The Department of Justice announced the creation of the Domestic Terrorism Counsel, an office designed to coordinate investigations into homegrown attacks.
During a speech at George Washington University, Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin said: "The new DT Counsel will not only help ensure that DT cases are properly coordinated, but will also play a key role in our headquarters-level efforts to identify trends to help shape our strategy, and to analyze legal gaps or enhancements required to ensure we can combat these threats," Carlin said in the speech, according to prepared remarks.
"In America, harboring extremist views is not itself a crime, nor is the expression of even a hateful ideology or association with a hateful group. But the line between speech and violence is crossed too often, resulting in heartbreaking tragedy," Carlin said. "Looking back over the past few years, it is clear that domestic terrorists and homegrown violent extremists remain a real and present danger to the United States. We recognize that, over the past few years, more people have died in this country in attacks by domestic extremists than in attacks associated with international terrorist groups."
Recent examples of possible domestic terrorism include the Chattanooga shooting spree and the Charleston church shooting in June.
