(Washington, D.C., 9/25/2019) USCMO Secretary General received special invitation from the Department of Homeland Security and White House Office of Public Liaison to participate in their Faith-Based Community Safety and Security Symposium.
The symposium — conducted by DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and its Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives and held at the White House Eisenhower Executive Office Building — sought to bring together select faith-community representatives to share safety and security best practices in the face of rising hate-violence assailant incidents.
Security experts and religious leaders — including those whose congregants and places of worship had experienced deadly assaults — presented methods to prevent and mitigate hate-motivated violence. Presenters focused on information sharing, preparedness and planning strategies, and resources available to religious leaders to reduce risks of lethal hate assaults on their worshippers and places of prayer.
They also discussed community impacts after previous attacks, lessons learned from them, and how communities of worship can respond and recover in their aftermath.
The first-of-its-kind, half-day event culminated in an open dialogue forum that enabled participants to develop a shared strategic approach to hate violence and potential next steps to mitigate active assailant incidences.
