Whither Domestic Terrorism?

In 2019, anti-Semitic incidents reached an all-time high — and according to one counterterrorism expert, a reason why is because it is not as visible as hate against other minorities.

After the January 6 riots on the Capitol, a big question on policymakers’ minds is how to address domestic terrorism. Domestic terrorism — and its anti-Semitic variants — had already been on the radar of policymakers and Jewish organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, but January 6 inspired a new surge. Already, President Joe Biden initiated a review of how federal agencies combat this form of extremism, and Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL) introduced “The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2021” into Congress.

But not everyone agrees on how to combat these threats. After January 6, 151 organizations condemned creating a new domestic terrorism charge, asserting that existing laws are sufficient to prosecute rioters. They wrote to Congress that “The failure to confront and hold accountable white nationalist violence is not a question of not having appropriate tools to employ, but a failure to use those on hand.” They worried that “a new federal domestic terrorism statute or list would adversely impact civil rights and… this new authority could be used to expand racial profiling or be wielded to surveil and investigate communities of color and political opponents in the name of national security.”

not everyone agrees on how to combat these threats.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles addressed the topic with a February 24, 2021 event, “The Future of Domestic Terrorism: A Conversation with Jewish Former CIA & FBI Special Agent Tracy Walder.” Walder worked as a staff operations officer in the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center Weapons of Mass Destruction Group, experiences that figure heavily in her memoir “The Unexpected Spy,” co-authored with Jessica Anya Blau. The event was moderated by Rachel Rosner.

On the call, Walder explained that the most dangerous threats to U.S. national security and global stability are “domestic terrorism, Chinese economic espionage and failed states.” Iran, she acknowledged, poses a major threat to Israel. “I do not trust [Iran] to not develop a nuke,” she shared. She supports the United States opening dialogue with Iran but not giving the country a “carte blanche.”

When asked about combatting the rise of anti-Semitism on the right and left, Walder explained that “Judaism is sometimes not visible,” in the sense that hate against other minorities receives more pushback than anti-Semitism. “I’m even seeing [anti-Semitism] on my neighborhood Facebook page,” Walder shared. She argued that the Jewish community needs to lobby digital platforms for a “higher threshold” in determining what hate speech is, as anti-Semitic ideas “thrive” on these platforms.

Walder then discussed the direction of U.S. counterterrorism policies under the new administration. Walder noted that she was concerned about new appointees going after former employees that engaged in torture, arguing that officials should be focusing on future threats and depoliticizing intelligence; she was encouraged by Avril Haines, Biden’s Director of National Intelligence.

Walder also agreed with the administration’s tactic of crafting a new category of domestic terrorism, arguing that “we need to be changing our rules.” “For a very long time in our country, we assumed that terrorism was something that happened ‘over there,’” she said. As a result, we do not have a federal charging statute for domestic terrorism and are instead charging domestic terrorists with “hate crimes.” This is insufficient, she argued, because “optics goes a long way;” labelling domestic terrorists will help address their recruitment. Such a classification also opens aspects of the Patriot Act, such as digital monitoring, to officials, allowing them to sufficiently address the threat.

Walder hopes to continue writing and has aspirations to run for office one day to enact the policies she shared on the call. A movie based on her book is in the works.