Bennie Thompson: “Violence shattered communities across the country this weekend, making it a very sad one for this Nation. First, on…”

“Violence shattered communities across the country this weekend, making it a very sad one for this Nation. First, on Friday night in Milwaukee, 21 people were injured in a mass shooting as the city hosted the NBA playoffs. Then, on Saturday, a gunman who posted a manifesto online espousing violent white supremacist viewpoints drove 2 hours to a grocery store in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo and opened fire on customers, killing 10 innocent people. Finally, yesterday, in Laguna Woods, California, an armed intruder burst into a predominantly Taiwanese Christian congregation meeting in a Presbyterian church, killing one congregant and critically wounding four others. Today, we mourn with these communities and families who were rocked by this violence, but we also must continue asking tough questions about what is fueling such racially motivated violent extremism. Just months ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress domestic terrorism is metastasizing through this country and was not going away any time soon. The intelligence community has recently warned that racially motivated violent extremism poses the most lethal domestic terrorism threat. While Americans may not see eye-to-eye on what factors contribute to the current threat landscape, there seems to be general agreement that public spaces, in general, and houses of worship, in particular, need to be more secure. That is where the Nonprofit Security Grant Program comes in.…”