The Justice Department has announced the creation of a new counsel to coordinate investigations into domestic terrorism, saying homegrown extremism poses a greater threat to America than the Islamic State group, reports CNN.
The new office, the Domestic Terrorism Counsel, will help combat that threat by serving as the main point of contact for U.S. attorneys nationwide working on domestic terrorism matters. The counsel will attempt to identify trends across cases, shape strategy and spot legal gaps that need to be closed, according to The Associated Press.
The counsel was announced Wednesday by Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, who oversees national security at the Justice Department. "The new DT Counsel will not only help ensure that DT cases are properly coordinated but will also play a key role in our headquarters-level efforts to identify trends to help shape our strategy, and to analyze legal gaps or enhancements required to ensure we can combat these threats," he said during a speech at George Washington University.
"Terror and extremism do not always originate elsewhere or take place outside our borders. Homegrown violent extremists can be motivated by any viewpoint on the full spectrum of hate – anti-government views, racism, bigotry, anarchy and other despicable beliefs. When it comes to hate and intolerance, no single ideology governs," Carlin added, noting that more Americans have been killed in domestic attacks than in attacks tied to international terrorist organizations.
In the last couple years, Carlin's division at the Justice Department has mainly focused on the Islamic State group, but his speech Wednesday was an unusual acknowledgment of what he said was a "clear and present danger" posed by Americans with no ties to terror groups.
"As was the case with McVeigh and Nichols and the Charleston shooter, lone offenders or small groups often plan and carry out attacks on their own or with limited assistance," he said, pointing to the Internet as a recruiting tool. "Sovereign citizens continue to communicate and recruit through the use of YouTube and Twitter. White supremacists post to social media, and studies now posit that mass killings are contagious. Violence begets violence, and through the power of the Internet, a meeting hall is no longer needed. Formal organizational structures are unnecessary. Connections are made, and messages spread, through the push of a button."
The new office will be teaming up with the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center, though it is not entirely clear what role the center will play, according to Breitbart.
