Bipartisan support emerges for domestic-terror bills as experts warn threat may last '10 to 20 years

[Wicked Blue]

Washington Post
By Karoun Demirjian
Feb. 4, 2021 at 7:11 p.m. EST

An apparent bipartisan majority of the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday endorsed the idea of new laws to address domestic terrorism in the wake of last month’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, as experts warned such internal threats would plague the country for decades to come.

Elizabeth Neumann, a former assistant secretary of homeland security for counterterrorism during the Trump administration, warned lawmakers that there is a “high likelihood” that another domestic terrorist attack would occur in the coming months and that the problem would persist “for the next 10 to 20 years.”

***

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), the committee’s former chairman, joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers calling for legislation to set specific federal penalties for domestic terrorism cases. Such legislation would aim to bring the prosecution of such crimes into parity with laws targeting terrorism that originates overseas — something proponents said would recognize that the threats are equally insidious.

“What happened Jan. 6 just cries out” for such a response, McCaul said. “I think it sends a strong message about where Congress is, that we’re going to treat domestic terrorism on an equal plane as international terrorism.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/capitol-riot-domestic-terror-legislation/2021/02/04/f43ec214-6733-11eb-8468-21bc48f07fe5_story.html


Surprising but welcome comment from a Republican: "we’re going to treat domestic terrorism on an equal plane as international terrorism.”

[keithbvadu2]

1. may last '10 to 20 years' - Sounds like Hitler's time frame.

may last '10 to 20 years' - Sounds like Hitler's time frame.

[PoliticAverse]

2. Looks like Partriot ACT III is coming. n/t

[Hekate]

5. The issue of domestic terrorists has been neglected for decades, as in, there is no such category...

...in the law, from what I have heard. This needs to be rectified soon.

Anybody who supports Planned Parenthood and other women’s reproductive rights organizations has known for 40 years about one network of domestic terrorists that has moved way past clinic protests and supports arson, murder, maiming, stalking, and doxxing. Their heroes are sheltered, hidden, and supported when on the run. When in prison they are still treated as heroes and receive visits, gifts, and letters.

The USA PATRIOT ACT (1 & 2) was shocking. Many of us believe it was overreach, but I am not going to argue the case now.

In all sincerity, there were American elements that were simply left out: white Christian men with personal armories and a simmering grudge against society and the federal government. Now, right now, we all just witnessed a political insurrection in which our Capitol was overrun. By these men and their female cohorts. They are fully networked across social media — so much so that there’s even a Proud Boys chapter in Honolulu.

The Legislature needs to name them for what they are — domestic terrorists — and enact a coherent body of laws to deal with them.

[PoliticAverse]

6. "Many of us believe it was overreach," - don't repeat the mistake by enacting another one. n/t

[Hekate]

7. I'm not calling for any such thing, just pointing out that we have a genuine crisis that needs...

...addressing, a long-standing crisis.

[ret5hd]

3. The republiQanon just wants to use it on BLM, etc.

[chowder66]

4. Punishments should be as harsh as can be legally to bring this under control asap.

Civics needs to be taught in schools asap. Moderators need to be quick on social media, false media reports need to be quashed and condemned.

Militias need to be renamed for what they actually are and so far I haven't heard of any actual real militia. They are neo-nazi's, gangs, white supremacists, white nationalists, murderers, grifters, thieves, etc.

Trump and his ilk should be hammered to the point of no return within the Justice system. Anyone trying to pull this shit should go through the same.

Lessons in empathy, sympathy and compassion should be spotlighted everywhere, all the time and mental health needs to be addressed in this country.