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1 1 (January 15, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govebku0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional 4 Resear h Service nhforming the legisiative d bate since 1914 Sifting Domestic Terrorism from Hate Crime and Homegrown Violent Extremism Updated January 15, 2021 In light of the violence related to events over recent years, including the 2017 protests in Charlottesville, VA, 2020 protests across the nation related to policing practices and police-community relations, and 2021 security breach of the U.S. Capitol, policymakers may be interested in how the concepts ofdomestic terrorism, hate crime, and homegrown violent extremism compare with one another They are fairly distinct ideas that federal law enforcement agencies use to categorize certain types of individuals whose unlawful actions are at least partly ideologically motivated. Domestic Terrorism Domestic terrorism differs from other criminal activity in key ways. Importantly, unlike most offenders- who may be driven by self-centered motives-domestic terrorists are driven by a cause or ideology. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the agency with lead responsibility for terrorism investigations at the federal level, generally relies on two definitions of domestic terrorism. First, the Code of Federal Regulations characterizes terrorism as including the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. Second, 18 U.S.C. @2331(5) more narrowly defines domestic terrorism as occurring primarily within U.S. territorial jurisdiction, and involves (A) ... acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended- (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping... Domestic terrorists are widely divergent, drawing from many philosophies and worldviews to justify their illegal acts. They can be motivated to commit crimes in the name of ideas such as animal rights, environmental rights, white supremacy, anti-government beliefs, and anarchism, for example. Expression of these ideas-minus the commission of crimes-may involve constitutionally protected activity. The FBI safeguards against cases focused solely on constitutionally protected activities. All FBI investigations must be conducted for an authorized national security, criminal, or foreign intelligence collection purpose. Investigations may not solely monitor the exercise of First Amendment rights. Finally, the FBI conceptualizes domestic terrorism in terms of threats, not groups or ideas. In September 2020, Conrs-ona R rhS Srvice 7-57O| www-crs.

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