st everybody else was like, i'm not going down there, because anything might happen. there are these empty seats and it is quiet and we go and sit down and wait. you know to see what was going to happen. a waitress came by the tray of knives. she was so nervous the knives were rattling. i was so nervous that i wasn't sure what she was going to do with those knives. but i could tell that she was scared. she was a scared as i was. we sat there with her textbooks, trying to study. i remember her saying, we can't serve you, we can't serve col ored. i'm going to have to ask you to leave. don't say anything just keep sitting, don't say anything.

if they ask you what you would like, you answer a cup of coffee. they never asked us what we wanted. >> watch all of our events from greensboro. and on american history tv at c-span3. >> the white house recently hosted a three-day summit on combating terrorism. homeland security secretary jeh johnson called the terrorist threat more complex since 9/11. he also talked about funding for dhs which is set to expire next week unless congress takes action. this is 10 minutes. >> thank you. good morning everybody. as i look around the room at so many familiar faces from places as varied as boston, minneapolis, l.a., and i think about the weather in those three

places you realize it's all a matter of perspective here in washington. to some of you is freezing cold and two others of you it is a warm respite from where you come from. welcome everybody. this is a terrific opportunity to get together on a timely and important issue. there are many distinguished people in the room that i see here, including several members of the united states senate as well as the mayor of paris who is here, as well as a state, local and federal officials from around the country including our pilot cities, boston, minneapolis, and l.a. this is an important topic at an important time. as i have said many times we have the faults to a new phase

evolved to a new phase in the global terrorist threat and therefore must evolve to a new phase in our counterterrorism efforts. 13 and a half years ago when we were attacked in this country on 9/11, we were attacked by core al qaeda, which sent operatives into our country through relatively straightforward command-and-control structure. now 13 and a half years later , the global terrorist threat is more decentralized, more diffuse and frankly more complex. there are more al qaeda affiliates. there are groups that core al qaeda has denounced. isil is prominent on the world stage these days. we see very effective and slick use of the internet by terrorist organizations. very effective slick use of social media. when you compare where we are

today with just a few years ago and the way in which bin laden used to communicate through grainy films taken on the foot of the mountain side and compare that with some of the products we see put out today in just a very short period of time we have come a long way and terrorist organizations ability to communicate. they have the ability to reach into our communities and attempt to recruit and inspire individuals who may turn towards violence right here in the homeland. this has to be a collective effort as the vice president said yesterday. it has to be more than a military response. it requires not only the whole of government efforts but a whole of society effort.

state and local law enforcement which is represented in this room as well as the public and the community. the campaign, if you see something say something, has to be more than a slogan. so i have personally made as part of my personal agenda our departments cve engagements. as many of you in this room know i traveled not just to the pilot cities of boston, l.a., and minneapolis but also to columbus, chicago and i intend to do more of these. it was through these engagements and these meetings that i have had the opportunity to meet many of you in this room. let me share with you just a couple of observations and some of the things that i have said in our engagement across the country. first of all, i am sure many of you would agree, when we in the

federal government meet in the communities at cultural centers, city halls and so forth to engage community leaders, it has to be about more than just countering violent extremism. we have to have a dialogue across a range of issues. my department, the department of homeland security in particular has more interactions with the public than any other department of government so there are a range of issues that we discuss. frankly it's an exercise in lowering barriers, lowering suspicion and building trust. so when we have our engagement s and we have our conversations we would bring together very often they be u.s. attorney in

the state or the city, the police chief, the sheriff, the mayors, the senators and end of it is a conversation across a spectrum of issues. enforcement and administration of our immigration laws, things happening with local law enforcement, things happening at the airports, issues that individuals face at the airports for example. for my part, i have been in listening mode for these conversations. i have also said that we in the administration and the government should give voice to the plight of muslims living in this country and the discrimination that they face. and so i personally have committed to speak out about the situation that very often people in the muslim community in this country face, the fact that there are 1.6 billion muslims in

the world and the islamic faith is one about peace and brotherhood. for our part we ask something of you, of members of the community. first of all i have heard over and over again that this is where we have to depend upon people in the community, that we need to develop the counternarrative. we have heard that over and over now and we know that there are a number of those who have undertaken to do this. we need to take that to the next level developing the counternarrative. also in our communities and the communities we engage we ask that we all have a stake so one of the themes of this conference which fits right in with that is our communities, our responsibility, our shared future and that is very much part of the message that we would like to bring when we go to places like l.a., boston, minneapolis. our communities our responsibility, our shared

future so one of the things i like to say is that we all have a stake. it's our public safety. it's our homeland security. it's our country and so if you see something say something really does have to be more than a slogan. public engagement, public awareness. in our homeland security public safety efforts is becoming all the more crucial given how our challenges in homeland security, our involvement. are involving. and so we go to city after city, community after community to deliver this message and to build trust and to build a partnership with people like you in this room. we look forward to conversations today on day two.

we want to hear from those represented in this room about best practices, the effective practices that have worked for you, that have worked in this room and so we look forward to a good discussion. the last thing i will say which i say at every opportunity i can these days in public audiences in front of the camera is the department of homeland security, yes, i'm going to say this again, the department of homeland security needs a fully funded appropriation. we need an appropriations bill for the department of homeland security. [applause] as many of you know homeland security right now is operating on a continuing resolution which expires in nine days. as long as we are on a cr where we are strained to last year

spending levels and we are unable to engage in new starts new initiatives for spending new initiatives, new spending for border security. we still need to pay for the enhanced border security we put in place last summer. we are unable to enhance border security, to strengthen border security. we are unable to do some of the things the secret service independent panel is recommended for the secret service. we are unable to hire for the coming presidential election cycle. we are unable to fund new non-disaster threats to many of the people in this room in -- grants to many of the people in this room in uniform. we are unable to fund state and local law enforcement with our grants as long as we are on a continuing resolution. and we know the importance of those grants to state and local law enforcement. just for example, when i was in phoenix a couple of weeks ago to inspect the security of the super bowl i met with state and local law enforcement.

it was pointed out to me that all the communications equipment, all although of the surveillance equipment there was funded by my department. as long as we are on this er we see ourthis cr, we are unable to do these very important things for homeland security. so we need a fully funded department of homeland security especially in these challenging times. so thank you very much for being here and thank you for coming to washington. look forward to a good discussion. [applause] >> secretary johnson will be on the sunday morning talk show circuit tomorrow to discuss funding for the homeland security department, a bill to fund dhs passed february 27 and is currently held up in the

senate. the senate will attempt to move forward on the measure next week after failed attempts over the last month. the hill says that secretary johnson will appear on five of the sunday shows to argue that dhs funding is too important to put at the center of a fight over immigration. in addition to appearing over on the shows, he is said to speak at the national governors association meeting. we'll have that live tomorrow, 11 a.m. eastern. i live coverage of the nga meeting continues later today. the speaker is the global markets editor for the fox business network. the crew that live at 3 p.m. eastern time. until then, we will bring you more of the white house summit on combating terrorism. the discussion that includes muslim community leaders and law

enforcement. [indistinct noises] >> i am an english language teacher. it is my honor and privilege to greet our distinguished guests with a greeting of peace. peace be with you all. i would like to welcome of the world peace organization to begin with verses from the koran.

[speaking arabic]

>> in translation whoever kills is less of a soul. it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. leverett takes one life -- whoever saves one life, it is as if he saves mankind entirely. as religious leaders, we are conscious of the value of engagement. and for creating a platform for

dialogue between the u.s. government and the muslim community in the u.s. and minnesota. undoubtedly, to a communication -- two way communication leads to better understanding. in partnership with credible community members, there is an opportunity to strengthen the capacity of the minnesota, somali community in the following way. the peace and safety of the united states is of paramount concern to the muslim community. we believe in the right of all people to live in peace and security. muslim imams have condemned and

continue today to denounce anyone who uses islam to support terrorism. on behalf of our organization makep peace with your self and family and state and neighbors. you are brothers and sisters and god bless you. thank you so

much. [applause] >> good morning. salaam and thank you to the imams. my name is abdi. i'd would like to describe my community. we are patriotic, vibrant, and hard-working. we have spent the last few months working closely with law enforcement officers to create our pilot program. we are here in support of this effort which we have developed together. our u.s. attorney will provide a brief overview of our program.

>> this is a plan that we both with the somali community in minnesota. we have struggled with the cycle of recruiting by overseas terrorists. we have been meeting with the community and hundreds of community members. from these meetings, we built our pilot program which consists of three main components. we have built relationships of trust.

together, we will address the root causes of radicalization in minnesota. the community described for us these root causes. an entity crisis among somalis the lack of job opportunities, a need for mentors, a shortage of afterschool programs and a disconnect between youth and religious leaders. as you here, our pilot program addresses each of these causes. our partners will develop community led teams. relatives and friends of those who have joined isil told us they did not know where to turn when they saw a change in the young man or woman and were embarrassed to admit what was happening. the community wants to build early intervention efforts and our pilot program helps build mechanisms for doing so.

with the strategies, we believe our program will help our community break the cycle of recruitment. first, to discuss the problem our law enforcement leaders. first is rick horton. >> since 2008, the fbi task force has been investigating the travel of young minnesota-based somali americans to somalia to join us about also al-shabaab. one man was a 26-year-old, an american citizen born in somalia who on october 29, 2008, became america's first documented suicide bomber after detonating a vehicle in northern somalia.

more than 20 young smalley's have been charged in federal court in the district of minnesota on terrorism charges. some of the travelers who remain in somalia are still actively recruiting. al-shabaab has targeted the minnesota somali community encouraging youth to join the fight overseas or conduct an attack in the u.s. in late 2013, the fbi began to become aware of somali americans traveling overseas to join a terrorist organization. instead of us bob, it was isil -- also al-shabaab, it was isil. so far, 4 minnesota-based somali

americans have been charged. the fbi, along with our law enforcement partners, are committed to disrupting this activity through a multi-pronged approach. as part of this pilot program, we want to work with the smalley community to break the cycle of recruitment in minnesota. >> tom smith will tell us about the work he has been doing in st. paul. >> the pilot program is built on solid foundations established by local law enforcement. the st. paul please firm and has a long addition of -- the st. paul police department has a long tradition. we worked with local --

smalley community leaders have trained over 600 sworn officers -- we meet regularly with advisory councils and it is paid in community meetings and hold large multi-culture events. several of our youth and it up as new hires with the st. paul police department. the community has told us these efforts are working and most importantly, that they want more of this work. i'm here to tell you that is exactly what we are doing. a key component is increasing the number of somali american police officers, using entry-level positions known as unity liaison -- community liaison officers.

most important thing, it gives us an opportunity to mentor and guide the somali youth on the pathway of becoming a full-time police officer. our budget has concluded us from expanding these types of opportunities. during this pilot program, we are committed to increasing the number of somali police numbers working with the department. we can increase the number of positions available and further strengthen the bonds of trust we have already established. if we had more time this morning, i would tell you many success stories. minnesota's immigrant communities often come from areas where law enforcement is not widely trusted. it is up to us to build a partnership. it is up to us to build the trust so we can keep all of our members of our community safe.

during this pet program, we will increase our efforts by holding an additional youth summit. we are committed to increasing the presence of community members within our department. >> thank you. tell us about your work in hampden county. >> good morning. it is a distinct privilege to be here. any success the shares department has had is due largely to theiman rably. translations were difficult as best. men did not want to limit at

meetings -- women at meetings. they were distrustful of law enforcement. the key to overcoming these barriers was the one-on-one personal relationships between imam broglie and myself. he agreed to help us and lent credibility to us. others trusted us because he trusted us. he became a sponsor in the community. the agenda -- tailored to interests and needs of the community with translators and will truly appropriate meals. we learned it is critical not to be seen as playing favorites. we let everyone know that he would work with the entire community, the elders, religious leaders, women, and youth. we followed up with actions. we hired the first sworn deputy sheriff in minnesota.

we added a somali community member to our community engagement team. abdi mohammed. he works to build relationships between the community and my office. an example of our new level of engagement, a woman assisted us in adopting a new policy on religious head coverings in our jail. this new policy is one way for my office to show we are asking for guidance. acting. one of the most important members of our engagement team is me. this is not a job that delegates to someone else, but a responsibility shared throughout the entire agency. in the coming year, the imams and i will host a series of community meetings to assess the progress of this program as we together address the root causes of radicalization. thank you. >> thank you. the minneapolis police chief has

been building hard to build relationships in the community. >> thank you. it is an honor to be here today. it is essential that the somali community feel protected. we have worked hard to make our department more representative of the community. we have five smalley police officers -- somali please officers who have done a tremendous job. we only have five. they cannot be everywhere, so they have opened doors for the rest of the department. they have introduced other officers for the community and taught them how to build credibility. they are working with law enforcement nationally and internationally. recently officer abdi mohammed and a sergeant traveled to toronto to train law enforcement there on somali culture. i believe police officers are community leaders.

when i became chief i began , working with the police executive research forum and the bureau of justice assistance. to build legitimacy. together we began working on a procedural justice and police legitimacy initiative. procedural justice is comprised of four elements. voice. when police use justice, they provide members with the opportunity to voice their concern or sides. neutrality. they respond with a neutral position and apply rules consistently. respect. we treat each member of the community with respect. they demonstrate they are trustworthy to their actions and words. we are building confidence with the police, but the police and justice system work to prevent crime. as part of the minneapolis-st. paul police department, we continue our procedural justice initiative.

the lessons learned from this initiative will create a model to build community relationships while at the same time reducing crime. thank you. >> our pilot program takes us from engagement to solutions -- [applause] thank you. our pilot program takes us from engagement to solutions to the root causes of radicalization. next up will be our community and local partners. we will start with hodan hassan. >> good morning. i am a mental health professional from minneapolis. as a muslim-american, the issue we are here to talk about today is -- my family has been directly

affected by extremism. my nieces were at the mall of america when terrorists attacked the mall in 2013. one of them suffered major injuries, and we are still struggling with accepting this fact. i'm a bit nervous, so excuse me. from a mental health perspective, we have too many individuals who struggle with identity issues and confusion of not being american enough. there is an internal struggle of what it means to be american as well as what it means to be somali, especially in the -- generation. this is made worse by the general -- of those who immigrated here and those who are born here. the experience of this generation growing up is -- and it includes and is not limited to language and cultural differences.

we have huge gaps in education and employment, which pushes youth to the far end of the table as they feel less important. last but not least, the fear of law enforcement still remains a concern, even though some of the minnesota law enforcement have worked hard to bridge this gap. this identity of issues and identity crises is the root cause of -- one of that root causes of radicalization in minnesota. it as part of the program, the plan is to work with moderates community organizations, school officials, mental health professionals, and religious leaders to address the early warning signs and find the appropriate help for these youth. the initiative of this project will be community led, and the emphasis will be in empowering the community to use resources to help this be solved. thank you. >> thank you. council member?

>> i am the council member representing ward six area of the city of minneapolis. let me describe -- ward 6 has the highest concentration of immigrants in minneapolis as well as the highest concentration of muslim americans. it is home to the largest somali-american population in the united states, and it is an area that reflects changing demographics. ward six is a low-income working-class community. i believe a major component addressing the issue of the root cause of radicalization is lack of opportunities and lack of jobs. jobs are absolutely essential to improving somali community rights. increased employment will give new opportunities to the next generation.

building community capacity helps alleviate issues of unemployment and underemployment, a lack of home ownership, and poverty. what my community, the somali-community america community needs today, as no less than a marshall plan. this is what we are working on building. at city hall and on this project, a plan includes extending skill sets, workforce development, and job training with placement programs intended to significantly increase the number of jobs available to the community. as part of the pilot program, we are working together with federal, state, and local governments and local contracting agencies to increase job opportunities for the somali-american community. we are working to open a

workforce development at the heart of the cedar river neighborhood which is central to the somali-american community. we're hosting job fairs, working with cbp, and we just had a job fair that was designed for the minnesota he somali-american community. many in our audience are working for the government and law enforcement agencies. we also support the hard work that the minneapolis police department is doing with recruitment efforts from our community. i firmly believe that creating more jobs and opening opportunities allows the somali-americans equal access to the american dream. thank you. >> courtney kiernat will now describe a program that the

minneapolis public schools are working on. >> we are starting a youth worker intervention model which has been effective in other parts of minneapolis as well as three of our current high schools. you will hire and train youth workers from the community to bridge the gap between youth and the school system. these workers will spend time in the lunch room and non-classroom settings, building relationships and trust in schools that carry into the community. they will provide connections and continuity during school and after school. well-trained community representatives, working in the school system, help spot identity issues.

parents need to feel comfortable raising concerns with their children at the school and in community levels. our intervention model will bring trade youth workers together with parents and mental health professionals to address identity issues and disaffection at school, root causes of radicalization. >> our final speakers begin with mohamad farah. >> ka joog is a somali term meaning to stay away. our mission is to focus youth toward higher education, civic involvement, and volunteer commitment. ka joog helps youth by providing outlets to the arts and education. i would like to highlight some of our programs. our invisible art program is a traditional somali arts club that provides education. we use the arts as a tool of engagement to empower and encourage youth.

our other school program is focusing on increasing school attendance by addressing early warning signs of somali youth. we will be part of the minneapolis intervention program that was described, and we will work toward a similar model in st. paul. another program includes leadership building and learning. it includes 4h club. we send groups of somali groups to yellowstone park. during coming year, we will expand our focus in all these areas so we can reach more somali youth. we are committed very much to working with our community and government partners to break the cycle of recruiting and radicalization. we view this program as a unique opportunity to engage our youth

in positive programs, providing more opportunities, or outlets and more connections or somali youth which will help break the cycle that has drawn too many of our friends and relatives to a life of terror. >> good morning. my name is mohamed jama. i am the cofounder of a council that represents kids in the neighborhood. the kids in my neighborhood have many issues to overcome. these issues include lack of afterschool programs. many of the kids lack a father or male figure in the house. we have trouble with crime. there is a high number of unemployment, and because we come from a fragile state, there's a lot of distrust in government.

many of the things we have talked about today, the root causes, are facing kids in my neighborhood. there is a lot of passion, a lot of pride, and a lot of success. a lot of the success is the desire to succeed. so the council is working with the pilot projects on a number of issues. one of the things we have told to the u.s. attorney is we need more mentors for our youth. many of them do not have opportunity or do not know what is available to them outside of the neighborhood. we have many mentors in our community without resources. for example, our coach. he runs a soccer program for low-income youth. he needs more resources. he has no money to run his soccer program. we need more people like coach. he is a trusted mentor, and this one aspect of the pilot project we have decided to work with him

on. we also want to hear more from our religious leaders. we're going to host our own summit and talk about religion and other issues that kids are facing and advice that will be needed. we want to hold these summits in our neighborhood. we will be part of an intervention team that many people have discussed. parents in my neighborhood need to know who to turn to and who to get help from. there will be this program will be run by the community for this community. for as long as we have talked about the problems, now is the time to act, and we are proud to be part of this pilot project. >> so we will finish with a spoken word performance by abdi "phenomenal" fatah.

>> our communities have been -- [indiscernible] through this pilot program we will counter extremism through initiatives. [indiscernible] this represents an opportunity for our community to change the narrative. [indiscernible] this is an example of the lives of the youth. they are called -- we live, we breathe with our -- [indiscernible] caught in the sense of our --

being broken, the youth have no choice -- [indiscernible] peace on one hand, and freedom on the other. peace on one hand, and freedom on the other. what is the difference between -- [indiscernible] i said what is the difference between -- [indiscernible] it is between not being able to see and close the door of opportunity -- [indiscernible] thank you. [applause] >> as you know, the first

elected muslim-american in america comes from my hometown my congressman and good friend keith ellison. >> thanks so much for your work today and the work you have been doing in minneapolis. also much thanks to our community panel, who i am so proud of and our local law enforcement members who did an excellent job, and our imams. thank you for your spiritual leadership and everything that you do. [applause] yeah, that's right. [applause] and our senators, who are so very well engaged. we are here to discuss countering violent extremism. in order to counter the violent extremists, we have to understand what the violent extremist is saying. what is their case? phenomenal alluded to it, about

a saying, come get some action come do something, right? the violent extremist argument is that america is at war with islam and muslims. we have got to start with that idea in mind. that is their case that is their argument. all people in the room know this is absolutely false. the united states neither favors or is against any religious community. we have a freedom of religion, and any muslim in the united states knows that you can practice islam more freely here than anywhere in the world including any muslim-majority country. [applause] so when the violent extremist makes the case that america is at war with islam and muslims, we have to assert that this is not true, not just to the word

but in deed. and elected public officials who can engage their community, that counters the message. that counters the argument that america is at war with islam. when young people like mohammed can operate and organize in their community, that counters the false narrative and they can engage and organize. hiring police officers who are muslim show that this case that america is at war with islam is a lie and not true. so the real thing is we have got to be engaged. these promises of america, the problem, the reason we are susceptible to violent extremism is we have not deepened opportunity in our country enough. it is true that certainly economic deprivation makes people susceptible to being lured into --

that is a fact. it is also true that not only is it economic deprivation, although it is social deprivation and legal deprivation. we have got to make sure that our constitutional framework is scrupulously adhered to. we reinforce the false narrative that america is at war with islam if we appear to violate our own requirements of the constitution regarding surveillance, when we makes surveillance and outreach, a very shortsighted thing to do, and i encourage law enforcement to not do it. outreach is important, surveillance is important, and they should be done separately. it is also important when we bear in mind that when cases are constructed based on offering the defendant the means, motive,

and opportunity to do the crime, that that does not assist things either. it is important that law enforcement prosecute hate crimes against muslims. the violent extremists want to say that they allow people to abuse you. it is important we at least admit that what happened at chapel hill probably was not only about a parking space. [applause] as long as we say it is just parking, this defies our sense of logic and common sense. this supports the false narrative of the violent extremists. they want to make the case that america hates you, is against you, join us. not true, and we have to be vocal in asserting that it is not true. if i can get this opportunity to speak to you today, i cannot

pass it up without mentioning something that is critically important that is happening right now that law enforcement and community must join together to work on, and that is the fact that on february 6 our financial services system stopped working with somali wiring services to send money to somalia. why is this important? this is important because in the region, the violent extremist wants to believe they will not even let your relatives send you money. i know between the law enforcement, the financial, the anti-money laundering, anti-money wiring terrorist financing folks, and the people who do development, he can figure out a way to safely send money to somalia.

i am telling you now, this is not a good thing can and it runs counter to the efforts we are engaging in right here right now. i support anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing. it is very important, and i have never met a somali or a muslim who wants al-shabaab or al qaeda or any of these groups to get a penny. we want to stop them from getting anything. [applause] at the same time, as we try to stop that bad dollar, we're still stopping the good dollars, and according some experts, over $215 million went from the united states to somalia in terms of remittances. and if you ask some only families, and everybody at this table can tell you, that these remittances pay for school fees, medical things, food, things like this, and when you know that in the end the other recruiters will offer a young

man a gun, a wife, and a few bucks, it becomes clear how critical it is for us to fix this remittance problem. i am telling you, we have got to do this, and i want to be very clear that i got on a plane and flew two hours here last night and i'm going back today for the sole purpose of telling you and ringing the alarm bell that we must fix this remittance problem. if anything, we have to do no harm. and there are ways to do this. i am working on it now, but we need to figure it out, and i urge you all to leave this place thinking how can we fix the remittance problem. i ask you to do that, and i urge you to join me in that. finally, i want to say that it is very critical to bear in mind that there is no religion that has a monopoly on violent extremism. it is critical to point out at this time that we have religious extremists of all kinds. we are here because of muslims that are engaging in violent

extremism. if any muslim is violating the law and hurting people, jail them, if you need to. and at the same time you do not want to fall through this frame that telling violent extremism is only a law enforcement problem, and that the problem is simply muslim problem, because we know just from chapel hill the other day, three young people, one a dental student helping homeless people. he was a brand-new married young man. his wife and his sister were excellent people, making good contributions to this country. the three victims were living,

walking, breathing examples of countering violent extremism until their lives were taken away. let us not slip into the mistaken idea that terrorism is somehow a muslim thing. it is not. muslims are victims of it, and muslims help stop it. i was very pleased to be able to tell the story of a person who was a pakistani-american young man who gave his life and died trying to save people in the horrible attack on 9/11 at the world trade center. so the best defense to violent extremism is to adhere, to carve out, engage community, to include community, so that when a young person who is walking around minneapolis, wondering what to do, hearing america is

at war with islam, and i cannot send money to my family, on the other hand, they are going to encounter a group that say we care about you, and i believe that i would rather have ka jook recruit -- i know you agree with me. let's adhere to our values let's engage community let's strengthen engagement all throughout our society, work together and let's understand at the end of the day our country, we are fortunate to have wonderful, excellent, noble values that are time tested the world over, and if we adhere to them, respect the faiths of all, and include more people, we will have a safer, better community. thank you all very much. [applause] >> thank you. i would like to welcome the

director of the consortium of terrorism at the university of maryland. -- study and responses to terrorism at the university of maryland. >> thank you. i was hoping i do not have to go after the congressman and after phenomenal. that is a tough act to follow. congressman, congresswomen distinguished guests, my name is william braniff. i am the executive director of the start consortium. it is based at the university of maryland. we are a multidisciplinary network of scholars seeking to advance education pertaining to terrorism and counterterrorism. when dealing with how we

politicize issues, data should help inform policy and practice. i would like to present some of our research during the next 10 or 15 minutes in order to understand the research we are having at the summit, but to help inform policy and practice going forward. globally, we are experiencing an historically high number of terrorism incidents. we've completed compiling our 2014 data. there is a vast increase from the 11,500 attacks in 2013.

on this graph, you see the dramatic rise of total attacks fatal attacks, and mass casualty attacks producing more than 10 they tell of these. this is due to increases in violence in iraq, afghanistan, and pakistan. to put this into perspective the other 48% of attacks occurred across 117 countries. isis was the most active group in the first nine months of 2014. they more than doubled their tax -- attacks. unfortunately, both terrorism in syria and the empirical research conducted suggests that one of the most important predictors of increased fatalities over time is the existence of rivalries between organizations. as al qaeda and isis are competing for prominence, they will do so through greater levels of violence.

this competition can have implications if left unchecked. as al qaeda veterans have moved from conflict to conflict, creating many of the hotspots, we should expect isis veterans to follow a similar trajectory. instead of bringing with them there attrition strategy, isis veterans will bring sectarian and, competing with al qaeda and its associated movements and seeking to destabilize regimes in a widening conflict. we should be concerned about foreign fighters, and not because of the possibility of

returning home, but they also may exacerbate high levels of violence another comfort zones. with respect to radicalization at home, we should be concerned about this new pattern of proliferation, because just as sentiment brings fighters to syria, every conflict abroad opens new potential mobilization pathways. importantly, we see not just a rise in al qaeda related incidences, but also elevated levels of the far right extremist radicalization. tourism polar -- terrorism polarizes a society. extremism when an of the spectrum, often provoking extremist on the other end. we see this in headlines documenting xenophobia in europe, and secretaries and in the middle east. -- and sectarianism in the middle east. with this data set of 1500 individuals across ideologies, we have tested theories for four different radicalization pathways.

individual psychological factors or individual expert nations recruitment as represented by the al qaeda manual, social movement, represented by the additional data. we found that each of these radicalization pathways explains some things, but not explain all. efforts have to account for all of the above. as we look into the details in each one of these pathways, we can start to identify patterns that should service red flags for who may engage in violent forms of extremist behavior.

the implication is that communities and practitioners can prioritize their limited resources on the highest risque cases. -- highest risk cases. we started at variable so are radicalization data set, and we started to do this with respect to another growing concern, loan actors -- lone actors. in the united states, we see a drastic rise. this is problematic as we see that lone go five-times longer under radar. when we compare these lone actors, we noticed sick --

significant statistical differences great document it behavior and health issues, more likely to radicalize online. there are many pragmatic implications. these characteristics suggest mental health practitioners must be part of the solution within and outside the criminal justice system. friends, families, and educators are best ways to identify sudden changes in love once police or behaviors. -- loved one's beliefs or behaviors. this graph on acquisition tells a different story than the graph of actual terrorism incidents in the united states back to 1970. in fact, we experienced a very low numbers of successful

terrorism attacks in the united states. we have to recognize that most radicalized individuals do not successfully conduct an attack. not all ideological motivator crimes qualify as terrorism. to quantify the threat of the extremism, the data tells us we have to look beyond terrorist attacks and the on al qaeda and its associated movements. let me show you some numbers. between 1990-2013, 155 ideologically motivated homicides committed by individuals with far right ideologies, between 1995-2010, 239 arsons and bombing attacks conducted by ecoterrorist groups, 90 presents -- 90% which targeted businesses and homes.

there are also 196 failed and for what is is it with al qaeda and assisted movements. thanks to our law enforcement community, these were foiled. 10% were foiled due to tips from the community. this statistic is promising, but research suggests that communities offer more than just serving as the eyes and ears of law enforcement. let me highlight one project in minneapolis and st. paul that forms an empirical foundation upon which the minneapolis power program that you just heard about has been built. instead of treating this molly community in the immediate aftermath of the 20 plus individuals who went to fight, they were given the microphone and asked what makes them

vulnerable in their minds, but what makes the resilient to the threat of violent extremism. the community identified 37 risk factors that they felt increase their vulnerability, which were aggregated into three categories, a mechanical times and spaces, perceived social legitimacy of violence, and contacts with recruiters. the community also identified 45 strength, family capacities, you capacities, and government policies and programs. this means that even the somali community in minneapolis where they were regarded as the least well integrated and highly stigmatized, they voice their primary role as family members and community members and they saw a supporting and corroborative role for government. it also reinforces our radicalization research suggesting that it must become comprehensive, dealing not just with the individual factors, but also helping communities push back on extend this ideology and that it must include more than

just community engagement, but also prevention programming and intervention work. this is just one project. let me provide a few other quick examples. first, it's not because of the numbers that i cited earlier instead it is because terrorism tears the fabric of society. organizations live by the mantra, polarized, radicalize, and mobilize. in this country, tears groups target the wedge issues that can unravel us, race, religion trusting government, and rule of law, historical identity as an immigrant nation based on ideals and not an inherited ethnolinguistic identity. it can be understood as an effort to fill the breach, to bolster the center, and prevent devastating polarizations. second, it is pragmatic. the law enforcement and intelligence communities can't manage the signal-to-noise ratio associate with this issue. as one researcher points out you can survey data, those

individuals who espouse believes outnumber those individuals who engage an extra misbehavior by -- extremist behavior by several orders of magnitude. we do not understand the connection between medical police and radical behaviors well enough to allocate our law-enforcement resources effectively. communities are much better placed to filter the signal from the noise and to engage in the precriminal space where radical ideas are debated. three, best practices address all hazards. if worried about gangs, drugs, child predators, radicalization, most programming should negate the threat of all these bills. -- ills. for, because religious talking about the threat of al qaeda related terrorism, it protects every american from all the forms of violent extremism president united states. to give you one example that may see counterintuitive, surveyed

law enforcement professionals on the front lines were asked about the greatest threat to american society. the law-enforcement community ranked the sovereign citizen movement first, followed by a al qaeda and its assisted movements, and in the militia movements. we understand that violent extremism crosses ideological boundaries. finally, our data suggest that americans think it will work. representative surveys found that approximately 57% of americans are willing to meet with local law enforcement and dhs personnel to discuss these issues. furthermore, those respondents that have a higher degree of confidence in the government's current terrorism efforts were willing to attend these meetings and more willing to report suspicious activity. this is just that we can kickstart a virtuous cycle if we build trust and engagement of the committee level. more anecdotally, two years ago an intern walked into my office and said al qaeda does this be for me.

i want to start a muslim pop music label and i want to promote the kind of islam that i believe in practice. from his idea, we created an undergraduate course called innovation in cv where we take -- teach methodology and empower them to create their own programs inspired by the kinds of programs you heard about earlier. americans are going to change the dialogue. you will see that more and more in our youth. we have challenges that we have to anticipate. one example that draws from the research is that 10 years ago violent jihadi blogs were immolated. they struck a much more emotional tone, encouraging do-it-yourself propaganda production. fighters in iraq and syria chronicle their exploits in real-time to the fan bases in

the west. in this new paradigm, isis tells us that the powers are no longer to be venerated, it is the men of action. after finding my own personal role model through facebook, instagram, i can rest a one-on-one secure conversations. once i arrive in syria, isis may ask that i download their own application which allows isis administrators access to my social media accounts. by doing so, i can circumvent -- isil can circumvent attempts to shut down propaganda organs by sending propaganda to my own personal account. the implication here is that the line between first amendment freedoms of expression, engaging with extremist ideas online, and material support for a designated terrorist organization, providing a group like isis a new and different platform to disseminate their propaganda, they are likely going to blur. as smartphones and social media platforms involved to an extension of our behaviors and not just our thoughts.

we have to be prepared to deal with the legal limitations of this, social provisions of this, and there is a lot of work to do. it's my belief that research can help us understand the dynamic major of the threat environment, but it can also help us to develop evidence-based approaches to counter violent extremism, which i argue that we don't yet have. we need to understand what works, what doesn't work, and how we can keep our american committee saved them all forms of violent extremes in. thank you. [applause] >> before we move on, if you have an empty seat next to you raise your hand. we will make you a new friend. if you see a hand, fill in the seat. we have a couple spots available.

i also have the task -- the unenviable task of making sure the trains run on time. i'm going to welcome our next panel from los angeles and ask that they are very focused in their presentation and that we all take advantage of the lunch to ask them follow questions. thank you. >> good morning.

i am the chairman of the young muslim-american leaders advisory council in los angeles. on behalf of the los angeles delegation and that young moslem community in southern california, i would like to extend intensive gratitude to the administration and to those who worked to put the summit together. as a young, american muslim, i see the importance of engaging with our law enforcement partners. los angeles emphasizes engagement, trust, collaboration, and partnership with agencies. this establishment of these features have made this a model, a model of success. i take great pride in introducing the u.s. attorney of the central district of california, who has accomplished

great things in the muslin -- muslim community. [applause] >> it is a great pleasure to be with you here this morning to introduce the los angeles program. in a few moments, you will see a film that we created to outline our approach, which is built on three prongs, prevention intervention, and interdiction. the video will introduce you to some of the many community members that are part of our collaborative effort that unifies government officials community-based organizations, and faith based groups. we utilize this collaborative effort to strengthen the communities and prevent extremist ideological elements from taking root.

as the united states attorney for los angeles, i see the justice department is playing a crucial and critical role in balancing the civil rights of individuals with the overarching need of protecting the nation and its citizens from terrorist threats. that balance is of particular importance to me. i am the daughter of a japanese-american, who was forcibly removed to internment camps during world war ii. my father and his family were stripped of all property and all liberty something because they were of japanese descent. as a result of this, i am keenly aware of the need to build relationships and trust, to break down the barriers of fear and prejudice, those that take root because of ignorance and lack of knowledge. i went to take a moment to thank ken, the filmmaker who has been working hard with the los

angeles team to bring it to you, so that you can see the foundation of the los angeles framework. it is a foundation years in the making, built on open dialogue relationships, and trust. ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy our film. >> the population of los angeles is the most diverse, and when i said most diverse, it means it is the most immature city in the world. >> violent extremism has impacted our lives. as become a danger for all americans. we have to deal with groups like

isis, al qaeda. >> extremism is weakness. it is a disease. >> a few years ago, we got to know a community. that is the foundation, getting to know who we are, reaching out. >> our idea is to build a foundation of trust that could lead to talking about future events and other partnership initiatives. >> in essence, everyone needs to come together as we have in the past in dealing with other issues to confront this threat. >> the three areas of our focus have been prevention intervention, and interdiction. the intervention is an area where we need work. this is an area that if you look at the gang model of los angeles, the war on gangs didn't work. you cannot declare a war on this type of phenomena. it wasn't until we realized that intervention efforts, where you talked about youth development

employment opportunities character development, diversion programs, this is an area that is just right for this phenomenon we are expanding today. -- experiencing today. >> to find off-ramps to people who may have it in your mind that it this is what they want to do, but they have not mobilized to violence. >> it is essentially an alternate path for the individual to go down, the community come the mental health resources, the mentors in the community, getting them engaged with some of the youth to assure that they have somebody to talk to and they have someone they can try to steer them away from going down that path. >> in the county mental health system, we found that if we are really interested in creating strong recovery, we need to do more than provide treatment. we need to find community support for all aspects of a person's life. >> what were trying to renew and

restore is our beautiful behavior in ethics and principles that benefit the community. >> the more engaged we are, the more involved we are with activities and different works interfaith, community awareness, activism, there's a lot of open doors, better efforts made to combat these problems. >> i think that interfaith relations are important because we only hear about the extremes of the community, jewish muslim, christian communities, and by virtue of shifting the focus on those willing to build relationships with each other and work through difficult moments of conflict, we create a space for that majority in the middle for those moderates to be louder and to overpower those voices on the extreme. >> the role of every faith leader is to guide their flock away from violence and into peace, and specifically what

their faith teaches about it and how to deal with situations when two people do not agree. >> you can't keep arguing with the young people. we have to facilitate opportunities for them to experience the moslem american identity the differentiates the experience from those around the world, moslems in history, and muslins in the future. -- muslims in history, and muslims in the future. >> we started in different modalities, having regular meetings. >> in the social science arena

we say as los angeles goes, so goes california, as california goes, so goes the nation. >> the leadership has made the initiative to reach out to the community, get to know us, and to involve us in the process of securing our communities. >> when the lapd implemented the suspicious activity reporting process, there was a huge public outcry. >> it was only through engagement with community groups, civil rights organizations, and law enforcement that we were able to turn a corner. >> when the chief presented this program to us, we met with him and other civil rights groups and said we need five changes in the program. he took those requests, went to lapd, came back, and we were able to reform it so that not only is it adhering to the civil liberties standards of our country, but it became more effective. >> as long as were talking to each other, things will happen. we can change the narratives.

>> the role of the u.s. attorney's office in the community engagement process is one of support for our local partners, lapd, l.a. county sheriffs, and natalie human l.a. human rights commission who for years of been on the ground establishing relationships with the community based on trusting communication. >> when we talk to each other, act together, we break down the barriers that separate us. we find common purpose,, campaigns -- common campaigns, and common identity. >> we didn't have to go to the lapd to help keep an eye on members of our community and keep an ear out in case there's any copycats or repercussions from that, they came does. -- came to us. they called us. they called several members of the community to make sure that we were doing ok. this type of policing creates an

image and concept and an ideal in the communities they serve that you are working together with the police department. they are concerned about your welfare. this is something that the whole country could learn from the lapd. >> the los angeles model, i would like to get it out of los angeles is fast we can. >> we are in this particular part of town, our objective is to revive, renew, restore everything that's good. including mercy, compassion, we want to revive these -- peace. ♪ [applause]

♪ >> hello, everyone. i'm the regional director for strategic engagement for the department of homeland security los angeles. a quick note in the video, this is a very difficult short version that we have.

we have 25 or 30 hours of footage with many other members of the l.a. community, both law enforcement, community academic, and so we will have that available as well, but this is an eight minute version. there is a longer version that covers a little bit more in detail what the los angeles model covers. my office, the office of strategic in gauge meant, was established in 2011, and it's an effort by the department of homeland security to partner with a locale, in this case the city of los angeles, to work with them, work with local stakeholders in strengthening the department's relationships at a local level with faith-based organizations, with many of the folks you see here in the picture and in the video, an effort to work together, come around the table, mitigate threats to our homeland security. we will get right into a short panel.

the video gave us a good foundation to build on. there are a few questions that i will be addressing with the panelists, and i will not go through lengthy introductions. i will start with the questions and give a quick introduction while i'm doing it. the first question will be for sergeant mike. los angeles has been doing cve before the federal government really made it a priority. can you expand on what that means for los angeles? >> thank you. good morning. it is a pleasure to be here. i thank the staff of the white house for inviting us here. that's correct. we have been using it, cve within the sheriff's department jurisdiction. the label that we put on it is not is as important as the work we have done.

eight years ago we establish an outreach program to communities and and was communities in los angeles county and all of that with the purpose to build trust, strengthen the relationships between the community and law enforcement. trust is the foundation of any program. by engaging our communities and developing programs that and if -- benefits the community and law enforcement, we have created a true partnership that is based on respect to each other's position and the role in the prevention of any possible extremist ideas in our communities. we believe that education, public awareness is the key to achieve that.

we have taken the approach of prevention through education. we believe strongly in preventing violent extremism by education and public awareness. we all have a role and responsibility to educate ourselves as law enforcement officers as well as the community that we serve about the threat that we are facing within our community and globally in the world. by creating our unit at the sheriff's department, we were able to structure and develop a specific program with the muslim community such as developing a cultural diversity training program for our deputies where we all have to go through a couple of hours of training at the academy now to understand the culture and the diversity of the communities that we

serve. we have also developed training programs for the muslim communities and communities we serve in several aspects, not only talking about extremism. we have developed a young leadership program because we strongly believe and developing in developing our youth and building new leadership within the community that we could all work with 20 years down the road. we have also increased the hiring from the diverse communities we serve. we have officers and deputies that serve from different ethnic backgrounds. we also are coordinating our efforts among law enforcement and we work closely with our local, state, and federal partners. we work closely with the lapd, fbi, u.s. attorneys office

, because we believe coordination is very important. when we address the communities, our message is consistent. it is very important for all of us to understand that no program would work without the proper outreach to the community. we have to communicate, talk and build relationships be for before we start discussing cve. it is the foundation of any program. this is what we have been doing the last few years. >> thank you. i would like to introduce the president of the american muslim women's council. he lived in the u k and the u.s. and as an educator and coming

from that perspective, what gives you hope today and what gives you cause for concern? >> first of all, we have to remember -- thank you for giving me this opportunity, thank you to the white house, -- i think the diaspora in the ad states are very different than the u.k.. the muslin community here in the united states is very well integrated. also, we need to remember that 50%, almost 50% of the muslims in the united states have college degrees. that matters in a world where 1.5 billion muslims are illiterate. we have a different community here. in the u.k. when immigrants came in the 1960's, there were no programs. kids were bullied, they were

name called. girls like me were beaten up because we looked different. that's the kind of atmosphere i grew up in. in the united states, we are way ahead of the curve we already have anti-bullying programs, multicultural programs, and we have that. that gives me a lot of hope because imagine, i am muslim and i stand with my jewish colleagues and holocaust survivors and we talk about how we are different and yet so alike. that message resonates within people. i have hope that if we can build empathy and compassion into our curriculum, which already exists, we have great programs at school levels, we can train the teachers and get the schools to use, i think that's where we are going to have a lot of success. at the local level, the muslim community in los angeles, we've

done amazing things with law enforcement. we see them as our partners. before the cve started, we were working on efforts to empower women, because we see women as our partners. the chief and i got together with a whole lot of muslim women and empower them to create this council and engaged them in civic duty. we engage them in mainstream america, giving back to the community, service to the community. we teach them through the fbi civil rights. , that is important in a world where we don't have equal rights -- where we are seen as not having equal rights in our religion. muslim women do have equal rights. we are giving them a forum where they have a place to voice their opinions. also giving them an important way to counter the narrative.

2.5 million muslims in the united states, we can send out counter narratives and we will muzzle the negative narrative. >> thank you. we have michael downing. chief downing, your unit does engagement work in the muslim and non-muslim communities. can you talk about what type of has cultivated the healthy relationship your unit has? and we always get this question, how do we separate community engagement versus intelligence? >> thank you. good morning. our approach and philosophy that we begin with is that our constitution is our greatest shield, and our people, all of our people, are our greatest strength. i love bill braniff's idea about how cve affects so many things. we recognize that community policing is a community

policing. not policing communities. the community goes first. the interfaith community is our real strength. we have the jewish, christian, coptic communities, the buddhist communities, and so our outreach and engagement deals with all of those communities. i would say there is a little bit of heavier focus on the muslim communities only because for so many years we did not really recognize that muslim communities existed in this form. since 2008, we have come to learn more about the cultures and traditions. i think the other aspect is how islam expresses itself in los angeles is different than how it expresses itself in minneapolis, new york, washington, d.c. we have to understand that our communities and they are communities, not community, and

be able to respond to that. in terms of our outreach to the interfaith, when we get jewish leaders, muslim leaders, christian leaders, together, we talk about the commonalities of what we have and how to create that sense of justice, that sense of peace how to bring , access to government, how to raise the voice, and also this idea of integration. as opposed to assimilation. we don't want assimilation. we want the culture, the tradition, the faith, the language, the family structure. and to appreciate those diversities is our real strength. i think that has been our success because the officers that opened the doors for us to do this come from those communities. we always say that we try to recruit and reflect the communities we serve as a law enforcement agency. so we have those officers.

we have the coptic christian. we have the israeli born jew. we have the muslim convert. we have the iranian, farsi speaking, female muslim. they can open the door and allow us opportunities to come in to build trust, build bridges teach problem-solving, and it's really not about national security in this wheelhouse. it is about how we improve the quality of your life. how do we make it so that your kids can go to school and learn and develop to their potential to they can play sports, play basketball, go to dinners, so they can celebrate ramadan, so they can appreciate the high holy days of the jewish communities. i think that's the real strength of our program is that when we have this appreciation for what others have, their strengths and all of these faiths and all of these communities, and we really open it up for people to feel free to go to these festivals and different ideas, and then

i think when law enforcement can step back a bit so it is not a securitized relationship and encourage civic engagement, this is when communities take hold and there is real traction in terms of creating this environment which can resist crime, which can resist recruiters, which can resist gangs recruiting and criminality. it's an all hazards thing. this is not just about countering violent extremism. it's about countering crime countering violence, countering violent extremism, and creating an environment where these things are harder to take root. >> thank you. the president of the muslim public affairs council. the council has been one of the organizations on the forefront

of community led solutions to countering round extremism aired can you speak about why that should be a priority for you as an american muslim organization? >> yes. thank you for inviting us to participate on this panel. violent extremism is a threat for muslims internally and externally. internally, there is it -- a struggle in the muslim about what islam is in its struggle with the rest of society. there is a cult of death that is being propagated by groups like al qaeda and isis, and there are governments that have an ideology of compulsion. and we muslims have the responsibility to set the record straight. islam is a theology of life, for freedom. if we don't have freedom and justice in our religion, then we cannot call it religion. that is god's will. that is the internal threat that

we are dealing with. the external threat is that people are using islam to kill lives, to destroy, to impose, to violate the rights of women, to kill christians and jews. as muslims we have an opportunity, in the grand it says that with every crisis comes opportunity. look for the opportunity to come with solutions, and so when we go to the los angeles sheriff's department, lapd, fbi, dhs, it is our responsibility to engage, to come up with solutions to these problems. you can complain about it. you can litigate. you can protest. at the end of the day, you have to come to the table to come up with solutions, and that's why dealing with this issue is important. perception is reality. the american public is afraid right now. there is history. hysteria.

even though we as american muslims are not responsible for the acts of violence in the name of our religion, we have to take responsibility and leadership. mike was talking about a securitized relationship, yes, that's a problem. the only way to do with that is twofold. number one, convert from trying profiling programs to partnership programs. number two, come with deliverables to the community. the community has many issues. so we need to work for civil liberties while we are working for security. let me just end by saying that america provides us with a great opportunity. abraham lincoln, when you reach d the second inaugural address, he talks about the civil war as something that was imposed on him.

i think we go the same way today. this war is impose on us. rather than complaining about it or dismissing it, it's about engaging and taking leadership and coming up with solutions so that you can reframe, restore what religion is all about, love for god, love for country, and love for humanity. >> thank you. i'm getting signals that we are out of time. [applause] >> that is why i had to get that in. >> i'm going to turn it over to the assistant director in los of the fbi in los angeles. we get a lot of questions about what the fbi's role should be. i think it's important for it to be covered. please address that as you put the bow on it. >> i will be quick. the working group the practicing that put this thing together was very thoughtful and their processes. there was much discussion as to whether the fbi should be a part of this framework, should the enforcement aspect be a part of this, or is that we know that it is there. we believe it is for many reasons.

part of those reasons we seen in have seen in the mental health field especially. the process before was a little clunky, where we would identify someone that we would begin to look at and realize that this person has severe mental health issues and we need to intervene with this person. we were having to go to department by department because the federal system was not well constructed to deal with a person like that. now we have a much more seamless approach between step two intervention, and step three , interdiction. sometimes it will go from two to three, other times it will begin where we start an investigation and recognize that we need to get the mental health resources involved to really decriminalize the person but make sure we are intervening with this person because they could be a vehicle towards danger if they happened to meet up with the right group. that's why it's so important to have that seamless transition, and i'm going to stop, because i

know we are out of time. >> i'm going to seamlessly transition to our panel. how about that? [applause] the doctor is the president of the world organization for resource development and education, a community-based approach to countering radicalization, partnership for america, right here in our backyard, montgomery county, maryland. come on up. >> i will just say a couple of words. i want to thank the amazing staff of the security council of four giving me the honor of moderating this panel today. it's been a long time coming, but it is an amazing opportunity to be with you all here today. and one of the suburbs of d.c.

metro, we just pioneered our government county model. our chief is here. i've county executive's office. we are committed, faith leaders, school counselors, police, social workers to promoting social cohesion and public safety. we have to have that as our premise in order to create the trust necessary to deal with the hard issues like violent extremism. by educating our diverse stakeholders, we create an early warning system that generates an understanding about the risks factors of radicalization and creates a mechanism whereby we can intervene. we have a formalized intervention program, and we have a rigorous system of assessment to make sure that we are having progress towards decreasing the risk factors. we've enjoyed sharing her our program designs and best practices with the pilot cities as well as other cities across the united states, western europe, and look forward to

working together to further our common goals. we are delighted to have a dozen very distinguished group of government officials who will share with us their experience and best practices in building intervention programs. our first guest will be the mayor of paris, unelected in elected in april 2014, she is the first female mayor of paris. our second to guest is a belgian politician. third, we will have the secretary-general of the mohammed in league of scholars in morocco. he has served many positions with the government of morocco including the director of islamic affairs. we have the director of the anti-defamation league center on extremism and the director of the research center. he trains law-enforcement

officers, works closely with the tech industry, and publishes reports on a wide range of extremist topics. i will start with mayor hidalgo. first of all please accept all of our condolences for the loss and suffering of the french people since the horrible terrorist attack last month. how has that tragedy changed the way the city of paris will deal with meant extremism? >> thank you. first, i would like to tell you, thank you for this invitation. thank you for your support. after the terrorist attack in paris, when we were all together , we are most strong. now i speak in french. i am sorry. i think it is better for me and it is better for you. [laughter] [speaking in french]

>> during those three horrible days in january, people were assassinated because they were journalists in paris because they work in a magazine, because they were police officers, and because they were jewish. >> [speaking in french] >> these violent acts illustrate the current rise of community-based violences within our society.

unfortunately, the figures are speaking for themselves. in 2013, anti-semitic acts have been multiplied by two between 2013-2014 and likewise anti-muslim acts have increased by an order of 10%. >> [speaking in french] >> as a political leader, i ask myself what did we do to avoid that? what did we not do to prevent that? >> [speaking in french] >> this is a question that i ask myself, because this is the same question that i'm asking to the entire society of the city of paris. >> [speaking in french]

>> evidently, these attacks in january did not target exclusively parisians. >> [speaking in french] >> this is something that we witness quiet recently in just quite recently in copenhagen. >> [speaking in french] >> in fact, these attacks are attacking the foundations of our democracies. >> [speaking in french] >> there are differences between the united states and europe but i do believe that we are united around the basics, the fundamentals. >> [speaking in french] >> we share a same ideal, with stems on our part from the century of enlightenment and the declaration of independence of

the united states. >> [speaking in french] >> if we are here today, it is because we understand the fact that it is not just enough to assert the values of freedom and equality. >> [speaking in french] >> facing these temptations and their modes of self disclosure we must propose a full-fledged project for society based on fraternity. >> [speaking in french] >> i myself am a child of immigration. >> [speaking in french] >> i was born in spain. my parents were working-class.

they emigrated to france. >> [speaking in french] >> i've benefited from the french model of republican integration into the republic. >> [speaking in french] >> that allowed me to study. >> [speaking in french] >> and to stand today before you as the mayor of paris. >> [speaking in french] >> from my own personal history, i draw one conviction. >> [speaking in french] >> to participate, to join in the joint common values of the french republic, one must also be proud of one's own origin. >> [speaking in french] >> everybody has to be respected. >> [speaking in french]

>> within their origins. >> [speaking in french] of course, now the responses that we are providing in paris focus on the sec citizens of paris. >> [speaking in french] >> after the attacks, places of worship are being protected, jewish places of worship are protected, but also catholic and most of places of worship are -- and muslim places of worship are benefiting from extra protection. >> [speaking in french] >> the schools are also protected. >> [speaking in french] >> and now 2000 extra policeman and 6000 military personnel are present in paris. >> [speaking in french]

>> our intelligence services are also working to fight against radicalization. >> [speaking in french] >> for example, we have established a system of prevention of religious radicalization. we have established a prevention that takes care of all notifications and alongside all the systems, we have established a toll-free hotline. >> [speaking in french] >> nonprofit group associations have been requested to get in touch with the families and to deal with the schools to prevent this phenomenon of

radicalization. >> [speaking in french] >> for example, we are proposing alternative measures when anti-semitic acts or anti-semitic statements are being proffered. for example, we have established an alternative program in conjunction with the holocaust museum. >> [speaking in french] >> the second response is that we must now promote a more inclusive city. >> [speaking in french] >> in this case, i inspired

myself specifically from some examples that were used in some american cities, for example new york, and as for the purpose of renewing the french model of integration. >> [speaking in french] >> regardless of one's beliefs or conventions, regardless of one's religion or one's origin everybody in paris must find a way to succeed at integration and fulfillment. >> [speaking in french] >> today in paris, we are signing a pact in order to reduce drastically poverty in the streets. >> [speaking in french]

>> in paris, ambition is the direct opposition of these no-go zones that have been fantasized by some people. >> [speaking in french] >> in fact, we have been investing in the working-class neighborhoods for 10 years. >> [speaking in french] >> we have been opening schools, healthcare centers, social services, adding housing units. >> [speaking in french] >> we have also increased our partnership with the paris prison system in order to increase the follow-through of young people upon release from jail. >> [speaking in french]

>> i also wanted to renew dialogue between all of the villages, communities, and all -- all of the religious communities and all of the secular associations. >> [speaking in french] >> on march 12, i will convene all of these leaders at city hall in order to work together towards concrete proposals. >> [speaking in french] >> we must focus on the youth. >> [speaking in french] >> we must help young people find their own way, their own path in life as they leave school. >> [speaking in french] >> because, behind each pathway towards radicalization, prior to