Dear Friend,
The 22 mostly Latino victims in El Paso are the most recent victims of a scourge of hate-fueled gun violence, which has also targeted African Americans in Charleston, Jews in Pittsburgh, Muslims in New York, and the LGBTQ community in Orlando.
This is a threat from within that feeds on division and tears at the very fabric of our society.
It must be called what it is: domestic terrorism.
This week I proposed a first-in-the-nation law that confronts this threat head on and will help ensure that these perpetrators are treated like the terrorists they are.
Watch my address on this important new proposal:
The Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act would ensure that hate-fueled murder with the intent to cause mass casualties carries the same penalty as any other act of terrorism — with a sentence of up to life without parole.
NY will not tolerate this rash of hateful violence and offering thoughts and prayers cannot continue to be a substitute for action.
Together, we can and we will lead the way forward for this nation.
Andrew