Yesterday’s tragedy at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism by authorities, who have already uncovered a number of details about the shooter, Wade Michael Page, a 40-year old Army veteran and rock singer who had ties to hate groups. Page’s name was one of hundreds monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center because of his role as the leader of a white power band.
Further south in Missouri, a mosque in Joplin burned to the ground early yesterday morning and the cause is currently under investigation considering it was the second time time in almost a month that a fire had hit the Islamic center. If authorities do find evidence of arson, it would cause continuing concern among minority religious groups and ethnicities from the Middle East, South Asia and others who might be the targets of racially-motivated hate groups.
While ending the threat of domestic terrorism altogether is highly unlikely, there are steps the FBI and other organizations take to combat homegrown threats. Watch the following video from Book Passage that features former FBI counterterrorism expert Terry Turchie as he explains (at minute 48:04) the best ways to deal with terrorism at home.
Hunting Home-Grown Terrorists from Book Passage and Book Passage on FORA.tv
