Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, on Sunday said the massacre in El Paso was an act of terrorism — and that the manifesto written by the gunman suggests it was an act of “white nationalist terrorism.”
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Hurd said the FBI and law enforcement will comb through the evidence in the shootings that killed 20 people Saturday.
"This is an act of terrorism,” he said. “Terrorism is an act where you use violence against civilians for a political end and initial indications suggest that this is based on race and hatred, which would be white nationalist terrorism."
"I would leave the analysis of this current activity and this current shooting in El Paso to the FBI,” he added. “I know they are evaluating it and believing it is possibly a hate crime and fueled by this. Initial indications of this manifesto that the shooter wrote suggests that, and if that is indeed confirmed then, yes, this is white nationalism terrorism and this is something that we are seeing and again."
Hurd also said he believes law enforcement should be allowed to look into the reason for mass shootings, including investigating social media sites.
“Why does a young man from the suburbs think this is the way that he should do something?” Hurd asked. “That is a trend that we have seen so many times. I have learned in working with local law enforcement, federal law enforcement over the last couple of days on this issue that federal law enforcement is prevented from searching social media websites.”
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