Homeland Security chairman: ‘Terrorism has gone viral’
House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said on Sunday that the Internet has vastly increased the risk of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.
{mosads}“Terrorism has gone viral,” McCaul told host Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”
“I think there’s been an uptick in the stream of threats out there,” the Texas Republican said.
“We’re seeing this directives on almost a daily basis,” he added of calls for extremist violence online. “It’s very concerning.”
McCaul was responding to last weekend’s shooting at a “Draw Muhammad” event in Garland, Texas.
On Sunday, he predicted that Americans should expect similar incidents in the future.
“I think the threat environment today is one of the highest that I’ve ever seen,” McCaul said, comparing the atmosphere to the period around 9/11.
“It’s going to get worse, not better,” he said. “This is very difficult to stop.”
McCaul criticized President Obama, saying his foreign policy was making it easier for terrorist organizations like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to operate.
“This administration really hasn’t done enough,” he said.
“Part of that is because there’s so many failed states we have had to pull out of,” McCaul said.
“With that comes the breeding grounds of terrorism and the ability of terrorists to spread their jihad globally,” he added, citing civil unrest in Iraq and Yemen.
McCaul said that law enforcement officials had done the best work they could in preventing danger to citizens.
Despite this, he argued that more threats would make their success rate more difficult to maintain.
“We’ve been very lucky but we’ve also done a very good job of stopping these threats from coming to the United States or preventing these threats here,” McCaul said.
A Texas police officer shot and killed two attackers on May 3 during the “Draw Muhammad” event.
The White House has since ruled the attempted terrorists were “lone wolf” operatives and not actual ISIS members.
ISIS has sought to claim responsibility for last weekend’s incident in Garland.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Regular the hill posts