A Senate committee heard testimony on Wednesday about the threat of domestic terrorism. Senator Rob Portman sits on the panel and he’s hoping they will come up with ways to detect and prevent violence before it happens.
Portman (R-Ohio) acknowledges Ohio has its fair share of groups that engage in domestic terrorism. He said violent extremists from all sides of the ideological spectrum are increasingly using the internet to get their radical messages out to people. He also said they are taking that one step further.
“They have the ability to encourage people to come together and actually implement some of these threats that are out there so the online environment is huge in this. And that’s true in Ohio and it’s true everywhere," Portman said.
Portman hopes the hearings will identify ways to shut down extremists who pose a threat to others. He said the problem isn’t unique to Ohio but there are white supremacists and other groups in the state that could pose a threat to government leaders, safety forces and others with whom they disagree.
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