DHS chief calls domestic extremism ‘greatest’ terror threat US faces

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday that domestic extremism presents the “greatest” terror-related threat to the U.S.

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Mayorkas promised that DHS officials could continue to monitor threats related to homegrown terrorism while simultaneously facing a surge of migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We are very focused on domestic violent extremism. It is the greatest threat, terrorist-related threat, that we face in our homeland. We are very focused on it,” Mayorkas said.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount already. We have plans to do more,” Mayorkas said of domestic extremism.

While not specifically linking the shootings at several massage parlors last week to terror, he added that “our hearts and our prayers go out to the victims of the tragic killings in the area surrounding Atlanta.”

Eight people died in attacks at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area last week after a gunman opened fire, including six Asian American women.

Police and federal law enforcement officials have said that preliminary findings do not indicate the attacks were racially motivate. 

Protests in support of Asian communities have erupted around the nation in response to the shootings as well as other highly publicized attacks on elderly Asian Americans in California and New York in recent months.