John Kerry deems ISIS's actions against minority groups to be genocide

John Kerry blames ISIS for genocide.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that the U.S. has determined ISIS' actions against Christians and other minority groups in Iraq and Syria to be genocide.

"My purpose here today is to assert in my judgment, [ISIS] is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including Yazidis, Christians, and Shiite Muslims," Kerry said during a Thursday morning State Department news conference. "Daesh is genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology, and by actions, and what it says, what it believes, by what it does," he added, using the alternate, less-offensive acronym for the group.

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