The Extremism Roundup

Islamist Extremism

Police Chief Dave Zibolski gives a news conference July 15 about an attack on police and firefighters by a gunman, who killed one officer and injured two others - via AP screenshot

Syrian Refugee Kills Police in Fargo - Mass-Casualty Event Narrowly Averted

• Mohamad Barakat, a Syrian national who came to the U.S. on an asylum request in 2012 and became a U.S. citizen in 2019, ambushed Fargo police officers responding to a fender bender, killing one officer and critically injuring two others and a bystander.

• Barakat had conducted internet searches related to violence, mass shootings, and explosives and he had with him a big arsenal of guns, ammunition, a grenade and propane tanks filled with explosive. His original intention was apparently a much bigger and bloodier mass-shooting at one of two fairs taking place near the scene at the time.

• After three out of the four police officers at the scene were shot, the fourth officer, though significantly out-gunned, succeeded in killing Barakat after a two-minute gun battle.

• Barakat had been reported to the Guardian Threat Tracking System but had no known criminal record or ties to a specific community in Fargo.  Read More

Colorado Man Arrested for Attempting to Join ISIS

• Davin Daniel Meyer, 18, of Castle Rock, Colo., was charged for attempting to provide material support for ISIS.

• According to court documents, Meyer pledged an oath of allegiance to the leader of ISIS.

• Meyer intended to travel to serve as a fighter for ISIS in Iraq. He was arrested as he attempted to board a flight to Turkey.  Read More

Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism

Neo-Nazis fly a swastika flag outside an LGBTQ event in downtown Toledo, Ohio, before heading to a nearby Jewish community complex, July 15 - via JTA screenshot

Neo-Nazis March in Ohio

• A small group of around a dozen neo-Nazis, identified as the antisemitic organization Blood Tribe, targeted Jewish institutions in Sylvania, Ohio, after picketing an LGBTQ event in downtown Toledo.

• They waved swastika flags and tiki torches outside the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo headquarters, two synagogues, and a Jewish community center for around 10 minutes before dispersing.

• Law enforcement quickly responded to the incident, and no Jews were present at the targeted locations during the group's demonstration. Jewish leaders and community members received support from other minority groups in the area.  Read More

Five Patriot Front Members Sentenced for Planning Riot at Idaho Pride Event

• Five members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front have been sentenced to five days in jail, fined $1,000, and placed on probation for conspiring to riot at a Pride event in Idaho.
• The men were found guilty of planning to disrupt the Coeur d’Alene LGBTQ+ Pride event in 2022. Police arrested a total of 31 Patriot Front members, with riot gear and other items found in their van.
• The group's manifesto reportedly calls for the creation of a white ethnostate in the U.S. Most of the other arrested members are awaiting trial, and one member was previously sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation and a $500 fine.  Read More

  Hate Crimes

Charles Robert Smith - Annapolis Police Department via New York Post screenshot

Hate Crime Charges Leveled Against Maryland Shooter

• Charles Robert Smith, 43, faces 42 charges, including three hate crime charges, in connection to a shooting in Annapolis, Md., last month that left three dead and three injured.

• The victims who died were Latino, and the hate crime charges were filed because the crime was allegedly motivated in part by their race or national origin.  Read More

Hostile Foreign Influence Operations

 A phone case displaying a sticker about Hunter Biden's laptop, seen during FBI Director Christopher Wray testimony before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” July 12 -  SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Congressional Testimony Asserts FBI Knew Biden Laptop Was Not Russian Disinformation

• During a transcribed interview, Laura Dehmlow, the Section Chief of the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, revealed that FBI personnel who warned social media companies about a potential Russian "hack and leak" operation in the 2020 election knew that Hunter Biden's laptop was not Russian disinformation.

• The FBI made an institutional decision to refuse to answer direct questions from social media companies about the laptop's authenticity, leading the companies to conclude that the New York Post story on the laptop was Russian disinformation.

• The FBI's failure to alert social media companies about the authenticity of the laptop prevented millions of Americans from having a clear understanding of a significant issue in the 2020 presidential election, as it resulted in the suppression of the story by Twitter and deamplification by Facebook.  Read More

Chinese Hackers Breach US Ambassador’s Emails

• Beijing-linked hackers gained access to the email accounts of U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink as part of a wider espionage operation targeting U.S. government emails.
• The spying operation was disclosed earlier this month by Microsoft, which revealed that Chinese hackers misappropriated one of its digital keys and used a code flaw to steal emails from U.S. government agencies and other clients.
• The State Department's investigation into the spying operation is ongoing, and Microsoft is facing scrutiny over its security practices, with calls for the company to make its top level of digital auditing available to all customers for free.  Read More

 Research and Trends in Extremism

People attend the Future of AI 2023 Annual Summit in Tel Aviv, Israel, on July 5 - Chen Junqing/Xinhua via Getty Images

Using Machine Learning to Understand Radicalization Process

• National Institute of Justice-funded researchers developed a new analytical method using machine learning to understand how individuals move toward violent extremism.

• The method identifies clusters of traits associated with possible pathways to terrorist acts, challenging common assumptions about violent extremism and homegrown individuals motivated to support violent jihadist ideologies.

• The study departs from profiling based on demographic profiles of extremist individuals and uses a "Human-in-the-Loop" system to assist in data analysis and code data faster, transforming textual data into a graph database.

• The research validates the premise that radicalization is a product of deepening engagements that occur incrementally, leading to violent extremist actions marked by violence in the name of ideology.  Read More

New Study on How Perceived Cultural Threats Breed Violent Extremism

• A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says violent extremism is largely influenced by a sense of cultural threat and specific personality traits, according to an international research project analyzing data from Denmark, France, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, as well as data on Muslims from over 20 countries.

• The study focuses on jihadist extremism due to its impact in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan and its association with harmful stereotypes and Islamic values.

• The research highlights the psychological phenomenon of "Need for Cognitive Closure" (NFC) as a key explanation for how a sense of cultural threat can lead to extremist behavior, where individuals with high NFC levels tend to adhere to black-and-white, authoritarian, and dogmatic beliefs.  Read More

Have You Found A Story You Think We Should Cover?

If you see an article on violent extremism in the U.S. or hostile foreign influence that is reliable, timely, and fits into one of the six categories that we cover in this newsletter, please send us a note, either by replying directly to this email or by submitting a contact form under the appropriate "news tip" category.  

QUOTABLE 

“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”

- John Stuart Mill

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.