By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump administration gutted a program that aimed to prevent targeted violence as part of its sweeping bid to downsize the federal government, a move that could come under fresh scrutiny after the deadly shooting of state lawmakers in Minnesota on Saturday.
The Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, works to reduce violent extremism through intervention programs in schools, workplaces and government offices.
William Braniff, a former director of the office who resigned in protest in March, said the office went from having 45 full-time staff and several dozen contract workers to just a handful of employees currently.
The Trump administration has prioritized combating illegal immigration while shrinking other DHS offices, a factor Braniff cited. “DHS is drastically reducing everything that is not related to border and immigration security,” he said.
The current head of the office is Thomas Fugate, a 22-year-old former Trump campaign worker who did not appear to have previous experience with countering terrorism and violent attacks, ProPublica reported earlier this month.
DHS and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A gunman posing as a police officer killed a senior Democratic state assemblywoman and her husband on Saturday in an apparent “politically motivated assassination,” and wounded a second lawmaker and his spouse, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and law enforcement officials said.
(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by Franklin Paul)
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