Two former extremists are calling for violent extremism to be treated as a public health issue amid an uptick in high-profile mass shootings.
Mubin Shaikh, a former Islamic extremist turned national security and counter terrorism expert, insisted on Friday that such a move would help provide a much-needed comprehensive approach to address the issue.
“What you need to bring to bear is something that covers the spectrum — whether it’s mental health, whether it’s religious aspects, whether it’s psychosocial aspects,” Shaikh told Hill.TV during an interview on “Rising.”
“This is why it has to be a public health issues so to cover all the bases across the board,” he added.
Arno Michaelis, who used to be a former white supremacist before becoming an anti-hate activist, echoed Shaikh’s thoughts, likening violent extremism to an addiction.
“I really believe adherence to violent extremist ideology is an addiction,” Michaelis told Hill.TV. “That doesn’t necessarily make the person stricken with this addiction blameless, but it does mean that they need help more than punishment.”
The remarks follow an August shooting in El Paso, Texas, in which the shooter posted a hate-filled, anti-immigrant manifesto before opening fire and killing 22 people at a Walmart. Prosecutors are now considering possible federal hate crime charges against the gunman.
Though there has been talk about gun control legislation since that shooting and another mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, little progress on a deal seems to have been made.
The Democrat-led House advanced three gun violence prevention bills earlier this month, but the GOP-controlled Senate and President Trump have yet to agree on any form of gun legislation.
Parkland shooting survivor Lauren Hogg admonished House lawmakers over this inaction during a hearing before House lawmakers on Wednesday.
“I think if you would have done enough, we wouldn’t have to be having this conversation today,” Hogg, who is the co-founder of March for Our Lives, told members of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery.
—Tess Bonn
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