SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Senate on Sunday passed a resolution to urge law enforcement officials to name white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups as terrorist organizations in the wake of racially fueled violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the resolution came in response to the weekend's violence, which claimed the life of a woman protesting a rally organized by white nationalists.
In addition to naming white nationalist groups as terrorist organizations, the resolution encourages authorities to dismantle "the criminal elements of these domestic terrorist organizations in the same manner as other manifestations of terrorism."
Democratic state Sen. Don Harmon, one of the resolution's sponsors, said in a statement that the resolution was meant to condemn the "inexcusable acts of violence committed by white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups in Charlottesville this weekend."
“It is vital that we stand in total opposition to the hatred, bigotry and violence displayed by these groups,” he said. “They are the heirs to the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazis. We fought two bloody wars in opposition to their ideologies. We must continue to fight those same twisted ideologies today.”
He said the groups are contradictory to what America strives to be.
“Diversity has always and will always make America stronger and better,” he said.
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