Since last April, the Department of Justice has known that white supremacists were responsible for every single incident of race-based domestic terrorism committed in the United States, but blocked the information from being released to Congress, according to a blockbuster new report from Yahoo News:
The document, dated April 15, 2019, shows 25 of the 46 individuals allegedly involved in 32 different domestic terrorism incidents were identified as white supremacists. It was prepared by New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security Preparedness, one of the main arteries of information-sharing, and sent throughout the DHS fusion center network as well as federal agencies, including the FBI.
“This map reflects 32 domestic terrorist attacks, disrupted plots, threats of violence, and weapons stockpiling by individuals with a radical political or social agenda who lack direction or influence from foreign terrorist organizations in 2018,” the document says.
The Justice Department, under the leadership of Attorney General William Barr, however, repeatedly refused to give the information to Congress despite repeated requests.
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had to this say about the revelation that the DOJ had been hiding such critical information:
“I’m troubled by the lack of transparency, given that we haven’t received this critical information after several requests to the FBI and DOJ. They cannot and should not remain silent in the face of such a dangerous threat.”
An aide for Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), who also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Yahoo News:
“This is disappointing but unfortunately not surprising. In April, the Justice Department and the FBI briefed Senate Judiciary Committee staff on domestic terrorism, nearly six months after Sen. Durbin’s office first requested the briefing. At the briefing, the DOJ and the FBI were unable or unwilling to provide precise data on white supremacist terrorism, and neither agency has responded to our repeated follow-up questions since the briefing.”
The document in question groups the 46 suspects allegedly involved in domestic terror incidents in 2018 into three distinct categories:
- Race-based extremists
- Anti-government extremists
- Single-issue extremists
And the map attached to the report “includes more detailed data within these categories and all 25 of the individuals classified as ‘race-based extremists’ are identified as ‘white supremacists.'”
When he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in July, FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted that the “majority” of domestic terrorism cases his agency has investigated were indeed tied to white supremacists, but he didn’t provide any specific figures.
As we’ve repeatedly seen from the Trump administration, there is nothing they won’t lie about in order to bolster their political standing and shield the president’s often fanatical supporters from facing justice.
Featured Image Via the BBC
