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DHS chief: ‘I don’t know how to stop’ homegrown terrorism
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told CBS’ “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson that he’s not sure how to stop "homegrown terrorism." The comment came days after an attack in Paris, leaving one police officer dead and at least two others injured. (Image source: CBS News/YouTube screen cap)

DHS chief: ‘I don’t know how to stop’ homegrown terrorism

In the wake of last week’s terrorist attack in Paris, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Sunday he is not sure how to stop homegrown terrorism.

The Paris attack happened Thursday near the Champs-Élysées, leaving one police officer dead and at least two others injured.

Kelly made the somewhat surprising admission on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” when host John Dickerson asked: “Is there anything in the Paris attack that sends any lessons about U.S. policy or policy that should be put in place?”

“There are so many aspects of this terrorist thing,” the DHS chief responded. “Obviously, you’ve got the homegrown terrorists. I don’t know how to stop that. I don’t know how to detect that.”

Kelly told Dickerson that he believes the assault in Paris was, in fact, a case of homegrown terrorism.

“But again,” he said, “there are so many threats that come in from across the border. And it’s essential absolutely to control one’s border.”

A little later in the interview, the CBS anchor asked again about President Donald Trump’s administration's ability to tamp down homegrown terrorism in the United States, telling Kelly, “That seems like a big problem.”

Kelly agreed that homegrown terrorism is a “big threat.”

“It is a big problem,” he said. “It is — you know, depending on where you sit is where you stand on this. It is a big threat. Is it the No. 1 threat? I think it’s the most common threat.”

He continued:

The appeal I would make on the homegrown threat is if you see something, say something. Whether you’re a parent, a sibling, an Imam. And this extends frankly ... to white supremacists and that kind of terrorism as well. If you see a young man or a young woman going down that path where they’re always on these kind of websites or saying things at church or in a mosque that are clearly disturbing, then tell someone about it so that we can help that kid, young man or woman, before they break the law.

In response to the Paris terror attack last week, Trump offered “condolences from our country to the people of France.”

“What can you say? It just never ends,” the president said. “We have to be strong and we have to be vigilant and I’ve been saying it for a long time.”

France has been in an extended state of emergency since the 2015 Paris attack, which left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded. At the time, President François Hollande described the assault as an “act of war.”

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