NM ready to combat terror

Summit provided data points for proactive public safety action

At the terrorism summit we organized at the Capitol last week, San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari told us about what his office

— and his community — learned in the aftermath of the horrific Aztec school shooting of December 2017, carried out by an individual who had posted violent and racist screeds online, including on a white supremacist website.

The sheriff told us about red flags that could’ve been acted upon, about information that could’ve been shared between agencies, but wasn’t. He spoke candidly and specifically about where we can do better — at the local level, at the state level, in coordination with schools, the federal government and other stakeholders. It wasn’t a blame game; it was a constellation of reallife data points that we, as policymakers, must synthesize into proactive public safety measures. The sheriff’s contributions Wednesday epitomized the productive, informationgathering tenor of the summit, at which bipartisan state leaders listened, made suggestions and ultimately arrived at meaningful consensus on some pathways forward.

When an act of terrorism or mass violence occurs in this country, we always look backward, conducting forensic analyses of gaps and opportunities missed, trying to piece together the narrative of how we ended up with a tragedy, with families and communities traumatized and torn apart, bright lights forever extinguished. That is — while difficult to stomach given the frequency of these events — as it should be. We should always be learning. It’s certainly more productive than rote thoughts and prayers, disingenuous calls not to “politicize” hateful, violent attacks.

My intent in organizing the summit last week was to reverse our perspective. God forbid an act of terrorism ever strikes New Mexico; God forbid a mass shooter ever targets one of our communities ever again. But I’m not going to wait for an intercession. On Wednesday, I solicited proactive ideas to predict, interrupt and

prevent patterns that lead to mass violence. With the support of the Legislature, we’ve already taken steps in the right direction, strengthening background checks on firearm purchases and enshrining protections for victims of domestic violence. Although reasonable safeguards against dangerous individuals’ ability to purchase firearms are necessary and valuable, our discussion Wednesday did not much touch on additional gun safety legislation — though

I do expect to see an extreme risk protection order proposal, which now has the support of even prominent national Republicans. Instead, we talked about gaps in data collection and intelligence sharing between law enforcement agencies and other community institutions that can flag problematic activity and patterns for public safety officials. We talked about the need for consistent definitions in the realm of homegrown terrorism, and tougher penalties, so as to hold bad actors accountable more effectively. And we talked about how our behavioral health system, gutted by the prior state administration, must be rebuilt.

We left the summit, Republican and Democrat alike, with collective marching orders on those shared priorities and more. We left equipped with the information we need to move forward.

The ugly fact at the heart of the matter is that extremist ideology is on the rise. Americans are being radicalized by hate groups and hateful individuals with prominent platforms. Given the overtly racist intent of the shooter in El Paso, it is more important than ever that New Mexico, a multiculturally diverse state, stay vigilant. We are not exempt from the rising tide of violent extremism, of people who orient themselves and their views around a hatred of others. I will work every day I am governor to make sure New Mexicans are as safe as they can be in their communities. As we work together to strengthen protections and enact new strategies, I want New Mexicans to know I am resolutely committed to defending our families, our community gathering places, our inalienable right to live in peace.