New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 9 - Executive Orders (Kathy Hochul) › Section 9.73 - Executive Order No. 73: Preventing and Responding to Domestic Terrorism

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
WHEREAS, on May 14, 2022, a shooting at a Buffalo, NY,
					 supermarket killing 10 people by an individual motivated by racist conspiracy
					 theories discovered on internet message boards highlights the urgent and
					 significant threat the State faces from domestic extremists;
WHEREAS, the number of domestic extremist attacks,
					 arrests, and plots have more than tripled from 2011 to 2021, according to the
					 Center for Strategic and International Studies, with more than "38 white
					 supremacist and other like-minded terrorist attacks and plots" in 2021;
WHEREAS, the Office of the Director of National
					 Intelligence continues to determine that domestic extremism poses a heightened
					 threat to the United States;
WHEREAS, domestic extremists use social media and other
					 online platforms to distribute propaganda to inspire violence, recruit, plan,
					 and conspire with one another;
WHEREAS, domestic extremists continue to call for violence
					 directed at critical infrastructure; soft targets and mass gatherings;
					 faith-based institutions, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques;
					 institutions of higher education; people of different races and religions;
					 government facilities and personnel; the media; and perceived ideological
					 opponents;
WHEREAS, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has
					 determined that the United States remains in a heightened threat environment
					 fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or
					 misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis-, dis-,
					 and mal-information introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat
					 actors;
WHEREAS, misleading narratives and conspiracy theories,
					 and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information are introduced and/or
					 amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors;
WHEREAS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and DHS
					 assess that white supremacist violent extremists remain the most persistent
					 threat for mass casualty attacks amongst domestic extremists;
WHEREAS, a collaborative effort involving State and local
					 governments and law enforcement, school officials, health care providers and
					 private entities is required to comprehensively respond to this urgent
					 threat;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, KATHY HOCHUL, Governor of the State of
					 New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the
					 laws of the State of New York, do hereby order as follows:
1. Every county and the City of New York must
					 perform a comprehensive review of current strategies, policies, procedures,
					 practices. Every county and the City of New York must develop and maintain a
					 plan to identify and confront threats of domestic terrorism that includes
					 racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists. This plan must include
					 input from law enforcement, mental health professionals, school officials, and
					 other key stakeholders within their jurisdiction and be submitted to the
					 Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services' Office of
					 Counterterrorism on or before December 31, 2022. These plans will be used to
					 inform funding distributions in forthcoming grant opportunities.
2. The Division of Homeland Security and
					 Emergency Services shall establish a unit within the Office of Counterterrorism
					 dedicated to preventing domestic terrorism. This unit will be responsible for:
					 (1) developing best practices for law enforcement, mental health professionals,
					 and school officials to address the rise in targeted violence, domestic
					 violence extremism, and homegrown violent extremism; (2) developing training
					 for law enforcement, mental health professionals, and school officials to
					 increase awareness of domestic violent extremism and radicalization; and (3)
					 implementing a program to use social media and other mediums to intervene in
					 the radicalization process. There is hereby established the Threat Assessment
					 Management Program ("Program"), to be administered by the Office of
					 Counterterrorism. The Program shall disburse funding to counties to assist in
					 creating and operating threat assessment management teams. Such teams shall be
					 comprised of law enforcement, mental health professionals, school officials,
					 and other key stakeholders tasked with identifying, assessing, and mitigating
					 the threat of targeted violence. Funding shall be made available in the form of
					 grants, which shall be awarded to counties consistent with all applicable
					 procurement laws and rules.
3. The
					 State Police shall establish a dedicated unit within the New York State
					 Intelligence Center (NYSIC) to track domestic extremism and increase social
					 media monitoring at the Intelligence Center. The unit will be responsible for
					 developing investigative leads based on social media analyses focused on
					 radical extremist activities motivated threats by identifying online locations
					 and activities that facilitate radicalization and promote violent
					 extremism.
GIVEN under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State in the
					 City of Albany this eighteenth day of May in the year two thousand
					 twenty-two
Signed: Kathy Hochul
Dated: May 18, 2022