White House announces anti-extremism summit as GOP-fueled attacks on law enforcement continue

The White House will convene a “bipartisan group of federal, state, and local officials, civil rights groups, faith and community leaders, technology and business leaders, law enforcement officials” and other stakeholders for a summit to continue the Biden administration’s efforts to counter violent extremism, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday.

In a statement announcing the 15 September “United We Stand Summit,” Ms Jean-Pierre said the event will “counter the corrosive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety, highlight the response of the Biden-Harris Administration and communities nationwide to these dangers, and put forward a shared vision for a more united America”.

“President Biden decided to run for president after the horror of the hate-fueled violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Since taking office, his Administration has consistently taken steps to counter hate-motivated violence -- from signing the bipartisan COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, to releasing the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism, to signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant legislation in three decades to reduce gun violence,” Ms Jean-Pierre said.

She added that Mr Biden will keynote the event, which will feature “inclusive, bipartisan panels and conversations on countering hate-fueled violence, preventing radicalization and mobilization to violence, and fostering unity”.

The announcement of the anti-extremism event comes as Republicans, led by former president Donald Trump, have threatened to defund the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the wake of last week’s court-authorised search of Mr Trump’s home.

Other senior GOP elected officials, such as Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, have mischaracterised the increased funding for the Internal Revenue Service in the recently-signed Inflation Reduction Act — intended to replace retiring employees and provide long-delayed upgrades to equipment used for processing tax returns — as a way for the Biden administration to create bands of armed IRS agents who will be charged with attacking small business owners.

Mr Trump and his allies have long claimed that federal law enforcement has been weaponised against him and members of the GOP, citing a string of investigations into whether he and members of his inner circle violated various federal laws over the years.

The result, according to the FBI, Department of Justice, and outside experts, has been an unprecedented spike in threats against federal law enforcement, including an attack on the FBI’s Cincinnati field office last week.