Experts push domestic terrorism law

No such statute in U.S. criminal code

LOS ANGELES — Seven days, three mass shootings, 34 dead.

The FBI has labeled two of those attacks, at a Texas Walmart and California food festival, as domestic terrorism — acts meant to intimidate or coerce a civilian population and affect government policy. But the bureau hasn’t gone that far with a shooting at an Ohio entertainment district.

Even if there’s a domestic terrorism investigation, no such law exists in the federal criminal code. That means the Justice Department must rely on other laws such as hate crimes and weapons offenses in cases of politically motivated shootings.

“Calling something for what it is is an important first step in combating this problem,” said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

However, supporters of a domestic terrorism law say some lawmakers may be reluctant to push legislation that could target white supremacists.

“When you dismiss it as a mass shooting or a hate crime or some crazed gunman, you’re minimizing what impact it has,” said Daryl Johnson, a former senior domestic terrorism analyst at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “It’s a double standard. We should be calling all ideologically motivated violence terrorism, whether it comes from the white variety or the Muslim variety.”

In El Paso, authorities suspect a 21-year-old gunman posted anti-Hispanic writings online before killing 22 people Saturday at a Walmart store.

In Dayton, Ohio, however, the FBI has not yet said if it considers an attack that killed nine people to be domestic terrorism.

The bureau says the 24year-old gunman expressed a desire to commit a mass shooting and showed an interest in violent ideology. In addition, posts from what appears to be his Twitter account endorsed communism, bemoaned President Trump’s election and supported Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is running for president.

The FBI Agents Association, which represents thousands of active-duty and retired agents, has called for Congress to make domestic terrorism a federal crime to ensure investigators and prosecutors have the “best tools” to fight it.

Mary McCord, former head of the Justice Department’s national security division, has also advocated for such a law.

“It is something we may see come out of this, we may not,” she said.

GETTY IMAGES MOURNING IN MEXICO: Leopoldo Mendoza Marquez on Thursday views flowers in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as he awaits the funeral of his sister Elsa Mendoza Marquez, a Mexican schoolteacher and principal who was killed in the El Paso, Texas, mass shooting, after crossing into the U.S. to shop.