Sen. McSally working to make domestic terrorism a federal crime

PHOENIX — U.S. Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona says she is working on legislation that would make domestic terrorism a federal crime.

“If you were supporting ISIS, we would take you up on that charge. But we don’t have that unique domestic terrorism charge,” the Republican told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday.

“It’ll give (prosecutors) more tools, for sure, for them to not have to be creative about bringing them up on other crimes.”

McSally said she thinks the bill could be part of the solution to preventing mass shootings.

The legislation would make it a federal crime to commit a violent act “with the intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence, affect, or retaliate against the policy or conduct of a government.”

“We should not tolerate white nationalism. We shouldn’t tolerate racial violent ideology. We should all stand together on that,” McSally told KTAR News’ Arizona’s Morning News. 

“We should look for ways … on how we can ensure that people who are violent, people who are mentally unstable or have terrorist ideology, do not get access to deadly weapons.”

The legislation would also mandate that the attorney general, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security submit a joint report on domestic terrorism incidents to congressional committees.

While issues surrounding gun reform have created tension between the two parties, McSally said she could see them coming together over this bill.

“I feel pretty good that in the conversations that are happening in D.C. right now, where people are looking for common-sense solutions that actually could provide more tools to stop these awful crimes from happening, this is one that has immediately gotten attention from both sides of the aisle,” she said.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Martha Maurer contributed to this report.