A new Department of Homeland Security strategy adds white supremacy violence to the list of priority threats as recent mass shootings have "galvanized the Department of Homeland Security to expand its counterterrorism mission focus beyond terrorists operating abroad," acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan said over the weekend.
The Atlantic first reported on the new strategy within the anti-terrorism framework.
DHS will seek to better analyze the nature and extent of the domestic terror threat and share any information with local law enforcement in an effort to prevent the attacks. Additionally, the agency is pledging to focus on prevention and partnership with social sites on counter messaging "seeking to steer individuals away from messages of violence."
The move comes after a spate of mass shootings in the United States, including an attack in El Paso, Texas, where six of the victims were family members of DHS employees.
"The continuing menace of racially based violent extremism, particularly white supremacist extremism, is an abhorrent affront to our nation, the struggle and unity of its diverse population, and the core values of both our society and our department," McAleenan said during a speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington.
McAleenan said countering the extremist message online is an especially important goal.
"It's too easy to get validation for your ideology," he said.
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