Islamist Extremism |  | US Representative Rashida Tlaib - ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images | Rashida Tlaib Campaign Organizers Tied to Terror Financing Rafeeq Jaber and Salah Sarsour hosted multiple campaign fundraising events for Rep. Rashida Tlaib in 2018. - The two are associated with a network of nonprofit groups that were found liable by a federal jury in 2004 for financing the terrorist slaying of an American teenager, David Boim, at a bus stop in Israel.
Salah Sarsour helped raise money for the Holy Land Foundation, an organization that financed the terrorist organization Hamas, which was responsible for Boim's murder. - Jaber served as president of the American Muslim Society and the Islamic Association for Palestine and worked, according to his own testimony, to "promote the Holy Land Foundation in any way we can.” Read More
State Department Refuses to Redesignate Houthi Rebels as Terrorist Group The Biden administration removed the Iran-backed Houthis from the terror list as part of a bid to help bolster U.S.-backed peace talks between the rebels and the Yemeni government. Yemeni human rights activists launched a pressure campaign to coincide with Biden’s recent trip to Saudia Arabia, in light of the Houthi attacks against the Saudis and in light of Biden's desire to get more oil from the Saudis. Since the Biden administration delisted the terror group, "the number of Houthi militia violations against Yemeni people and attacks against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia had doubled," according to the activists. The State Department says it is not considering a redesignation of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels as a terrorist group. Read More FBI Arrests Saudi National Who Threatened Kingdom’s Critics Ibrahim Alhussayen, 42, a graduate student in two Mississippi universities, was arrested on charges of lying to federal officials about using a fake social media account to harass and threaten Saudi critics living in the U.S. and Canada. The FBI says he used an anonymous account to threaten young women on Instagram using “vitriolic attacks" with the apparent aim of aiding the Saudi government. Between January 2019 and August 2020, Alhussayen allegedly maintained regular contact with a Saudi government employee who reported to an official at the royal court. Read More | | | | | Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism |  | NSC-131 members protesting at the Loring Greenough House in Jamaica Plain on July 23, 2022 – Anne McHugh via GBH | Neo-Nazi Leader Arrested After Crashing Drag Queen Story Hour - Christopher Hood, founder of the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Club or NSC-131, was arrested at a protest of a drag queen story hour in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood.
- Hood allegedly got into a physical confrontation with two counter-protesters, who were also arrested.
- State prosecutors declined to pursue charges against both of the counter-protesters. Read More
Far-Left Agitators Riot Outside Dave Chappelle Show - Far-left activists showed up outside the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis to protest comedian Dave Chappelle.
- At least five protesters were arrested, two of them for assault on police and rioting.
- One of the arrestees was allegedly armed with a gun. Read More
More News From the Alt-Right - Members of the neo-Nazi group The Goyim Defense League demonstrated outside Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in Tampa, Fla., waving flags and signs with Nazi symbols. Read More
More News From the Alt-Left - A judge sentenced BLM organizer Maté Muhammad to deferred judgment and two years of probation. Muhammad pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers by shining a laser pointer in their eyes in Iowa City in August 2020. Read More
| | | | | Hate Crime |  | SOPA Images via Getty Images | Hate Incidents Continue to Surge Against Asian Americans - According to a report by Stop AAPI Hate, more than 11,400 hate incidents against Asian Americans were reported between March 2020 and March 2022.
- The findings signaled a persistent rise in harassment, verbal abuse and hate speech that have plagued Asian communities since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read More
Man Charged for Vandalizing Bakery That Was to Host Drag Show - Joseph I. Collins, 24, of Alsip, Ill., has been charged with two felony counts of a hate crime and criminal damage to property in connection to the vandalizing of a bakery because it was planning to host a drag show. Read More
Four Teens Charged for Attacks Against Orthodox Jews in NY - Four teens have been charged with hate crimes after several members of the Orthodox Jewish community in Ramapo, N.Y. were struck by objects apparently thrown from a passing vehicle. Read More
| | | | | Hostile Foreign Influence Operations |  | Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the start of the 7th BRICS summit, 2015 - ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images | FBI Director Warns About Foreign Meddling in Midterm Elections - FBI Director Christopher Wray warned about the governments of China, Russia and Iran potentially trying to meddle in or influence the midterm elections.
- Wray cited an analysis from another bureau official who had said that “the Russians are trying to get us to tear ourselves apart, the Chinese are trying to manage our decline, and the Iranians are trying to get us to get out of their way.” He insisted that the U.S. is “not going to do any of the above.” Read More
Chinese Telecom Equipment Could Disrupt US Nuclear Communications - The FBI found that equipment from the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, placed on cell towers in the Midwest, has the capability of disrupting communications from U.S. Strategic Command. Read More
| | | | | Research & Trends in Extremism |  | Senate Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Chairman Angus King, who tipped the vote in favor of Republican language calling for a halt to anti-extremism efforts in the military - Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | Senate Armed Services Committee Calls For Halt to Army's Anti-Extremism Program - After the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the Pentagon placed a major focus on countering extremism in the military, and a working group was set up to tackle the issue.
- The group reported in December 2021 that it had found 100 cases of extremism in a total military force of over 2 million people — or .005 percent.
- In February, the army reported that it had spent $500,000 on the issue.
- "Spending additional time and resources to combat exceptionally rare instances of extremism in the military is an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds," committee report says. Read More
| | | QUOTABLE
“There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.”
--Alexander Hamilton
| | | 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. | | | | |
