Islamist Extremism |
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NYPD officers detain dozens of pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University after they barricaded themselves at the Hamilton Hall building near Gaza Solidarity Encampment on April 30, 2024 - Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images |
Anti-Israel Violence Sweeps Universities
Columbia University has suspended Khymani James, a student leader of the anti-Israel encampment, after a video emerged in which he declared “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” Read More At Princeton University, a Hezbollah flag was displayed during an anti-Israel protest, leading to arrests. Read More Pamphlets declaring "Freedom for Palestine means Death to America" were shared at a growing anti-Israel encampment at the University of Michigan. Read More A Jewish Yale University student was jabbed in the eye with a flag pole by an anti-Israel protester. Read More Lani Dawn, a Jewish Native American woman, was attacked by anti-Israel protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) after holding a sign reading, "Hamas supporters are not welcome on native land." Read More - More than 1,000 people have been arrested at student-organized anti-Israel protests on university campuses across the country. Read More
Follow the Money - Who is Funding and Orchestrating These Protests?
NGO Monitor recently published a report on the radical NGOs that are orchestrating the nation-wide anti-Israel extremism on campus and on the foundations that are funding them. Read More The New York Post published an article on George Soros as a major funder of these anti-Israel NGOs, including paying the activists directly as "fellows" of a group called the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR). Read More Columbia University protesters are training and coordinating with their peers around the country, according to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Read More |
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Militant-Right & Militant-Left Extremism |
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Office of U.S. Rep. John Carter via KXXV News screenshot
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Anti-Israel Activist Vandalizes Congressional Office
An investigation is underway after Georgetown, Texas, police said Congressman John Carter's office was vandalized. Pictures show red paint was splattered on the door and the words "Free Gaza" was sprayed on the ground. Read More Woman Sentenced for Vandalizing Pregnancy Center
- Whitney Durant, AKA Soren Monroe, age 20, of Worthington, Ohio, was sentenced to two years of probation and a $2,000 fine after pleading guilty to one count of intentionally damaging a pro-life pregnancy center.
- Durant defaced the clinic’s building, spray painting the words, “LIARS,” “FAKE CLINIC,” “Fund Abortion,” “Abort God,” and “Jane’s Revenge.” Read More
Neo-Nazi Leader Sentenced for Threats to Journalist
- Nicholas Welker, also known as “King ov Wrath,” was sentenced to 44 months imprisonment for conspiring to make death threats.
- Welker, the leader of the neo-Nazi group Feuerkrieg Division (“FKD”), posted death threats against a Brooklyn-based journalist so that the journalist would stop reporting on the group. Read More
Man Sentenced for Firebombing Planned Parenthood
- Chance Brannon, 24, of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution for firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa, Calif., and plotting other attacks.
- Brannon’s plans included an attack on the Orange County, Calif., power grid in furtherance of a race war, an attack at Dodger Stadium during an LGBTQI+ pride night celebration, and home invasions of Jewish homes in Los Angeles. Read More
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Hate Crime |
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Frederick Eugene Pierallin, 27 - via First Coast News screenshot |
Florida Man Sentenced for Racially Motivated Attacks
Frederick Eugene Pierallini III, 27, was sentenced to 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for committing two federal hate crimes by attacking two Black women with a gun. Read More New Jersey Man Charged With Hate Crime for Breaking Into Islamic Center
Jacob Beacher, 24, of Somerset County, N.J., has been charged with a federal hate crime for breaking into the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University (CILRU) in New Brunswick, N.J., and destroying property. Read More |
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School Threats |
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Alex Ye, 18 - Montgomery County Department of Police via CNN Edition screenshot
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Maryland Teen Arrested With School Shooting Plan
Alex Ye, an 18-year-old high school student in Montgomery County, Md., was arrested and charged with threat of mass violence after police discovered evidence revealing the teen had plans to commit a school shooting. Authorities discovered a 129-page document they say was written by Ye with strategizes about how to carry out a school shooting. Authorities learned of the writings following an exchange Ye had via Instagram messaging with an unidentified person who felt a school shooting was “imminent.” Read More Illinois Man Arrested for Threat to Elementary School
Ryane Flatt, 35, of Canton, Ill., was taken into custody after he allegedly sent a message to Canton school officials claiming he was going to go to Lincoln Elementary School and “shoot up this school.” Read More Teens Arrested for Bomb Threat Hoax
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Hostile Foreign Influence Operations |
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Post on X by the US Dept of State Diplomatic Security Service Rewards for Justice - via Fin Telegram News screenshot
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Iranian Nationals Charged in Cyber Campaign Targeting US Companies
- An indictment was unsealed charging Iranian nationals Hossein Harooni, Reza Kazemifar, Komeil Baradaran Salmani, and Alireza Shafie Nasab for their involvement in a cyber-enabled campaign to compromise U.S. government and private entities, including the U.S. Departments of Treasury and State, defense contractors, and two New York-based companies.
- According to court documents, from 2016 through 2021, the four Iranian nationals and other conspirators were members of a hacking organization that participated in a coordinated multi-year campaign to conduct and attempt to conduct computer intrusions.
- The defendants are each charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud. If convicted, they face up to five years in prison for the computer fraud conspiracy, and up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Read More
Former NSA Employee Sentenced for Attempted Espionage
Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 32, of Colorado Springs, was sentenced for attempted espionage in connection with his efforts to transmit classified National Defense Information (NDI) to an agent of the Russian Federation. Dalke was sentenced to over 21 years in prison after attempting to transmit top secret NDI files to an FBI online covert employee who he believed to be a Russian agent. Read More
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Research and Trends in Extremism |
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Sticker posted over vandalized posters of Israeli hostages, Queens, N.Y. - Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images |
Antisemitic Hate Crimes Surge in NYC
Antisemitic hate crimes in New York City have increased by 45 percent in 2024, with the NYPD reporting 96 incidents up to mid-April, compared to 66 during the same period last year.
This rise follows the October 7th attack by Hamas and has led to heightened security measures, including increased patrols at synagogues for Passover. Recent incidents include a violent attack on Staten Island and an assault involving antisemitic slurs on the Upper West Side. Read More |
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QUOTABLE “There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
- James Madison
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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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