John Cohen: “not using `radicalization.' [Its] focus is not to police thought but to prevent violence.”

However, we also know that violent extremism can be inspired by various religious, political, or other ideological beliefs.

The challenges endanger our communities and our way of life, and include terrorism perpetrated by both foreign and domestic actors.

Our job is not to police thought and speech. Our job is to prevent acts of violence.

When public figures whether they be in the media, whether elected officials or former elected officials amplify and spread those narratives, they validate them, and when they validate them, they increase the potential that an individual…