[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 14 (Monday, January 25, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ``DOMESTIC TERRORISM IN THE CAPITOL''

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, what our Nation witnessed and what 
Members of Congress and the dedicated staff that work in the Capitol 
witnessed on January 6 was a deadly attack on one of our most sacred 
and historic constitutional duties: the count and final certification 
of the results of our Presidential election. The violent insurrection 
that occurred in the Capitol, which took the lives of five people, 
including an officer of the U.S. Capitol Police, was an attack on our 
democracy. The votes cast in the 2020 Presidential election were 
counted and recounted. The results were challenged in the courts and 
ultimately were certified in every single State. Yet, citing the 
baseless chant that the election was ``stolen,'' an angry and violent 
mob stormed the Capitol in an effort to suspend the democratic process, 
overturn the will of the American people, and ensure that now-former 
President Trump remained in office. These insurrectionists vandalized 
the very heart of our government and threatened and harmed those sworn 
to protect it.
  In a column in the VTDigger, Haviland Smith, a Vermonter and the 
first chief of counterterrorism operations for the Central Intelligence 
Agency, makes the strong case that the insurrection on January 6 was an 
act of domestic terrorism. I am certain that the FBI and the Department 
of Justice will continue to investigate and, where appropriate, to file 
charges and hold these people to account. But in this Chamber, we must 
heed Mr. Smith's wisdom. As legislative body, as public servants, we 
must reckon with the lies and anti-democratic discourse that fueled 
this attack and work to ensure that such an act of domestic terror 
never occurs again.
  I ask unanimous consent that the piece written by Haviland Smith, 
titled ``Domestic Terrorism in the Capitol,'' be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                   [From the VTDigger, Jan. 8, 2021]

                   Domestic Terrorism in the Capitol

                          (By Haviland Smith)

       It is a fact that the best, noblest political movements 
     often attract the worst kind of violent participants. These 
     people barge in and commit the kinds of violent acts that 
     ultimately change the focus of a previously benign movement 
     to violent terrorist activities. These are viewed quite 
     differently and are generally punished more severely than 
     normal criminal activities.
       That is what we are seeing today in the United States. 
     Whether you agree with their goals or not, the vast majority 
     of Trump supporters are non-violent Americans who seek basic 
     changes in American life. They plan to reach their goals by 
     supporting Trump. Right now, that means demonstrating 
     peacefully on his behalf and agreeing with and backing his 
     claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election which he 
     lost to Joe Biden.
       The other part of this picture is the violent one. There is 
     unquestionably a smaller group or groups who, for whatever 
     reasons, see these peaceful demonstrations as an opportunity 
     to raise havoc, to partake in the only form of protest that 
     turns them on--violence.
       What none of these folks seem to realize is that in the 
     commission of felonies (entering the U.S. Capitol forcefully, 
     etc.) in the pursuit of political goals (the illegal 
     participation in maintaining Trump in power) they qualify 
     nicely for classification as terrorists.
       At one point during the invasion of the Capitol, it was 
     announced by the TV commentators that the invaders were 
     beginning to leave the area. Careful examination of the TV 
     footage at the time shows that the people leaving the area 
     were old, often female--a less fit, less bellicose group. In 
     fact, they were the Capitol invaders who had no intention of 
     getting involved in what clearly was becoming a potentially 
     violent situation. They simply were not up to it politically, 
     mentally or physically.
       On the other hand, who stayed behind? Those who were 
     actively interested in becoming involved in violence. Did you 
     notice how many of them wore helmets? The only reason you 
     wear a helmet is to protect yourself from violent attacks on 
     your head and that is clearly what they were doing. They 
     anticipated participating in violence. In addition, the stay-
     behinds were a major cut in age below those who were leaving. 
     They were the sort who could climb vertical walls, break 
     through windows and throw projectiles at the protecting 
     police force. The fact that 5 people died, over 80 were 
     arrested, and 50 police officers were injured bears eloquent 
     testimony to the fact that this was a terrorist invasion 
     encouraged by the sitting President of the United States, his 
     family members and Republican colleagues.
       Ever since the results of the November election became 
     known, the President has created and maintained the fiction 
     that widespread fraud was involved in the Biden win. Whether 
     Trump knows that his major premise is all lies (which would 
     make him a calculating criminal) or doesn't know that his 
     positions are all lies (making him deranged) is almost 
     irrelevant. In either case, calculating or deranged, he is a 
     strangely questionable choice for leader of this country.
       Terrorism is the use of fear (terror) and acts of violence 
     to intimidate societies, governments or ideologies. Domestic 
     terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims within a 
     country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same 
     citizenship'' as the victims.
       It is worth noting that in the middle of the January 6 
     invasion, the FBI became involved, presumably on the basis of 
     a logical conclusion that they were looking at an act of 
     domestic terrorism. The FBI's definition of domestic 
     terrorism is ``violent, criminal acts committed by 
     individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals 
     stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a 
     political, religious, social, racial or environmental 
     nature.''
       It is clear that the invasion of the Capitol building 
     involved criminal activity. It is equally clear that if the 
     criminals are to be identified and tried for their crimes, as 
     has been clearly stated by all the government elements 
     involved, it will be the FBI that will lead the way. They 
     are, after all, the premier law enforcement organization in 
     the United States. As such, they are most likely to be the 
     only organization capable of resolving the many complicated 
     issues involved in this crime, most emphatically including 
     the issue of domestic terrorism, its initiators, motivators 
     and perpetrators.

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