DHS chief: Mass shootings ‘absolutely are a homeland security threat’
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said on Sunday that mass shootings “absolutely are a homeland security threat” after seven people were killed and more than 20 wounded in West Texas one day earlier.
{mosads}McAleenan told ABC’s “This Week” that his office is monitoring the situation, saying “it’s extraordinarily concerning to have that level, that length of an event, to have that many people injured and five killed at this point, it’s devastating and, you know, 300 miles from El Paso, a region that’s really felt the impact of mass attacks in recent weeks and we’re very concerned and we’ll be following up aggressively.”
He added: “They absolutely are a homeland security threat. In our counterterrorism strategy and approach domestic terrorism has taken a frontline focus for us. Since April when I became acting secretary we set up a new office targeting violence and terrorism prevention, with an explicit focus on domestic terrorism including racially-motivated violent extremism, which we’ve seen too much of in the recent weeks and months.”
“They absolutely are a homeland security threat,” acting DHS Sec. Kevin McAleenan tells @MarthaRaddatz when asked about the latest mass shootings.
“In our counterterrorism strategy and approach, domestic terrorism has taken a front line focus for us” https://t.co/PYMTgugLr6 pic.twitter.com/45hiwTMQsF
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 1, 2019
Host Martha Raddatz also asked McAleenan if more resources should be devoted to fighting this form of domestic terrorism.
“That’s a conversation we’re having as an interagency team with the FBI, with the Office of Management and Budget, to see what the right resource level is going forward, to make sure we can continue our very strong focus on the international terrorism threat and prevention level we’ve achieved but also make sure we’re balancing that out with effective efforts on domestic terrorism as well,” McAleenan said.
Twenty-two people were also killed in a separate mass shooting last month at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
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