Eye on Extremism

September 7, 2023 

Associated Press: Vegas Man Tied To Extremist Group Gets Life Sentence For Terrorism Plot Targeting 2020 Protests

“A man with ties to a far-right extremist group advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for his role in a plot to firebomb a Black Lives Matter protest in Las Vegas in 2020. A state judge in Las Vegas sentenced Stephen Parshall on Tuesday as part of a plea agreement, court records show. Prosecutors have said he was one of three white men who planned to firebomb and damage federal buildings at the protests against racism and police violence. They described the trio as part of the boogaloo movement — a loose, far-right alliance that says it is preparing for another American Civil War. Parshall pleaded guilty in June to assisting, socializing or conspiring to commit an act of terrorism, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. In March, Parshall was sentenced to 33 years in federal prison with lifetime supervision upon release after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a young girl. That abuse was uncovered in 2020 while police and federal authorities were investigating Parshall’s plot to cause violence at the Black Lives Matter protests in Las Vegas. The abuse started when the victim was younger than 10, according to federal prosecutors.”

Voice Of America: Somalia Shifts Military Tactics In Fight Against Al-Shabab

“The Somali government says it plans to shift military tactics against al-Shabab amid increased resistance and threats coming from the militants, senior officials confirmed to VOA Somali. The tactic gives local community fighters the lead role in the fight against al-Shabab with federal government forces playing a supportive role, said two senior government officials who did not want to be identified. The officials also confirmed that the federal government will register the local fighters and pay monthly stipends as an incentive for their participation, with a view to integrating them into the army in the longer term. The national intelligence agency is tasked with leading the registration and vetting fighters to prevent infiltration of militants, officials said. This is a return to the strategy that helped the government and local fighters seize vast areas from al-Shabab between August 2022 and January 2023. Former national intelligence chief Brigadier General Abdirahman Turyare, who is now helping mobilize the local fighters, confirmed the tactical changes to VOA Somali in an interview.”

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United States

ABC: To Help Curb Terrorism And Violence Threats, DHS Awards $20m To Local Communities

“The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced $20 million in grant funding aimed at preventing targeted violence and terrorism in the United States. The grant money, provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is aimed at helping local communities prevent and combat targeted violence in the U.S. by offering money that can be used for trainings, equipment, hiring threat analysts and other resources to better protect from domestic violent extremism, according to a news release from the agency. "As the recent racially-motivated shooting in Jacksonville made painfully clear, targeted violence and terrorism can impact any community, anywhere," said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. "The Department of Homeland Security is committed to confronting this threat. Through the partnership and collaboration this grant program helps build, the department will continue to work with communities to prevent such abhorrent targeted acts from occurring.””

The New York Times: Ex-Leader Of Proud Boys Sentenced To 22 Years In Jan. 6 Sedition Case

“Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, was sentenced on Tuesday to 22 years in prison for the central role he played in organizing a gang of his pro-Trump followers to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power. Mr. Tarrio’s sentence, stemming from his conviction this spring on charges of seditious conspiracy, was the most severe penalty handed down so far to any of the more than 1,100 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack — and was likely to remain that way, given that no other defendants currently face accusations as serious as the ones he did. Until now, the longest prison term connected to Jan. 6 had been 18 years. That sentence was issued last week to Ethan Nordean, one of Mr. Tarrio’s co-defendants.”

Pakistan

Associated Press: Pakistan Shuts Key Crossing Into Afghanistan After Border Guards Exchange Fire

“Pakistan closed a key northwestern border crossing with Afghanistan after border guards from the two sides exchanged fire Wednesday, while elsewhere near the border in northern Pakistan clashes killed four Pakistani soldiers and 12 militants, authorities said. Separately, mortar fire hit a house in Pakistan near the Afghan border, killing five Pakistanis— a mother and her four children. It was not immediately clear who fired the mortar and police were investigating the attack in the North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local authorities said. Militants often target security forces deployed in the region with mortars, which also has caused civilian casualties in recent years. The exchange of fire across the border also took place in the province, in the town of Torkham, and it was not immediately clear what prompted the gunfire, said Nasrullah Khan, an official in Torkham. He said Pakistani government and military officials were in contact with Afghan counterparts to defuse tensions.”

Middle East

The Times Of Israel: Hamas Goal Is To Expel Israel From West Bank, Says Top Official In Rare International Interview

“Saleh al-Arouri, the head of the Hamas terror group’s West Bank operations, gives a rare interview to a news outlet that isn’t affiliated with his or other jihadist groups, telling the Qatar-based Al Jazeera website that the group’s current political goal is to expel Israel from the West Bank by means of attacks. “The resistance is not merely an expression of anger at the occupation, but rather it has a political goal,” al-Arouri, who also serves as the terror group’s deputy political chief, says in a transcript provided by the Hamas-affiliated Shehab news outlet. He later explains this goal to be the expulsion of the “occupation” authorities from the West Bank. Al-Arouri also boasts that the group today constitutes the backbone of the Palestinian “resistance,” thanks to its guerrilla operations and its war of attrition in the West Bank, under the steering of its political leadership.”

United Kingdom

WTOP: The Hunt: UK To Label The Wagner Mercenary Group A Terrorist Organization

“On this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent JJ Green,” Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, talks about the impact of a move to label the Wagner mercenary group a terrorist organization.”

The New York Times: U.K. Police Hunt Terror Suspect Who Escaped London Prison

“A former British Army soldier facing terrorism-related charges escaped from a prison in southwest London on Wednesday morning, prompting a nationwide manhunt by the police, who appealed to the public for help apprehending him. The prisoner, Daniel Abed Khalife, is scheduled to go on trial in November on charges that he breached the Official Secrets Act and terrorism statutes. He was charged in late January after a police investigation found that he had left fake bombs at a military base to stir fears of a terrorist attack. The Metropolitan Police said they believed Mr. Khalife, 21, who escaped from the Wandsworth prison around 7:50 a.m., was still in the London vicinity, where he has ties to the Kingston area. The police described him as being 6 feet 2 inches tall, and said he had been last seen wearing a white T-shirt, red and white checkered pants and brown steel-toe cap boots. “I also want to reassure the public that we have no information which indicates, nor any reason to believe, that Khalife poses a threat to the wider public, but our advice if you do see him is not to approach him,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the police’s counterterrorism command.”

Southeast Asia

Associated Press: Sri Lanka Will Investigate Allegations Of Intelligence Complicity In 2019 Easter Bombings

“Sri Lanka’s government will appoint a parliamentary committee to investigate allegations made in a British television report that officials with the South Asian country’s intelligence had complicity in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 269 people, including 42 foreigners from 14 countries. The attacks, which included simultaneous suicide bombings, targeted three churches — two Catholic and one Protestant — and three tourist hotels during Easter celebrations. Junior defense minister, Pramitha Tennakoon, told Parliament Wednesday that the Cabinet has decided to appoint a committee to probe the allegations in the British Channel 4 report. He said the committee will also help witnesses come forward and testify even if living abroad. Channel 4 interviewed a man interviewed who said he arranged a meeting between a local Islamic State-inspired group, National Thowheed Jamath, and a top state intelligence official to hatch a plot to create insecurity in Sri Lanka and enable Gotabaya Rajapaksa to win the presidential election later that year.”

India

The Times Of India: NIA Arrests Absconding Leader Of ISIS Thrissur Module From Tamil Nadu

“The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested the absconding head of the ISIS Thrissur module in Chennai before he could execute his plan to flee the country via Nepal. Siyed Nabeel Ahammed, the Ameer (leader) of Thrissur-based ISIS module, was apprehended by NIA’s fugitive tracking team, which had been tracking him for the past few weeks. Ahammed, who was on the run, had been hiding out at various places in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for the past several weeks and had planned to escape abroad, using Nepal as a transit point, with the aid of forged & fraudulent documents. Incriminating documents and digital devices have been seized from the possession of Ahammed, who is the third accused to be arrested since July in the case relating to ISIS activities in Kerala. In July this year, NIA had tracked and arrested one Ashif @ Mathilakath Kodayil Ashraf from his hideout near Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu.”

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