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Sign now to tell Congress: |
In one of the darkest days for our democracy, a mob of violent insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. We must hold these insurrectionists accountable, along with the government officials who incited and encouraged them.
However, in the wake of the attack, some of my colleagues in Congress are pushing to expand our laws to investigate and prosecute acts of domestic terrorism—measures which will further erode our human and civil rights.
Every time our country has increased its national security powers, they’ve been used to disproportionately target, surveil, and criminalize already-over-policed communities of color and religious minorities.
To expand the government's national security powers once again at the expense of the human and civil rights of the American people would only serve to further undermine our democracy, not protect it.
And because justice is not equal in this country, any new domestic terrorism legislation would end up being used to profile already-over-policed marginalized people.
We know this based on our country’s history, which is especially important to reckon with as we start Black History Month.
The Department of Justice can already use over 50 federal statutes to hold the people who participated in the insurrection accountable. However, such laws have rarely been used against far-right extremists—instead, they’ve often been used against marginalized communities.
As Diala Shamas, a staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, noted:
“Anyone familiar with the scope of surveillance and targeting of Black political dissent, or Muslim communities, knows that law enforcement has all the tools it needs to aggressively disrupt and hold accountable those who planned and participated in the storming of the Capitol. Why they didn’t raises serious questions, but it was not because their hands were tied. We don’t need new terrorism designations.”
It’s true!
Our national government already has the tools, resources, and authority needed to investigate and hold accountable the people who participated in January 6th’s insurrection. It’s just a matter of political will.
That’s why over 150 civil and human rights groups sent a letter to Congress opposing the creation of a new domestic terrorism charge, and it’s why I led 10 progressive members of Congress to send a letter to congressional leadership opposing any expansion of our national security powers.
And now we urgently need members of the public to do the same. Can you join us?
Thank you for taking action!
In solidarity,
Rashida Tlaib
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