Never Trust the FBI
In the aftermath of the El Paso shooting, some are pushing to expand the FBI's powers. That's a huge mistake: a domestic terrorism law would almost certainly be used to silence left-wing dissent.
FBI agents update the media on their investigation outside a FedEx facility following an explosion on March 20, 2018 in Schertz, Texas. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)
On August 3, a white supremacist attacked a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing at least twenty-two and wounding dozens more. Espousing racist conspiracy theories about a “Hispanic invasion,” the killer’s murderous rampage was cold-blooded — and appeared to target Latinx people. It’s only the latest high-profile act of white supremacist violence. And it comes at a time when Donald Trump and other Republican politicians are mainstreaming racist rhetoric.
Faced with this climate, many well-meaning people are looking for a way to counter the very real danger of white supremacist violence. Some Washington Post columnists, CNN guests, the FBI Agents Association, and presidential hopeful Joe Biden are touting one particular “solution”: to create a new law countering “domestic terrorism.”
The argument is simple: due to a lack of a domestic terrorism statute, the FBI is somehow powerless to stop these acts of violence. Such a law would grant the FBI more surveillance powers. A new domestic terrorism statute would allow the agency to investigate and prosecute far-right violence.
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