Republican Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise joined the chorus of voices calling for domestic terrorism to be made a federal crime in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton.
Scalise, who was wounded in a mass shooting at a congressional baseball practice in 2017, said “I do,” when asked on CBS’ Face The Nation if Congress should make domestic terrorism a federal offense. He also said Congress should quickly act on the issue when it returns from its August recess.
Scalise applauded the work that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were already doing to combat radicalization online, saying that “we are seeing a very alarming increase in domestic terrorism.“ Scalise added that “we need to make sure that the FBI and homeland security have the tools they need to root it out — whether it’s white supremacists or whether it’s radicals from the Left that are committing some of these crimes.”
Regarding what specific tools he was suggesting that Republicans would give to federal law enforcement, Scalise again emphasized that the FBI and DHS had put a “renewed focus” on stopping domestic terrorism, especially related to online recruitment, but said that federal investigators and prosecutors “need more tools” and “asked for more resources.”
“We have a budget process that is coming up when we return in September,” Scalise said. “Let’s make sure in the budget process that that is a very high priority. Right now it’s not high enough. We need to make sure that it is.”
In making it clear that he believes domestic terrorism should be a federal crime, Scalise finds himself in agreement with the FBI Agents Association, which represents over 14,000 retired and active FBI agents.
“Domestic terrorism is a threat to the American people and our democracy, and acts of violence intended to intimidate civilian populations or to influence or affect government policy should be prosecuted as domestic terrorism regardless of the ideology behind them,” FBI Agents Association President Brian O’Hare said last week. And he added that the group FBIA “continues to urge Congress to make domestic terrorism a federal crime” because “this would ensure that FBI agents and prosecutors have the best tools to fight domestic terrorism.”
Presently, federal law does provide a definition of domestic terrorism, but federal terrorism cases are typically only prosecuted when, like ISIS or al Qaeda, there is an international connection or motivation.
John Bash, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said the Justice Department is treating the El Paso shooting as a domestic terrorism case, believing the crimes meet the statutory definition because the attacks “appear to be designed to intimidate a civilian population, to say the least.” Bash promised the assembled reporters that “we’re gonna do what we do to terrorists in this country, which is deliver swift and certain justice.”
Bash noted that federal prosecutors were considering federal hate crimes charges and federal gun charges — and were likely to pursue the death penalty — but it was not immediately clear whether any charges specifically related to domestic terrorism would be attempted.
Police believe that Patrick Crusius, 21, is the sole perpetrator of the El Paso attack. A racist four page-manifesto that the shooter allegedly posted on 8chan prior to the shooting stated that the shooter wanted to stop the “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” It also said he drew inspiration from the mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, which killed 51 and injured 49 in March.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has repeatedly warned about white supremacist violence, telling Congress earlier this year that the danger posed by it is “significant” and that the FBI assesses that it is a “persistent, pervasive threat.”
