Religious/Extremist Terrorism: Non-Muslim edition

[OldSolduer]

So is sanctimonious claptrap.

Roger . Got it.

I shall learn in time to ignore trolls like you.

Good day sir.

 

[Singh47]

Roger . Got it.

I shall learn in time to ignore trolls like you.

Good day sir.

I'm not trolling at all pointing out a crime that is regularly ignored or washed over is not victimhood.

Too often the problems of today can be traced to the past, and the people facing those problems are derided as inferior or pushed farther away from the cultures and traditions that once held them together.

In other words, the cultural imperialism that victimized them continues unabated sometimes under different names many times not.

That I speak in a belligerent tone is one thing, but I do not lie.

I also do not expect many to understand this whether due to age, disposition or ignorance. I believe they are the true victims of this imperialism of which I speak.

It is far better to realize you are oppressed and be able to fight it than lose connection with a majority of humanity under the guise of protecting some non-existant privilege.

I think ignorance many times arises out of fear. Fear that humanity is not as naive and good hearted as the comfortable would like to believe. Admitting a problem would somewhat become a call to action.

This is fine let those who act for justice reap the benefits and those who stay behind enjoy the emptiness of a material existence without morality.

 

[mariomike]

FYI

U.S. Military Issues Warning to Troops About Incel Violence at Joker Screenings
https://io9.gizmodo.com/u-s-military-issues-warning-to-troops-about-incel-viol-1838412331
The U.S. Army confirmed on Tuesday that the warning was widely distributed after social media posts related to extremists classified as “incels,” were uncovered by intelligence officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

'When entering theaters, identify two escape routes, remain aware of your surroundings, and remember the phrase “run, hide, fight.'

 

[The Bread Guy]

This out from a think tank - interesting bit:  lotsa these guys seem to head to Ukraine to fight for the Ukrainians …

From Pittsburgh to Poway and Charleston to El Paso, white supremacist extremists (WSEs) pose a clear terrorist threat to the United States. And while extremist groups operating on American soil are often labeled or categorized as domestic terrorist organizations, this report will demonstrate that they maintain links to transnational networks of like-minded organizations and individuals, from Australia, Canada, Russia, South Africa, and elsewhere. The danger of terrorism is growing in the United States, just as it is elsewhere in the world, with white supremacist extremists strengthening transnational networks and even imitating the tactics, techniques, and procedures of groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS). These networks share approaches to recruitment, financing, and propaganda, with Ukraine emerging as a hub in the broader network of transnational white supremacy extremism, attracting foreign recruits from all over the world ...

According to the study, less than 10 Canadians have headed to UKR to fight for UKR and 4 for the pro-RUS rebel side between 2014 and June 1, 2019.  This is a different ratio than some countries (Germany, Belarus, Russia, Serbia, Moldova, etc.), who've seen more heading over to fight for the pro-RUS side than the UKR side.  More on who's from where in attached map.

Key findings:

• White supremacy extremism (WSE) is a transnational challenge—its tentacles reach from Canada to Australia, and the United States to Ukraine—but it has evolved at a different pace in different parts of the world.

• To make serious progress, the United States should consider building upon Canada and the United Kingdom’s leadership by sanctioning transnational WSE groups as foreign terrorist organizations. U.S. Departments of State and Treasury terrorist designations could hinder the travel of terrorists into the United States; criminalize support to designated individuals and groups; block the movement of assets to those designated; and allow for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute individuals for providing material support to designated groups.

• While there are crucial differences between jihadis and white supremacy extremists, there are also important similarities and particular ways these groups feed off of each other, including:  the utility and cycle of violence; use of the internet; propaganda; recruitment; financing; and the transnational nature of the networks.

• White supremacy extremist groups and individuals accrue wealth through both licit and illicit sources of finance. WSEs also accrue, move, and store their wealth through various means but as payment processors curb access to their platforms, these groups have relied on cryptocurrency or other alternatives to fiat currency.

• WSE operational tradecraft has not significantly evolved over time and remains rooted in the use of conventional weapons, especially light arms. What has changed is the speed in which social media allows for the amplification and glorification of attacks.

• The rapid expanse of social media facilitates radicalization and recruitment within the white supremacy extremist domain. Spaces in which radicalized individuals can communicate and share content enable the development of a worldwide, rapidly expanding network of white supremacy extremists.

• Recruitment and radicalization goals within white supremacy extremism remain consistent over time, despite traditional methods of spreading propaganda diverging from more modern ones. Extremists intend to expand their influence and power through a variety of recruitment tactics, new and old.

• U.S. government efforts to combat the WSE threat remain lacking. The international community has also lagged in developing policies to counter white supremacy extremism. More resources, both financial and human, need to be directed at white supremacy extremism to curb its rise. Governments should review their terrorism laws to ensure that they are sufficiently updated to prosecute individuals who carry out acts of domestic terror.

 

[OceanBonfire]

An armed gunman in Halle, Germany attacked people outside of a synagogue on Yom Kippur, killing two and injuring at least two others in the process. He livestreamed his attack on Twitch, during which he referred to himself as “Anon” (likely referencing 4chan or 8chan) and espoused far-right talking points. Now, the livestream platform has released a statement explaining how such an egregious violation slipped through its net.

On Twitter, Twitch outlined what happened from its perspective, opening with an acknowledgement that while it has a “a zero-tolerance policy against hateful conduct,” the stream nonetheless lasted 35 minutes, was viewed by five people while it was live, and was passed around to 2,200 people in the additional 30 minutes after it ended, before Twitch took it down. The issue, according to Twitch, is that the stream generated most of its heat off-platform.

“This account was created about two months prior to streaming the shooting and had attempted to stream only once before,” said Twitch. “This video was not surfaced in any recommendations or directories; instead, our investigation suggests that people were coordinating and sharing the video via other online messaging services.”

The company has since shared a version of the recording with an “industry consortium” to help stop it from spreading further.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/police-believed-killed-shooting-eastern-germany-66155503

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/germany-synagogue-shooting-halle-grenade-reportedly-thrown-jewish-cemetery-today-2019-10-09/

https://twitter.com/Twitch/status/1182036266344271873

 

[OceanBonfire]

Follow up:

German Halle gunman admits far-right synagogue attack


A man has confessed to an attack on a synagogue in Germany in which two people died, and admitted a far-right, anti-Semitic motive, during a hearing with an investigating judge.

Stephan Balliet, 27, spent several hours giving evidence before a federal court judge about the attack in the eastern city of Halle.

He was arrested on Wednesday after a 40-year-old woman was shot dead in front of Halle's synagogue.

A man aged 20 was also fatally shot.

He was attacked inside a kebab shop after the gunman tried unsuccessfully to storm the synagogue, firing on the door several times.

Inside the synagogue, 51 people were marking Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism. Investigators believe his intention was to carry out a massacre and have revealed that 4kg (9lb) of explosives were found in his car.

Stephan Balliet faces a double murder charge as well as seven counts of attempted murder. Before he was captured, he also wounded a man and a woman. He is now being held in pre-trial detention.

His lawyer Hans-Dieter Weber told Germany's public broadcaster, Südwestrundfunk, that his client stood by his actions.

"It would be nonsensical to deny it, and he didn't do that. In his view of the world, he blames others for his own misery and that's what ultimately triggered his action," the lawyer said.

The gunman streamed his attack online for 35 minutes and published a far-right manifesto. Prosecutors say it is too early to say if he had accomplices and whether he was part of any far-right group.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50011898

https://www.apnews.com/8bc138c14b054eb1b4640e94755a82e2

 

[The Bread Guy]

Different ideologies, similar approaches ...

An NJOHSP (New Jersey Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness) review of white supremacist tactics indicates members are adopting strategies similar to those employed by foreign terrorist organizations, including strict membership guidelines, online propaganda, and inspiring lone offenders. Both the European neo-Nazi group, Feuerkrieg Division (FKD), and its similar American counterpart, Atomwaffen Division (AWD), have co-opted social networks and media arms to further spread their ideologies and gain followers ...

More @ link & in attached one-pager.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Interesting Lawfare article by terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware on the terrorist threat posed by the "incel" movement.

Incels: America’s Newest Domestic Terrorism Threat

By Bruce Hoffman, Jacob Ware

Sunday, January 12, 2020, 10:00 AM

Editor’s Note: The involuntary celibate (incel) movement might seem to be just another sad online community, but strands of it have turned violent, committing repeated attacks that are best described as terrorism. Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware of the Council on Foreign Relations provide an overview of the incel movement as it stands today and argue that it has numerous characteristics that make it especially dangerous.

Daniel Byman

***

Shortly after the May 2014 Isla Vista shooting, in which a gunman opened fire outside a University of California, Santa Barbara, sorority house, a chilling video circulated on social media. The attacker, 22-year-old former student Elliot Rodger, bluntly declared his motivation: “If I can’t have you girls,” he said, “I will destroy you.”

As has now become a fixture of mass shootings both in the United States and abroad, the gunman emailed his 107,000-word manifesto, titled My Twisted World, to 34 addresses in order to both presage and publicize the attack. The manifesto, which was widely quoted in news reports, revealed the existence of an aggressive, hateful and rapidly proliferating online community of young men frustrated at their inability to find sexual partners. They call themselves “incels”—a portmanteau for “involuntary celibate.”

The term is derived from a website created by a female undergraduate student at Canada’s Carleton University in 1993, eponymously named Alana’s Involuntary Celibacy Project. Although it was originally conceived as a site where lonely individuals of both sexes could meet, exchange experiences, and provide support, both the concept and its online manifestation were taken over by men complaining about their own involuntary celibacy and debating the causes behind their frustrations. Rodger was among those who adopted the “incel” label. Indeed, he is now considered by fellow incels to be their movement’s “patron saint”—a cultural touchstone and inspirational figure—to be imitated and emulated.

The incel ideology, as such, rails against “Stacys,” the idealized women they desire but believe deny them sex, as well as “Chads,” the similarly idealized males who are assailed for corralling all the apparently best women for themselves. Five years ago, these incels congregated on websites including PUAHate.com (“PUA” stands for pick-up artist); now, they trawl Reddit, 8chan and its replacement 8kun, and have also created their own forums and moved to the dark web.

The incel ideology is real—and lethal. In the deadliest incel-linked attack to date, in April 2018, 10 pedestrians were killed in a vehicle-ramming attack on Toronto’s busy Yonge Street. Other deadly attacks that have cited incel ideology or inspiration have occurred at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, in October 2015; Aztec High School in Aztec, New Mexico, in December 2017; Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018; and the Tallahassee Hot Yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida, in November 2019. The death toll in the United States and Canada now stands at nearly 50 people. And incel ideology has spread to Europe, although it has yet to inspire, at least directly, any deadly attacks.

Accordingly, there are reasons to believe that the incel movement, and the terrorism threat it poses, are both here to stay and a matter to be taken seriously. First, this violence is indisputably terroristic in that it seeks to repress and subjugate women as part of the incels’ vision of a paternalistic, genderized society. As J.M. Berger argues, statements issued by incels showcase “all the standard components of extremist belief, including an in-group (the group to which an extremist belongs, in this case, the sexually deprived incels) and an out-group (the group targeted by the extremist group, in this case, Chads and Stacys, which translates from incelspeak as people with normal sex lives).” Berger also disputes the dismissal of incel violence as perpetrated by “obviously troubled” or mentally ill young men—even in cases where mental health issues are confirmed, ideology plays a role and the terrorism label is still applicable. By advocating bloodshed as a means of broader societal intimidation, incel ideology conforms to the core definition of terrorism as violence designed to have far-reaching psychological effects.

Second, the incel movement has benefited from the same social mobilization and online communication tools that have propelled the Islamic State and violent far-right extremists to increasing prominence and attention. With just a Google search, curious outsiders can discover an entire online world populated by incels, complete with their own sites, language and culture. Once there, initiates are exposed to a variegated menu of extremist topics, propagated by forum dwellers eager to radicalize newcomers.

Relatedly, the threat posed by incels is growing harder to ascertain, because increased law enforcement and media attention has forced the movement into darker and more private online locales. Public forums today, while still unambiguously misogynistic in their rhetoric, now rarely advocate violence as brazenly as they once did; they are relatively effectively self-policed by site administrators. Fringes of the movement have migrated to smaller, less-policed sites, including Telegram, the encrypted app favored by the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, and Discord, the popular gaming site.

Third, the fact that incel violence has come from breakaway lone actors rather than organized groups represents a formidable challenge to law enforcement efforts to interdict and prevent the violence espoused by the ideology’s proponents. Like most violent far-right and modern jihadist terrorism, incel violence has not been dictated by leaders of an identifiable network who design a plot and finance and train the attackers. Without any kind of traditional command-and-control apparatus, these incel attacks have instead been conceived by individuals who design and execute their plots alone. In this lone actor model, it becomes nearly impossible for law enforcement agencies to interdict would-be attackers and stop the violence before it occurs—as we have seen with terrorists inspired by the Islamic State. In most cases, the perpetrators leave no traceable footprint online until they post their manifestos or digital attack advertisements—and when they do, they are easily drowned out or overwhelmed by an army of “shitposters,” who enjoy spreading increasingly extreme and often violent rhetoric through their anonymous online profiles but rarely have any intention of committing attacks in the real world.

Fourth, the incel movement should be of grave concern because of its increasing intermingling with violent far-right extremists and their own bedrock talking points of hatred and intolerance. Rodger’s manifesto was not only virulently misogynistic; it was also racially charged. Since its publication in 2014, the incel movement has been infiltrated by far-right extremists, who see so-called “men’s rights activism” as a common ground. Male supremacy thus has gone hand-in-glove with white supremacy. As such, the increasing spread of extremist far-right views online and the success of far-right terrorists in launching major attacks from El Paso to Pittsburgh will likely continue to embolden incels.

In addition, like their far-right counterparts, some incels may have benefited from prior military service. Indeed, four of the six incel attackers cited here had some degree of military experience, and at least one other incel attack (in which only the gunman was killed) involved a U.S. Army veteran who opened fire outside a Dallas courthouse. In this respect, even those who left military service prematurely may nonetheless have used the weapons training they received in their attacks.

Finally, the incel movement’s rise is concerning because of its accessibility. This is not an ideology that requires training in arcane religious doctrine or indoctrination through complex political texts. Instead, it plays off emotions and frustrations experienced daily by young men around the world, and it appeals more effectively to individuals who are simply angry or lonely than to those with preexisting extremist tendencies. The incel ideology co-opts these feelings of isolation and sexual frustration and then weaponizes them into a hateful ideology that attacks women, men, and, in some instances, minorities and individuals with mental illness. And, with its online presence, a catalog of incel chatrooms is only a few clicks away for anyone with an internet connection. Compared to Islamism or white supremacism, inceldom is an ideology that any young man, in any community, could fall into—and become deeply enmeshed.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the incel movement’s mobilization to violence is that there are no obvious legal measures or counterterrorism intelligence initiatives available. The movement is completely decentralized, without any hierarchy or leaders, and therefore no targetable offline organizing or funding streams. It is also difficult to identify and enlist persons with similarly extremist views but who eschew violence to serve as interlocutors, as is done with other programs to counter violent extremism—although Alana, the Canadian female founder of the early involuntary celibate communities, is trying. Domestic law enforcement agencies cannot of course legally track online speech or police language—and, even so, incels pride themselves on their aforementioned penchant for “shitposting.” Policing social media forums and their content might potentially risk creating new monitoring problems by forcing incels into the darker web, where oversight is more difficult and violent rhetoric can more safely be propagated.

Moreover, the fact that, as Berger notes, many incels themselves claim to be suffering from psychological issues such as depression or evidence some degree of autism suggests the need for more proactive intervention from therapists and other mental health professionals. But, this is more easily said than done, as journalist Aja Romano, who has studied incels, notes. “Outreach for incels shouldn’t start with enabling the community’s violent misogyny or its collective sense of entitlement to the bodies and emotional support of women,” Romano argues. “It should start with improving men’s access to mental health treatment—and, crucially, their faith that it can do them any good.”

Alongside the far-right and Islamist homegrown violent extremists, incels conform to an increasingly pervasive trend of terrorist attacks perpetrated by individuals without any connection to an existing organization with known leaders and an identifiable command-and-control structure. It is part of a broader rise of domestic terrorism threats—and needs to be taken equally seriously by law enforcement and the counterterrorism community before the movement continues to grow in size and threat.

Link

 

[Brad Sallows]

One of the sources of pressure for those in the dating market.

 

[The Bread Guy]

A bit more about The Base, shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act ....

News reports say an American man who has been linked to a neo-Nazi group that allegedly plotted violent attacks in the United States now lives in Russia.

The Guardian newspaper and the BBC reported on January 24 that the leader of the group that calls itself The Base is a man who has used the aliases of Norman Spear and Roman Wolf.

They said the man is in fact named Rinaldo Nazzaro, who moved to St. Petersburg sometime in 2018.

Russian social media and other open source information point to a man living in St. Petersburg who taught English to foreigners there.

There was no response to multiple phone calls made by RFE/RL to a number affiliated with the man’s online advertisement for English lessons. Public records searches and other open source media show a man with the name Rinaldo Nazzaro living in New York, New Jersey, and suburban Washington, D.C. in recent years. He reportedly married a Russian woman in 2012.

A white supremacist group whose members espouse a radical racist ideology calling for a race war to cause anarchy, The Base has been around since 2018, according to U.S. court records.

It gained wide public attention earlier this month when U.S. law enforcement arrested two Americans and one Canadian in Maryland, just days before a major gun-rights rally held in the capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia.

According to documents filed in U.S. federal court, the men were accused of plotting to spark violence at the January 19 rally, which attracted tens of thousands of protesters and ended peacefully with no violence and only a few arrests.

Authorities arrested four other men linked to the group in two other U.S. states.

According to the news reports, Nazarro, using his aliases, was a frequent participant in white supremacist and racist chat rooms, often recruiting people with military backgrounds to join the group.

A company he was affiliated with in the early 2010s was called Omega Solutions International, which said “its associates worked with various government and military agencies, and had “experience conducting intelligence analysis for government agencies, military organizations, and private businesses.”

The website was shuttered sometime after August 19.

 

[The Bread Guy]

New Jersey's DHS on The Base ...

Neo-Nazi Group Remains Committed to Spreading Ideology

In 2020, the neo-Nazi organization, The Base, will likely attempt to recruit new members in the region, rely on members with military expertise and training, and use intimidation tactics to terrorize its victims and spread its white supremacist ideology. The Base formed in 2018 as an organization that seeks to defend the European race while establishing a network of supporters willing to use violence to overthrow the current social and political order for a perceived impending race war ...

More @ link & in attachment.

 

[The Bread Guy]

From south of the border here ....

The FBI has arrested four people described by the agency as “violent extremists,” believed to have ties to the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, after an investigation that included threats mailed to Western Washington journalists and racial and religious minorities.

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office was holding a news conference with details of the arrests Wednesday.

In a news release, the agency said four men in four states had been arrested and charged in the case: Cameron Brandon Shea, 24, of Redmond; Kaleb Cole, 24, of Montgomery, Texas; Taylor Ashley Parker-Dipeppe, 20, of Spring Hill, Florida; and Johnny Roman Garza, 20, of Queen Creek, Arizona.

The Seattle Times has obtained an FBI “Situational Information Report” sent to law enforcement earlier this month that details the threats and contains copies of racist and anti-Semitic posters mailed to individuals on Mercer Island and residents of Edmonds and Seattle.

The posters contain imagery such as swastikas and a hooded figure in a skull mask, with language such as “We know where you live” and “Your actions have consequences.”

The identities of the journalists or other recipients of the letters were not released. The FBI report states that some had been involved in “doxxing” members of the group, a reference to the harassing practice of posting someone’s personal information on social media ...

... and here:

A former leader of the white supremacist group Atomwaffen Division was arrested today on charges related to his alleged role in a conspiracy that conducted multiple swatting events that occurred here in the Eastern District of Virginia.

John Cameron Denton, 26, of Montgomery, Texas, is allegedly a former leader of the Atomwaffen Division in Texas. Denton was arrested this morning in Montgomery and will make his initial appearance at 2 p.m. CST before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy K. Johnson at the federal courthouse in Houston.

According to court documents, from November 2018 to at least April 2019, Denton and several co-conspirators, including John William Kirby Kelley, allegedly conspired together to conduct “swatting” calls. Swatting is a harassment tactic that involves deceiving dispatchers into believing that a person or persons are in imminent danger of death or bodily harm and causing the dispatchers to send police and emergency services to an unwitting third party’s address.

According to court documents, Denton allegedly participated in a conspiracy that conducted three swatting calls that occurred here in the Eastern District of Virginia: a Cabinet official living in Northern Virginia on Jan. 27, 2019; Old Dominion University on Nov. 29, 2018; and Alfred Street Baptist Church on Nov. 3, 2018.

Additionally, Denton allegedly chose at least two other targets to “swat”: the New York City office of ProPublica, a non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism; and an investigative journalist that produced materials for ProPublica. Denton allegedly chose the two targets because he was furious with ProPublica and the investigative journalist for publishing his true identity and discussing his role in Atomwaffen Division ...

As usual, presumed innocent until proven guilty via due process.

 

[The Bread Guy]

From south of the border here ....

The FBI has arrested four people described by the agency as “violent extremists,” believed to have ties to the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, after an investigation that included threats mailed to Western Washington journalists and racial and religious minorities.

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office was holding a news conference with details of the arrests Wednesday.

In a news release, the agency said four men in four states had been arrested and charged in the case: Cameron Brandon Shea, 24, of Redmond; Kaleb Cole, 24, of Montgomery, Texas; Taylor Ashley Parker-Dipeppe, 20, of Spring Hill, Florida; and Johnny Roman Garza, 20, of Queen Creek, Arizona.

The Seattle Times has obtained an FBI “Situational Information Report” sent to law enforcement earlier this month that details the threats and contains copies of racist and anti-Semitic posters mailed to individuals on Mercer Island and residents of Edmonds and Seattle.

The posters contain imagery such as swastikas and a hooded figure in a skull mask, with language such as “We know where you live” and “Your actions have consequences.”

The identities of the journalists or other recipients of the letters were not released. The FBI report states that some had been involved in “doxxing” members of the group, a reference to the harassing practice of posting someone’s personal information on social media ...

More from the USA DoJ:

Four racially motivated violent extremists from across the U.S. were arrested and charged today in U.S District Court in Seattle with a conspiracy to threaten and intimidate journalists and activists, the Department of Justice announced. Today’s arrests and searches by the FBI and local law enforcement are being coordinated by the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Seattle, Tampa, Houston, and Phoenix.

“These defendants from across the country allegedly conspired on the internet to intimidate journalists and activists with whom they disagreed,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.  “This is not how America works. The Department of Justice will not tolerate this type of behavior.”

“These defendants sought to spread fear and terror with threats delivered to the doorstep of those who are critical of their activities,” said U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran for the Western District of Washington.  “As Attorney General William Barr has made clear, rooting out anti-Semitic hate and threats of violence and vigorously prosecuting those responsible are top priorities for the Department of Justice.”

“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and FBI-Tampa have been focused on identifying and eradicating the threat posed by the Atomwaffen Division both locally and nationally,” said U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez for the Middle District of Florida.  “Today’s arrests send a powerful message that the Department of Justice will not tolerate criminal conduct based on hateful ideology.  We will continue to work with our partners here in the Middle District of Florida, and elsewhere, to devote our resources to investigate and prosecute those who aim to threaten and terrorize our communities.” 

The defendants charged in the conspiracy include:

    Cameron Brandon Shea, 24, of Redmond, Washington;

    Kaleb Cole, 24, of Montgomery, Texas;

    Taylor Ashley Parker-Dipeppe, 20, of Spring Hill, Florida, and

    Johnny Roman Garza, 20, of Queen Creek, Arizona.

According to the criminal complaint, the defendants conspired via an encrypted online chat group to identify journalists and others they wanted to intimidate.  The group focused primarily on those who are Jewish or journalists of color.  Defendants Cole and Shea created the posters, which included Nazi symbols, masked figures with guns and Molotov cocktails, and threatening language.  The posters were delivered to Atomwaffen members electronically and the coconspirators printed and delivered or mailed the posters to journalists or activists the group was targeting.  In the Seattle area, the posters were mailed to a TV journalist who had reported on Atomwaffen and to two individuals associated with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).  In Tampa, the group targeted a journalist,but delivered the poster to the wrong address.  In Phoenix, the poster was delivered to a magazine journalist ...

 

[OceanBonfire]

In first, U.S. brands white supremacists as foreign terrorists

The United States on Monday branded a Russian far-right group as a foreign terrorist organization, the first time it has targeted white supremacists with tools regularly used against jihadist groups.

The State Department said that the Russian Imperial Movement runs two paramilitary training camps in Saint Petersburg and has pulled in neo-Nazis from across the Western world.

"This is the first time the United States has ever designated white supremacist terrorists, illustrating how seriously this administration takes the threat," said Nathan Sales, the State Department counterterrorism coordinator.

The Russian Imperial Movement and three of its leaders were blacklisted as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, meaning that they will not be admitted to the United States and that any US assets they hold will be blocked.

Sales said that the United States was alarmed by the rise in white supremacist violence around the world, including attacks on Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, and against Hispanics in El Paso, Texas.

President Donald Trump has faced widespread criticism for his uncritical treatment of white supremacists as well as his rhetoric that demonizes non-white immigrants as criminals.

Most notoriously, Trump said that neo-Nazis whose 2017 march in Charlottesville, Virginia devolved into violence included "very fine people."

Sales insisted that the administration was targeting white supremacists.

He said that the designation was made possible by an order by Trump that allows designation of terrorists based on their training, not necessarily participation in violence.

But he said that two extremists from Sweden, known for its generosity toward refugees, traveled in August 2016 to Saint Petersburg to undergo 11 days of paramilitary training.

They returned to Sweden and carried out a series of attacks including a bombing outside a migrant center in Gothenburg that gravely injured one person, the State Department said.

"This group has innocent blood on its hands," Sales said.

"Today's designations send an unmistakable message that the United States will not hesitate to use our sanctions authorities aggressively, and that we are prepared to target any foreign terrorist group, regardless of ideology, that threatens our citizens, our interests abroad, or our allies," he said.


https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/in-first-u-s-brands-white-supremacists-as-foreign-terrorists-1.4884551

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/state-dept-labels-white-supremacist-group-terrorists-1st/story?id=69998908

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-designation/u-s-designates-russian-ultra-nationalist-group-as-terrorist-organization-idUSKBN21O1UQ

 

[PuckChaser]

I'll be impressed when Anti-Fa makes it onto the terrorist list. I guess it'll take them blowing up a pipeline before they do something, smashing people with bike locks during riots isn't good enough.

 

[Journeyman]

"This is the first time the United States has ever designated white supremacist terrorists, illustrating how seriously this administration takes the threat," said Nathan Sales, the State Department counterterrorism coordinator.

Ooohh…. designating white supremacists as terrorists in someone else's country.  What a bold move.    :boring:

Sure, the Southern Poverty Law Center managed to document 940 active hate groups in the United States over the past 12 months;  I guess not one of them was 'hateful' enough.  :


Yes, I'm well aware that not all are white supremacists

 

[OceanBonfire]

Violent extremists may exploit coronavirus pandemic, target hospitals, threat report warns

Violent extremists may try to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic by attacking hospitals and supermarkets, according to a U.S. threat assessment circulated in Canada by the RCMP.

“Pandemics and other natural crises create unprecedented challenges that terrorists could exploit to conduct attacks against and already stressed society, and strained government and public safety system,” it said.

“While most citizens isolate in their homes, public safety personnel, hospitals and establishments, such as supermarkets and pharmacies, serve the largest number of co-located individuals, making them potentially attractive targets.”

The April 1 warning was written by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC) but was included in a security advisory prepared by the U.S. rail industry.

According to two sources who did not want to be publicly identified, they industry advisory was distributed in this country by the RCMP’s First Responder Terrorism Awareness Program.

A copy was obtained by Global News.

The report also included an April 1 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assessment of attempts by extremists to encourage supporters to spread COVID-19 to law enforcement members and minority communities, as well as at places of worship and on public transit.

“The RCMP is aware of this report and receives a number of COVID-19 related intelligence reports daily from a variety of sources,” said Catherine Fortin, an RCMP spokesperson.

“The COVID-19 crisis is bringing uncertainty and financial insecurity to a large portion of the population. However, the frustrations created by this situation in no case justify hatred, threats, and inciting violence.”

Prof. Stephanie Carvin said nobody should be surprised that extremists would want to exploit the pandemic to advance their goals.

“At the end of the day, violent extremists are opportunistic,” she said.

Two attacks in the U.S. have already been linked to extremists, the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs national security expert said.

On April 1, U.S. authorities said they had arrested a 44-year-old conspiracy theorist for running a locomotive off the end of its tracks near a navy hospital ship treating COVID-19 patients in the port of Los Angeles.

A March 24 incident in which a Missouri follower of white supremacist ideology was shot dead following an attempted attack at a Kansas City medical centre.

The report said the Kansas City plot “lends support” to the view that extremists may strike during the crisis. The attacker, Timothy Wilson, 36, had allegedly accelerated the timing of his bomb plot because the medical centre “offered more casualties” due to COVID-19.

As efforts to contain the new coronavirus have largely emptied places where people typically gather in large numbers, security officials have speculated that terrorists may respond by shifting targets.

At the same time, there are concerns that violent extremist movements may view the pandemic as an opportunity to strike at societies as they are already struggling to cope with the health crisis.

On Telegram, extremists have advocated infecting rabbis and business owners “of Indian descent,” the report said, while those infected were urged to visit mosques, synagogues and diverse neighbourhoods.

“A related concern is propaganda calling on ‘believers,’ adherents, and supporters to exploit the prevailing duress on law enforcement and security professionals to attempt to execute attacks,” the report said.

But the report also said medical facilities may not be a “favorable environment” for violent extremists, and they lack experience with such targets. They may also fear contracting the virus themselves.

“Whether violent extremists are willing to risk personal health without measurable success is unknown,” the Railway Alert Network report said, quoting the DHS analysis.

“The lack of quantifiable success and possible violent extremist actors’ concerns for their own health may feed into the decision calculus to seek out exposure to infect others.”

It also noted that since those with COVID-19 do not always develop symptoms, violent extremists would not necessarily know they were infected, making it impossible for them to attempt to intentionally infect others.

Terrorism expert Prof. Amarnath Amarasingam, author of an article on the topic, said he had not seen any evidence that either Islamist or right-wing extremists were serious about such attacks.

“Accelerationists and ecofascist chats initially talked about spreading fake rumours about individuals weaponizing COVID-19,” the Queen’s University professor said.

“This included memes joking about spitting and sneezing and licking public places and other posts suggesting spitting in a spray bottle and spraying it at people they didn’t like.”

But these extremists did not seem to be serious, and it was “mostly trolling,” although they might inspire a lone individual to take action, Amarasingam said.

The Association of American Railroads Railway Alert Network, which wrote the report, referred a reporter to the DHS, which did not respond to questions by deadline.


https://globalnews.ca/news/6795248/extremists-may-exploit-coronavirus-pandemic-threat-report/

 

[FJAG]

Time to bring back drawing and quartering.

op:

 

[OldSolduer]

Time to bring back drawing and quartering.

op:

Funny you should mention that. For  minor crimes can we bring back the stocks and pillories? Rotten fruit and tomatoes thrown at the accused/convicted? Maybe get a major corporation to back it? (Ram Trucks?)

 

[FJAG]

Funny you should mention that. For  minor crimes can we bring back the stocks and pillories? Rotten fruit and tomatoes thrown at the accused/convicted? Maybe get a major corporation to back it? (Ram Trucks?)

I think society is ready for it again. Extreme cage fighting is so tame.

op: