4 First Steps for Congress To Address White Supremacist Terrorism

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Introduction and summary

From the Ku Klux Klan’s campaign of terror against African Americans following the Civil War to the anti-government bombing in Oklahoma City, terrorism and political violence have been a part of American history for generations. Since 2001, America has focused intently on countering a different form of terrorism—specifically, a form of terrorism practiced most prominently by al-Qaida and later the Islamic State (IS) group. After the September 11 attacks, there was a consensus that this form of terrorism presented the clearest threat to the U.S. homeland—and the U.S. government was willing to take unprecedented measures to counter the threat. Some actions, such as the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, were proportionate and successful; others deeply undermined U.S. values while increasing anti-American sentiment.1 The country continues to live with these shameful legacies such as the ongoing operation of the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Today, however, America faces a different threat environment. The increasingly polarized state of American politics, combined with the proliferation of social media networks, has allowed previously isolated hate groups to connect and coordinate. As a result, a new consensus is growing among counterterrorism watchers that the most significant terrorist threat to the United States is now the threat from violent white supremacists. Most recently, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that white supremacist violence is the most lethal overall threat facing the United States.2 Early this past summer, a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) corroborated these findings:

… far-right terrorism has significantly outpaced terrorism from other types of perpetrators, including from far-left networks and individuals inspired by the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Right-wing attacks and plots account for the majority of all terrorist incidents in the United States since 1994, and the total number of right-wing attacks and plots has grown significantly during the past six years. Right-wing extremists perpetrated two thirds of the attacks and plots in the United States in 2019 and over 90 percent between January 1 and May 8, 2020.3

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Radical Trump aide who was fired for ties to white nationalists rehired to manage US Holocaust memorials

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A former speechwriter for President Donald Trump who was fired after attending a white nationalist meeting has been rehired to manage the United States’ memorials to commemorate the Holocaust genocide.

Although Trump is now in the lame duck period of his presidency, the White House released a statement on Wednesday, confirming several key positions the president is now filling. The statement confirmed Trump nominated Darren Beattie to become a Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. The board, which was founded in 1985, has the responsibility of “seeking out, and overseeing, the preservation of overseas sites related to the Holocaust,” according to Business Insider.

In 2018, Beatie was hired by the White House as a speech writer. However, his time at the White House was short-lived due to CNN’s investigative findings that determined he was a keynote speaker at a white nationalist conference in 2016. According to the publication, CNN determined “Beattie spoke on a panel alongside Peter Brimelow, the founder of anti-immigration website Vdare, at a conferences hosted by the right-wing society the H.L. Mencken Club.” Continue reading.

House passes defense policy bill that Trump threatened to veto

The Hill logoThe House approved its annual defense policy bill in a 295-125 vote on Tuesday, taking a step toward confrontation with President Trump over stripping Confederate names from military bases.

The fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was approved with a veto-proof majority, though it is possible that some of the 108 Republicans who voted for the legislation could change their votes to back up a presidential veto.

The 125 “no” votes included 43 Democrats. Continue reading.