The Extremism Roundup

Islamist & Anti-Muslim Extremism 

• The executive director of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Osama Abuirshaid, spoke at a conference hosted by the Middle East Studies Center–Jordan. The conference hosted members of Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
• The United States and the European Union designate both Hamas and the PFLP as terror groups.
• Abuirshaid has openly expressed antisemitic views in the past, has close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and has voiced support for Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.

• Surveillance video shows a woman setting multiple fires near the prayer hall of the Islamic Center of New Mexico.
• People working across the street from the Islamic Center rushed to put out the flames. Fire crews showed up shortly after.
  

Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism

• Police officials said they made eight arrests Thursday and an additional arrest warrant was issued against people who committed “violent criminal acts” in January while counter protesting a pro-Trump event.
• Many of the violent anti-Trump demonstrators were dressed in all black, and some of them described themselves as anti-fascists and carried Antifa flags.
• The assailants were arrested on suspicion of felony criminal conspiracy and assault charges.

• Last year, self-described Antifa member Alexander Starks vandalized Republican Senator John Hoeven’s office with an axe.
• Starks pled guilty to the destruction of government property and recently received probation and a $2,800 fine.
• It was reported that the FBI even returned the axe to Starks.

• Proud Boys member Jonathan M. Cuney, from East Greenbush, New York, was sentenced to 87 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for unlawfully possessing firearms including “ghost guns.”
• Cuney purchased firearms parts from multiple online retailers and then used these parts to manufacture non-serialized handguns, rifles and silencers, often referred to as “ghost guns.”
• Cuney has previous convictions for unlawful gun trafficking and gun possession.

• James Haffner of South Dakota and Ethan Nordean of Washington have been arrested and charged with crimes related to the January 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol.
• Haffner’s charges include assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, civil disorder, and other offenses.
• Haffner was accused of using an aerosol spray on U.S. Capitol Police officers.
• Nordean, a member of the Proud Boys organization, has been indicted on conspiracy and other federal charges.

• More than a hundred members of the alt-right group Patriot Front marched in downtown Washington DC on Saturday.
• Patriot Front, originally part of the group Vanguard America, promotes fascist ideologies and calls for a white ethnostate in America.
• Patriot Front has chapters across the country and is known for staging flash demonstrations.
• The first post on Twitter regarding the march, which included a video that went viral, came from an account that was later revealed to be a Patriot Front false flag account aimed at promoting the group’s demonstration.  

Hostile Foreign Influence Operations

• Cybersecurity experts say millions of dollars paid by American companies in ransomware have passed through one of the most prestigious business addresses in Moscow.
• Federation Tower East, the tallest skyscraper in the Russian capital, has emerged as an apparent hub for money laundering for ransomware operators. 
• The Treasury Department has estimated that Americans have paid $1.6 billion in ransoms since 2011.