Racially-motivated violent extremists elevated to “national threat priority,” FBI director says – By Erin Donaghue (CBS News) / Feb 5 2020
The FBI has elevated its assessment of the threat posed by racially motivated violent extremists in the U.S. to a “national threat priority” for fiscal year 2020, FBI director Christopher Wray said Wednesday. He said the FBI is placing the risk of violence from such groups “on the same footing” as threats posed to the country by foreign terrorist organizations such as ISIS and its sympathizers.
“Not only is the terror threat diverse — it’s unrelenting,” Wray said at an oversight hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.
Racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, or domestic terrorists motivated by racial or religious hatred, make up a “huge chunk” of the FBI’s domestic terrorism investigations, Wray said in statements before the Senate Homeland Security Committee last November. The majority of those attacks are “fueled by some type of white supremacy,” he said.
Wednesday, Wray said combating domestic terrorism and its “close cousin,” hate crimes, are at the “top of the priority list” for the FBI.
His statements indicate the FBI is just as concerned about racially-motivated violent extremists, including white supremacists, as it is about the threat posed by homegrown violent extremists inspired by foreign terrorist organizations. Wray said both pose a grave threat because the perpetrators are often “lone actors,” self-radicalized online, who often look to attack “soft targets” such as public gatherings, retail locations or houses of worship.
Continue to article: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/racially-motivated-violent-extremism-isis-national-threat-priority-fbi-director-christopher-wray/
