FBI Probes Sikh Killings as Domestic Terrorism Incident

Unlike the killings last month in Aurora, Colorado, and the attempted assassination last year of Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, the FBI is investigating a gunman’s rampage that killed six people at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee as a domestic terrorism incident.

By giving it that label, federal and local law enforcement can tap the resources of the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Forces, said Pat Rowan, a partner at McGuireWoods LLP, a Washington law firm who headed the U.S. Justice Department’s national security division under President George W. Bush. These multi-agency teams have access to past investigations and databases that may prove useful in the probe, he said.