Karrem Nasr was arrested en route to join the Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab.

[View in browser]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)


The Extremism Roundup
=====================


**Promoting Civil Discourse and Marginalizing the Extremes**
A weekly compilation of the most important developments in the struggle against radical ideologies

Islamist Extremism
------------------

*Police stand near the bodies of Al-Shabaab militants who were killed after the siege at the Mogadishu Municipality Headquarters on January 22, 2023, where militants killed six people at the mayor's office - HASSAN ALI ELMI/AFP via Getty Images*


**New Jersey Man Motivated by October 7 Tries to Join Al-Shabaab**


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Karrem Nasr, 23, of Lawrenceville, N.J., was arrested in Kenya while en route to join the Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab.


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Nasr, motivated by Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, faces charges of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and could receive up to 20 years in prison.


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Nasr expressed jihadist sentiments on social media, stating his readiness to kill and be killed, describing America as "evil," and aspiring to be a martyr for the jihadist cause.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**


**Anti-Israel Protests Try to Shut Down New Year’s Celebrations**


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Anti-Israel demonstrators marched in U.S. cities, including New York City and Boston, during New Year's Eve celebrations, calling for a cease-fire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.


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Demonstrators in New York City carried Palestinian flags, chanted slogans like "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," and some protests were organized by the group Shut it Down for Palestine.


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Security measures were heightened in response to the protests, with concerns about potential disruptions during New Year's Eve festivities. Similar demonstrations occurred in various cities across the country.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**

**Man Who Attacked Jewish Man on Way to Pro-Israel Rally Sentenced**


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Mohammed Othman, convicted of brutally attacking Joseph Borgen during a pro-Israel rally, has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for second-degree assault as a hate crime.


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Othman and four others ambushed Borgen, shouting antisemitic slurs, and physically assaulted him. Othman pepper-sprayed Borgen multiple times and threw a firework at a Jewish woman from a pickup truck.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**


**Hamas Supporters Return to Ground Zero to Support Islamic Terror**


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Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in Manhattan, chanting anti-Israel slogans such as "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and "There is only one solution: Intifada, Revolution."


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The demonstrators blocked the front entrance to the World Trade Center’s Oculus and targeted U.S. President Joe Biden for his support of Israel, carrying signs that read "Genocide Joe has got 2 go."  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**

Militant-Right & Militant-Left Extremism
----------------------------------------

*Convicted white supremacist Hardy Lloyd - via ADL screenshot*


**White Supremacist Sentenced for Threatening Pittsburgh Jurors**


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Hardy Lloyd, a West Virginia man, was sentenced to over six years in prison for threatening jurors and witnesses in the trial of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter who killed 11 worshippers in 2018.


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Lloyd, a white supremacist and self-proclaimed "reverend," pleaded guilty, acknowledging that the Jewishness of the victims and trial witnesses influenced his threats.


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He made threatening posts on social media, website comments, and emails targeting the jury and witnesses during the trial, and also sent messages to survivors, victims' families, and employees of Jewish organizations in the Pittsburgh area. Lloyd has a history of harassing the Jewish community and has been sentenced to prison three times before.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**


**BLM Protestors Pepper Sprayed at Seattle Park**


- Seattle city crews, including dozens of police officers and cleanup crews, removed a community garden in Cal Anderson Park that originated during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
- A small group attempting to disassemble the fencing later faced pepper spray from security officers.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**
**Socialists and Other Anti-Israel Activists Attack Democrat Christmas Party**


- Anti-Israel demonstrators disrupted a Christmas party held by Michigan Democrats, targeting Rep. Shri Thanedar for his stance on Israel. He had renounced his membership in the Democratic Socialists of America soon after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.
- Approximately 20 to 30 protesters from groups like the Palestinian Youth Movement and Party for Socialism and Liberation confronted attendees, leading to a melee.
- The incident resulted in injuries, including an elderly partygoer who was hospitalized with two black eyes.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**

  Hate Crime
------------

*Mariana Lynch - Chicago Police Department via Fox 32 Chicago screenshot*


**Chicago Woman Charged With Hate Crime After Defacing Properties**


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Mariana Lynch, 30, was charged with defacing multiple properties in Rogers Park, Chicago, and arrested by the Chicago Police Department.


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Lynch faces charges including one felony count of a hate crime of a school, two felony counts of criminal damage to government property over $500, and four misdemeanor counts of criminal defacement of property less than $500.


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Police identified Lynch as the offender responsible for defacing various businesses, an apartment building, and park property within an hour.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**


**Baltimore Vandalism Investigated as Possible Hate Crime**


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Baltimore Police are investigating an act of vandalism at the "Miracle on 34th Street" holiday attraction as a hate crime.


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Two homes with Jewish decorations had watermelons smashed in their yards, and the act is considered antisemitic.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**


**NYPD Investigating Attack on Muslim Teen as Possible Hate Crime**


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The NYPD is investigating an attack on a Muslim teenager in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, as a hate crime.


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The 15-year-old victim, Mahak Hussain, was wearing traditional hijab and abaya garb when the suspect, described as a woman with a hood on, approached her and used anti-ethnic remarks before pepper-spraying her in the face.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**

  School Threats
----------------

*Jayson Richardson, who faces multiple felony charges for making threats to several Broward County (Fla.) schools - via Local 10 News screenshot*
**


**Florida School Employee Arrested for Making Multiple School Threats**


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Jayson Arlon Richardson, a former teacher’s assistant for Broward County Public Schools in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has been arrested and faces multiple felony charges for making bomb threats to several schools.


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Richardson, who had been fired from North Fork Elementary School in November 2022, was identified as the suspect. The threats were made from different locations, including the Delray Beach Public Library and the Broward County Main Library. He was arrested on five counts of making a false bomb threat and three counts of written threats to kill or injure.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)******

Hostile Foreign Influence Operations
------------------------------------

*U.S. Air Force pilot looks down at Chinese surveillance balloon as it hovered over the Central Continental U.S. February 3, 2023 - US Department of Defense / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images*
**


**Chinese Spy Balloon Used U.S. Internet Provider to Communicate**


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U.S. intelligence officials have determined that the Chinese spy balloon that crossed the U.S. in February 2023, used an American internet service provider for communication.


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The Biden administration sought a secret court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to collect intelligence about the balloon while it was flying over the U.S.


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The Chinese Embassy claims it was a weather balloon used for meteorological research that accidentally drifted into U.S. airspace, while the U.S. asserts it was a surveillance balloon carrying equipment for collecting signals intelligence.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**

Research and Trends in Extremism
--------------------------------

*U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken exchanges challenge coins with the U.S. Marine Corps embassy security guard detachment in Baghdad on November 5, 2023 - Jonathan Ernst/POOL/AFP via Getty Images*
**


**DoD Releases Report on Extremism in Military**


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The Department of Defense has released a report on extremism in the military, commissioned by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin more than a year and a half ago.


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The report, focusing on gaining "greater fidelity on the scope of the problem," provides little new data on the extent of the military's extremism issue, mainly collating existing data from sources like the military's inspector general.


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The report concludes that extremism in the military is rare but dangerous, emphasizing the risk posed by even a small number of individuals with military connections participating in violent extremist activities.


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The researchers recommend updating and standardizing security and suitability questions across the military to directly address prohibited extremist activities, citing the outdated and inadequate focus on Cold War and Global War on Terrorism threats in the current security clearance process.  **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**


**How U.S. Public Schools Teach Antisemitism**


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California’s new [“Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum”]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email) (ESMC) mandates lessons on the marginalization of minorities by a white oppressor, and refers to Israelis as “white colonial” oppressors who steal Palestinians' land and homes. 


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Secondary school students in all 50 states are learning about history and the Middle East from the Brown University Choices Program, in which Israel is a “[Zionist enterprise in Palestine]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email),” an “[apartheid state]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email),” a “[settler colony]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email),” and “[a military occupier]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email).”


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The New York City public school through its new curriculum, the [Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email) (CRSE), seeks to mold students into citizens who “have a critical lens through which they challenge inequitable systems of access, power, and privilege.”  Although the CRSE does not explicitly refer to Jews, there are concerns that its teachings contribute to the belief that Jews can be classed as white oppressors.


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According to a recent Harvard Harris [poll]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email), 67 percent of people aged 18 to 24 believe that “Jews as a class are oppressors and should be treated as oppressors,” compared to 44 percent of people aged 25 to 34; 24 percent of those aged 45 to 54; 15 percent of those 55 to 64; and 9 percent over 65 years who say the same. **[Read More]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email)**

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**]([link removed] 202401-04&utm_medium=email) under the appropriate "news tip" category.  

QUOTABLE
 
=

“Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors.”

*- Ronald Reagan’s First Inaugural Address, 1981*

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.

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