Democrats call for domestic terrorism hearings

Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee called on the panel’s Republican members on Tuesday to hold hearings examining domestic terrorism. 

In a letter sent to Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and committee Republicans, the panel’s 12 Democratic members accused President Trump of failing to properly condemn white nationalists and asked members of Congress to “stand up to all ideologically-motivated violence.”

“Unfortunately, it has become clear we cannot count on President Trump for action,” the letter reads. “Even before he was elected, many of us were concerned that his unwillingness to denounce and distance himself from white nationalists would be taken as tacit support by those ready to use violence to advance their racist ideology.”

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The letter came three days after a white nationalists rally in Charlottesville, Va., turned violent, leaving one counterprotester dead after a driver rammed a car through through a crowd of peaceful demonstrators. An Ohio man with ties to white supremacist groups has been charged with murder in the case.  

Trump faced fierce criticism in the immediate aftermath of the demonstrations for his ambiguous statement blaming the violence on “many sides.”

Trump’s slow response to and vague condemnation of the violence prompted a chorus of bipartisan criticism. The president delivered a firm rebuke of hate groups on Monday, saying “racism is evil.”

On Tuesday, however, he said once again that counterdemonstrators at the white nationalist protest should share the blame for the violence.

“You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent,” Trump said at a Tuesday news conference in New York. “And nobody wants to say that. But I’ll say it right now. You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent.”