Clinton gets pressed on white terrorism, links it to gun violence

Almost every presidential candidate has at least hinted that they have a strategy for fighting ISIS and Islamic extremism. But none of them have addressed plans for fighting white, domestic terrorism, despite the fact that it has killed more Americans since the September 11, 2001 than foreign terrorists.

Hillary Clinton said she would take all forms of terrorism seriously, whether homegrown or international, and tied it to gun violence in America.

Clinton used the example of the Oklahoma City bombings, gang violence in Chicago, police misconduct and the 9/11 attacks as examples of terrorism.

“I saw homegrown terrorism in Oklahoma City and I saw international terrorism in New York City,” Clinton said at Monday night’s Iowa Brown and Black Forum. “We have to come together as a country and take a stand against violence.”

Clinton also said she supports President Obama’s recently announced efforts to curb the availability of guns in the U.S.

A New America Foundation study found that more than 48 people have been killed by far-rightwing terrorists on U.S. soil since 9/11, compared to 45 U.S. citizens who were killed by Muslim extremists. Despite this, authorities are often reluctant to label mass attacks by white suspects as terrorism, as we saw last summer in the prosecution of Charleston shooter Dylann Roof.

Daryl Johnson, a former Homeland Security analyst, recently criticized the federal department in an interview with the New York Times for not doing enough to predict and counter domestic terrorism.

“The D.H.S. is scoffing at the mission of doing domestic counterterrorism. The same patterns that led to the growth of the antigovernment groups in the 1990s is being played out today. D.H.S. should be doing more,” Johnson told The Times.