Expert: Homegrown terrorism threat is real

As elected officials in Washington clash over the country’s ability to vet 10,000 Syrian refugees for hidden would-be terrorists, the U.S. faces a real threat from violent jihadi extremists currently on American soil, according to a terrorism expert.

{mosads}”The threat really in the United States is much more from people inspired by ISIS, and we’ve seen … cases where there were serious plots,” New America’s Peter Bergen told a joint House hearing on the Syrian refugee crisis this week.

Bergen heads New America’s International Security Program, which maintains an up-to-date datase” on the individuals in the U.S. “engaged in violent extremist activity” since 2001.

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) tells The Hill’s Molly K. Hooper that the threat hits close to home.

“I’ve had, just in the last several years, four to five people in my own district arrested and charged with terrorist-related crimes,” he said.

“This is a real threat. There are active, radical jihadists in our country who are willing to carry out acts of violence, and that’s the reality.”

Watch the video above to find out more on individuals in the U.S. involved in violent extremism.