The arrests come in the wake of rising concerns about Iranian terror sleeper cells in the US
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The Extremism Roundup

Focused on Evidence Instead of Narratives
A weekly compilation of the most important developments in the struggle against radical ideologies

A Word From the CEO

Dear Reader,


Recent weeks have brought a wave of violent extremism and hate-driven incidents in the U.S. A Minnesota man allegedly carried out targeted shootings against state officials, while an Oklahoma individual pleaded guilty to planning terrorist attacks and related crimes. In San Francisco, arrests were made in connection with an antisemitic assault, and an Ohio congressman faced antisemitic threats, reflecting a broader rise in hate crimes against Jews.
 
New foreign influence concerns have also surfaced. Newly released FBI documents suggest possible foreign interference in past elections. Additionally, a former U.S. soldier admitted to attempting to share sensitive information with a foreign government. These events underscore growing threats to public safety and national security.


Sincerely,

RIchard Green

CEO, Co-Founder

Clarionproject.org

Islamist Extremism
Mehran Makari is a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with admitted connections to Hezbollah via Department of Homeland Security & NY Post

Mehran Makari is a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with admitted connections to Hezbollah - photo via Department of Homeland Security & NY Post

ICE Arrests 11 Iranian Terror Suspects, Including Iranian Army Sniper

  • ICE agents arrested a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member with suspected ties to Hezbollah, an ex-Iranian army sniper and a terror watchlist suspect during a sweep of Iranian illegal migrants in eight states.
  • Five of the 11 Iranians swept up by ICE had previous criminal convictions that included grand larceny and drug and firearm possession, according to CBS News.
  • The arrests come in the wake of rising concerns about Iranian terror sleeper cells that may have entered the US illegally.  Read More

Oklahoma Man Charged for Planning ISIS Attack

  • Landon Kyle Swinford, 20, from Norman, Okla., pleaded guilty to planning ISIS-inspired attacks on Oklahoma University’s football stadium and a New Orleans Mardi Gras site, after contacting an undercover FBI agent in 2023.
  • Swinford used multiple social media accounts to post ISIS propaganda, including a video pledging allegiance to ISIS, burning an Israeli flag, and a manifesto declaring his intent to “cast terror for the sake of Allah,” while encouraging others to engage in “cold-hearted jihad.”
  • Alongside terrorism-related charges, Swinford admitted to downloading and sharing child pornography, facing up to 45 years in federal prison for both possession of child pornography and communicating a threat in interstate commerce. Read More

Afghan National Pleads Guilty to Plotting Election Day Terror Attack

  • Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, a 27-year-old Afghan national, pleaded guilty in federal court in Oklahoma City to two terrorism-related offenses: conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and receiving firearms and ammunition to commit a federal crime of terrorism.

  • Tawhedi planned a mass-casualty terrorist attack on U.S. soil targeting large gatherings on Election Day 2024, motivated by allegiance to ISIS, and expected to die as a martyr alongside his juvenile co-conspirator, Abdullah Haji Zada.

  • Tawhedi and Zada were arrested on October 7, 2024, after purchasing two AK-47 rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition from an undercover FBI agent. Tawhedi had liquidated family assets, bought one-way tickets to Afghanistan for his family, and consumed ISIS propaganda online.

  • Tawhedi faces up to 35 years in prison, and both he and Zada, who pleaded guilty in April 2025, will be permanently removed from the U.S. to Afghanistan under judicial orders upon completing their sentences, with Tawhedi’s parole status revoked. Read More

California EPA Engineer Arrested, Charged With Supporting ISIS

  • Ammaad Akhtar, 33, is accused of trying to give money, guns and ammunition to someone he thought was part of the terror group, and of making antisemitic threats. 

  • Akhtar made threatening statements “associated with his radical ideology” in discussions on social-media applications with the undercover agent. “Soon akhi,” he allegedly wrote (using the Arabic for “my brother”), the “day will come when the head of every evil, dirty Jew and their slaves, the cross worshippers, will have their heads plucked like a chicken.”

  • He was arrested gave the money and weapons to an undercover law-enforcement officer he thought was an ISIS member in Iraq. Read More

Militant-Right and Militant-Left Extremism
A candlelight vigil is held at a memorial for shooting victims Melissa and Mark Hortman outside the Minnesota Capitol building on June 18, 2025 - Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

A candlelight vigil is held at a memorial for shooting victims Melissa and Mark Hortman outside the Minnesota Capitol building on June 18, 2025 - Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

    Man Assassinates Democrat Lawmaker

    • Vance Boelter, 57, faces federal charges including stalking and murder, and state charges of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, for the shootings of Minnesota lawmakers Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman, and their spouses.
    • Boelter allegedly impersonated a police officer, used a silicone mask, and drove a vehicle with a "POLICE" license plate. A list of nearly 70 potential targets, mostly Democrats and abortion rights advocates, was found in his car, indicating a planned attack.
    • Court documents reveal Boelter and his wife were "preppers" with a "bailout plan." He texted his family to "prepare for war" and flee, suggesting a catastrophic mindset. Read More

    Ex-Coast Guard Officer and Antifa Member Arrested for Threats to President

    • Peter Stinson, a former Coast Guard lieutenant and sharpshooter, was arrested for allegedly threatening to assassinate President Trump via social media posts from 2020 to 2025.
    • Stinson, who served in the Coast Guard from 1988 to 2021 as a sharpshooter and FEMA instructor, self-identified as an ANTIFA member, raising concerns about his potential threat level.
    • On June 18, 2025, Judge Ivan Davis ordered Stinson to home detention with GPS monitoring, finding he posed no immediate community threat under these conditions. Read More

    6 Portland Antifa Militants  Charged for Attacks at ICE Facility

    • Charges include assaulting federal police officers, refusing to comply with police orders, blinding officers with high-powered lasers, and attempting to trap federal agents inside the ICE facility.
    • The ICE facility in South Portland has been the target of persistent attacks since about June 6, when Antifa and leftist agitators mobilized to occupy the facility in solidarity with the Los Angeles anti-ICE rioters. Read More

      Hate Crime
      Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill on June 26, 2024 in Washington, DC - Samuel Corum/Getty Images

       Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill on June 26, 2024 in Washington, DC - Samuel Corum/Getty Images

      Suspect Arrested in Connection to Alleged Antisemitic Attack on GOP Congressman

      • On June 19, 2025, U.S. Rep. Max Miller, a Jewish Republican from Ohio, reported being forced off Interstate 90 in Rocky River by Feras Hamdan, a 36-year-old Westlake doctor, who allegedly displayed a Palestinian flag and made antisemitic threats, including calling Miller a “dirty Jew” and threatening to kill him and his family.

      • Hamdan of Westlake, Ohio, turned himself in to Rocky River police after Miller signed a criminal complaint, and an arrest warrant was issued.

      • Hamdan was charged with aggravated menacing and ethnic intimidation, both misdemeanors, and pleaded not guilty. He turned himself in after an arrest warrant was issued and is being held on a $500,000 bond, with authorities seeking his cellphone as evidence. Read More

      Arrest in Suspected Antisemitic Assault in San Francisco

      • A second suspect, Alejandro Flores-Lamas, 22, was recently arrested and charged with hate crime and assault for an antisemitic group beating in San Francisco’s Marina District on June 14, 2025.
      • Six individuals allegedly shouted “F— the Jews, Free Palestine” and attacked a victim after a Jewish witness confronted them, causing serious injuries.
      • Juan Diaz-Rivas, 36, was previously charged with hate crime and assault for the same incident, which left the victim severely injured. Read More

      School Threats
      Amiir Ali (L) and Hamza Said - Sherburne County Jail via KTSP Eyewitness News screenshot

      Amiir Ali (L) and Hamza Said - Sherburne County Jail via KTSP Eyewitness News screenshot

      Two Men Charged in Connection With Graduation Ceremony Shootings

      • Hamza Abdirashiid Said, 20, and Amiir Mawlid Ali, 18, were charged federally with unlawful possession of machine guns in connection with shootings at high school graduation ceremonies in the Twin Cities, Minn., in May and June 2025.

      • Said allegedly shot two people at Wayzata High School’s graduation on May 30, 2025, using a Glock 9mm with a machine gun conversion device.

      • Ali was found with a Glock 10mm and a conversion device en route to Edina’s graduation on June 3, 2025, and linked to a shooting at Burnsville’s ceremony. Police found a Glock 10mm pistol with a 33-round magazine and a switch under his seat. Read More

      Shooting at Tacoma High School

      • A 16-year-old boy was shot outside Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Wash., on June 17, 2025, suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
      • On June 19, 2025, Tacoma Police arrested a 16-year-old suspect, charging him with first-degree assault and firearm offenses.
      • Police used surveillance video showing the victim and suspect together before the shooting, leading to the suspect’s arrest. Read More

      Foreign Influence Operations
      FBI Director Kash Patel, June 6, 2025 - NDZ/Star Max/GC Images

      Baggies seized by Border Patrol contain the dangerous fungus fusarium graminearum photo via FBI and Fox News

      Chinese 'Agroterrorism' CouldThreaten US 'Survival as a Nation,' Expert Warns

      • In light of the arrests of two Chinese nationals who are accused of smuggling a crop-killing fungus across the border, there concern that agroterrorism from foreign adversaries could cause a "severe disruption" to the United States. 

      • Agroterrorism is any attempt to bring items into the United States intentionally that would attack the plants that are key to our agricultural survival as a nation.

      • Chinese nationals Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend Zunyong Liu, 34, were arrested earlier this month by the FBI for allegedly smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. and studying it in labs over a two-year period. Read More

      FBI Links China to Alleged 2020 Election Interference

      • FBI Director Kash Patel declassified documents alleging Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interference in the 2020 U.S. election, turned over to Sen. Chuck Grassley on June 16, 2025.

      • The documents claim China produced fake U.S. driver’s licenses to create fraudulent mail-in ballots favoring Joe Biden, though allegations remain uncorroborated.

      • The August 2020 intelligence report was recalled under former FBI Director Chris Wray, allegedly to re-interview the source, halting the full investigation. In ongoing scrutiny, Sen. Grassley demands further FBI records to investigate why the report was destroyed and whether the allegations hold merit. Read More

      Former U.S. Army Officer Attempts to Share Military Secrets With China

      • Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 31, a former U.S. Army Sergeant at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, pleaded guilty on June 18, 2025, to attempting to deliver and retain national defense information.

      • After leaving the military in 2020, Schmidt contacted the Chinese Consulate in Turkey and Chinese security services, offering classified information from his role in the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion.

      • Schmidt created documents detailing “high-level secrets” and offered a device for accessing secure military networks to Chinese authorities while in Hong Kong until October 2023.

      •  Arrested in San Francisco in October 2023, Schmidt faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine per charge, with sentencing set for September 9, 2025. Read More

      QUOTABLE
      “Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.”


      -- Thomas Jefferson

      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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