The 22 mostly Latino victims in El Paso earlier this month are the most recent innocents to fall victim to the scourge of hate and gun violence plaguing our nation. They are not alone. We have seen hateful acts against African Americans in Charleston, Jews in Pittsburgh, Muslims in New York, and LGBTQ people in Orlando. It is hate-fueled American-on-American terrorism.
Today, our people are three times more likely to suffer a terrorist attack launched by an American than one launched by a foreigner. This is an emergency — and our response must begin with recognizing the crisis for what it is.
That's why I am proposing a new law — the Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act — to define these hate-fueled attacks as what they are: domestic terrorism.
This new, first-in-the-nation law would ensure that hate-fueled murder with the intent to cause mass casualties carries the same penalty as other acts of terrorism — and be punishable with a sentence of up to life without parole.
I am also calling on Congress to enact a federal domestic terrorism law — and to address the crisis of gun violence by banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and enacting universal background checks.
A few weeks ago, when I was in Israel, I saw a quote that is all too relevant today: "A country is not what it does — it is also what it tolerates."
We must have no tolerance for this rampage of hateful violence. And if the federal government won't act, New York will.
Ever Upward,
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
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