Capitol riot leaves Democrats split over domestic terrorism law and criminalizing dissent
Discussion over a federal domestic terror law has been revived after protesters stormed the Capitol
By Ronn Blitzer | Fox News
At least 25 cases of domestic terrorism opened after Capitol Hill riot
Democrats are divided over a new domestic terrorism bill that would establish new government offices to monitor suspicious activities within the country and combat terrorism, with a specific focus on White nationalists and neo-Nazis.
President-elect Joe Biden is making a domestic terrorism bill a priority, the Wall Street Journal reported in November, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who sponsored such a bill in 2019, plans to reintroduce it after the new administration takes office. The bill has generated discussion since violent protesters stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday in protest of the certification of Biden’s election victory.
"A Biden administration will … work for a domestic terrorism law that respects free speech and civil liberties, while making the same commitment to root out domestic terrorism as we have to stopping international terrorism," Biden's campaign website says.
The 2019 bill calls for establishing offices in the Justice Department, FBI and Department of Homeland Security that would "analyze and monitor domestic terrorist activity." While it focuses on terrorism from right-wing extremists, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis, it has seen substantial opposition from the left.
The ACLU vehemently opposed it when it was introduced, writing in a letter to House Judiciary Committee leaders Reps. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Doug Collins, R-Ga., that the bill was "unnecessary because the offenses it creates largely duplicate existing crimes, and harmful because it expands authorities that law enforcement has abused to target marginalized communities."
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