“A federal judge on Friday sentenced a Zion man to 13 and a half years in
prison for taking part in a conspiracy to support the Islamic State, in part

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


April 12, 2021

 

Chicago Sun Times: Zion Man Gets More Than 13 Years In Prison For Conspiracy
To Support Islamic State, Telling Informant ‘I Want To See Blood Flowing’
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“A federal judge on Friday sentenced a Zion man to 13 and a half years in
prison for taking part in a conspiracy to support the Islamic State, in part by
collecting cellphones he thought could be used as detonators overseas. Edward
Schimenti, 39, was originally charged with Joseph D. Jones in 2017. In handing
down the sentence Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood called Schimenti the
“more culpable” of the two, having had a “better idea of what he was getting
himself into.” However, Wood also described the crime as “on the less serious
end of a scale that starts at a very serious level.” A federal jury found
Schimenti and Jones guilty in 2019. Prosecutors asked for a 20-year sentence
for Schimenti, noting that he had also been convicted of lying to the FBI. They
sought a 17-year sentence for Jones, but the judge last month gave Jones 12
years instead. Authorities said the FBI opened an investigation into Jones and
Schimenti based on “troubling” comments they made online. For example, they
said Schimenti wrote, “Islamic State will control your country, matter of fact,
Islam will dominate the world!!”

 

Voice Of America: Taliban Kill 9 Afghan Security Force Members, Capture Others
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“Officials in Afghanistan said Friday that Taliban insurgents killed at least
nine security force members and captured more than 13 others in an attack in
western Herat province, next to the border with Iran. Provincial Governor Sayed
Wahid Qatali told VOA that late Thursday insurgents targeted two security bases
in Koshan and Ghorian districts close to the Iranian border. Qatali confirmed
government forces suffered casualties, saying the assailants also blew up the
bases and took at least 13 Afghan personnel hostage. The Taliban claimed in a
statement it killed 13 government forces in the attack and captured 22 others,
though insurgent claims are often inflated. Separately, at least five Afghan
forces were reportedly killed in a pre-dawn gun battle with the Taliban in
eastern Nangarhar province. Unrelenting warfare continues in the conflict-torn
country as preparations are underway for arranging a U.S.-proposed conference
in Istanbul, Turkey, later this month to accelerate the peace process between
the Taliban and the Afghan government. Russia said Friday it is also
considering organizing another meeting in support of the peace process like the
one Moscow hosted last month, where Afghan rivals were in attendance along with
senior diplomats from the United States, China and Pakistan.”

 

United States

 

Reuters: Biden Administration Pressed By Lawmaker To Label White Supremacists
Overseas As Terrorists
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“President Joe Biden’s administration is being pressed by a key Democratic
lawmaker, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, to consider designating white supremacist groups
overseas as foreign terrorists subject to U.S. government actions. If Biden’s
administration were to take the unprecedented step of listing such groups as
Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), or even a less-stringent designation,
it would help curb dangerous white supremacist organizations, Slotkin argued in
the letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, which was reviewed by Reuters.
“It would also give the United States Government more tools to engage and flag
the Americans who contact, support, train, and join these (white supremacist
extremist) groups,” said Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who chairs a U.S. House
subcommittee focusing on intelligence and counterterrorism. The State
Department declined comment. Slotkin’s request has not been previously
reported. Slotkin asked the State Department to consider listing over a dozen
organizations including the neo-Nazi National Action Group, founded in Britain
and banned there in 2016. It was described in a 2018 U.S. counter-terrorism
report as a terrorist group promoting violence against politicians and
minorities.”

 

The Hill: Biden Budget Adds $111 Million To Battle Domestic Terrorism
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“President Biden’s first budget proposal boosts funding to fight domestic
terrorism in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The budget calls for
an additional $111 million to address the issue between the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice. The bulk of the new
funding, $101 million, lies within Justice Department, funneling $45 million to
the FBI for domestic terrorism investigations and another $40 million to U.S.
attorneys offices to manage increasing domestic terrorism caseloads. The two
offices have been responsible for the lion's share of the investigations and
cases brought against the more than 300 people arrested in the weeks following
the insurrection, which left five dead. Just $10 million of the new funding is
slated for DHS, part of an overall $131 million that will be used for “research
on the root causes of radicalization.” Another $20 million goes toward grants
to “build local capacity to prevent targeted violence and all forms of
terrorism.” The uptick in funding comes as the intelligence community in March
warned domestic terrorists, and in particular militia groups and white
nationalists, pose an elevated terror threat.”

 

NBC News: California Police Officer Fired Over Ties To Proud Boys Extremist
Group
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“A California police officer associated with the far-right extremist group
Proud Boys has been fired, officials announced Friday. Rick Fitzgerald, then an
officer with the Fresno Police Department, allegedly participated in a Proud
Boys counter-demonstration on March 14 outside a theater being sold to a church
that protesters said was hostile to the LGBTQ community and marriage equality.
Fitzgerald was placed on leave the following day, and his firing was made
public Friday by Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and police Chief Paco Balderrama,
following an investigation. “It is clear to me there were egregious violations
of department policy,” Dyer said in a statement. “I am pleased that Officer
Fitzgerald will no longer be serving as a police officer with the City of
Fresno.” Balderrama, citing the Southern Poverty Law Center, called the Proud
Boys a “hate group” and said in a statement, “I stand by and reassert my prior
comments in strongly disapproving of any police officer affiliating with hate
groups.” Neither Fitzgerald nor the Fresno Police Officers Association could
immediately be reached for comment. The day after the demonstration, the police
union called the allegation of Fitzgerald's Proud Boys participation “very
troubling” and said it supported an investigation by the police department.”

 

Houston Chronicle: Prosecutors Seek Five-Year Sentence For Houston-Area Man
Charged In Extremist Plot, Records Say
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“Federal prosecutors are asking for a five-year prison sentence for a
Houston-area man arrested last year as part of a group violent extremists
accused of plotting “a nationwide scare” targeting journalists of color,
activists, Jews, a government official, a black congregation and a Virginia
university. John Cameron Denton, of Montgomery, is slated to appear 10 a.m.
Tuesday for sentencing in federal court in Virginia. He previously pleaded
guilty to “conspiring to transmit in interstate and foreign commerce any
communication containing any threat to injure the person of another,” records
show. Court filings say Denton was part of a far-reaching plot in which
conspirators made at least 134 threats to individuals and institutions. Many of
the most influential conspirators, including Denton, targeted the victims for
racist reasons, records say. According to earlier reports, investigators said
he and Kaleb Cole, a close friend and former roommate, held leadership roles in
Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group linked to several violent acts including
murder. Denton, who was known as “Rape” online and worked at a mortuary, is
charged along with others in Virginia with tricking emergency dispatchers into
sending police to a series of non-existent violent situations at unwitting
third-party addresses — a harassment tactic known as “swatting.”

 

Syria

 

Al Monitor: Islamic State Maintains Foothold In Syrian Desert
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“The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on March 31 that six Russian
fighter jets launched 15 airstrikes against Islamic State positions in the
Syrian desert near the Aleppo-Hama-Raqqa triangle. The UK-based war monitor
said that the Syrian government sent military reinforcements to the eastern
desert in al-Mayadeen city to comb the region for IS cells. On March 23, IS
militants attacked the positions of Syrian government forces and allied
militias near al-Shula, west of Deir ez-Zor and near the Deir ez-Zor-Damascus
road. The attack killed seven militants loyal to the government and injured
several others before Syrian warplanes targeted the area, pushing IS operatives
into the desert. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted sources from
the Tishreen Military Hospital in northeastern Damascus as saying that around
100 Syrian army soldiers and their allied fighters were admitted to the
hospital on March 27, 28 and 29. They had sustained various injuries in
ambushes and from land mines planted by IS while searching the desert from the
area of al-Sukhnah to Palmyra in the eastern countryside of Homs. Many of the
injured had first-degree burns and others lost limbs.”

 

Iraq

 

The Washington Post: Iraq’s Anti-American Militias Aren’t Just Iranian
Proxies. That Helps Explain Their Troubles.
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“When the call came to fight the Islamic State, the lines of volunteers here
stretched for blocks. Friends pooled money to pay for transportation to local
militia recruitment offices. Young men were already scrambling onto buses bound
for the front lines. As the Iraqi army melted away, it fell often to the mostly
Shiite Muslim militias to turn back and rout the Sunni extremists of the
Islamic State. For many in the city of Nasiriyah, it felt like a battle for
Iraq’s soul. “Back then, it was just about one thing,” said former militiaman
Thamer al-Safi, recalling the battles of 2014 in which two of his brothers
died. “This was about our future. This was about Iraq.” That mass mobilization
would have far-reaching consequences, embedding the victorious militias in the
upper echelons of power in Iraq and setting them on a course to confront the
United States. Backed in many cases by Iran, they have escalated their rocket
attacks on U.S. military positions in recent years, threatening to ignite a
wider war between the United States and Iran, even now as top officials in
Washington and Tehran talk about restoring diplomatic contacts.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Washington Post: A Ramped-Up Push For Peace Is Splintering Afghanistan’s
Already Fragile Government
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“The scramble for peace in Afghanistan is fracturing Kabul’s political
leadership and undermining the U.S.-backed government there ahead of critical
negotiations with the Taliban over how much control it will have in the
country’s future. More than half a dozen peace plans are circulating in the
Afghan capital, including one from the United States and rival proposals from
such warlords as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Abdurrashid Dostum. Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani has his own multiphase plan. The visions are wildly different in
substance and depth. But they all show support is building for some form of a
transitional government in Kabul, with many of Ghani’s political foes eyeing
how to secure more power for themselves amid such a move. Leaders in Kabul
remain optimistic they can present a united front despite widening divisions.
But the lack of consensus just weeks away from a May 1 deadline set by the
United States could place the Taliban at a further advantage in negotiations
over who controls post-settlement Afghanistan. “It’s had a bipolar impact,”
Abdullah Abdullah said of the new U.S. approach to the Afghan peace process in
an interview. Abdullah is the chairman of the High Council for National
Reconciliation and leading negotiations with the Taliban.”

 

The Telegraph: Taliban Attack On US Secret Base Raises Fear Of Pullout
Deadline Violence
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“A series of attacks on American bases in Afghanistan, including a secret spy
base, have raised fears that the Taliban will step up assaults on US forces
ahead of the May 1 deadline to pull out. Rockets twice struck a base used by
military personnel working for the CIA in eastern Afghanistan last month, CNN
reported, in apparent breach of the US-Taliban withdrawal deal signed last
year.Kandahar airfield which is used by US and coalition troops supporting the
Afghan forces was then hit earlier this week. The attacks came as Joe Biden is
reviewing whether to stick with the Doha deal signed by Donald Trump, under
which all US troops should leave the country by the end of this month. The
Taliban have stopped attacking US forces since the Doha deal and are believed
to have privately agreed not to attack the departing troops. Mr Biden has said
pulling out with only weeks to go will be tough and American officials have
asked the Taliban to accept an extension as they try to revive talks to get a
political settlement. The president has also suggested a US counter-terrorism
force could remain in the country.  The Taliban have publicly said America must
stick to the Doha deal and have threatened an escalation in their attacks, if
they do not leave.”

 

Nigeria

 

The Associated Press: Aid Group Facilities Targeted In Northeast Nigeria
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“Suspected Islamic extremists attacked the offices of several international
aid groups, setting them ablaze and renewing concerns Sunday about the safety
of humanitarian workers in Nigeria’s embattled northeast. There was no
immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks in Damasak town late
Saturday, but suspicion immediately fell on a faction of extremists aligned
with the Islamic State group. Last year the militants warned Nigerians they
would become targets along with foreigners if they assisted international aid
groups or the military. Edward Kallon, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian
Coordinator in Nigeria, expressed concern for civilians and aid workers Sunday
in the wake of the overnight attack. “Humanitarian operations in Damasak will
be reduced due to the violent attack, which will affect the support to 8,800
internally displaced people and 76,000 people in the host community receiving
humanitarian assistance and protection there,” Kallon said in a statement. The
Norwegian Refugee Council said the attack “jeopardized our work and threatened
the lives of many aid workers.”

 

Voice Of America: African Troops Free Dozens Of Boko Haram Victims
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“About 60 former fighters and civilians rescued from Boko Haram by Nigerian,
Chadian and Cameroonian troops have been rushed to a disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration center in northern Cameroon. Most of the
civilians are women and children, some with fresh scars and amputated body
parts, an indication of torture by the terror group. Thirty-five children, 12
men and 11 women, most of them looking exhausted, rushed for food and water at
the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration center in Meri, a Cameroonian
town on the border with Nigeria and Chad. Among them is 29-year-old Momieni
Sudarma. Surdarma said she was abducted from the Cameroon border village of
Amchide in July 2014 and taken to Nigeria's Borno state. The United Nations
says Borno state is an epicenter of the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram.
Sudarma said she does not know the fathers of the two children she delivered in
the bush in the Nigerian town of Banki. Boko Haram fighters sexually abuse
girls and women and refuse to provide water and food for the women and their
children, she told VOA. She is grateful to God for saving her life and the
lives of her two children, Sadarma said, from the heartless armed men who
abducted her and took her to Nigeria.”

 

Premium Times: Four Killed, UN Facilities Burnt, Vehicles Stolen As Boko Haram
Attacks Borno Community
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“At least fours people including soldiers were killed on Saturday evening as
suspected members of ISWAP, a faction of the Boko Haram, attacked Damasak, a
border community in Borno State, security sources and witnesses said.
Information trickled in late Saturday night that the border community was under
attack. No clearer details were received until the early hours of Sunday.
Security sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the attack was mostly targeted at the
UN and NGO facilities in Damasak. A police station and a hospital were also
attacked. “It was a bad situation we had on Saturday when the Boko Haram gunmen
stormed Damasak later Saturday afternoon,” said a source, a local security
personnel who pleaded not to be named. “The attackers came in large numbers
riding on motorcycles and many gun trucks. They attacked an area around the UN
hub, setting it on fire. “They also slaughtered two persons and we later
discovered that two special forces soldiers also died.” Another source informed
our reporter that while most of the UN and other NGO workers were able to move
into the bunker at the UN hub, the insurgents set fire on virtually all the NGO
offices and warehouses. “Yes, they set fire on the UN hub, the GISCOR office as
well as INTERSOS, NRC offices before carting away their vehicles.”

 

Somalia

 

Voice Of America: 4 Killed In Baidoa Attack Targeting Somali Governor
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“A Somali regional governor has survived an assassination attempt Saturday
after a suicide bomber attacked a restaurant in the town of Baidoa in the
southwestern Bay region. Witnesses and officials said a man wearing a suicide
vest tried to approach the governor of the Bay region, Ali Wardhere Dooyow, but
a security guard blocked his way. The bomber detonated the explosive vest,
killing three civilians and the bodyguard. A witness at the scene told VOA's
Somali Service the governor arrived at the restaurant minutes before the
explosion. “The governor came with two people, they sat beside me, we all
ordered coffee,” said the witness, Liban Ibrahim. “We were having a
conversation when we heard a huge explosion, smoke covered the restaurant.”  
Ibrahim said he saw six people lying on the ground, some injured and some dead.
A security official, who requested not to be named, told VOA Somali that the
governor’s bodyguards were on alert because the governor was told recently he
was the target of an assassination plot. Meanwhile, two traffic policemen were
killed in a roadside explosion in Mogadishu, police said. The attack occurred
in the Yaqshid district as the two police officers were heading toward the
scene of a traffic accident.”

 

Africa

 

Bloomberg: Mozambique Needs To Send An International S.O.S. To Fight ISIS
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“Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi has finally softened his stiff-necked
resistance to foreign assistance in the fight against an Islamist insurgency in
the country’s north. Help has been at hand for many months — from other African
nations as well as from the U.S. and Europe — but Nyusi would have none of it.
Instead, he put his faith in private security firms from Russia and South
Africa. On Thursday, the president finally acknowledged that international
assistance would be needed. But the admission comes with a stipulation: Foreign
governments must agree their forces will only play a supporting role. Nyusi
offered no specifics, saying only: “We know in which areas we need support and
which areas are up to us, Mozambicans, to solve.” The caveat is curious. The
Mozambican military, sorely lacking in equipment and training, needs much more
than just a little boost. “This is not about pride, it’s about sovereignty,”
Nyusi said. But this is hardly the moment to invoke either of those things.
Some of the president’s critics have suggested that his hesitation to accept
international support in the north stems from a fear of what foreign troops
might find there. Confirmation of reports of war crimes by Mozambican troops
and atrocities by mercenaries would embarrass Nyusi.”

 

The National: Revealed: ISIS Central Command’s Links To Mozambique And Terror
Across Africa
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“ISIS attacks in Mozambique are probably being co-ordinated with the terrorist
group's core leadership as part of an expanding campaign across Africa,
security analysts told The National. Experts believe there is an organised
propaganda campaign across the continent to amplify the extremist group’s
standing and support. The concerns emerged after the deadly ISIS attack on
Palma in which a well-armed detachment of about 150 fighters seized the town
for several days, killing scores of civilians including western contractors.
Infiltration of ISIS’s communications network showed extremist supporters
around the world celebrated the attack before the town’s occupation was
announced across the terror group’s global network. The assault led to southern
African and western countries taking action to stop the spread of extremism
across the continent. The Southern African Development Community countries were
continuing discussions on Friday to provide support for Mozambique. The South
Africa Navy, Angolan Air Force and Tanzanian land forces could become involved
in a co-ordinated defence policy. Six presidents held emergency talks in the
Mozambican capital Maputo, two weeks after the Palma attack, which also forced
thousands from their homes.”

 

Business Insider: How A Growing Fight Against A Little-Known ISIS Affiliate
Pulled In US Green Berets And Foreign Mercenaries
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“Last week, militants stormed the city of Palma in northeastern Mozambique's
Cabo Delgado province. The fighters attacked civilians with machetes and
assault rifles, leaving behind beheaded and bullet-ridden bodies. Thousands of
people have fled the besieged city for the coast. The violence lasted several
days and culminated at the Amarula Palma Hotel, an oasis for expats and foreign
workers, where helicopters evacuated people barricaded inside and searched for
others hiding nearby. Reports put the death toll anywhere from scores to
hundreds. The bloodshed was a surprise to most but likely not to the US Army
Green Berets who have been in Cabo Delgado for weeks training Mozambique's
army, according to a March report by The New York Times. According to The
Times, “two dozen” of the elite soldiers were in the region as part of an
ongoing effort to contain the militant group Ansar al-Sunna, known locally as
al-Shabbab (unrelated to the Somali jihadist group), which recently confirmed
its affiliation with ISIS. The soldiers were part of what the Special Forces
refers to as a Joint Combined Exchange Training, or JCET. Special Operations
Command Africa initiated the JCET in Mozambique in March, sending two Special
Forces teams, each with 12 soldiers, to Cabo Delgado.”

 

United Kingdom

 

BBC News: Essex Teenager Denies 3D-Printed Gun Terror Plot
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“A 17-year-old boy has pleaded not guilty to an extreme right-wing terror plot
involving 3D printed guns. The teenager, from Essex, was charged with engaging
in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts between 31 October and 19 December
last year. The boy, who appeared by video link at the Old Bailey and cannot be
named because of his age, faced six terrorism charges in total. Judge Mark
Lucraft QC remanded him in custody ahead of his trial on 7 June. The court
heard the defendant was alleged to have drawn up plans for a storage bunker and
provided information for the manufacture by 3D printer of two firearms. It was
claimed he transferred funds for the purchase of materials to manufacture those
firearms. He also faced four counts of collection of terrorist information
relating to training and homemade weapons. A sixth charge alleges the
dissemination of terrorist publications via a channel library in the messaging
app Telegram.”

 

France

 

Reuters: French Government Disgusted By Attack On Muslim Centre
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“The French government on Sunday condemned the defacing of an Islamic cultural
centre in western France with Islamaphobic slogans, and said an attack on
Muslims was an attack on the Republic. The tags, daubed on the side a building
used as a prayer room in the city of Rennes, were found shortly before the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in France on Tuesday. Interior Minister
Gerard Darmanin said it was a disgusting attack against the fundamental freedom
to believe in a religion and that Muslims deserved the same protection as any
other religious group in France. “Attacks against Muslims are attacks against
the Republic,” Darmanin said after he visited the site. Among the slogans
scrawled on the building were “Catholicism - religion of the state” and “No to
Islamification”. The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), one of the main
groups representing Muslims in France, called the incident an “unbearable
aggression”. “As Ramadan approaches and in the face of a surge in anti-Muslim
acts, the CFCM calls on Muslims in France to be vigilant,” the association said
on Twitter. France follows a strict form of secularism, known as “laicité”,
which is designed to separate religion and public life.”

 

Europe

 

The National: Son Of ISIS Fighter Given Irish Passport Back Following Legal
Challenge
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“The eight-year-old son of a suspected ISIS fighter has won his Irish passport
back after authorities effectively stripped him of his citizenship. Abdul Malik
Bekmirzaev, who was born in Ireland, is currently living in Belarus with his
mother after being deported there from Turkey in January 2020. The High Court
in Dublin has now ruled his full citizenship rights be restored following a
lengthy legal battle, reports The Sunday Times. Abdul had been brought to Syria
by his parents as an infant in 2014, but was later held in Kurdish prison camps
before being detained in Turkey. Police carry out Covid-19 stop checks outside
Dublin Airport with people arriving from certain countries required to enter
hotel quarantine. Alamy  Mother defends daughter jailed for refusing to enter
Irish quarantine on return from Dubai. During this detention, Abdul's Irish
passport was confiscated by Turkish authorities, prompting a new passport
application for the boy. But last September, the Irish state informed the boy’s
lawyers that it would not issue him with new travel documents and did not
recognise him as an Irish citizen. Authorities claimed his Abdul's father
Alexandr Bekmirzaev had his Irish naturalisation certificate revoked as his
previous marriage to a British citizen was a “sham.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Reuters: Ten Myanmar Policemen Killed In Attack By Ethnic Armies Opposed To
Junta-Report
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“An alliance of ethnic armies in Myanmar that has opposed the junta’s
crackdown on anti-coup protests attacked a police station in the east on
Saturday and at least 10 policemen were killed, domestic media said. The police
station at Naungmon in Shan state was attacked early in the morning by fighters
from an alliance that includes the Arakan Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation
Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, media reported. Shan
News said at least 10 policemen were killed, while the Shwe Phee Myay news
outlet put the death toll at 14. A spokesman for the junta did not return calls
asking for comment. More than 600 people have been killed by the military in
the crackdown on protests against the Feb. 1 coup, according to a monitoring
group. As violence has escalated, about a dozen armed groups have condemned the
junta as illegitimate and vowed to stand with the protesters. Civilian
lawmakers, most of whom are in hiding after their ouster, have announced plans
to form a “national unity government” - with key roles for ethnic leaders - and
are holding online talks about joint resistance to the military junta.”



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