[ad_1]
An expanded list of prohibited persons. New crimes put on the books. Greater use of the death penalty.
These are some of the ways that politicians, experts, and law enforcement want to prevent a repeat of the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill. But a renewed national security push aimed at tackling domestic terrorism has civil liberties groups going strong, concerned that measures to combat far-right extremism will impact communities of color and left-wing activists.
Last summer’s racial justice protests sparked a national conversation about resistance to racism within the US police and security apparatus. But despite campaigning on the need to reform those institutions, some mainstream Democrats are now taking the lead in calls to expand them.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for the rioters on Capitol Hill to be placed on the banned list. President Joe Biden, whose campaign website promises his administration “will work for a national terrorism law,” ordered a comprehensive assessment of domestic violent extremism. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has called for a new “September 11 type commission.” And the first national terrorism legislation that followed the attack on Capitol Hill was introduced in the House last week by Illinois Democrat Brad Schneider.
However, the Democratic party is not entirely united on the issue.
Ten progressive members of Congress, led by Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, sent a letter to congressional leaders expressing their opposition to an expansion of national security powers.
“The success of the Trump mob in violating the Capitol was not due to a lack of resources at the disposal of the federal police,” the letter reads. “We strongly believe that the surveillance and national security powers of the United States government are already too broad, undefined and not accountable to the people.”
“Our history is filled with examples of initiatives sold as necessary to fight extremism that quickly become tools used for the massive violation of the human and civil rights of the American people,” the letter continues.
He cites as examples the McCarthy-era House Committee on Un-American Activities, surveillance of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and the invention of a category in 2017 called “Black Identity Extremism,” according to the FBI, it posed a national terrorism risk.
More than 100 civil and human rights organizations have also joined a declaration of opposition to any new national legislation against terrorism.
Read more:
