ABOUT THE EVENT:

‘Domestic violent extremism … is the single greatest terrorism-related threat that we face in our homeland.’
– U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas – March 2021

‘The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now and it’s not going away anytime soon.’
– FBI Director Christopher Wray – Congressional Testimony March 2021

Since 9/11, domestic extremists and white nationalists have carried out almost three times more attacks in the U.S. than Islamic extremists according to government data. In the past 50 years, other than the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, four of the five most deadly years for domestic terrorism in the U.S. have occurred since 2015, including mass killings at: a Walmart in El Paso, a synagogue in Pittsburgh, a nightclub in Orlando, and a church in Charleston.

As Acting Assistant Attorney General of the United States Mary McCord oversaw nearly 400 Department of Justice employees who were responsible for protecting the country against international and domestic terrorism, espionage, cyber, and other national security threats. She will discuss the causes for the alarming rise in domestic terrorism, and address what actions the Justice Department, various state and federal agencies, and even ordinary Americans can take to defeat these home-grown threats.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Mary McCord is the former Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General for National Security at the U.S. Department of Justice and the Principal Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the National Security Division. Previously, McCord was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for nearly 20 years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Among other positions, she served as a Deputy Chief in the Appellate Division, overseeing and arguing hundreds of cases in the U.S. and District of Columbia Courts of Appeals, and Chief of the Criminal Division, where she oversaw all criminal prosecutions in federal district court.

Currently, McCord is Executive Director at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) and a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. At ICAP, McCord leads a team that brings constitutional impact litigation at all levels of the federal and state courts across a wide variety of areas including First Amendment rights, immigration, criminal justice reform, and combating the rise of private paramilitaries.

McCord has written about domestic terrorism, unlawful militia activity, public safety, and the rule of law for publications including the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Slate, Lawfare, and Just Security. She has appeared on NPR, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and other media outlets.

McCord graduated from Georgetown University Law School and served as a law clerk for Judge Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

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