SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday announced she would convene key legislators of both parties and public safety stakeholders within her administration to analyze and discuss proactive measures that will decrease the risk of domestic terrorist acts in the wake of the Aug. 3 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, which law enforcement authorities are investigating as a hate crime.

The domestic terrorism summit – scheduled for Aug. 14 and to include a briefing on the subject by the Federal Bureau of Investigation – is intended to catalyze a discussion about preventative steps the state can take, in conjunction with local public safety jurisdictions, toward comprehensive preparedness against actors who would seek to strike any New Mexico community with mass violence.

“I want to know: What can we do to be a step ahead? What can we do right now to ensure New Mexicans are as protected as they can be against acts of hate and mass terror?” Gov. Lujan Grisham sad. “The gun violence this weekend in El Paso, reportedly inspired by hatred toward a specific group of people, was a sobering reminder: It is too easy for dangerous, violent and mentally ill individuals to obtain an instrument of mass death in this country, and hateful rhetoric can directly lead to destructive and heinous acts. In New Mexico, we will be on the front foot, and I look forward to this discussion.”

The following individuals have been invited to the summit: Attorney General Hector Balderas, Senate Pro Tempore Mary Kay Papen, Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, House Speaker Brian Egolf, House Minority Leader James Townsend, House Majority Leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton, Maj. Gen. Kenneth A. Nava, Deputy Adjutant Gen. Miguel Aguilar, Public Safety Secretary Mark Shea, State Police Chief Tim Johnson and Homeland Security Secretary Jackie Lindsey.