Islamist Extremism |  | Ethan Phelan Melzer, via @hendley_quinn/Twitter and Sportskeeda screenshot | Former Army Soldier Sentenced for Jihadist Plot Former U.S. Army soldier Ethan Phelan Melzer, aka Etil Reggad, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for attempting to murder U.S. service members, providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists, and illegally transmitting national defense information. Melzer, 24, planned a jihadist attack on his U.S. Army unit days before their deployment to Turkey and sent sensitive details about the unit, including its location and security, to members of Order of the Nine Angles (O9A). Melzer and his co-conspirators also passed such messages to a purported member of al-Qaeda. O9A is a white supremacist, neo-Nazi and pro-jihadist group which shares many beliefs with accelerationist groups, including the perception that Western society is decadent; antisemitism; the lionization of Nazis; and a desire to bring about societal collapse. Read More Staten Island Man Sentenced for Attacks on Jews Saadah Masoud, 29, of Staten Island was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a series of violent attacks on Jews in 2021 and 2022. Masoud, a pro-Palestinian activist, assaulted at least three victims based upon the victims’ perceived Jewish or Israeli identity. Read More Masoud's conviction is notable in part because most hate crime charges in New York City are dropped before conviction. See related story in Hate Crime section below. | | | | | Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism |  | Tusitala "Tiny" Toese charges toward a line of anti-fascists on August 8, 2021 in Portland, Ore. - Nathan Howard/Getty Images
| Proud Boy Activist ‘Tiny’ Found Guilty of Assault Proud Boy member Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, 25, was found guilty on 10 counts including assault with a weapon, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of riot and two counts of criminal mischief. Toese was a leader and regular participant at violent protests in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. Read More Aryan Brotherhood Member Arrested - James Pavlichko, 37, of Carbondale, Ill., was caught selling crystal methamphetamine wrapped in a fast-food receipt.
- A member of the white supremacist prison gang Aryan Brotherhood, Pavlichko was arrested on two sets of charges, including strangulation, simple assault and drug offenses. Read More
Far-Left Agitators Set Fire to 'Cop City' in Atlanta - Antifa-affiliated leftists set fire to the construction site of Atlanta's future Public Safety Training Facility, often referred to as "Cop City.”
- According to the reports, protestors clashed with law enforcement officials and threw a Molotov cocktail.
- Since December, at least 19 people have been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism in connection to protesting the training facility for Atlanta’s police and fire department. Read More
| | | | | Hate Crimes |  | Attendees applaud after New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced actions to combat hate crimes, at her office in New York City on November 22, 2022 - Timothy A. Clary/ AFP via Getty Images | Most Hate Crime Charges in NYC Get Dropped Before Conviction - According to data from the NY Division of Criminal Justice Services, only 15 percent of hate crime arrests between 2015 and 202 resulted in a hate crime conviction.
- According to Brooklyn District attorney, Eric Gonzales, the low conviction rate is due to the challenge of proving a defendant's motivation.
- A hate crime conviction lengthens the range of potential sentencing by several years. Read More
Two Native Hawaiian Men Sentenced for Racially Motivated Attack - Two men from the Hawaiian island of Maui were sentenced for their racially motivated attack on a white man who was attempting to move into their neighborhood of Kahakuloa.
- Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 33, was sentenced to 78 months in prison. Levi Aki Jr., 33, was sentenced to 50 months in prison. Read More
| | | | | School Threats |  | Miriam Angel-Hernandez, 18, via Hickory Daily Record screenshot | 2 Arrested for Threat Against North Carolina High School Miriam Angel-Hernandez, 18, and a juvenile were arrested in connection to a threat made against Maiden High School in North Carolina. The two individuals are both facing a felony charge of communicating a threat of mass violence on educational property. Read More Middle School Students Arrested Over Threat An 11-year-old was arrested and a 12-year-old was cited after a text message about taking a gun to Cascade Junior High School in Turner, Ore., was sent to police. Authorities said no weapons were found in the boys’ possession. Both children were booked for 2nd-degree disorderly conduct. Read More | | |  | Hostile Foreign Influence Operations |  | A dance group performs at Tulane University during a celebration organized by Tulane’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association - Lan Wei/Xinhua via Getty Images | Confucius Institute in Alabama Closes Troy University in Alabama has closed its Confucius Institute and ended the agreement with its sponsoring institution in China, a month after the university’s board of trustees voted to shutter the center. Confucius Institutes are under the supervision of the Chinese Communist Party and are a key component to China's influence campaigns at American Universities. Read More For more information on this topic, see Clarion Project's documentary exposing massive foreign influence on U.S. universities. Report: Iran is Behind BDS Mapping Project - A new report by U.S.-based Zachor Legal Institute outlines what it says are Iranian threats against U.S. targets that include the Boston Police Department, the FBI, and other government and law enforcement agencies.
- The report claims there is considerable evidence that Iranian elements may be involved in creating the “Mapping Project,” a website that serves to pinpoint locations of Jewish or Zionist communal spaces and organizations as well as law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts in an "attempt to expose and isolate" supporters of Israel. Read More
New Twitter Files Discuss State Sponsored Blacklists - According to the latest “Twitter Files” report, U.S. government-funded research from the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) aimed at getting Twitter users banned for allegedly spreading “foreign” disinformation, targeted innocent Americans.
- A former intelligence source described the GEC as “an incubator for the domestic disinformation complex.” Read More
| | | | | QUOTABLE “In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
- John Quincy Adams
| | | 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. | | | | |
