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Sign now to tell Congress: Please respond to the Capitol attack by holding insurrectionists accountable using our current laws. Do not respond by expanding our domestic terrorism laws, which will erode our human and civil rights and end up being used to further target and surveil Black and brown people and religious minorities. |
John,
In one of the ugliest days for our democracy, a violent mob of white nationalists 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 actually further erode 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—the same marginalized groups targeted by white nationalists.
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.
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. The Department of Justice can use over 50 federal statutes. It's just that they are too-often used against marginalized communities, not far-right extremists.
Thank you for taking action!
In solidarity,
Rashida Tlaib
