WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Biden administration says it will enhance its analysis of threats from domestic terrorists, including the sharing of intelligence within law enforcement agencies, and will work with tech companies to eliminate terrorist content online as part of a nationwide strategy to combat\u00a0domestic terrorism.<\/p>\n
The National Security Council on Tuesday released the strategy plan, which comes more than six months after\u00a0a mob of insurgents loyal to President Donald Trump\u00a0stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress was voting to certify\u00a0Joe Biden\u2019s presidential win.<\/p>\n
\u201cDomestic terrorism \u2014 driven by hate, bigotry, and other forms of extremism \u2014 is a stain on the soul of America,\u201d Biden, who\u2019s traveling in Europe, said in a statement. \u201cIt goes against everything our country strives for and it poses a direct challenge to our national security, democracy, and unity.\u201d<\/p>\n
A report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that domestic violent extremists posed an increased threat in 2021, with white supremacist groups and anti-government militias posing the highest risk, officials said.<\/p>\n
The new strategy\u00a0includes enhancing the government\u2019s analysis of domestic terrorism and improving the information that is shared between local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Administration officials said the Justice Department had also implemented a new system to \u201cmethodically track\u201d domestic terrorism cases nationwide within the FBI.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department was also evaluating whether the administration should recommend Congress pass a specific domestic terrorism law, which does not currently exist. In the absence of domestic terrorism laws, the Justice Department relies on other statutes to prosecute ideologically motivated violence by people with no international ties.<\/p>\n
But that has made it harder to track how often extremists driven by religious, racial or anti-government bias commit violence in the U.S and complicates efforts to develop a universally accepted domestic terror definition. Opponents of domestic terrorism laws say prosecutors already have enough tools.<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s new plan also includes an effort to identify government employees who may pose a domestic terrorism threat, with a number of federal agencies working on new policies and programs to\u00a0root out potential domestic extremists\u00a0in law enforcement and in the military.<\/p>\n
A senior administration official said the Office of Personnel Management was considering updating forms to assist in improving screening and vetting of government employees to make sure people who could pose a threat are identified before being put in sensitive roles. The official spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity to detail the internal tools.<\/p>\n
Officials said the Justice Department had also formally made domestic terrorism a top priority and had been reallocating resources at U.S. attorneys\u2019 offices and at FBI field offices across the U.S. to combat the threat from domestic extremists. The Justice Department\u2019s proposed budget for next year includes $100 million in additional resources related to domestic terrorism to be used for analysts, investigators and prosecutors.<\/p>\n
The U.S. and four other countries joined onto an effort to stop extremist violence from spreading online. The effort, known as\u00a0the Christchurch Call, involves some 50 nations plus tech companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, and is named for the New Zealand city where\u00a0the slaughter at the two mosques\u00a0took place.<\/p>\n