Excerpt:
President Obama's deputy national security adviser told a Muslim audience Sunday that the threat of homegrown terrorism is "real" and that Muslim Americans are part of the solution, not the problem.
In a lengthy speech before a Muslim community group in Virginia, Denis McDonough said that as U.S. defenses against al-Qaeda have strengthened, the terrorist group has turned increasingly to "attempting to recruit and radicalize people to terrorism here in the United States."
"For a long time, many in the U.S. thought that our unique melting pot meant we were immune from this threat – this despite the history of violent extremists of all kinds in the United States," McDonough said in a speech to the Adams Center, according to prepared remarks released by the White House. "That was false hope, and false comfort. This threat is real, and it is serious."