This is how I began my testimony on House Bill 1075, which would establish an Office of Domestic Terrorism Response in the Department of Emergency Management.

 

We have seen the carnage violent extremism leaves on minority communities.

Just last month, the FBI intervened to thwart a plot by two neo-Nazis to target several BGE electric substations with gunfire in Baltimore County.  Earlier this month, Jewish communities across the country encountered online threats for a “Day of Hate” from far-right groups, forcing extra police patrols, extra security, and extra vigilance at synagogues and in heavily Jewish neighborhoods.

In other states, we have seen murders against the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs resulting in 5 people killed and 25 wounded, and the racism-inspired shooting in a grocery store in Buffalo resulting in 10 people killed and 3 wounded.

Let us not forget the 2017 murder of Richard Collins, a Bowie State ROTC Candidate, who was murdered by an “alt-right” extremist. We must take the initiative against extremist behavior so that we keep Maryland families and communities safe.

We can and must do so consistent with the First Amendment.

 

This legislation received a favorable committee report and was debated on the House floor yesterday.

These are the unedited remarks of one of my Republican colleagues.

 

A few comments, Madam Speaker:

When this bill popped up, I was just happy that we found an organization of a police department we wanted to fund.

You know, crime is on the rise, and this body has something to do with that, right?  You look at bills like justice reinvestment, juvenile justice reform, no cash bail bond, police reform – it’s all made our citizens significantly less safe.

And when I see this bill come up here, it probably was a good idea – about 22 years ago.

Right now I just feel that it’s ripe for abuse.

When you look at this, it doesn’t really set up a law enforcement.  If you read the bill, it deals with teaching and communicating with higher ed and reporting back to the General Assembly.

What I’m really afraid of is that this is going to end up turning into another political witch hunt.

About ten years ago we saw the political witch hunts first come about, when you had President Barrack Obama weaponize the IRS against Republicans.

It was about 5 years ago, the Democratic Caucus here in Annapolis, had its guy, Congressman Adam Schiff, kind of an unscrupulous congressman, that perpetrated the lies of Russian collusion, for two years now, and lied to the nation.

It was less than a year ago that President Joe Biden, on a nationally-televised stage, lit up Freedom Hall in Pennsylvania, lit it up bright red, and said you know what, Republicans, compared them to Nazis.  And then turned around and said well anyone that believes in this America First agenda – which is about half the voting population by the last election in 2020 – well they’re domestic terrorists, they’re a threat to freedom.

And look, one of the most scary things is that we’ve spending the last two to three weeks talking about bills dealing with parenting and taking rights away from parents.

It was only a year ago that the attorney general of the nation came out, because of the teacher’s union, Merrick Garland, compared people that were protesting at school board meetings, compared them to domestic terrorists.

For all those reasons, just for the chance of being misused, I’m going red on this bill and I urge other people to do the same.

 

House Bill 1075 passed the House of Delegates, 101-35.

Our democracy is being tested.

What was routine is now in question.

Will the winner of a fair election assume the office?

For the last two sessions, my response to January 7 was legislation criminalizing domestic terrorism.

But even my liberal friends had problems with the term.

Would a misguided prosecutor indict people for engagining in civil disobedience?

A few weeks ago, I learned that Maryland law already makes it a crime for a person “by threat, force, or corrupt means, [to] obstruct, impede, or try to obstruct or impede the administration of justice in a court of the State.”

My bill would extend that prohibition to the other two branches of government, the executive and the legislative.

The legislation would make no change to what action constitues the crime nor the penalty for a violation.

I’m not reinventing the wheel.

I’m trying to preserve our democracy.

 

Last year, I introduced a bill to criminalize domestic terrorism.

House Bill 1164 would make it a separate offense to commit a crime with the intent to cause serious physical injury or death to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.

There would be an enhanced penalty for these acts, like a hate crime.

The bill did not pass.

However, I worked with the committee chairman, Delegate Luke Clippinger, on a letter to the Director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security.

The letter asks for a “report on the State’s efforts and plans to prevent, detect, and address domestic terrorism, to the extent that the publication of such information does not jeopardize public safety or security.”

The letter was sent on May 11.  There has been no response.

Last week, as you know, the F.B.I. and state authorities arrested 13 men in connection with a domestic terrorism plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan.

I already planned to reintroduce my bill.