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Report: FBI, DOJ 'Deprioritize' Investigating Far-Right Violence

Masood Farivar

   WASHINGTON - Despite rising incidence of far-right violence in the
   United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Justice
   Department continue to deprioritize investigating the violence and
   prosecuting its perpetrators, according to a report released Monday.

   While a handful of high-profile cases are sometimes designated as acts
   of "domestic terrorism" and receive the law enforcement agencies' full
   investigative attention, the overwhelming majority are treated as hate
   crimes, gang violence and run-of-the-mill homicides, pushing them down
   the agencies' list of priorities, the report says.

   The report was prepared by the Brennan Center for Justice a nonpartisan
   law and policy institute at New York University School of Law.

   Labels matter

   The label the FBI chooses to characterize an act of violence is
   important in determining the amount of resources devoted to the case
   and how wide an investigative net is cast, according to the report.
   Investigating terrorism currently tops the FBI's list of eight
   priorities and is well resourced. Hate crimes rank fifth while gang
   violence comes in sixth.

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