Islamist Extremism |  | Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images | New Jersey Man Convicted of Spying for Hezbollah Alexei Saab, 44, of Morristown, N.J., was convicted of receiving military-type training from a designated foreign terrorist organization, Hezbollah. Saab joined Hezbollah in 1996 and entered the U.S. in 2000, after participating in numerous Hezbollah operations in Lebanon. - Trial evidence showed Saab surveilled some of New York’s most highly trafficked locations, including iconic tourist attractions, government buildings and airports, to provide intel to Hezbollah on how they can be most effectively attacked. Read More
State Department Delisting Terrorist Organizations The U.S. State Department notified Congress of its plan to remove five extremist groups from its list of foreign terrorist organizations. Among the groups was the Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, an umbrella group of several jihadist organizations based in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated the general reason for the removals is that following a review of designations it was determined these groups are inactive and no longer met the legal criteria for designation. Read More Bill Introduced to Punish Jordan for Harboring Wanted Terrorist A bill proposed by Rep. Greg Steube would halt or limit assistance to Jordan for violating a 1995 extradition treaty over its harboring of Hamas terrorist Ahlam Ahmad Al-Tamimi. Al-Tamimi orchestrated the Sbarro Pizzeria bombing in Israel in 2001 that killed 15 people, including four children and two American citizens, and injured 122 others. “Our U.S. tax dollars will not continue to flow to a country harboring a Hamas terrorist with American blood on her hands,” said Steube. Read More | | | | | Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism |  | Erie County DA’s office via NY Post | White Supremacist Kills 10 in Buffalo - Ten people were killed and three more were injured Saturday afternoon in a shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo.
- The gunman, Payton Gendron, 18, of Conklin, N.Y., wrote a 180-page manifesto filled with white nationalist tropes and denunciations of the “complete racial and cultural replacement of the European people.”
- Close-up shots from a video filmed by the gunman himself, show the N-word and the number 14—a known white supremacist code—written on the barrel of his gun. Read More
Far-left Groups Attacking Pregnancy Resource Centers Across US - Maryland pro-life pregnancy centers, including Alpha Pregnancy Center and nonprofit BirthRight pregnancy resource, were targeted with vandalism.
- The phrase "Jane's Revenge," which is a far-left group that claimed responsibility for the May 8 arson attack in Madison, Wis. and promised additional violence, was found spray painted near the entrance of the center. Read More
House Democrats Working on Domestic Terrorism Prevention Legislation - In response to the mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., congressional democrats plan to tee up a vote on The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act. Read More
More News from the Alt-Right - North Carolina Proud Boys chapter leader Charles Donohoe, 34, of Kernersville, pled guilty to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers during the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot. Read More
More News From the Alt-Left - A Florida Black Lives Matter leader, Marlowe Jones, was acquitted of battery on a law enforcement officer and obstruction of justice stemming from an incident at a BLM rally in New Port Richey, Fla. nearly two years ago. He was facing up to five years in prison. Read More
| | | | | Hate Crime |  | The Oregonian/Oregon Live | Big City Hate Crimes Spikes 54% in 2021 - Data from a dozen U.S. police departments indicate a double-digit spike in hate crimes targeting Asian and Jewish Americans.
- On average, bias-motivated incidents in 37 major U.S. cities increased by nearly 39 percent, with the 10 largest metropolitan areas reporting a record increase of 54.5 percent. Read More
Portland Journalist Arrested for Vandalizing Two Synagogues and a Mosque - Michael Bivins, a freelance journalist in Portland, Ore., was charged with one count of arson and three counts of criminal mischief for vandalizing two synagogues and a mosque. Read More
ADL Offering $5,000 Reward for Help Finding Culprits in String of Assaults - The Anti-Defamation League has announced a $5,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest of those responsible for a number of antisemitic attacks in Brooklyn, N.Y. Read More
| | | | | Hostile Foreign Influence Operations |  | Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images | Russia Gaining Twitter Support - An analysis by the British analytics firm CASM Technology suggests that Russia’s information operations on Twitter are being concentrated in Asian and African online networks, and support for Russia in those markets seems to be gaining traction. Read More
Iranian Hackers Targeting the West - A ransomware group named Cobalt Mirage with ties to Iran has been linked to a string of malware attacks targeting organizations in Israel, the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Read More
| | | | | QUOTABLE
“The effect of [a republican democracy] is, on the one hand, to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations.”
--James Madison, The Federalist Papers
| | | NOTE TO OUR READERS: We have pulled out the salient points of the articles in this newsletter to keep you informed and focused on the most relevant, important and timely news in national security and extremism. While our national security experts stand behind the summary bullets and deem them trustworthy, Clarion Project does not endorse all the views expressed in the articles linked. | | | | |
