China Daily, November 3 (Dang Chaofeng) On the 2nd, CNN (CNN) published an article written by Benny Thompson, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, "Domestic Terrorism is a Threat We Can't Neglect."
CNN report screenshot
Thompson said in the article that the US Congress riot on January 6, 2021 was not an isolated incident. For nearly two decades, he has been paying attention to the threat of domestic terrorism in the United States.
According to Domestic Homeland Security , domestic terrorism is the biggest terrorist threat facing the United States. Judging from the situation seen after the 2020 election, this is obviously a threat to the rule of law and democracy.
Thompson said that since Trump announced his campaign for president in 2015, there have been 333 domestic terrorist conspiracies or attacks in the United States, setting a record high. Public spaces face increasing violence. Mass shootings, hostage hijacking and other violent plots have reduced state capitols, grocery stores, schools, churches and concerts to crime scenes. Just last week, the federal government issued a notice warning that the increase in domestic violent extremism poses a huge threat to next week's midterm elections.
The increase in domestic terrorism comes at a particularly dangerous moment in the United States: A recent survey found that half of Americans believe that “there will be a civil war in the United States in the next few years” and more than one in ten Americans expressed willingness to use political violence to “threat or intimidate” others.
Thompson said that according to experts at the University of Chicago, an estimated 13 million Americans believe that using force to get Trump back to White House is reasonable, and 15 million Americans support the use of force to prevent the former president from being prosecuted. These stunning numbers once again highlight that the security and rule of law in the United States are under attack.
Republican people who support Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again (MAGA)" and their leaders are drowning out the rational voices within the Republican party while eroding American democracy. In fact, many right-wing people are very willing to use this extremism and the resulting division to gain political benefits.
Thompson noted that to understand how Republicans who support Trump’s “Make America Great Again (MAGA)” slogans use their followers, just look at their reaction to the FBI’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. The Ministry of Justice obtained confidential documents and followed the law and all normal procedures. While no one in this country can top the law, the first reaction of Trump and extremist politicians who “make America great again (MAGA)” is to attack the rule of law and incite violence.
Everything that happened next was expected. Within hours after the search operation, social media Twitter posts about the “Civil War” increased by nearly 3000%. There has been an increase in threats to federal law enforcement officials. A week later, a man with a gun attempted to break into the FBI office in Ohio, and then had a hours-long standoff with police, eventually being shot dead.
MPs were also targeted, with a Democratic MP reporting that someone called his office and threatened to assassinate him with a gun.
Just last week, a man broke into the home of House Speaker Pelosi , attacked her husband and attempted to kidnap Pelosi himself.
Thompson said at the end of the article that members of Congress have recognized the harms of domestic terrorism and also know that ignoring this can have fatal consequences. The democracy and the rule of law in the United States are in jeopardy, and everyone needs to work together to combat extremism.
(Editor: Gao Linlin)
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