Newark, NJ — Today, following his
major speech on gun violence and the rising tide of hatred and white nationalism in America at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, Cory Booker is outlining his plan to confront hate crimes and white supremacy.
Booker will create a new White House Office on Hate Crimes and White Supremacist Violence charged with coordinating federal agencies and community voices to improve the federal and local response to threats, address the ways in which hate spreads online, and provide support to communities and victims of hate crimes.
Just as Congress and previous administrations have created White House offices and councils to address major national threats, such as the White House Office of AIDS Policy, Booker will treat the persistent and rising threat of white supremacist violence with the coordinated response it demands.
In addition to the White House office, Booker will also create an external advisory group of community stakeholders impacted by hate crimes to share information with and advise the White House, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Homeland Security officials working to investigate and address hate crimes.
Booker’s plan would require improved reporting and data collection on hate crimes and white supremacist threats and mandate DOJ and FBI to prioritize resources and address acts of violence motivated by white supremacy in the same way that they prioritize international terrorism. To ensure that these priorities are met, Booker would mandate annual audits of the FBI and DOJ and require the FBI, DOJ, and the Department of Homeland Security provide regular assessments of the threats posed by white supremacists to Congress and the public.
Booker would also direct the FBI to end the misleading “racially motivated violent extremism” category and reinstate the specific “white supremacist” designation in order to provide the public with an accurate assesment of the threats facing our communities.
“Dr. King once said that ‘It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me.’ So in my administration, we will use the full force of the presidency to combat hate crimes and root out white supremacist threats wherever they arise,” said Cory Booker.
Booker’s plan would also break down barriers between law enforcement and the communities harmed by hate crimes and white supremacist violence through grant programs that empower victims and by directing DOJ to expand the list of “sensitive locations” so that immigrant communities in particular can access law enforcement and emergency services without fear of arrest, detainment, or deportation.
Booker’s plan to confront hate crimes and white supremacy builds on his sweeping gun violence prevention plan — the most sweeping put forth by a presidential candidate — that would limit those intent on committing hate crimes from accessing guns. Since putting forward his proposal for a federal gun licensing system in May, six candidates for president have followed suit — fundamentally reshaping the debate around gun violence in America.
Read the full plan here.
