CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The facts read like a textbook case of terrorism: A radicalized extremist revved-up on hate rammed his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of U.S. citizens making their voices heard on the streets of an American city. Bodies flew. One killed. Nineteen injured.

But as mourners gathered Wednesday inside a theater near the crash site to celebrate the life of the woman killed in Saturdays attack, the chance that white supremacist James Alex Fields will face a federal terrorism charge was almost non-existent. The problem? Federal law doesnt explicitly provide a domestic terrorism charge.

That could change. HuffPost has learned that, long before Saturdays attack, the Justice Department was working on draft legislation to propose to Congress that would spell out domestic terrorist attacks as a federal crime.

Mary McCord, who served as acting head of the Justice Departments National Security Division until May, told HuffPost the office was working on the draft legislative proposal during the Obama administration, and the work continued in the Trump administration.

Prosecutors can already use an array of state, local and federal laws to charge people who commit acts of violence in domestic terrorism attacks. But McCord said theres value to society in labeling and prosecuting such attacks as domestic terrorism.

To my mind, with domestic terrorists, there should at least be the option of prosecuting them for domestic terrorism, and putting it on that sort of moral equivalence to international terrorism, McCord said. Because thats what it is its an act of violence that is done with the intent to intimidate or coerce the population, influence government policy or the conduct of government and thats what international terrorists are also trying to do.

The legislative effort apparently is in the early stages, and would need to be vetted by other Justice Department offices outside the National Security Division. As of the time of this articles publication, DOJ hasnt said whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions would support making domestic terrorism a federal crime.