Merrick Garland: Domestic terrorism is "still with us" and remains critical threat
19 April 2021
In his first major speech, Attorney General Merrick Garland warned the nation Monday to remain vigilant against the rising threat of domestic extremism.
Why it matters: Domestic terrorism poses an "elevated threat" to the nation this year, according to U.S. intelligence. Garland has already pledged to crack down on violence linked to white supremacists and right-wing militia groups.
What he's saying: Addressing a memorial service in Oklahoma City for victims of the U.S.'s most deadly act of domestic terrorism, Garland said the FBI warned of "ongoing and heightened threat posed by domestic violent extremists" just last month, Politico reports.
- "Although many years have passed, the terror perpetrated by people like Timothy McVeigh is still with us," Garland said, referring to the American extremist who carried out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people and injured over 680 others. At the time, Garland was a young prosecutor in the city.
- "Those of us who were in Oklahoma City in April 1995 do not need any warning."
Garland told lawmakers in February that "we are facing a more dangerous period than we faced in Oklahoma City."
- "The Department of Justice is pouring its resources into stopping domestic violent extremists before they can attack, prosecuting those who do and battling the spread of the kind of hate that leads to tragedies like the one we mark here today," he added.
Garland didn't mention the most recent case of high-profile domestic terrorism — the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.