WASHINGTON D.C. (WTAQ) – Wisconsin’s Republican senator is speaking out about Monday’s deadly terror attack in England.
Senator Ron Johnson chairs the legislative body’s Homeland Security Committee.
On Monday night, a suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured dozens more at the Manchester Arena as an Ariana Grande concert was wrapping up.
Grande is an American pop singer who is particularly popular with teenage girls, which was the demographic of many of the victims.
Officials say it was the deadliest bombing Britain has seen in nearly 12 years.
On Tuesday, police identified the attacker as 22-year-old Salman Abedi, and the terrorist group ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
Johnson believes “we have to end the caliphate. We have to destory ISIS, because as long as they’ve existed, they’ve continued to inspire this type of activity.”
ISIS has been behind many similar terrorist attacks throughout the world in recent years.
As the terror network has continued to attract new members around the globe, Johnson believes it will take a collaborative effort to stop them.
“We need a willing coalition of the civilized world. We need Arabs to speak out and denounce this, try and reform this within Islam, within the Muslim communities. We need to positively engage in American communities.”
Johnson discusses why these attacks have been more prevalent in Europe than the United States.
“In America, Muslim immigrants have assimilated into our culture to a greater extent than they have in Europe. They’ve really been walled off in places like France and Brussels.”
However, Johnson says Americans still need to take steps in an effort to prevent these tragedies from striking on their home soil.
“Being supportive of policies to rebuild our military, to secure our homeland, to secure our borders, to make sure the top priority of the federal government really is national and homeland security.”
Johnson says Monday’s tragedy in Manchester is “depressing, not surprising.”