NEW JUSTICE TARGET: DOMESTIC EXTREMISTS

Post created to coordinate government response

In the wake of mounting concern over the threat posed by violent extremists in the U.S., the Justice Department on Wednesday announced it was creating a special counsel position to coordinate the federal government response.

Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, in a speech at George Washington University, said the domestic terrorism counsel would not only help oversee the prosecution of cases but also would develop plans to intervene when the threat of violence is imminent.

Citing a series of cases involving U.S.based suspects, from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to the fatal shooting of nine people earlier this year at a Charleston church, Carlin described the incidents as part of a national security threat that is “staggeringly broad.”

While much attention has been focused on the threat posed by al- Qaeda and the Islamic State’s vast recruiting efforts, Carlin said Americans motivated by anti-government animus, eco-radicalism and racism have created a new urgency for federal and local law enforcement authorities.

“No single ideology governs hate and extremism,” Carlin said. “Nevertheless, we see commonalities among those who wish to do us harm. This gives us important information as we shape our deter- rence and disruption strategies. Across the spectrum of extremist ideologies, two related traits emerge: first, the prevalence of lone offender attacks that do not require a terrorist network; and second, the increasing number of disaffected people inspired to violence who communicate their hate-filled views over the Internet and through social media.”

Earlier this year, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the social forces that have assisted the radicalization by the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, of dozens of Americans are very similar to what drove Dylann Roof, the suspect charged in the June Charleston church massacre, to embrace an extreme racist ideology before he allegedly launched an attack that left nine dead inside an iconic African-American church. “People disaffected, people being radicalized online. Roof picked this racial hatred theme and that’s what fueled him. Others picked the ISIL theme, and that’s what fuels them,” Lynch told USA TODAY.

Carlin said white supremacists represent the most violent.

“The Charleston shooter, who had a manifesto laying out a racist worldview, is just one example,’’ Carlin said. “His actions followed earlier deadly shooting sprees by white supremacists in Kansas, Wisconsin and elsewhere.’’

“The Charleston shooter, who had a manifesto laying out a racist worldview, is just one example.” Assistant Attorney General John Carlin