FBI chief labels the Capitol riot ‘domestic terrorism’

WASHINGTON—FBI director Christopher Wray called the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol an act of “domestic terrorism” and defended the bureau’s handling of intelligence in the days before a pro-Trump mob stormed past police and threatened the lives of lawmakers.

“I was appalled that you, our country’s elected leaders, were victimized right here in these very halls,” he said. “That attack, that siege, was criminal behavior. It is behavior that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism.”

Wray faced questions from the Senate judiciary committee in a hearing that delved into the bureau’s handling of threats posed by domestic terrorists and right-wing extremists before the Capitol siege.

The hearing was part of a series of congressional inquiries examining security failures in the Jan. 6 attack and the broader threat posed by domestic extremists.

Senators are scheduled to hear Wednesday from federal and military officials about their response to the siege, which left five people, including a police officer, dead.

The FBI has come under fire from lawmakers concerned it has not aggressively tackled dangers posed by white supremacists and other rightwing zealots and in testimony last week from former Capitol security officials who said it didn’t share enough or adequate intelligence to help them prepare for the insurrection.

Re Crying babies don’t stand a chance, Feb. 27

Your roundup of five noise-cancelling headphones for travel provides a good range of brands and price points, but should have included the offerings of one or more of the GTA companies that design and manufacture highend headphones, like PSB in Pickering, or Paradigm in Mississauga.

We should promote or at the very least include Canadian companies that develop intellectual property here in Canada.

Bryan Mallinson, Scarborough