Mass shootings spur call for proactive 'domestic terrorism' charges

President Trump, senior members of Congress and others labeled this weekend’s mass shootings as domestic terrorism. Yet there is no official crime by that name.

There is, however, a growing consensus that it’s time for change. Supporters of the designation say it would give federal investigators a tool to try to stop attacks such as the El Paso shooting rather than having to respond afterward.

It would also open the door to stiffer federal penalties for those who plot attacks but are stopped or give up before they carry them out.

The approach is better than having to shoehorn a clear terrorism case into other criminal laws, say those who have been involved with investigations.

“If you can have a statute that speaks to the conduct at issue, that is better than borrowing pieces from other statutes,” said Henry E. Hockeimer Jr., a former federal prosecutor who served on the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Task Force. “For people out there who may be planning something, it helps that there is a charge covering their conduct.”