2018 -- S 2696

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LC004251

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

URGING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO RECOGNIZE WHITE NATIONALIST

AND NEO-NAZI GROUPS AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS

     Introduced By: Senators Goldin, Miller, Nesselbush, Quezada, and Crowley

     Date Introduced: March 20, 2018

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     WHEREAS, White nationalist groups espouse an ideology of white supremacy and the

"alleged" inferiority of non-whites. They believe that white identity should be a paramount

principle in the governing of western nations and they support non-democratic means to bring this

evil philosophy to the forefront; and

     WHEREAS, The shocking and appalling events that took place on August 12, 2017, in

Charlottesville, Virginia, confirm that white nationalism and neo-Nazism remain very real threats

to social and racial progress; and

     WHEREAS, Throughout the course of our nation's history, white nationalism has

supported and promoted coercion and violent repression of individuals solely on the basis of their

race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and immigration status; and

     WHEREAS, Today, white nationalism has attempted to reinvent itself, self-identifying as

the "alt-right," yet their present-day rhetoric and terrorism conjure painful memories of our

nation's past; and

     WHEREAS, While free speech is a fundamental and precious value for almost all

Americans, white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups promote agendas that are in irreconcilable

conflict with our nation's foundational principles of liberty and justice for all; and

     WHEREAS, White nationalism and neo-Nazism are continuing to grow as menaces to

societal order that seek to reignite social animosities, reverse improvements in race relations,

divide the nation, and foment hatred that leads to ethnic eradication; and

     WHEREAS, The white nationalists and neo-Nazi message of racial and social intolerance

has led to senseless acts of violence that continue to terrorize members of racial, ethnic and

religious minority communities; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby strongly denounces and opposes the totalitarian impulses, violent terrorism, xenophobic

biases, and bigoted ideologies that are promoted by white nationalists and neo-Nazis; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate urges law enforcement to recognize these white nationalist

and neo-Nazi groups as terrorist organizations, and to pursue the criminal elements of these

domestic terrorist organizations in the same manner and with the same intensity used to protect

the United States from other manifestations of terrorism; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of

the United States, the members of the Rhode Island Congressional delegation, and the Honorable

Gina M. Raimondo, Governor of the State of Rhode Island.

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