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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2019)
30 Wednesday, September 11, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Attacks by U.S. extremists lead to push for anti-terror laws By Andrew Selsky Associated Press SALEM (AP) 4 A white man opens fire at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, target- ing Mexicans and killing 22 people. Another man kills 11 Jewish worshippers at a syna- gogue in Pittsburgh. The two mass shootings and a presidential tweet put a spotlight on the idea of <domestic terrorism,= adding momentum to a debate about whether such attacks should be classified and tried in the same way as crimes against America by foreign extrem- ist groups and their support- ers. A Republican senator and a Democrat in the House of Representatives are drafting bills to do that while some Republicans call for a left- wing group to be designated a terrorist organization. <Domestic terrorism is in our backyard and we need to call it and treat it under the law the same as other forms of terrorism,= said U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican who intends to introduce legisla- tion when Congress returns in September. McSally9s proposal would allow federal law enforce- ment to charge suspects with acts of domestic terror and add punishments for those crimes, including the death penalty. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, intro- duced legislation on August 16 that he says is a <very high priority.= <The goal is to put domes- tic terrorism at the same level of priority as ISIS- or al-Qaida-inspired terrorism, since Americans on American soil now are just as likely, if not more likely, to die at the hand of a domestic terrorist motivated by some hateful ideology like white suprem- acy,= Schiff said in a tele- phone interview. S e p a r a t e l y, two Republican senators are call- ing for an anti-fascist move- ment known as antifa to be designated as a domestic ter- rorist organization. The push comes after clashes between white supremacists and antifa in Portland, Oregon, which drew a tweet from President Trump suggesting domes- tic terrorism designation for antifa but not the white supremacists. Such a designa- tion does not currently exist. While a push to rethink what should be deemed ter- rorism gains some momen- tum, it has sparked concerns about infringement of con- stitutional rights. It9s also not clear whether the debate will be embraced in a bipartisan way, though McSally said this week that her bill has received <a lot of positive feedback ... from both sides of the aisle.= Schiff said he hopes for <bipartisan support for an effort to put the full weight of the federal government behind the prosecution of people committing these hateful acts of domestic mass terror.= Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is working on <legal mecha- nisms= that would enable domestic terrorist organiza- tions to be treated like those on the State Department9s list of foreign extremist groups, his spokeswoman Maria Jeffrey said in an email. Cruz and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, intro- duced a resolution on July 18 condemning antifa, and calling for it to be desig- nated as a domestic terrorist organization. As antifa activists prepared to square off against far-right demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 17, President Donald Trump tweeted that <major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an 8ORGANIZATION of TERROR.9= Currently, only foreign groups can be labeled terror- ist organizations. The U.S. State Department maintains that list, currently compris- ing 68 groups 4 none of which is white supremacist. It is a crime for a person in the United States to knowingly provide <material support or resources= to a foreign terror- ist organization. S e n . J e f f M e r k l e y, D-Oregon, said he doesn9t believe Congress should enable the executive branch to designate groups as domes- tic terrorists. <I wouldn9t trust this administration to exercise such power in an unbiased and judicious manner,= Merkley said. I wouldn’t trust this administration to exercise such power in an unbiased and judicious manner — Sen. Jeff Merkley The Anti-Defamation League says antifa hasn9t been accused of any murders, and that there is no com- parison between the loosely organized movement and the white supremacist groups it sometimes clashes with. Antifa uses <unacceptable tactics= but rejects racism, while white supremacists use more extreme violence to intimidate minorities, the ADL said. Schiff denounced Trump9s tweet as <a disservice to our efforts to combat domestic mass terror.= <I see it as the same destructive political postur- ing we9ve come to expect from the president, that would argue white supremacists9 hate is not the problem, antifa is the problem,= Schiff said. Mary McCord, who used to lead the Justice D e p a r t m e n t 9s N a t i o n a l Security Division, said label- ing domestic groups as ter- rorist organizations would infringe on First Amendment rights such as freedom of expression. Instead, she advo- cates making domestic terror- ism a federal crime, which would enable prosecution for providing material support. Such support could include providing funds, a safe haven or weapons. The most common inter- national terrorism charge is providing material support, accounting for nearly half of federal terrorism-related pros- ecutions since Sept. 11, 2001, McCord said. Schiff said his bill would allow the prosecution of pro- viding material support to a domestic terrorist. Jeanne Theoharis, a political science professor at Brooklyn College who has written several books on civil rights, worries about such a provision. <What material support does is allow for going after people whose beliefs and associations are well outside the mainstream,= Theoharis said. <It provides a way for the government to go after people whose politics they don9t like.= CUSTOM HOMES • RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PROJECTS Serving the Sisters Area Since 1976 A Partnership Beyond Your Expectations CCB # 159020 CCB # 16891 Strictly Quality John P. Pierce • 541-549-9764 jpierce@bendbroadband.com Stop by and visit with Tiana Van Landuyt & Shelley Marsh. 220 S. 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