Senate Democrats are calling on Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley to call hearings on “the reality of domestic terrorism spurred by racial hatred” in the wake of the South Carolina church massacre. The attack by white supremacist Dylann Roof, who killed nine people in a Bible study at the historic Emanuel AME Church, “undermined Americans’ confidence that they can be safe in public spaces regardless of the color of their skin,” Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and committee members Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.) wrote. “In addition to being a hate crime, the Charleston shooting also appears to have been an act of domestic terrorism. Domestic terrorism is defined in the U.S. Code as a criminal act dangerous to human life that is intended to ‘intimidate or coerce a civilian population’ or ‘to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction [or] assassination.’ 18 U.S.C. § 2331(5).”