[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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