Sign the petition: Congress, confront violent right-wing extremism

The New York Times reports that between 2001 and 2011, right-wing extremists in the U.S. averaged 337 attacks per year, and killed 254 people—a toll that's only risen since 2012.[1]

In Charleston on June 17, at Mother Emanuel church, nine more murders were added to that total in a killing spree that was intended to "start a race war," according to the shooter.[2] And since the massacre in Charleston, six Black churches in the South have suspiciously caught fire, including several that have already been identified by authorities as arson.

Right-wing extremism was already a real threat—last year, in a survey of 382 law enforcement agencies, 74% listed anti-government extremism as a top three terrorism risk.[3] But recent events have made this issue more urgent than ever, and it's time the Department of Homeland Security took action.

If you agree that your member of Congress should sign Representatives Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva's letter to President Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, please sign the petition.

The letter by Reps. Ellison and Grijalva specifically calls on the Department of Homeland Security to reopen the Extremism and Radicalization Branch of the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division.[4] That branch, which is critical to addressing the growing right-wing terrorist network within our own borders, was disbanded in 2009 because of partisan political pressure.

Today, no politician worth their salt as a public servant can debate the statistics. The biggest cause of extremist violence in the U.S. since September 11 has verifiably been home-grown right-wing radicalism, and it's in the best interest of everyone, whether politically conservative or liberal, for the government to stop denying this problem and start doing something about it.

Tell your member of Congress: Please add your name to Reps. Ellison and Grijalva's letter urging the DHS to take immediate action.

Sources:

1. "The Growing Right-Wing Terror Threat," The New York Times, June 16, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/opinion/the-other-terror-threat.html

2. "Dylann Roof Said He Wanted To Start A Race War, Friends Say," NPR, June 19, 2015
http://www.npr.org/2015/06/19/415809511/dylann-roof-said-he-wanted-to-start-a-race-war-friends-say

3. "The Growing Right-Wing Terror Threat," The New York Times, June 16, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/opinion/the-other-terror-threat.html

4. "House Democrats urge Obama, DHS to target 'violent right-wing extremism,'" The Washington Post, June 25, 2015
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/06/25/house-democrats-urge-obama-dhs-to-target-violent-right-wing-extremism/