“We
must also concern ourselves with the continued danger we face from
individuals within our own borders who may be motivated by a variety of
other causes from anti-government animus to racial prejudice,” Holder
said.
The Justice Department is resurrecting a program designed to thwart
domestic threats to the United States, and Attorney General Eric Holder
says those threats include individuals the government deems
anti-government or racially prejudiced.
The Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee was created in the wake of
the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing but was scrapped soon after the 2001
terrorist attacks as intelligence and law enforcement officials shifted
their focus to threats from outside the country. The committee will be
comprised of figures from the FBI, the National Security Division of
the Justice Department and the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.
In his statement announcing the return of the committee, Holder said he
remains concerned about the specter of attacks prompted by Islamic
extremists, but he said this committee will be tasked with identifying
other threats.
“We must also concern ourselves with the continued danger we face from
individuals within our own borders who may be motivated by a variety of
other causes from anti-government animus to racial prejudice,” Holder
said.
According to reporting from Reuters, the American Civil Liberties Union
is pushing back against the DOJ plan, fearing “it could be a sweeping
mandate to monitor and collect controversial speech.”
Conservative
groups are alarmed on multiple levels. First, they see themselves once
again the target of an administration that disagrees with them
philosophically.
“It appears there’s an attempt to marginalize people who hold views
that are sharply different from those of the administration and much of
the establishment, said Horace Cooper, co-chairman of the Project 21
National Advisory Board. Project 21 is a network of black conservatives.
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