Islamist Extremism |  | Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks at a press conference after a teen’s arrest in connection with a global terrorist group - via ABC Action News screenshot | Philadelphia Teen Arrested for Plotting Mass Destruction A 17-year-old teenager from Philadelphia has been arrested in connection with a terrorism probe, allegedly communicating with the global terrorist group Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ), affiliated with al-Qaeda. The teenager was arrested on state charges and was found to have been sending and receiving media containing terrorist propaganda and making preparations to join or support the terrorist group abroad. The teen had purchased items commonly used in the construction of improvised explosive devices, including tactical equipment, wiring, chemicals, and devices used as remote detonators. He is facing charges including weapons of mass destruction, criminal conspiracy, arson, and causing or risking catastrophe. Read More Tentative Iran Agreement: 5 Americans for $6 Billion A tentative agreement has been reached between the U.S. and Iran, which aims to eventually release five detained Americans in Iran and an unspecified number of Iranians imprisoned in the U.S. The deal involves transferring frozen Iranian assets worth $6 billion to $7 billion from South Korea to Qatar. The U.S. has approved the conversion of frozen Iranian assets in South Korea from the Won to Euros, with the funds then being sent to Qatar, where they will be held in restricted accounts for humanitarian purposes. In return, Iran will release the five Iranian-Americans held in its prisons. The process is expected to take time due to concerns over the conversion of currency and avoiding U.S. financial system involvement. The release of the detainees and the completion of the agreement are anticipated by mid- to late-September. Read More | | | | | Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism |  | Mourners visit the memorial outside the Tree of Life Synagogue on October 31, 2018 in Pittsburgh, where 11 people were killed in a mass shooting four days earlier - Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
| White Supremacist Charged With Threatening Jurors A known white supremacist named Hardy Carroll Lloyd was arrested on federal charges of witness tampering, obstruction, and transmitting threats. Lloyd, who claims to be a "reverend" of a white supremacy movement, targeted the Jewish community in social media posts and online comments during the trial of the shooter at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. He made comments calling for the release of the shooter and threatening jurors who served on the trial, including publicly releasing their names and addresses. He also placed white supremacy stickers with his website around Pittsburgh. Read More Man Pleads Guilty to Bomb Threats - James W. Clark, 38, of Falmouth, Mass., pleaded guilty to sending a bomb threat to an election official in the Arizona Secretary of State's office.
- The threat warned the election official to resign by a specific date or face the detonation of an explosive device in her personal space.
- Clark conducted online searches related to the election official's name, phrases about killing, and the Boston Marathon bombing shortly after sending the threatening message. Read More
Journalist Covering Antifa Trial Had Car Ransacked After journalist Katie Daviscourt of the Post Millennial covered journalist Andy Ngo's trial against Antifa, which concluded recently, Daviscourt discovered her car had been ransacked and items stolen. Ngo has been attacked by Antifa militants in the past, with a notable incident on June 29, 2019, in Portland. Daviscourt, who covered the trial, has faced abuse and harassment by alleged Antifa members and was a target of apparent retaliation after the trial's conclusion. Read More Kenosha Leftists Sentenced in Robbery Joshua and Kelly Ziminski were sentenced to 20 months in prison for burglary and robbery charges, as part of a plea deal in which other charges were dropped. Joshua Ziminski had fired a "warning shot" during the 2020 riots in Kenosha, Wisc., just before Kyle Rittenhouse shot three men in self-defense. Ziminski was on bail for his involvement in the riots when he and his wife committed the crimes. The charges stemmed from an incident in August 2022, where the Ziminskis attempted to rob a man at knifepoint, claiming they were trying to collect money owed to Kelly for cleaning the man's house. The victims escaped and reported threats of violence. Read More | | |  | Hate Crimes |  | Friends, family, and mourners gather at the casket of O'Shae Sibley during funeral and celebration of life services in Philadelphia on August 8 - Spencer Platt/Getty Images
| Brooklyn Teen Pleads Not Guilty to Fatally Stabbing Dancer In breaking news, a 17-year-old who was indicted on a hate-crime murder charge for a stabbing that resulted from taunts and confrontation over men dancing shirtless to Beyoncé while gassing up their car, pleaded not guilty. The victim, O'Shae Sibley, was killed in an incident that prosecutors say was motivated by anti-Black and anti-LGBTQ bias. The attack occurred after Sibley and his friends were dancing at a gas station in Brooklyn, where they were taunted by another group. A confrontation escalated, and Sibley was seen lunging at a member of the other group in security camera footage before collapsing to the sidewalk. Read More Utah Man Sentenced for Racially Biased Attack A Utah man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his bias-motivated attack on three men at a family-owned business. The man, Alan Covington, was convicted by a jury in Salt Lake City for attacking the men with a metal pole because he believed they were Mexican. The attack took place on November 27, 2018, at a family-owned tire shop. Covington entered the shop armed with a metal pole and hatchet, demanding to know if the men were Mexican. He shouted that he wanted to "Kill Mexicans" and physically assaulted the business owner, his brother, and teenage son with the metal pole. The teenage son sustained serious injuries to his face, while the others were also attacked. Read More California Man Arrested for Attacking Muslim Community Members Robert Avery, 33, was arrested by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office on charges related to assault with a deadly weapon, making criminal threats, and a hate crime against roughly 30 people in a park. A witness's video showed Avery's car driving through Heron Landing Park in Rancho Cordova, coming close to families gathered at picnic tables. The incident was accompanied by racial slurs and threats. The victims targeted were Muslim community members of South Asian heritage. Avery was quickly identified with the help of the video and his family, leading to his arrest within approximately 12 hours of the incident. Read More | | |  | Hostile Foreign Influence Operations |  | Jen Easterly, Director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, 2021 - Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | Top US Cyber Official Warns of Potential Chinese Attacks on Critical US Infrastructure Jen Easterly, the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, warned at the Def Con hacker conference that China's hackers are positioning themselves for potentially destructive cyberattacks on U.S. critical infrastructure, particularly in the event of conflict in the Taiwan straits. China's historically attributed cyber activity has primarily consisted of espionage and data theft, but Easterly's warning suggests a significant pivot toward more damaging attacks. Chinese officials deny state-sponsored hacking allegations and claim to be victims of cyberattacks themselves. However, concerns about China's potential for destructive cyberattacks have been raised by multiple sources, including Microsoft and U.S. intelligence assessments. Read More | | |  | Research and Trends in Extremism |  | Department of Defense logo - Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
| DOD Audit Shows Military Recruiters Failure to Identify Extremism An internal Department of Defense audit revealed that military recruiters frequently failed to complete mandated checks to identify recruits who are members of extremist groups. This included not giving a screening questionnaire to 4 in 10 eligible recruits. The audit specifically found that 41 percent of recruits who were supposed to undergo additional screening were not asked about extremist or gang affiliations, and 40 percent were not asked to complete new screening forms introduced in 2021. The audit also indicated that most of the Defense secretary's 20 action steps to address extremism within the military appeared stalled or inactive, and many military officials were unable to provide answers when questioned about the effectiveness of new tools and measures against extremism. Read More Multiple Neo-Nazi Active Club Members in Military Researchers say a neo-Nazi "active club" known as the Clockwork Crew has current and former members of the U.S. military, including lance corporal machine gunner Mohammed Wadaa and ex-Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Gunnar Naughton, among its ranks. Wadaa is currently on suspension for insubordination charges, while Naughton was booted from the service for stealing large amounts of ammunition. Active clubs are groups within the white nationalist and neo-fascist movement that engage in combat sports training and are suspected of preparing for politically and racially motivated violence. Clockwork Crew was founded in 2021 and currently has around a dozen members. It stands out for its willingness to engage in public confrontations and its recruitment efforts within the military and veterans' community. 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 “No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.”
- Frederick Douglass
| | | 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. | | | | |
