Democratic presidential hopeful Cory Booker has vowed to create a White House office to combat “hate crimes” if elected President.
Booker says he will make fighting white supremacy and hate crimes a priority under his administration.
Reuters reports: Booker said he would also require the FBI and the Justice Department to allocate the same level of resources and attention to white supremacist-inspired violence as they devote to international terrorism.
The New Jersey senator announced his plan less than two weeks after a gunman in El Paso, Texas, killed 22 people inside a Walmart after posting an anti-immigrant screed online that echoed some of President Donald Trump’s heated rhetoric.
The attack was among three mass shootings in the span of a week that killed 34 people in all.
The incidents have roiled the presidential race, with Democrats accusing Trump, a Republican, of fomenting hatred while failing to embrace common-sense gun restrictions.
Several candidates, including Senator Kamala Harris on Wednesday, have released plans to fight gun violence and white supremacy in the days since the El Paso massacre.