Name: FBI Director Says Domestic Extremism ‘Metastasizing’ Around The Country
Brand: huffpost.com
SKU: huffpost-com-1385
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

FBI Director Says Domestic Extremism ‘Metastasizing’ Around The Country

preview

×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×Director told lawmakers Tuesday that domestic extremism has been “metastasizing” around the country, saying the number of domestic terrorism investigations has grown “significantly” since he took over the agency three years ago.Wray testified before lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, his first appearance before senators since the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January. Wray said he believed the Jan. 6 attack was “not an isolated event” but rather part of a troubling and growing trend across the nation.Advertisement“The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now, and it’s not going away anytime soon,” Wray told senators. “Whenever we’ve had the chance, we’ve tried to emphasize that this is a top concern.”The director bolstered his statement with a series of troubling statistics: The number of white supremacists arrested in 2020 had nearly tripled from when he took over the FBI in 2017, and the agency currently has more than 2,000 domestic terrorism investigations underway. That figure is the amount it had in 2019.During his testimony, Wray also , shorthand for anti-fascists, was behind the deadly assault on the Capitol, a conspiracy theory that has continued to spread on fringe websites and among right-wing social media influencers.“That doesn’t mean we’re not looking, and will continue to look,” Wray told lawmakers. “But at the moment, we have not seen that.”AdvertisementFBI Director Christopher Wray on January 6 insurrection: "It's behavior that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism ... we've arrested already more than 270 individuals to date ... January 6th was not an isolated event. The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing." — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)Instead, the FBI director pointed to anti-government militia groups and white supremacists who participated in the attack, saying federal investigators have so far charged more than 270 people in connection with the insurrection. Investigators believe about 800 people were involved in the mob that took over the halls of the Capitol.He later called the event a “siege” and said it was “criminal behavior, plain and simple,” that the agency viewed as domestic terrorism.“It’s got no place in our democracy,” Wray added.The director did face some tough questions about the FBI’s role in gathering intelligence before the insurrection, but he defended the agency’s actions while admitting that the fact the riot took place was not an “acceptable result” of the bureau’s work.“That’s why we’re looking so hard at figuring out how can the process be improved,” he said.President Joe Biden ordered law enforcement and intelligence agencies to study the growth of domestic terrorism in January, shortly after his inauguration. The threat assessment will be used to and craft a government response to the spread of conspiracy theories on social media and the radicalization of domestic extremists, according to The Associated Press.Advertisement“The Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol and the tragic deaths and destruction that occurred underscored what we all know: The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the time.Suggest a correctionNewsletter Sign UpHuffPost's top politics stories, straight to your inbox.Successfully Subscribed!Realness delivered to your inbox

×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×Director told lawmakers Tuesday that domestic extremism has been “metastasizing” around the country, saying the number of domestic terrorism investigations has grown “significantly” since he took over the agency three years ago.Wray testified before lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, his first appearance before senators since the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January. Wray said he believed the Jan. 6 attack was “not an isolated event” but rather part of a troubling and growing trend...

public

nvisser

Senior Reporter // @HuffPost breaking team. Environment, politics, world news. 🇺🇸 hopping around down under 🇦🇺 💫 nick.visser@huffpost.com

Nick Visser

At HuffPost, we put people first. We believe that real life is news, and news is personal.

FBI Director Says Domestic Extremism ‘Metastasizing’ Around The Country

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS