Domestic terrorism threat is ‘metastasizing’ in U.S., FBI director says
The F.B.I. director warned senators on Tuesday that domestic terrorism was “metastasizing across the country,” reaffirming the threat from racially motivated extremists while largely escaping any tough questions about the bureau’s actions before the siege of the Capitol.
The director, Christopher A. Wray, who had largely remained out of public view since the riot on Jan. 6, condemned the supporters of former President Donald J. Trump who ransacked the Capitol, resulting in five deaths and scores of injuries to police officers.
“That attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple, and it was behavior that we, the F.B.I., view as domestic terrorism,” Mr. Wray said. “It’s got no place in our democracy.”
He also revealed that the number of domestic terrorism investigations at the F.B.I. had risen to 2,000 since he became its director in 2017. The Capitol riot was part of a broader threat that had grown significantly in recent years, Mr. Wray said. [Continue reading…]