“The man arrested in connection with Tuesday’s rush-hour subway shooting in
Brooklyn faces a federal terrorism charge that could send him to prison fo

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


April 14, 2022

 

**NOTE: CEP’s Eye On Extremism will be suspended Friday, April 15
in observance of Good Friday. It will resume Monday, April 18.**

 

Bloomberg: Arrest Yields New Details On NYC Subway Shooting Suspect’s Attack
Timeline
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“The man arrested in connection with Tuesday’s rush-hour subway shooting in
Brooklyn faces a federal terrorism charge that could send him to prison for
life. Frank James, 62, intended “to cause death and serious bodily injury to
one or more persons” during a brazen attack on the New York City subway,
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said at a news conference on Wednesday. The
federal statute cited by Peace prohibits terrorist and other violent attacks on
mass transportation systems. If convicted, James could face as long as life in
prison, the prosecutor said. James was arrested Wednesday in Manhattan’s East
Village after a 30-hour manhunt. He is expected to appear in court Thursday
before a federal magistrate judge, said John Marzulli, a spokesman for Peace.
New details about James’s actions before and after the assault emerged in the
10-page criminal complaint filed against him, including that he had carried not
one but two bags onto the Manhattan-bound N train. Authorities recovered both.
One bag contained a Glock semiautomatic, a plastic container of gasoline, a
torch, a key to a U-Haul vehicle and multiple bank cards, the U.S. said.
Insider the other bag were fireworks filled with black-powder explosives,
according to the complaint prepared by an FBI agent.”

 

Associated Press: IS Supporter Given Life Sentence For Murdering UK Lawmaker
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“An Islamic State supporter was given a whole-life sentence Wednesday for
stabbing a British lawmaker to death in revenge for his voting in support for
airstrikes on Syria. Ali Harbi Ali, 26, was convicted Monday of murdering
Conservative lawmaker David Amess and preparing terrorist acts. A jury
deliberated for just 18 minutes before finding him guilty. “The defendant has
no remorse or shame for what he has done — quite the reverse,” Justice Nigel
Sweeney told the court. “This is a murder that struck at the heart of
democracy.” Ali stabbed Amess with a carving knife multiple times on Oct.15
while he was meeting with voters at a church hall in the town of Leigh-on-Sea
in eastern England. Ali, a London man with Somali heritage, said he targeted
Amess because he backed voting for airstrikes on Syria in 2014 and 2015. The
whole-life sentence means Ali will never be eligible for parole, and will
likely spend the rest of his days in prison. Amess’s family said “there is no
elation” following the sentencing and described the crime as “beyond evil.” “We
will wake each day and immediately feel our loss. We will struggle through each
day for the rest of our lives,” the family said in a statement. “It breaks our
heart to know that our husband and father would have greeted the murderer with
a smile of friendship and would have been anxious to help.”

 

United States

 

The New York Times: Terrorism Trial Ends With Account Of Aid Worker’s
Enslavement
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“Federal prosecutors concluded their conspiracy and terrorism case against a
British member of the Islamic State on Wednesday with a wrenching account of
how an aid worker had been brutalized and sexually assaulted during a year and
a half in captivity. For much of her ordeal, the aid worker, Kayla Mueller, 24,
was held by a notorious cell of four Islamic State members known for their
viciousness and nicknamed “the Beatles” for their British accents, muffled
behind black balaclavas. Prosecutors say the defendant, El Shafee Elsheikh, 33,
is “Ringo.” For nearly two weeks, they have argued that the polite,
bespectacled defendant was a central figure in the Beatles, responsible for
drafting ransom emails and mistreating prisoners. Among those captives, they
say, were Ms. Mueller and three American men — James Foley, Steven J. Sotloff,
and Peter Kassig — who were later beheaded by one of Mr. Elsheikh’s close
associates. In his closing remarks, the first assistant U.S. attorney, Raj
Parekh, asked jurors to pay particular attention to the suffering endured by
Ms. Mueller, who was not only physically abused like the other American
captives, but treated as a slave in the months leading up to her death, under
mysterious circumstances, in early 2015. “And what about Kayla?” Mr. Parekh
asked, as her parents sat stone-faced in the gallery of the ninth-floor
courtroom outside Washington.”

 

WTOP News: The Hunt: Suspect Arrested, Facing Terrorism Charge After Shootings
On New York Subway Train
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“On the week’s edition of “The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent
JJ Green,” Dr. Hans Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism
Project, says this is a “peculiar case.”

 

Syria

 

The Times Of Israel: Rahat Teen Arrested For Planning To Join Islamic State In
Syria
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“An 18-year-old man from the southern Bedouin town of Rahat was arrested last
month for planning to join the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, police
announced Wednesday. According to a statement, Bashar Alglawe “intensively
consumed content identified with the terror organization and supported the
organization’s ideas and goals.” Alglawe allegedly made contact with members of
Islamic State in Syria in order to fight among the group’s ranks. Police also
said he sought to obtain a weapon upon his planned arrival in Syria. He is set
to be brought Thursday to the Beersheba District Court, when he is expected to
be formally indicted. “The Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police take
very seriously any involvement or affiliation of Israeli citizens in terrorist
activities, including the Islamic State,” the statement said. The announcement
comes amid a wave of arrests of alleged Islamic State members following two
deadly terror attacks last month — in Hadera and Beersheba — by Arab Israelis
thought to have been inspired by the jihadist group. The Islamic State claimed
responsibility for both attacks, but it did not appear the terrorists had been
instructed by it to commit them. Last week, Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed
an order to hold an Israeli citizen suspected of being an Islamic State
operative in administrative detention for four months.”

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: 240 Russian Air Strikes Target ISIS In Syrian Desert 
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“The Russian army has expanded its military operations in the Syrian desert
region since early April, following the decline of its operations in March and
late February, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The Observatory
indicated that the Russian fighter jets launched 240 air raids on the Syrian
desert since early April. It stated that Russian fighter jets launched over 55
airstrikes over the past 36 hours, targeting ISIS hideouts and caves in the
al-Sokhnah desert in Homs's eastern countryside, al-Rusafa desert Al-Raqqah,
and another area in Aleppo-Hama-Al-Raqqah triangle, amid confirmed reports on
human and material losses. On Monday, SOHR sources reported that regime
security services arrested three new members of “National Defense Forces” from
al-Sokhnah town in the eastern countryside of Homs for “communicating with ISIS
cells.” The security services arrested the commander of the National Defense in
al-Sokhnah town for communicating with ISIS cells earlier. SOHR monitored a
security alert among regime forces and Iranian militias in Palmyra,
anticipating sudden attacks by ISIS cells on military positions in the area.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Bloomberg: Will Afghanistan’s Media Survive Under The Taliban?
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“This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how
to solve the world’s most pressing policy challenges. It has been edited for
length and clarity. Bobby Ghosh: You’re the Dubai-based founder and CEO of the
Moby Group, which launched Afghanistan’s first independent radio and TV
networks after the fall of the Taliban in 2002. Twenty years later, the return
of the Taliban has put the future of the country’s media in jeopardy. Your
company’s networks, including the wildly popular TOLO TV and TOLOnews, have
remained on the air, covering the new government despite considerable risks to
your journalists. Before we discuss the challenges you’re currently facing,
let’s go back to the start. It’s 22 years ago and the Taliban is about to fall
in Kabul. Where’s your head at this moment? What are you thinking? What makes
you want to go to Afghanistan and launch a television channel? Saad Mohseni,
founder and CEO, Moby Group: In the late 1980s, when the Soviets withdrew,
there was a window of opportunity. The communist regime of President Mohammad
Najibullah was telling everyone, “Listen, let’s work together.” But Afghans
like me, in our twenties, didn’t see it as an opportunity. We felt it would be
best to see this government just go away and then we’ll have a fresh start with
the groups that fought the Soviets.”

 

Pakistan

 

The News: ‘Pakistan Has Positive Trade Balance With Germany’
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“…Dr. Hans Jakob Schindler, Coordinator, Counter-Extremism Project, New York,
said that counter-terrorism is a common area of interest for Berlin and
Islamabad. He said his organisation monitors activities of terrorist outfits
from ISIS to the Taliban from Iraq to Pakistan. He stressed female education in
Afghanistan. He said ISIS carries out activities in Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The Maldives and Central Asia also. Gen (r) Raza Muhammad, former President,
National Defence University, discussed Iqbal’s poetic influence on Iran,
Turkey, and the Middle East and mentioned his stay in Germany. He said that
Islamophobia in India has made SAARC dysfunctional. He said that Indian policy
is affecting stability in Afghanistan. He said that the implementation of
Sharia and the desire to preserve culture is a priority for the Taliban. He
hoped that co-education will soon be acceptable to the Taliban but segregation
is important to them at the moment. Dr. Hassan Daud Butt, CEO, KPK, BoI, said
that we have potential in agriculture, livestock, mines, and minerals and we
can integrate with the EU. He sought help in human resources and investment
coming from Europe while keeping politics away. Aamir Goraya, Assistant
Resident Representative, Crisis Prevention and Recovery Unit, UNDP, spoke about
key areas of his UN body’s working in Afghanistan.”

 

Middle East

 

The Jerusalem Post: Arab-Israelis Have No Appetite For Another Wave Of
Violence - Analysis <[link removed]>

 

“Soon after the first terror attack last month in the southern Israeli city of
Beersheba that launched the current wave of violence, Sheikh Muhammad Abu
al-Qiyan, maternal uncle of the terrorist – also named Muhammad Abu al-Qiyan
and a resident of the Bedouin village of Hura, made an appearance on Israel’s
Channel 12. “The whole tribe condemns this attack. We do not support it at all.
We also despise ISIS. This deed and this guy, even though he was my nephew, do
not represent us,” said Abu al-Qiyan. He repeated this message several times,
speaking to the Hebrew media to explain how it could be that his relative – a
father of five – was suspected of loyalty to ISIS, was arrested, served four
years in an Israeli jail, and then one day woke up and slaughtered four Israeli
citizens, two men and two women. But as tension mounted, many in Israel
expressed doubts about the sincerity of his condemnations. It was not only the
heads of the Abu al-Qiyan tribe that denounced the Beersheba terror attack, as
well as the next terrorist attack that took place in the northern Israeli city
of Hadera and was carried out by residents of the Israeli Arab city of Umm
al-Fahm.”

 

Nigeria

 

Associated Press: Nigeria Says Armed Gangs In North Are Working With Militants
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“Armed gangs attacking remote communities in Nigeria’s troubled northwest are
now working with extremist rebels who have waged a decade-long insurgency in
the country's northeast, a top government official said Wednesday. The gunmen
and the Islamist rebels are in “an unholy handshake,” Nigeria’s Minister of
Information Lai Mohammed told reporters, for the first time confirming a
collaboration that security analysts have warned of. The result of the alliance
is the recent deadly train attack near Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, said the
minister. Explosives were used to blow up the rail track in that attack in
which eight passengers were killed and more than 100 were abducted and remain
missing. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with 206 million people, has
been battling violence in its troubled north and an alliance between the two
groups could worsen the crisis, analysts told The Associated Press. The
security crisis is dominated by two groups: bandits many of whom are formerly
herdsmen now carrying arms and Islamic extremist rebels of the Boko Haram group
and its breakaway faction the Islamic State in West Africa Province. The
partnership between the groups “might drive further attacks on innocent
civilians and state infrastructure,” said Oluwole Ojewale of the Africa-focused
Institute of Security Studies, as the extremists move their insurgency beyond
the northeast where they had been largely restricted for many years.”

 

CBS News: Nigeria Leader Vows “No Mercy” For Gunmen Behind Massacre That Left
More Than 150 Dead In Country's North
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“Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed there will be “no mercy” for
gunmen who killed more than 150 people in a series of weekend attacks in the
country's north. In some of the worst violence Nigeria has seen this year,
armed gunmen on motorcycles raided and razed a group of villages in the
northern Plateau state, highlighting growing insecurity in the region.
Villagers have been scouring bushes and other terrain for missing loved ones
since the Sunday attacks. Many locals were shot trying to flee from the gunmen.
Residents have said women and children were abducted by the attackers, but the
number of those abducted remained unclear. More than 80 victims were buried
earlier this week in mass funeral services in the four villages, as additional
security forces arrived in the area. In a statement issued by his spokesman,
President Buhari urged residents to “expose the perpetrators of such incidents,
their sponsors and those who encourage such criminals who carry out these
dastardly acts of murder, so that the law will take its course.” A burnt house
is seen in Kukawa village, in the Kanam Local Government Area of Nigeria's
northern Plateau state, April 12, 2022, after an attack by bandits.
Eyewitnesses said more than 100 houses were set alight, as well as a cell phone
tower.”

 

Africa

 

Reuters: Armed Men Kill 11 Security Force Members In Niger Attacks, Government
Says
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“Unidentified armed men killed seven border police and four National Guard
members in separate attacks in different parts of Niger, the government said on
Wednesday. Both of the attacks were on Tuesday - one on a police post in
Petelkole, on the western border with Burkina Faso, and one on a National Guard
position in Djado, in the northern region of Agadez, a government statement
said. Niger, like its neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, is battling groups
linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State which have killed thousands and displaced
millions across West Africa's Sahel region. The attackers also stole vehicles
from both security posts and more than 10 people were wounded, the government
said. Niger's interior minister said security had been reinforced in both zones
following the attacks.”

 

All Africa: Kenya Unveils Inter-Agency Guidelines To Combat Terrorism And
Terrorism Financing <[link removed]>

 

“The fight against terrorism has received a major boost following the launch
of the inter-agency guidelines on cooperation and collaboration in
investigation and prosecution of terrorism and terrorism financing. The
guidelines, released on Tuesday, are intended to improve organizational
partnerships between investigative agencies and the Office of the Director of
Public Prosecutions, in collaboration with criminal justice partners, as well
as to ensure effective coordination, collaboration, and cooperation in the
investigation and prosecution of terror related offenses. Speaking during the
event, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji said that the
guidelines will enhance accountability and efficiency in the investigation and
prosecution of terrorism and terrorism financing. The DPP stated that it will
also enable sharing of information between different agencies and provide for a
model for inter-agency information sharing which he said has been a challenge
in the past. “These Guidelines are pivotal and significant as for the first
time we have developed a joint cooperation framework comprising financial
agencies, investigators, and prosecutors to detect, investigate, and prosecute
terrorism and related offences,” Haji said.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Cap X: Terrorists Like Sir David Amess’ Killer Are Gaming The System
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“When two unarmed officers arrested the murderer of Sir David Amess MP, they
did society an enormous favour. The assailant, Ali Harbi Ali, now a convicted
Islamist terrorist due to be sentenced today, wanted to be martyred. Denying
him that narcissistic prize, and putting him on trial, has helped us know more
about what needs to be done to stop violent extremists. I hope that gift wakes
him up every morning for the decades he will spend behind bars. We can’t talk
to dead terrorists, however much some deserve that fate. So it’s people like
Harbi Ali who hold a mirror up to the systems and doctrines we use to try to
interrupt the journey from thought and lethal action. It’s not a pretty sight.
This is his reported experience of our national ‘Prevent’ scheme – the strand
of our counter terrorism strategy that attempts to identify people at risk of
descending into violent extremism. While doing his A levels he was referred to
Prevent by a teacher because his academic performance crashed at the same time
as many young people were making their way to Syria to join IS. He was
interviewed by two police officers who were concerned enough to refer him to
Prevent’s ‘Channel’ programme, which decides and implements interventions for
those most at risk of being radicalised. To give this some context, in 2020/21
government statistics say only 14% of those initially referred to Prevent
actually received a Channel intervention.”

 

France

 

Politico: Paris Terror Attacks Suspect Abdeslam ‘Gave Up’ On Blowing Himself Up

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“The main suspect on trial for the 2015 Paris terror attacks, Salah Abdeslam,
on Wednesday told a court that he decided against blowing himself up as planned
on the evening of November 13, 2015. “I’m walking into this bar in the 18th
[arrondissement], I’m ordering a drink, I’m looking at people around me, and
I’m like, ‘no, I’m not going to do it.’ I gave up, I left, I took the car,” he
said during the final hearing of his trial. Abdeslam had refused to speak to
the court during his hearing two weeks ago but broke his silence on Wednesday.
“I’m going to explain myself because this is the last time I can do it. I’m
going to do the best I can, I’m going to do my best,” he said after complaining
about his portrayal in the media. Abdeslam said he had been told about the
plans for France by another member of the jihadist group behind the attacks,
Abdelhamid Abaaoud. “He told me about blowing myself up and it was a shock. I
was thinking of going to Syria. I didn’t feel ready,” Abdeslam said. On the
evening of November 13, Abdeslam abandoned the car in which he had transported
three suicide bombers from the Stade de France. He said he was at that point
still wearing his explosive belt, which he threw away shortly after.”

 

Germany

 

Deutsche Welle: German Police Bust Right-Wing Group Planning Attack On Energy
Grid
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“Police in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate say they have broken up a
right-wing extremist chat group that was seeking to bring down Germany's
democracy. The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Mainz said Wednesday that
individuals from a group calling itself the “Vereinte Patrioten” (United
Patriots) planned bomb attacks on Germany's energy infrastructure in hopes of
creating lasting nationwide power outages that would spark a “civil war-like”
situation. The group figured that such an attack would then enable the toppling
of Germany's elected government and ultimately its democratic system. The LKA
said nationwide raids were carried out against the group for its bombing plans
and other violent activities. Authorities said they would provide further
details on the case at a press conference alongside investigators from the
Koblenz General Prosecutor's Office at 10:00 a.m. (UTC) on Thursday.
Wednesday's arrests come just one week after a massive nationwide police
operation led to the arrests of four key individuals. Some 800 police raided 60
locations tied to the neo-Nazi groups “Atomwaffen Division” (AWD), “Combat 18”
(C18) and “Knockout 51” (K51).”

 

Daily Mail: Neo-Nazi Who Tried To Launch A 'Civil Race War' By Launching
Attacks With 600 Homemade Bombs And Guns To 'Preserve The White Population' Is
Hit With Terror Charge In Germany
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“German federal prosecutors today said they had charged a suspected neo-Nazi
with attempting to set off a 'civil race war' in Germany with planned attacks
using 600 homemade explosives and guns to 'preserve the white population'. A
week after authorities swooped on alleged far-right militant cells in raids
across Germany, the federal prosecutor's office named the suspect only as
Marvin E. and said he had been in detention since September 2021. Marvin E.,
20, from Spangenberg in northern Hesse, faces charges of attempting to form a
terrorist organisation, as well as preparation of a grievous seditious attack
and various weapons law violations.   Prosecutors said in a statement that
Marvin E., 'shares the ideology' of Atomwaffen Division (Atomic Weapons
Division, AWD), an international neo-Nazi terrorist network founded in 2015 in
the United States. Marvin E. intended from the summer of 2021 to launch 'a
civil race war' over the next three years 'to preserve the white population',
they said. Investigators found 600 homemade explosive devices when they
searched his apartment in September last year, as well as a far-right manifesto
in which Marvin E. called for the 'race war', reports local news site
Hessenschau.”

 

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