Islamist Extremism |  | Nazem Ahmad in his office with art he allegedly commissioned, U.S. Department of Justice via The Art Newspaper screenshot | Art Dealer Indicted for Funneling $100's of Millions to Hezbollah Lebanese art collector Nazem Ahmad and eight others were indicted in Brooklyn federal court for evading U.S. sanctions using a complex web of businesses to disguise millions of dollars in transactions involving art and diamonds. Ahmad was accused of funding the militant group Hezbollah and conspiring to defraud American and foreign governments, and money laundering. He is known as one of Hezbollah's top donors. The indictment was part of a series of actions aimed at Ahmad’s global operations, including the announcement of sanctions against 52 individuals and entities linked to him in nine countries by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The investigation uncovered about $440 million worth of imports and exports to the U.S. by entities linked to Ahmad after the sanctions were imposed. About $160 million worth of transactions went through the U.S. financial system. Read More Virginia Man Who Left Family Behind to Fight in Afghanistan Pleads Guilty to Terrorism - Ahmed Ameer Minni, a Virginia man, pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge in federal court in Alexandria, after leaving the U.S. over 14 years ago to fight with extremist groups in Afghanistan.
- In 2009, Minni was one of five men from Northern Virginia who left the U.S. and were arrested in Sargodha, Pakistan, on terrorism-related charges after Pakistani authorities received information from the FBI.
- Minni enlisted “the other four defendants to join him in traveling overseas” to fight American soldiers, according to prosecutors. All five men were convicted and imprisoned for 10 years in Pakistan.
- U.S. prosecutors are not seeking prison time because he has already spent almost 13 years in custody in Pakistan. Read More
| | | | | Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism |  | Boogaloo group member Timothy Teagan stands with a rifle at a protest outside of the Michigan state capital building on January 17, 2021 - Scott Olson/Getty Images | Boogaloo Boi Pleads Guilty to Gun and Drug Charges Timothy Teagan, a member of the far-right anti-government Boogaloo movement, has pleaded guilty to gun- and drug-related charges after an investigation by FBI counterterrorism investigators. While Teagan was not charged with terrorism or extremism-related crimes, he pleaded guilty to being a drug user in possession of a firearm and ammunition, as well as making a false statement while acquiring a firearm. The drug-related charge carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence, but prosecutors have agreed to request a 13-month sentence as part of the plea agreement. Teagan has been a high-profile member of the Boogaloo movement, attending various protests and rallies. His arrest coincided with that of another alleged Boogaloo member in Ohio who is facing similar charges. Read More Civil War Reenactor Pleads Guilty to Planting Pipe Bomb in Battlefield - Gerald Leonard Drake, 63, a former Civil War reenactor from Winchester, Va., pleaded guilty to mailing threatening letters and planting a pipe bomb at the Cedar Creek Battlefield during a reenactment event in 2017.
- Drake claimed in the letters to be a member of Antifa and threatened harm, including referencing the Unite the Right riots in Charlottesville.
- Drake admitted to manufacturing the pipe bomb and placing it at the battlefield to instill fear and cause harm to those attending the reenactment.
- Drake pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered explosive device and stalking, and faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Read More
White Supremacists Sentenced in Plot to Attack Power Grid - Christopher Brenner Cook, 20, of Columbus, Ohio, and Jonathan Allen Frost, 24, of Katy, Texas, were sentenced in federal court for their involvement in a plot to attack U.S. power grids to advance white supremacist ideology.
- The two men pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and were sentenced to 92 months and 60 months in prison, respectively.
- A third defendant, Jackson Matthew Sawall, 22, pleaded guilty in February 2022 and will be sentenced at a later date.
- The defendants planned to attack energy facilities to stir up division in furtherance of their racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist ideology. Read More
Swastika Carved Onto Autistic Jewish Teen’s Back A nonverbal autistic Jewish teen was the victim of an antisemitic assault in Clark High School in Las Vegas when a swastika was carved onto his back and his service dog equipment bag was tampered with. The teen's mother pulled him out of the school, and the case remains unsolved due to the school's lack of surveillance cameras in classrooms, locker rooms and bathrooms. The FBI is ready to join the investigation and is in contact with local authorities. They are prepared to investigate if information of a potential federal civil rights violation arises. The Clark County School District released a statement denouncing discriminatory behavior and urging anyone with additional information to contact school police immediately. Read More Antifa Members Arrested for Attack at Texas Drag Show Three members of Antifa were arrested for attacking protestors outside of a Fort Worth, Texas, drag show. Samuel Fowlkes, who identifies as nonbinary, was arrested on charges of resisting arrest, assault and evading arrest, among others, and is being held on $22,500 bail. Two other members, Meghan Grant and Christopher Guillott, were arrested on collective charges of resisting arrest, interfering with public duties and assaulting a peace officer. The individuals are reportedly part of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, a group known for being armed at protests and riots. The group is raising bail for them through CashApp. Read More Ohio Pregnancy Center Vandalized in "Janes Revenge" Attack The pro-life Bowling Green Pregnancy Center, in Bowling Green, Ohio, was vandalized with pro-abortion graffiti. The vandals scrawled the words “Liars,” “Fake clinic,” “Jane’s Revenge,” “Fund abortion,” and “Abort God” across the building in blue paint. The vandalism is the 63rd attack on pro-life pregnancy centers since May 2022, following a leak from the U.S. Supreme Court indicating that the justices were poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. Read More | | |  | Hate Crimes |  | A group marched in Brooklyn to raise awareness of no tolerance for violence or antisemitism against Jewish people on January 16, 2020 - Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images | Minor Arrested Over Antisemitic Attack A 12-year-old boy was arrested in Queens, N.Y., in connection with an antisemitic attack on April 7, during Passover. The boy was part of a group of two boys and one girl who shouted antisemitic slurs, threw rocks, and allegedly threatened a person with a razor outside a synagogue in Far Rockaway. The police are still looking for the other two individuals who were involved in the attack. Another antisemitic incident occurred in Queens on the same day, where a group physically assaulted a man after he confronted them about their antisemitic slurs. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is assisting the police in locating the other two individuals, but they believe the 12-year-old boy arrested is only connected to the first incident. Read More Indiana Woman Charged With Hate Crime Over Knife Attack Billie Davis, 56, of Evansville, Ind., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Indiana for committing a hate crime against a woman of Chinese descent. The indictment alleges that Davis caused bodily injury to the victim and attempted to kill her using a knife because of her race and national origin. Read More |  | | School Threats |  | Fox Chapel Middle School, Spring Hill, Fla. via Yahoo Life screenshot | Florida Teacher Threatens to Shoot Students A teacher at Fox Chapel Middle School in Spring Hill, Fla., was alleged to have said she wanted to "shoot some students." The teacher, who is in the process of transitioning from male to female, reportedly made the comments to a guidance counselor after mentioning "bad thoughts" during a discussion with the school's assistant principal. The teacher also mentioned being upset about negative comments related to her sexual orientation on social media. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office removed three handguns and ammunition from the teacher's home after filing a Risk Protection Order, citing evidence of recent acts or threats of violence and potential mental health issues. The school district initially cleared the teacher to return to the classroom, but later announced that the teacher would be removed from all student contact pending further investigation and involvement of mental health experts. Read More California Teen Arrested for School Threat A teen suspect has been arrested in connection to a school shooting threat made to Redwood High School in California. After an investigation, police said they were able to identify a 16-year-old boy as the suspect and served a warrant at his home. He was booked into Juvenile Hall under suspicion of making a false report of an emergency and criminal threat. Read More Texas School Receives Credible Threat A credible threat was made to Throckmorton Collegiate Independent School District in Texas. The Throckmorton County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) received notification of the threat and after investigation, TCSO deemed the threat to be credible and viable and apprehended the suspect. Firearms accessible to the suspect were surrendered to TSCO at the request of the parent. Read More | | |  | Hostile Foreign Influence Operations |  | Omali Yeshitela (right) marches on the White House with other African-American protestors on November 7, 2009 - NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images | Black Liberation Organizers Indicted as Russian Agents Four Americans affiliated with the African People's Socialist Party and Uhuru Movement, along with three Russians, have been charged with conspiring to sow discord in U.S. society, spread Russian propaganda and interfere illegally in U.S. elections, according to an unsealed indictment. The indicted intelligence officers are alleged to have recruited, funded and directed U.S. political groups to act as illegal agents of the Russian government and spread pro-Russian propaganda, as well as participating in covertly funding and directing local U.S. candidates for office. The Americans charged, including Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the U.S.-based organization, were added to an existing case in Tampa, Fla., involving Aleksandr Ionov, described as the founder of a Moscow-based organization funded by the Russian government for clandestine influence campaigns in the U.S. The indictment alleges that Russia's foreign intelligence service weaponized the First Amendment rights of Americans to divide the country and interfere in elections. Read More Two Arrested for Operating Police Station of the Chinese Government in Manhattan - Two defendants were charged in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., for opening and operating an illegal overseas police station in lower Manhattan for a provincial branch of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
- The defendants, Harry Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, were charged with conspiring to act as agents of the PRC government and obstructing justice by destroying evidence of their communications with an MPS official.
- The defendants were tasked with carrying out various activities to assist the PRC government's repressive activities on U.S. soil, including locating a Chinese dissident living in the U.S. and causing a purported PRC fugitive to return to the PRC.
- If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiring to act as PRC agents and 20 years in prison for obstruction of justice. Read More
| |  | Research and Trends in Extremism |  | Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate on June 15, 2021 in New York City - Pablo Monsalve/VIEWpress via Getty Images | The Rebranding of Islamic Antisemitic Organizations as Progressive Human Rights Groups A new report by the Institute for National Security Studies warns of a growing alliance between U.S. Islamist groups and far-left organizations that has shielded the former from scrutiny of their antisemitic statements and ideas. The report highlights that the “red-green” coalition portrays the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an anticolonial struggle and seeks to delegitimize Jewish communal organizations by portraying them as part of a white power structure in the U.S. The authors warn that over time, fringe antisemitic beliefs could become increasingly mainstreamed if these organizations are not challenged, especially given the rise in antisemitic attacks in the U.S., which spiked 75 percent during and after the 2021 conflict in Gaza and continued to rise in 2022. The report calls for increased vigilance and a robust response by the American Jewish community and its allies, urging that the process of choosing allies from the Muslim community should be made much more carefully. Read More | | | | | QUOTABLE "Frequent recurrence to fundamental principles…[is] absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty and keep a government free."
- Benjamin Franklin
| | | NOTE TO OUR READERS: We have pulled out the salient points of the articles in this newsletter to keep you informed and focused on the most relevant, important and timely news in national security and extremism. While our national security experts stand behind the summary bullets and deem them trustworthy, Clarion Project does not endorse all the views expressed in the articles linked. | | | | |
