Domestic terror bill gets lawmakers’ support
State lawmakers from the Mid-Hudson Valley of both major parties rallied Friday around Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed law targeting domesticrelated terrorism.
Others say more than just creating laws has to be done.
Cuomo’s office says the Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act is a first-of-its-kind in the nation. It is being proposed in wake of the mass killing of 22 people, mostly Latinos, in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3.
“We still treat terrorism as an act committed by foreigners,” Cuomo said on his website. “It is, but only in part — it is now a two-front war on terrorism. It’s fed by hate: hate from abroad and hate right here at home.
“White supremacists, anti-Semites, anti-LGBTQ white nationalists — these are Americans committing mass hate crimes against other Americans and it should be recognized for what it is: domestic terrorism,” Cuomo said. “American citizens who are radicalized not by a foreign ideology but rather
radicalized by hate for other Americans are still terrorists.”
Regional state lawmakers felt similarly.
“Passing the Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act will send a strong signal that New Yorkers do not tolerate hate-fueled, bigotry-driven violence,” state Sen. James Skoufis, DWoodbury, said in a statement. “Amidst continued, unthinkably horrifying and targeted mass shootings, it’s more important than ever to call these acts what they truly are: domestic terrorism.”
Skoufis added that “domestic terrorists must be prosecuted as such.
“We all deserve to live freely without the crippling fear of being gunned down in a public space,” Skoufis added. “Unfortunately, Washington D.C. has been gridlocked by head-inthe-sand partisanship and unable to take any action to address
this national crisis.”
Skoufis represents the 39th Senate District.
Under Cuomo’s proposal, mass shootings against a group of people based on their actual or perceived “race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation would be punishable by up to life in prison without parole,’ according to the website.
“This change would effectively treat these acts as they should: as terrorist crimes, carrying the same penalty as other terrorist crimes,” the website says.
Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, said he and his colleagues “will carefully review and consider what the governor proposes.
But Cahill said that making laws aren’t always the only solution.
“It is foolish to think, however, that any level of punishment will deter these crimes of irrational hatred against innocent victims and society,” Cahill
said. “I hope that we will also focus on what is causing the breach in our society that has us almost numb to the steady stream of mass terror reports from around our country.”
Cahill said he knows of at least one reason.
“The politics of division on the right and the left, by people in power, like the White House and those seeking to pit us against each other for their own gain, has to be rejected,” Cahill said. “It is dangerous, un-American and just plain wrong.”
Cahill represents the 103rd Assembly District.
Assemblyman Brian Miller, R-New Hartford, said he “applauded” the governor’s proposal and is “interested” in examining more fully.
“Our country is being run into the ground by hatred,” Miller said in a statement. “There is no place in this state, this country, or this world, for that.”
“I don’t care where it comes from or what the person who perpetrates a hate crime looks
like or believes in: there is no place for hatred, period,” Miller added. “The divisiveness in this country has bred a culture of disrespect and refusal to accept anyone different. It has now grown into full-blown hatred and violence.”
Miller represents the 101st Assembly District.
State Sen. Jen Metzger, DRosendale, who represents the 42nd Senate District, said New York can set an example.
“Our strength as a nation is our diversity — we cannot forget that — and these hatedriven crimes are the antithesis of who we are,” Metzger said. “Innocent men, women, and children are paying the ultimate price of federal inaction but at the state level, we can do our part to protect our communities.
“I look forward to supporting the Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act and I encourage my colleagues at the federal level to join New York in identifying and preventing these horrific acts of terror,” Metzger said.