Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a “horrific, violent attack,” during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
“There’s no place for it in this country,” he said in his first remarks since the attack last week, adding that it was difficult to label the incident “domestic terrorism” because of the legal implications of the term.
“This case is being investigated and prosecuted by local authorities, so I am going to let that process play out in a court of law,” he said Monday.
On the same day that Pelosi was attacked, federal authorities warned in a joint assessment that domestic violent extremists pose a heightened threat to the 2022 midterm elections.
Asked if he was worried about copycat attacks, Mayorkas said, domestic violent extremism is “one of the greatest terrorism-related” threats to the US, noting that DHS tracks the threat environment and pushes information out to state and local law enforcement authorities, so they are alert to the threat.
Mayorkas said he has confidence in the integrity of the midterm elections.
“We’ve been working very, very closely with election officials — state and local — around the country, so we have confidence in the integrity of those elections, and it is fundamentally important that people exercise their right to vote. That is the foundation of our democracy,” he said.
According to the bulletin, potential targets of violence include candidates running for public office, elected officials, election workers, political rallies, political party representatives, racial and religious minorities, or perceived ideological opponents.
Source: www.cnn.com