Rep. Adam Smith (D., Wash.) falsely claimed Friday on CNN that no refugees have carried out terrorist attacks on American soil.
Host Wolf Blitzer asked Smith whether he understood why so many Americans believe that "extreme vetting" of refugees would protect them in the end.
"I do. I think in large part it's because people aren't aware of the vetting process that already exists," Smith said. "And again, they are not aware, apparently, of the fact that we have not had terrorist attacks from refugees."
Smith went on to say that most of the mass shootings that have occurred in the United States have been perpetrated by U.S. citizens.
Smith is incorrect to say that there have been zero terrorist attacks by refugees, however.
In November, Ohio State University student Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 18, posted the following message on Facebook:
"America! Stop interfering with other countries, especially Muslim Ummah [community]. We are not weak. We are not weak, remember that," the post said.
Artran then plowed a car into a crowd of people at Ohio State before getting out of the car and attacking students with a butcher knife. A police officer was able to quickly get to the scene and kill Artran before he did more damage, but the attack resulted in 11 people going to the hospital.
Law enforcement officials said that Artan was a Somali refugee, NBC reported in November.
Law enforcement officials told NBC News that Artan was a Somali refugee who left his homeland with his family in 2007, lived in Pakistan, and then came to the United States in 2014 as a legal permanent resident.
He lived briefly in a temporary shelter in Dallas before settling in Ohio, according to records maintained by Catholic Charities.