WASHINGTON – FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday expressed deep concern about the violence driven by a series of domestic complaints in the US, from election-related disputes to the landmark abortion-rights case Roe v. Until the lingering anger following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Wade.
“I feel like every day I’m getting information about someone throwing a Molotov cocktail at someone for some issue,” Ray told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “That’s crazy.”
Describing an unusually volatile environment, Ray lamented that law enforcement officials have increasingly been targeted, with an “alarming” number of deaths in ambushes.
“It’s a dangerous world out there,” the director told lawmakers.
He called the election and politically motivated violence “an almost 365-day phenomenon”, an outgrowth of the country’s deep divisions. About the Supreme Court’s recent abortion decision, he said tensions continue to rise.
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“I believe we have seen an increase in that category,” the director said, referring to the violence associated with abortion decisions, warning that such acts will not be tolerated.
“I don’t care what side of the issue you’re on,” Ray said. “You may not use violence or threats of violence” to resolve disputes.
While Wray said homegrown extremists pose the country’s deadliest threat, he remained concerned about the threat posed by international terrorists, including al-Qaeda, even after a US drone strike killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan over the weekend. were .
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Nearly a year after the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, Wray said that despite al-Zawahri’s death, he is concerned about the loss of intelligence sources and the possible reorganization of al-Qaeda.
Asked for his reaction to the news that al-Zawahri had finally been tracked down to a Taliban-controlled guesthouse in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Wray said: “Not surprised, but disappointed.”
Sen. Lindsay Graham pressed Ray on what such a close alliance of the RSC, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban could mean for the US and its allies.
“Nothing good,” Ray said.