PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Law enforcement is on alert in light of Wednesday’s deadly insurrection at the Capitol. A terrorism expert spoke with KYW Newsradio about how things got to that point and what happens next.
Retired FBI agent Thomas O'Connor with FED Squared Consulting said under United States law, domestic terrorism is defined as using force or violence to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to influence the policy of a government.
"The problem is that there is a definition, but under that section, there is no penalty attached to it for most instances that take place," said O'Connor.
That's why he said in these instances, people are charged with affiliated crimes like weapons or trespassing offenses. Meanwhile, he suggested when dealing with terrorism, the key is to get in front of the problem.
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"The red flags are just ignoring facts," he said. "You have to listen to the facts and not pour gasoline onto the conspiracies that puts people in a position where they feel they're victims."
O'Connor said there's been a lot of radicalization in this country which he predicts law enforcement will have to deal with in the coming months.
"Honestly, it comes down to words matter and people in positions of power have to be very careful with what words they use. And we saw that that didn't happen," he said.
"And this isn't something that's just going to go away. It's going to be a lot of work to de-radicalize people, to get truth to people, but many of those people don't wanna hear it, so it’s difficult."