White House Denies Petition To Label Black Lives Matter A Domestic Terrorist Organization

The White House has responded to a We the People online petition that asks the federal government to label the Black Lives Matter movement officially a terrorist organization.

In the wake of violence and rising racial tensions in the United States, a citizen identified only by the initials Y.S. created the petition on the official White House website. The petition was created on July 6, 2016, possibly following protests over the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by law enforcement officers. Coincidentally, the petition was also posted the day before Micah Johnson fatally shot five police officers in Dallas, Texas.

According to CBS News, the petition to declare Black Lives Matter a terrorist organization begins by defining terrorism as “the use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims.” It then goes on to equate Black Lives Matter with ISIS, citing the group’s actions in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland as evidence. The petition concludes by reiterating that the Pentagon must declare Black Lives Matter a terror group “on the grounds of principle, integrity, morality, and safety.”

A petition must receive a minimum of 100,000 signatures to receive an official response from the White House. The petition to deem the Black Lives Matter movement a terrorist organization received 141,444 signatures.

Unfortunately, opponents of Black Lives Matter will not like the White House’s response. The official response acknowledged the turmoil the United States has faced in recent weeks, though it stopped short of laying the blame at the feet of any organization. In fact, the official response quoted a statement made by President Barack Obama in which he urged people not to view people asking for fair treatment as being anti-police.

Though the petition was submitted before the sniper attack in Dallas, the event was clearly on the minds of the White House and We the People when they crafted their response. The official statement referenced President Obama’s speech at the memorial service for the officers slain in Dallas, in which he urged both law enforcement and Black Lives Matter activists not to let “an irresponsible few” hijack reconciliation.

Ultimately, whether President Obama supports the Black Lives Matter movement has had no effect on the refusal of the petition. According to the official response from the We the People team, the White House does not have the ability to decide whether a group can be considered a domestic terror organization. Furthermore, the United States government does not generate a list of domestic terror organizations.

Unfortunately, the official response from the White House and We the People could not have come at a worse time. According to the New York Times, law enforcement authorities in Baton Rouge have identified Gavin Long as the gunman who shot at least six police officers. According to the Louisiana State Police Facebook page, officers observed Long dressed in all black and holding a rifle. Two minutes later, the department received reports of shots fired. Long and three of the police officers died in the shooting.

Long was a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. Long used the moniker Cosmo Setepenra online, where he appeared to be cultivating a life coach persona. In his most recent video, Long spoke directly to the camera, telling viewers that he was in Dallas. Long did not identify himself as a member of the Black Lives Matter movement. In fact, Long advocated tactics focused on “revenue” and “blood” for serious activists and claimed that protests would never work. Instead, Long also argued that the world is run by “devils” and indicated that he specifically did not go to protests for fear of being arrested or killed.

[Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images]