On Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a sweeping plan to fight white nationalism and prevent hate crimes.
What We Know:
- Warren announced the plan via Twitter after it was published on her website.
The Trump administration has ignored the threat posed by white nationalists and violent extremists—and Trump himself has stoked the flames. In a Warren administration, we will use every tool we have to defeat domestic terrorism. Here’s my plan: https://t.co/Llf6CjFePg
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 19, 2019
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Before outlining the specifics of her proposal, the document takes several jabs at the Trump administration’s handling of incidents of domestic terrorism. The president received major backlash for blaming “both sides” for the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA.
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In the plan, Warren vows to make combating extremism a priority. She outlines several tactics to combat this issue. The first is to direct cases of domestic terrorism to the FBI instead of state and local jurisdictions which “often lack the resources, training, and expertise to take on bias-motivated crimes”.
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The plan states Warren will direct federal prosecutors to seek similar punishment for individuals who commit similar crimes regardless of their race or ethnicity. This piece of the plan aims to address inconsistencies within the criminal justice system.
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Another integral component of the proposal is addressing the presence of hate-groups online. Warren plans to establish a commission aimed at finding ways to eliminate such groups from using the internet to expand their reach. Extremist groups have flourished in the online environment. A 2016 study conducted by the Virginia Tech Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention found that 70 percent of Americans ages 15 to 21 have been exposed to online extremist messages.
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Finally, Warren believes creating a task force made up of government agencies like the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Education and Health and Human Services will help state and local governments address these issues in the communities they serve. The task force will “confront white nationalist ideology, prevent hate crimes, and rehabilitate minors”.
For a full list of Warren’s proposed strategies, visit her website.
