“A co-founder of the British neo-Nazi group National Action will stand trial
charged with terror offences. Ben Raymond, 32, from Swindon, is accused o

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


May 17, 2021

 

BBC News: National Action: Co-Founder To Stand Trial Over Terrorism Offences
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“A co-founder of the British neo-Nazi group National Action will stand trial
charged with terror offences. Ben Raymond, 32, from Swindon, is accused of
remaining in the group for months after it was banned in 2016. He is also
charged with three counts of possessing material likely to be useful for
terrorism. Mr Raymond appeared by video link at the Old Bailey in London where
a trial date was set for 1 November at Bristol Crown Court. The extreme
far-right group was created in 2013, but it was banned as a terrorist
organisation three years later. Mr Raymond is alleged to have stayed in the
group between December 2016 and September 2017. He is also accused of
possessing documents on explosives, allegedly held on his hard-drives in 2016
and 2017. According to the charges, the material includes documents entitled
“pipe hand grenade”, “cluster bomb” and “homemade Molotov cocktail”. He was
granted conditional bail ahead of a plea and trial preparation hearing in
Bristol on 17 September.”

 

The Jerusalem Post: ISIS Claims Responsibility For Kabul Mosque Terror Attack
- Report
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“Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday's attack on a mosque in
Shakar Dara district in the Afghan capital Kabul, the group's Nasheer news
agency said on Telegram on Saturday. At least 12 people were killed in the
explosion at a mosque during Friday prayers as worshippers gathered for the
Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, officials had said.”

 

United States

 

Associated Press: US Warns Extremists May Strike As Virus Restrictions Ease
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“A national terrorism alert issued Friday warns that violent extremists may
take advantage of the easing of pandemic restrictions to conduct attacks. The
alert does not cite any specific threats. But it warns of potential danger from
an increasingly complex and volatile mix that includes domestic terrorists
inspired by various grievances, racial or ethnic hatred and influences from
abroad. Those threats were exacerbated by COVID-19, which spawned conspiracy
theories and deepened anger at the government in some quarters over the
shutdown of the economy. As virus conditions improve, the alert says new
dangers loom. “Violent extremists may seek to exploit the easing of
COVID-19-related restrictions across the United States to conduct attacks
against a broader range of targets after previous public capacity limits
reduced opportunities for lethal attacks,” the bulletin said. Without naming
any specific potential targets, it notes that, historically, extremists
motivated by racial and ethnic hatred have targeted religious institutions and
businesses or gatherings. The National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin
issued by the Department of Homeland Security is an extension of one issued
earlier this year in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. That
alert was expiring Saturday.”

 

ABC News: US Joins Global Push Against Violent Extremism Online
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“Two years after a white supremacist in New Zealand livestreamed the slaughter
of 51 Muslim worshippers on Facebook, French President Emmanuel Macron says the
internet continues to be be used by terrorists as a weapon to propagate hate.
Macron and other leaders from tech giants and governments around the world —
including the U.S. for the first time — gathered virtually on Saturday to find
better ways to stop extremist violence from spreading online, while also
respecting freedom of expression. It was part of a global effort started by
Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after deadly attacks in
their countries were streamed or shared on social networks. The U.S. government
and four other countries joined the effort, known as the Christchurch Call, for
the first time this year. It involves some 50 nations plus tech companies
including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, and is named for the New
Zealand city where the slaughter at the two mosques took place. British Prime
Minister Boris Johnson said in a prerecorded video that authorities in his
country alone had taken down more than 300,000 pieces of terrorist material
from the internet over the past decade, which he described as a tsunami of
hate.”

 

The Washington Post: Black, Brown And Extremist: Across The Far-Right
Spectrum, People Of Color Play A More Visible Role
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“Brandon Rapolla is not who springs to mind as the face of the far right.
Rapolla’s brown skin, a reflection of his multiracial ancestry, is at odds with
images of White guys in self-styled militias wearing camouflage in the woods.
The militia stereotype is so entrenched, Rapolla said, that airline ticket
agents have refused to believe him when he gives them a heads-up that he’s on a
domestic terrorism watch list. “This one lady — she was Asian — she said,
‘Darling, you don’t look like a domestic terrorist. It’s a mistake,’ ” Rapolla
recalled. “I said, ‘Nope, I am. That’s what I’m labeled as.’ ” Rapolla, a
46-year-old former Marine, has participated in four armed standoffs with the
federal government, including the “Bundy Ranch” episode in 2014. He was active
in two far-right factions — the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters — and
co-founded the Pacific Patriots Network to boost cooperation. His trajectory,
he said, shows how people of color are carving space in movements that are
generalized as exclusively White in membership and racist in ideology.”

 

Orlando Sentinel: Florida Man Pleads Guilty To Facilitating Bomb-Making Video
For ISIS
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“In December 2018 and January 2019, Langhorne in a chat room expressed
interest in making a video on how to improve the organization’s bomb-making
capabilities, prosecutors say. In February 2019, Langhorne, unbeknownst to him,
was talking to an undercover FBI agent posing as someone working on behalf of
ISIS, the DOJ reported. He allegedly talked about his plans to create and
disseminate the video and sought the agent’s assistance to make it, and told
the agent to make sure it included disclaimers it was for educational purposes
so the video wouldn’t be taken down. However, Langhorne is accused of telling
the agent his real reason for making the video was to arm ISIS adherents with
the knowledge to make the bomb for terroristic purposes.”

 

The Chicago Sun-Times: Lawyer Says Terror Suspect May Try To Take Back Unusual
Guilty Plea After Sentence Overturned
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“A lawyer for a Hillside man charged in a long-running Chicago terrorism case
told a judge Friday he wants to talk to his client about withdrawing the
unusual guilty plea he entered in 2018, potentially adding another chapter to
the lengthy legal odyssey. Adel Daoud, now 27, had been sentenced in 2019 to 16
years in prison by U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman for trying to set
off what turned out to be an inert 1,000-pound car bomb outside a downtown
Chicago bar in 2012. The feds say he also tried to have an undercover federal
agent killed and later attacked a fellow inmate in jail. Ahead of his
sentencing, Coleman accepted a specialized guilty plea from Daoud, in which he
admitted the facts revolving around his arrest but still denied culpability.
It’s known as an Alford plea. The judge accepted the plea over the objection of
prosecutors. But the feds also took the unusual step of appealing the sentence
Coleman handed down. And late last year, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
overturned that sentence and took Daoud’s case away from Coleman, finding that
she “downplayed the extreme seriousness” of the matter. The case was later
re-assigned to U.S. District Judge John Lee, who presided over his first status
hearing in the case Friday.”

 

Syria

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: 180 Russian Air Strikes Target ISIS Hideouts In Syrian Desert
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“The Russian army has expanded its military operations in the Syrian desert
region, according to recent reports. Moscow did not comment or disclose details
about its raids in the region, however, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
reported that more than 180 raids were carried out by Russian fighter jets
within two days. The war monitor stated that the raids are aimed at curbing
activities by the ISIS group that enjoys wide presence in the desert (Badia).
Russian jets launched dozens of airstrikes in the vicinity of Jabal al-Bishri
at the administrative borders between Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, and the frontlines
in Hama’s eastern countryside, especially the surrounding areas of Athria, in
addition to Homs’ eastern desert. Thirteen ISIS terrorists were killed and
several of their vehicles were destroyed. The Observatory has documented the
killing of at least 1,423 regime soldiers and loyalists from Syrian and
non-Syrian nationalities, including at least two Russians, and 149
Iranian-backed militiamen of non-Syrian nationalities, since March 2019. All
were killed in ISIS attacks and bombings in the deserts of Deir Ezzor, Homs and
al-Sweida.”

 

Iran

 

International Business Times: How Iran Regime's Terrorism Overshadows Its
Other Policies
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“European and American diplomats are convening with Iranian diplomats in
Vienna to hammer out a nuclear deal. However, the center of gravity for
decision-making is not in Vienna; it is in Tehran. And understanding Tehran's
policy-making process proves that elusive “moderates” are small pawns serving
at the command of a dictatorship in deep trouble. US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken rightly pointed out on May 4, “It's clear who the decider is in the
Iranian system, and that's the supreme leader. He is the one who has to make
the fundamental decisions about what Iran's approach would be.” The regime's
supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, saw fit to reiterate that point earlier in May
after an uproar about a leaked taped interview of the mullahs' Foreign Minister
Javad Zarif. Khamenei publicly slammed his foreign minister in a televised
appearance, saying that he parrots the “words of the enemy.” For good measure,
Khamenei added that the entire foreign ministry merely “executes” his
diplomatic policies instead of “designing” them. So much for diplomacy,
theocracy style.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Reuters: Taliban And Afghan Government Negotiators Meet In Doha
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“Taliban and Afghan government negotiators met in Qatar on Friday, the second
day of a three-day ceasefire announced by the Taliban for the Muslim holiday of
Eid al-Fitr, both sides said after a long pause in peace talks between the two.
They began negotiations in September last year to find a way to end decades of
war. But the talks stalled after a few rounds and violence has escalated since
the United States started a final pullout of troops from Afghanistan on May 1.
“The two sides discussed the on-going situation of the country and emphasised
speeding up the peace talks in Doha,” the negotiating team representing the
Afghan government said on Twitter. The spokesman for the Taliban's political
office, Mohammad Naeem, posted a similar message on Twitter, and added that
both sides agreed to continue talks after the Eid holidays. Finding common
ground between the two warring sides has been a top priority for Western
capitals, particularly Washington, which has announced it will withdraw all
U.S. troops by September to end its 20-year military presence in Afghanistan.”

 

Nigeria

 

Eurasia Review: Nigeria: Religious Extremism Fueling Violence
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“Escalating bloodshed in Nigeria is fueled in part by religious extremism –
and the United States must recognize this in order to achieve peace, says the
former U.S. religious freedom ambassador. “This thing’s going to blow up on us,
as we would say, ‘bigger than Dallas,’ if we don’t get into there and really
start taking this seriously at this point,” Sam Brownback, former
Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, told CNA on Wednesday
of violence in Nigeria. Due to the scope of violence against civilians in
Nigeria, the State Department in December designated Nigeria a “country of
particular concern (CPC)” for the first time ever—a listing reserved for the
countries with the worst records on religious freedom, such as China, Iran, and
North Korea. In addition, the agency’s annual religious freedom report
published on Wednesday cited numerous terror attacks on civilians in Nigeria in
the past year in the country’s northeast, including attacks on churches and
mosques. “Terrorist groups including Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa (ISIS-WA)
attacked population centers and religious targets,” the report noted, targeting
“the local civilian population, including churches and mosques.”

 

Mali

 

The National: British Troops Seize Hidden Weapons Cache From ISIS-Linked
Militants In Mali
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“British troops operating in Mali have seized AK47 rifles and hundreds of
rounds of ammunition hidden by ISIS-linked terrorists. The “cordon and search”
operation was launched in early May at the border near Niger after extremists
in the area had intimidated local people. French Military Working Dog Leuk
training with French Navy commandos at a training centre in Brittany, northwest
France, in 2016. AFPTop UK gallantry award for French dog that ran through
flames in Mali to attack terrorists About 100 soldiers from the Light Dragoons
and Royal Anglian Regiment overcame challenging conditions including
temperatures of up to 50°C and a sandstorm during the operation, which was
supported by a specialist Royal Engineer search team. Their find included AK47
rifles, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, camouflage, mobile phones and
hundreds of litres of fuel. Fighters from ISIS-affiliated group Islamic State
in the Greater Sahel fled across the Niger river before the peacekeepers
arrived to the scene. The haul was destroyed by the UN Mine Action Service, UN
Police and Malian authorities. The UK's Ministry of Defence said it was the
first such seizure since its soldiers arrived in the region in December to stop
attacks on local civilians.”

 

Africa

 

Lawfare: The Islamic State Is In Congo. What Now?
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“On March 10, the U.S. State Department designated the Islamic State’s
affiliate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ISIS-DRC) a foreign
terrorist organization and the group’s leader, Musa Baluku, a specially
designated global terrorist. It is the latest and most prominent acknowledgment
that the Baluku-led faction of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is part of
the Islamic State’s global enterprise. Yet the ADF’s links to the Islamic State
are highly contentious among Congo watchers. For example, a U.N. Group of
Experts report released in December 2020 denied ties between the Islamic State
and the ADF. The U.N. assessment was perplexing given that only three months
earlier, in September 2020, Baluku had declared, “There is no ADF anymore. ...
[W]e are a province, the Central Africa Province which is one province among
the numerous provinces that make up the Islamic State.” The Islamic State first
began formally claiming attacks in Congo in April 2019 and since then has
claimed dozens of actions by its Congolese “soldiers of the caliphate.” Three
factors explain the dogged commitment by some to denying links between the
Islamic State and its Congo affiliate: persistent misunderstandings about the
Islamic State’s global strategy, lack of access to primary sources, and
justifiable fears about the policy implications of such an assessment.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The National: British Extremist Who Spread Hatred Of Minorities Admits
Terrorism Charges
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“An extremist who encouraged fellow users of right-wing chat groups to carry
out attacks on ethnic minorities has admitted 16 terrorism offences. Michael
Nugent, 37, ran a number of groups on the messaging app Telegram, where he
expressed his hatred of minorities and shared an edited video of the 2019
Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand. He shared explosives and firearms
manuals and told members of his groups how to deliver bombs disguised as Amazon
packages, London police said. Nugent, of Ashford, Surrey, in southern England,
used different names in the chat rooms but police linked his online accounts to
track him down. Nugent was an active member of internet chat rooms where he
freely shared his abhorrent extremist views with others,” said Cdr Richard
Smith, head of the Metropolitan Police counterterrorism command. “He sought to
influence and encourage other members to commit acts of violence, and passed on
manuals detailing how to produce deadly weapons and explosive devices.” Nugent
was arrested in August last year and refused to comment throughout seven days
of police interviews.”

 

The Independent: Alleged Far-Right Extremists Charged With Possessing
3D-Printed Gun Components ‘For Terrorist Purposes’
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“A group of alleged far-right extremists have appeared in court charged with
terror offences and possessing 3D-printed gun components. The four defendants
were arrested in a coordinated counter-terror policing operation that saw raids
in West Yorkshire, North Wales and Wiltshire earlier this month. Daniel Wright,
29, Liam Hall, 30, and Stacey Salmon, 28, all of Keighley, are accused of
possessing components of a 3D-printed firearm “for a purpose connected with the
commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism”. Samuel Whibley,
28, of Menai Bridge in Anglesey, is accused of providing a service to others to
enable them to obtain terrorist publications, as a direct or indirect
encouragement for acts of terrorism. Mr Wright has been charged with
manufacturing and possessing a firearm, possessing an article for terrorist
purposes, disseminating a terrorist publication and three counts of possessing
documents useful to a terrorist. Mr Whibley has been charged with six counts of
encouraging terrorism and two of disseminating terrorist publications. The four
defendants appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court via video-link on Friday
morning. They were not asked to enter pleas and were remanded in custody to
appear at the Old Bailey on 28 May.”

 

Technology

 

Reuters: New Zealand PM Says To Fight Hate, Study Social Media Algorithms
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“New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Saturday that world leaders
and tech firms looking to stamp out violent extremism online would need to
focus efforts on understanding social media algorithms that drive content.
Ardern was speaking at a virtual summit to mark the second anniversary of the
global initiative to end online hate, called the Christchurch Call, launched by
Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019 after a white supremacist
killed 51 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch while
live-streaming his rampage on Facebook. Since then more than 50 countries,
international organisations and tech firms have supported the initiative
including firms like Facebook, Google, Twitter and Microsoft. “The existence of
algorithms themselves is not necessarily the problem, it's whether or not they
are ethically used. That is one of the biggest focus for the community over the
next year alongside expanding the network itself,” Ardern said a news
conference after the forum. Ardern said major tech firms expressed a real
desire at the forum to use algorithms for positive interventions. She, however,
did not elaborate on how firms would change the use of algorithms that drive
harmful content and lead to radicalisation.”



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