Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday on ABC's “This Week” that there has been a “significant increase” in domestic violent extremism over the past decade.
Mayorkas said, “As Secretary Wray and the Attorney General have made clear, we are in an environment of heightened threat, and we have been saying this for months. Of course we created the Department of Homeland Security. Not only is it under constant threat from foreign terrorism, but it also has hostile nation-states and has Over the years, we've seen a significant increase in what we call domestic extremism. This is a very difficult threat situation, and that's why it's not just a threat situation for the federal government, but also for state and local officials and residents. We as a community need to be alert and take the necessary precautions to avoid violence.”
He added, “When we identify a particular threat, we in law enforcement respond very quickly to it. In this regard, we continue to mourn the victims of the terrorist attack in New Orleans.”
Mr. Mayorkas continued, “The phenomenon of individual radicalization is not limited to the military; it is something we are very focused on across society. Neither the military nor federal employees are immune to this effect, but this is something we have to deal with as a community, and we need to stand together and fight, not politicize.”
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