The Extremism Roundup

Islamist & Anti-Muslim Extremism 

• Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) San Francisco executive director, Zahra Billoo, claimed Zionist organizations were behind Islamophobia, police brutality and border control.
• Billoo told a crowd at the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) conference in Chicago to vigorously oppose “polite Zionists,” including the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Federations, Hillel and “Zionist synagogues.”
• In the past, Billoo praised the terrorist group Hezbollah, tweeting "AH [All Hail] for Hezbollah having the courage to do what the Arab governments won't."
• She questioned whether fallen U.S. soldiers should be honored on Memorial Day and characterized U.S. soldiers as war criminals committing genocide.

Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism

• Cameron Emerson Casey Rankin, a self-proclaimed member of the Boogaloo Bois and resident of Karnes City, Texas was sentenced to 24 months in prison for illegally possessing a firearm.
• Rankin pled guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by one who has been judicially committed to a mental institution.
• Rankin posted photos to his Facebook account of himself and others carrying firearms at a protest in May 2020, as well as comments about his disdain for police, including, “…hope they burn the precinct down” and “I’m BOOGALOO we hate police.”  

• Texas resident Alan Swinney, 51, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting a man in the eye with a paintball gun, spraying people in the face with bear mace and aiming a loaded handgun at a crowd.
• Swinney is a self-professed member of the Proud Boys, who traveled from Texas to Oregon to confront protesters in 2020.
• A jury found Swinney guilty of 11 criminal charges, including second-degree assault, fourth-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon with a firearm.

• San Diego prosecutors charged a group of individuals this week with conspiracy to commit the crime of riot.
• At least 11 defendants each face an array of their own separate charges as well as the shared conspiracy charge. Alleged crimes include assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, assault likely to produce great bodily injury, animal cruelty, vandalism and the use of tear gas not for self-defense.
• Experts believe the group in San Diego is the first time nationwide that a conspiracy charge has been used specifically to prosecute alleged anti-fascists, or “antifa supporters.”
• The charges stemmed from a Jan. 9 “Patriot March” in Pacific Beach, Calif. Cuney has previous convictions for unlawful gun trafficking and gun possession.

Hostile Foreign Influence Operations

• The United States has ordered an arms embargo on Cambodia, citing deepening Chinese military influence, corruption and human rights abuses.
• The actions reflect Washington's effort to counter China's growing influence in Southeast Asia.
• The impact the ban will have is unclear, seeing as the United States is not a supplier of arms to Cambodia.