The Extremism Roundup

Islamist Extremism

YouTube/Nika Nikoubin via Channel 8 News Now screenshot

Woman Who Stabbed Date as Revenge for Killing of Soleimani Violates House Arrest

• Nika Nikoubin, 22, was indicted on charges of attempted murder in Las Vegas after she stabbed her date “for revenge against U.S. troops for the killing of Qasem Soleimani in 2020.” 
• The court placed Nikoubin on house arrest in Texas, where she attends University of Texas at Dallas. Nikoubin was discovered violating her house arrest to make music and videos.
• Texas police said they were never made aware that she was on house arrest in Texas. Read More

Family Arrested in Forced Marriage Kidnapping Conspiracy

• Father and son Khaled Abughanem, 50, and Waleed Abughanem, 32, both of Lackawanna, N.Y., were arrested and charged with conspiracy to kidnap persons in a foreign country.

• According to the criminal complaint, Khaled and his son attempted to trick his daughter into traveling to Yemen in an attempt to force her into an arranged marriage.

• The victim’s father and brother allegedly discussed killing her if she did not abide by their wishes.

• The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Read More

NGO Sanctioned by Credit Card Companies for Support of Terror Org

• The Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ), a U.S.-based NGO, announced that they have been blocked from receiving credit card donations.

• The sanctions were introduced by multiple credit card companies due to AfGJ’s financial support of the group Samidoun.

• Samidoun is affiliated with the PFLP, a U.S.-designated foreign terror group. Read More

• See The Clarion Project’s special report on the PFLP’s use of groups like Samidoun to operate and raise money in America and Europe.

Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism

Payton Gendron, who killed 10 in a mass shooting last May in Buffalo, reads an apology to the court - Derek Gee/Buffalo News/Pool via Xinhua

Tops Market Mass Shooter Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

• Payton Gendron, 19, of Conklin, N.Y., was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a May 2022 mass shooting at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket that killed 10 people.
• Prior to the shooting, Gendron wrote a manifesto that included dozens of pages of antisemitic and racist memes, repeatedly citing the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory frequently pushed by white supremacists.
• Gendron cried during some of the testimony and apologized to victims and their families in a brief statement. A victim’s family member rushed at Gendron from the audience. Read More

Charlottesville White Supremacist Found Dead

• Teddy Joseph Von Nukem, formerly Teddy Landrum, 35, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound outside his Missouri home after failing to attend his trial for drug smuggling.
• Von Nukem was scheduled to be in court in Arizona to face four counts relating to illegal import and sale of fentanyl.
• Von Nukem was seen in two famous photos of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., wearing a black shirt in a large group of men chanting and holding tiki torches. Read More

Hate Crimes

Jeffrey Abrams of the Anti-Defamation League speaks at a press conference announcing the arrest of Jaime Tran for the attempted murder of two people outside separate synagogues - Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

California Man Charged for Shooting Jews

• Jaime Tran, 28, has been charged with federal hate crimes for allegedly targeting and shooting two Jewish men as they departed religious services outside two Los Angeles synagogues.  
• Tran had a history of making antisemitic threats and told former classmates he wanted to kill Jews.
• The maximum statutory penalty for each of the two hate crimes is life without parole in federal prison. Read More

Illinois Taxpayers Fund Jew Hatred and Black Separatism

• A report by Focus on Western Islamism, a project of the Middle East Forum, revealed that Illinois is paying out substantial amounts of money to a group that is inspired by the Nation of Islam.
• The Build Illinois Bond Fund—established by the state in the mid-’80s to promote economic development—gave $500,000 to the Coalition for the Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad (CROE) in 2021 and 2022. The state intends to give another $500,000 to that group this year. Read More

Massachusetts Man Charged With Federal Hate Crime

• A federal grand jury in Boston returned an indictment charging John Sullivan, a Massachusetts resident, with a federal hate crime.  
• According to the indictment, Sullivan attempted to cause bodily injury to a victim with his car because of the victim’s actual and perceived race and national origin. Read More

School Threats

North Mac High School, Sangamon County, Ill., via northmacschools.org screenshot

Illinois High School Placed on Lockdown

• North Mac High School in Sangamon County, Ill., was placed on lockdown after the school received a threat by text message stating that someone armed with a weapon was trying to get inside the school to cause harm.
• The Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office determined the phone number that issued the threat belonged to a “Text Now” app. After contacting the app’s company, detectives traced the IP address to an out-of-state location.
• In addition, it was discovered that five other Illinois communities received the same threat: Vandalia in Fayette County, and Winnetka, Wilmette, Wheaton and Zion closer to Chicago. Read More

Maryland Juvenile Arrested for Threatening Teacher With Bomb

• A 15-year-old male student at Potomac High School in Potomac, Md., was arrested after he left a wrapped package on a teacher’s desk, along with a note that implied there was a bomb inside. Read More

Hostile Foreign Influence Operations

Thiago Prudencio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Russian Hackers Target NATO

• The Russian hacktivist group Killnet launched a series of DDoS attacks against NATO, causing temporary disruption to some of its sites.
• Reports say that communications between NATO and its Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) were disrupted by the attack, affecting the response of search and rescue teams in Turkey and Syria. Read More

FBI Warns of Chinese Hacker Threats

• Cynthia Kaiser, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, warned U.S. officials that Chinese hackers are posing a greater threat to U.S. infrastructure.
• Kaiser hinted that election infrastructure was particularly vulnerable. Read More

Research and Trends in Extremism

Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

How Artificial Intelligence May Fuel the Radicalization of Extremists

• Artificial Intelligence will enable the production of higher volumes and higher quantity of extremist propaganda that may make it easier to attract and radicalize new extremists.
• AI will also make it easier to create interactive programs that leverage human psychology to draw more people more quickly into extremist groups and ideologies. Read More

Supreme Court to Hear Case Regarding Social Media’s Liability for Terrorism

• The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases relating to the extent that online platforms can be held liable for terrorist recruitment efforts on their platform.
• In Gonzalez v. Google, Reynaldo Gonzalez is suing YouTube, claiming that its algorithms helped the Islamic State group radicalize and recruit terrorists through videos and that this led to the death of his daughter, Nohemi.
• In Twitter v. Taamneh, the Court will consider whether Twitter can be found to be aiding and abetting terrorists, and, as with the last case, be held liable for damages in civil court. Read More

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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.