programs that subsidize first responders in local jurisdictions.
But Kelly maintained that they’re using the money for threats that the federal government is equipped to detect and prevent.
“An unlimited amount of money, parceled out to every big city [and] small municipality in America might prevent a lone wolf attack,” Kelly told Peters. “But of course we don’t have an unlimited amount of money . . . We plug in numbers and try to somehow evaluate what might be a logical target, not necessarily for the lone wolfers — they’re everywhere — but a logical target or a target that might be at higher risk, say New York City, than another municipality. Particularly from an external terrorist.”
Kelly also reiterated his frustration with the lawsuits that have blocked the implementation of a ban on travel from six Muslim majority countries that have been destabilized by terrorism and are “unable or unwilling” to help DHS conduct comprehensive background checks. His defense came just days after President Trump called the policy a “travel ban,” a move that some say could make it harder for the Trump administration to defend that policy at the Supreme Court.
“While some discuss, debate, and argue the name, title or label that best describes the president’s [executive order], professional men and women like me are actually in the business of implementing the president’s intent to secure the nation and we are doing that,” Kelly said. “We’ll let the chattering class and self-appointed critics talk about the name. I just hope that Congress sees the wisdom of what the president is trying to do to protect America and it’s people.”
That statement echoed President Trump’s latest tweets about a lawsuit against the immigration executive order. “People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN!” Trump tweeted.
