Washington, D.C. (Jun. 3, 2019)— On Tuesday, June 4, 2019, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, will hold a hearing on “Confronting Violent White Supremacy (Part II): Adequacy of the Federal Response.”

WHERE: 2247 Rayburn House Office Building

WHEN: Tuesday, June 4, 2019

TIME: 2:00 p.m.

The hearing will broadcast here.

PURPOSE & BACKGROUND

The hearing will examine the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to combat white supremacist extremist violence, including their budgets and allocations of personnel, data collection practices, and strategic plans.

In 2018, there were 50 domestic extremist murders, all of which were committed by perpetrators with ties to right-wing extremists, and 78% of which were committed by white supremacists. Right-wing extremism is also responsible for 73% of extremist killings over the last decade, compared to 23% for Islamist extremism and 3% for left-wing extremism. The FBI also found a 17% increase in reported hate crimes in 2017 from the previous year and a 31% increase since 2014.

Under the Trump Administration, DHS appears to have significantly reduced resources and infrastructure that would address the increasing threat of white supremacist extremism. Reportedly, DHS recently disbanded a group of analysts focused on domestic terrorism in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, reducing the number of analytic reports on white supremacists.

Last month, the Subcommittee held its first hearing on this issue to examine the rising threat of white supremacist violent extremism in the United States and the impact on communities frequently targeted by white supremacists. Witnesses included Susan Bro, the mother of Heather Heyer who was killed in Charlottesville, and former DHS official George Selim.

WITNESSES

Panel 1

Michael McGarrity

Assistant Director, Counterterrorism Division

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Calvin Shivers

Deputy Assistant Director, Criminal Investigative Division

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Elizabeth Neumann

Assistant Secretary, Threat Prevention and Security Policy

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Panel 2

Tony McAleer

Co-Founder

Life After Hate

Lecia Brooks

Outreach Director

Southern Poverty Law Center

Brette Steele

Director of Prevention and National Security

McCain Institute for International Leadership

Arizona State University

Todd Bensman

Former Manager, Counterterrorism Unit

Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division

Texas Department of Public Safety