Story at a glance
- White supremacist organizations and individuals have been tied to recent attacks, including the insurrection on Capitol Hill.
- President Biden announced a new counterterrorism initiative focused on domestic threats.
- Reuters reported that the policy is intended to address white supremacy and terrorism in the Untied States.
President Biden’s plan to counter domestic terrorism involves fighting white supremacy in the United States after the insurrection on Capitol Hill raised alarms in Washington.
“The threat is elevated,” an unnamed senior administration official told Reuters ahead of the announcement. “Tackling it means ensuring that we do have the resources and personnel to address that elevated threat.”
In a statement about the new counterterrorism initiative, Biden did not explicitly call out white supremacists, saying, “Domestic terrorism — driven by hate, bigotry, and other forms of extremism — is a stain on the soul of America. It goes against everything our country strives for and it poses a direct challenge to our national security, democracy, and unity.”
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The White House, however, said in a release that, “the two most lethal elements of today’s domestic terrorism threat are (1) racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists who advocate for the superiority of the white race and (2) anti-government or anti-authority violent extremists, such as militia violent extremists.”
“They are doing this in a way they feel ratchets up the protection but also respects expression and association protections,” the unnamed official told Reuters about an ongoing Department of Defense review of “how and when to remove military members who are found to be engaged in known domestic terrorist groups.”
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