The El Paso shooting has reignited a debate over whether the federal government has a double-standard when it comes to white nationalist terrorism

In it, O'Connor contended that US law had resulted in "uncertainty for law enforcement officials and the public, as it makes federal officials depend on city codes to prosecute domestic terrorists." He also suggested Congress pass legislation making it a crime for a person to "commit, attempt, or conspire to commit an act of violence intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to influence government policy or conduct." But there's a significant divide between legal and national security experts on how a domestic terrorism law would work in practice. Congress has given the federal government substantial tools to address far-right violence." German said that the Justice Department's "inattention to far-right violence" is not due to a "lack of authority," but a product of "longstanding policy and practice." "Though many hate crimes fit the definition of domestic terrorism under federal law — violence or threats intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population — and can properly be labeled as such, the FBI, as a matter of policy, regards them as lesser crimes," German added.