Michael McCaul (R-TX) - chair of HomeSec committee - denies PP shooting was terrorism

[phantom power]

Calling the attack on a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic more of a “mental illness” issue, the Republican chair of the House Homeland Security Committee refused to describe the assault that left three dead and eight wounded as “domestic terrorism.”

Speaking with Martha Raddatz on ABC’s This Week, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) — who is virulently anti-abortion — said he would leave the call on Robert Lewis Dear’s shooting rampage at the Colorado Springs health clinic to the Justice Department.

“It’s a tragedy. It’s, I think, a mental health crisis,” said McCaul, adding, “I don’t think it would fall under quite the definition of domestic terrorism, although I’ll leave that to the Justice Department to make that determination.”

McCaul, whose antipathy towards abortion has included opposing federal funding of Planned Parenthood and voting against allowing human embryonic stem cells to be used in research, hasn’t always been so sanguine about terrorism in the U.S.

Previously the Texas lawmaker has warned of “lone wolf” attacks in the U.S., singling out ISIS and saying Americans could be “radicalized” by what they can access on the Internet.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/anti-abortion-head-of-homeland-security-committee-colorado-shooting-was-not-domestic-terrorism/

[sinkingfeeling]

1. It's the perfect example of domestic terrorism. The goal to intimidate and scare women and workers

at the clinics.

[phantom power]

3. Yes, but it's the kind of terrorism that assholes like McCaul approve of.

So they'll frame it as something else in the hopes that will enable it to continue. Which, so far, working out pretty well for these assholes.

[kentuck]

4. Of course not, Congressman...

Is that why both hospitals in Colorado Springs went on lockdown alert today? Normally it probably would not have been taken so seriously but there is a fear in the air directly from domestic terrorism and indirectly from those politicians that use hot rhetoric such as "harvesting body parts". Primarily for a supposed political advantage, I suppose?

[Warpy]

5. Yeah, he's not a woman so he's not terrified

so it can't possibly be terrorism. If it doesn't work on him, it doesn't qualify.

I wish Texas would take a collective Wake Up Pill and dump nitwits who give it a bad name. McCaul is not even the worst one.

[tanyev]

6. Ah, the tragic mental health crisis reason.

Thereby qualifying it for the Nope, Nothing At All Needs To Be Done response.