Tuesday’s press briefing took an unexpected turn when John Kirby, a spokesperson for the administration, declined to label individuals making violent anti-Semitic threats in the country as ‘domestic terrorists’. The tense moment was instigated by a direct question from Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, who just yesterday put Karine Jean-Pierre on the spot in a similar query.
“Are the people in this country making violent anti-Semitic threats, are they domestic terrorists?” Doocy posed, keeping in mind the administration’s investigations into conservative Catholics as “domestic terrorists.”
Kirby’s response was cautious. “I don’t know that we’re classifying people as domestic terrorists for that,” he said. “That’s really a question better left to law enforcement. I’m not aware that there’s been such a characterization of that.”
WATCH:
Peter Doocy catches Kirby: "The people in this country making violent antisemitic threats. Are they domestic terrorists?"
John Kirby: "I don't know that we're classifying people as domestic terrorists for that." pic.twitter.com/JSfna9iDRW
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 31, 2023
The question comes in the wake of increasing tensions surrounding pro-Hamas protests across the country. The refusal to explicitly label these individuals as domestic terrorists has left many concerned. Many Americans have voiced their frustrations that the administration isn’t tackling the serious nature of anti-Semitic threats directly.
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