A state task force convened Friday, Aug. 14, to take up seven recommendations that could bring new digital media literacy classes to Olympia and Tumwater schools, restore funding for a youth crisis hotline and direct grant money to local community organizations.
The Washington State Domestic Extremism and Mass Violence Task Force, a 28-member body created under ESSB 5950, scheduled the hybrid meeting in Seattle from 9 a.m. to noon. Attorney General Nick Brown's office staffs the task force and released the draft recommendation framework in July. If adopted by the Legislature, the proposals would create a statewide prevention program and funnel resources into schools, youth programs and community groups across all 39 counties.
What the recommendations would do
The seven proposals discussed Friday span prevention and early intervention:
Recommendation 1 asks the Legislature to create a "Hate-Fueled and Targeted Violence Program," housed in either the Department of Health or the Attorney General's Office. The program would serve as a statewide resource hub, oversee grant funding and maintain a public database of hate-fueled violence incidents updated annually.
Recommendation 2 would establish a Youth Development Fund distributing grants for youth programming aimed at building peer relationships, interpersonal skills and reducing screen time and isolation.
Recommendation 3 calls for grant funding to community organizations that foster civic engagement, mentorship, faith-based connections and law enforcement outreach.
Recommendation 4 would require digital media literacy curricula for students, adults, workplaces and elected officials, teaching skills to identify misinformation, propaganda and extreme rhetoric. The curricula would need endorsement from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and be available to educators, librarians and student-led clubs, directly affecting Olympia and Tumwater school districts if adopted. Materials must be translated into at least Washington's top 20 spoken languages.
Recommendations 5 and 6 address publicly accessible training on early warning signs of violent extremism and public awareness campaigns modeled on existing suicide prevention PSAs.
Recommendation 7 asks the Legislature to restore funding for HearMeWA, a free crisis and safety reporting program for Washingtonians up to age 25. The program connects callers with trained counselors from the Sandy Hook Promise National Crisis Center via app, text, chat or phone. More than 80 school districts statewide have opted in, and the program has made over 900 referrals to service agencies. The task force calls it "a vital primary prevention resource" and wants additional funding to train responders to recognize signs of radicalization and nihilistic violence.
Local impact
No Olympia or Tumwater officials have been identified as task force members. The reach is local nonetheless: the media literacy curriculum would flow through OSPI to area schools, youth development grants could fund programs in Thurston County, and HearMeWA already operates in dozens of Washington school districts.
The task force's preliminary report, submitted in June 2025, noted that 80% of mass shooters were in an active state of crisis at the time of the shooting and 30% were suicidal beforehand. That figure rises to 92% for K-12 school shooters.
What's next
Friday's meeting covered seven of 12 total draft recommendations. The remaining five address secondary and tertiary prevention, including strengthening Washington's school-based threat assessment program, expanding counseling for individuals on pathways to violence and a mass violence incident preparedness plan.
The task force's final report is due to the governor and Legislature by Dec. 1. Additional meetings are scheduled for Sept. 11 and Oct. 9, with a Nov. 13 session if needed. A formal public comment period closed Aug. 7; meeting materials and updates are available on the Attorney General's task force page.
