FBI chief says Jan. 6 Capitol riot is domestic terrorism

U.S. FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation" on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States, on July 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The rioters came from "a variety of backgrounds," says Christopher Wray.

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said on Tuesday that the law enforcement agency classifies the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot by former President Donald Trump's supporters as domestic terrorism.

"That attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple, and it's behavior that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism," Wray said at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

File photo taken on Jan. 6, 2021 shows supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gathering in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Wray said the rioters came from "a variety of backgrounds."

"The attackers on Jan. 6 included a number - and the number keeps growing as we build out our investigations - of what we would call militia violent extremism. And we have had some already arrested who we would put in the category of racially motivated violent extremism, white as well," said Wray.

So far at least 280 people have been arrested with more than 300 charged in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack which interrupted Congress' electoral vote count of the presidential election. Five people died in the attack, including a Capitol police officer.