Planned Parenthood shooting: Domestic terrorism? It's knotty

Dear faces state charges of first-degree murder, and the federal criminal code has no specific, catchall charge for acts of domestic terrorism.

Police have not yet detailed a motive in the Friday killings of one police officer and two civilians at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, though a law enforcement official said Dear said "no more baby parts" during rambling comments after his arrest.

Federal law defines domestic terrorism as dangerous acts that take place inside the U.S. that are intended to intimidate the public or coerce government policy or conduct — a description meant to encompass, among others, anti-government anarchists, white supremacists and animal-rights activists.

In the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, for instance, Timothy McVeigh faced charges including conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, malicious destruction of federal property and the murders of law enforcement officials.

A Florida man in 2012 was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of arson and damaging a reproductive health facility after firebombing an abortion clinic.

While the Justice Department consistently charges individuals who look to join organizations like the Islamic State with providing material support for a foreign terror organization, there's no comparable statute for prosecuting domestic crimes motivated by extremist ideologies and no catchall "domestic terrorism" charge or offense in the federal criminal code.