Sayfullo Saipov will instead receive life imprisonment

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The Extremism Roundup

Promoting Civil Discourse and Marginalizing the Extremes
A weekly compilation of the most important developments in the struggle against radical ideologies

Islamist Extremism

[Activists protesting thosel being held at Guantanamo Bay]([link removed])

Activists representing 35 men who were still being held at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, protest in front of the White House on January 11 - Alex Wong/Getty Images

Gitmo Prisoner Repatriated to Saudi Arabia

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Ghassan al-Sharbi, 48, who had been held for more than 20 years at Guantánamo Bay, was repatriated to Saudi Arabia.

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Sharbi, a U.S.-educated engineer, had taken flight school courses in Phoenix with two of the hijackers and is alleged to have made bombs for Al Qaeda.

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Sharbi’s transfer is the fourth release from the Guantánamo prison so far this year. [Read More]([link removed])

ISIS Terrorist Saved From Death Penalty by Hung Jury

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The jury deciding whether convicted ISIS terrorist Sayfullo Saipov should get the death penalty signaled that it is unable to reach a unanimous decision, and he will instead face life imprisonment.

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Saipov, acting on the inspiriation of ISIS propaganda, killed eight people with a speeding truck in a 2017 rampage on a popular New York City bike path.

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In court, the jury heard how Saipov had spent a year planning the attack and chose Halloween for his attack because more people were likely to be out. [Read More]([link removed])

Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism

[The Broadway play Parade ]([link removed])

Axel Cox, Mississippi Department of Corrections via GPB News screenshot

Man Sentenced for Cross Burning

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Axel Cox, 24, of Gulfport, Miss., was sentenced to 42 months in prison followed by three years supervised release and restitution for burning a cross in his front yard with the intent to intimidate a Black family.

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Cox admitted that he lit the cross on fire because the victims were Black and that he intended to scare them into moving out of the neighborhood. [Read More]([link removed])

Altercation at Ohio Drag Event

- Juan Collado, 22, from Cleveland, and Jason McKenna, 45, from Valley City, were charged with disorderly conduct after an altercation at a drag queen story hour in Wadsworth, Ohio.
- Videos shared on social media show people waving flags with swastikas on them while yelling racial and homophobic slurs.
- McKenna was alleged to have been brandishing a pepper spray device. [Read More]([link removed])

Antifa Attacks Journalists at Detransition Awareness Rally

- Antifa members attacked several people, including a journalist, at a Detransition Awareness Day rally in front of the state capitol in Sacramento, Calif.
- Nearly 100 protesters were dressed in black bloc, and several were wielding shields and bat-like weapons.
- Three people were reportedly assaulted, including a reporter, his cameraman, and a third unidentified person. One of the victims was hit in the head with a weapon and received a concussion.
- Detransition is the cessation or reversal of a gender transition, and Detransition Awareness Day is an attempt to support those who regret their gender transitions and build support for legislation banning the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries on minors. [Read More]([link removed])

SPLC Lawyer Among Dozens Arrested for Domestic Terrorism

- Thomas Webb Jurgens, 28, a lawyer for the Southern Poverty Law Center, was among nearly two dozen suspects arrested in Atlanta on suspicion of domestic terrorism following a violent ambush on law enforcement connected to the "Stop Cop City" Antifa affinity movement.
- Antifa-affiliated leftists set fire to the construction site of Atlanta's future Public Safety Training Facility, often referred to as "Cop City.” It has been reported that protestors clashed with law enforcement officials and a Molotov cocktail was thrown.
- Jurgens was the only one of 22 suspects to be granted bond by a magistrate judge. The SPLC claims he attended the event as a “legal observer.” [Read More]([link removed])

Hate Crimes

[Cap Coral Jewish Center]([link removed])

Cape Coral Jewish Center via News-Press screenshot

Florida Jewish Center Vandalized

- The Chabad Jewish Center of Cape Coral, Fla., was vandalized by an unknown assailant last weekend.
- After toppling a large image of a menorah, he threw bricks at the center door, attempting to gain entry and then at a car in the center’s parking lot, destroyng it.
- The attack occurred on a Saturday shortly after the conclusion of the Sabbath morning prayers, and there were six or seven worshippers still in the building. [Read More]([link removed])

School Threats

[Arvin Raj Mathur]([link removed])

Arvin Raj Mathur - St. Clair County Sheriff's Office via AP via NBC15.com screenshot

Former Grad Student Charged for Threatening Professors and Student

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Arvin Raj Mathur, 32, a former University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student, was arrested in Michigan after allegedly threatening nine people on campus.

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Mathur sent multiple emails with detailed violent threats to a professor and students in the Anthropology Department. [Read More]([link removed])

Two Arrested for Threats to South Carolina High School

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On the same day, a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old were arrested for threats to River Bluff High School in Lexington County, S.C.

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The 13-year-old, who is a student at Lakeside Middle School, allegedly made social media threats against a student at River Bluff High School and Gilbert High School. The 14-year-old made a bomb threat. [Read More]([link removed])

Hostile Foreign Influence Operations

[Students in class at Tsinghua University High School in Beijing]([link removed])

Students in class at Tsinghua University High School in Beijing, capital of China, June 2020 - Xinhua/Shen Bohan via Getty Images

Top US High School Collaborated With Chinese Institution

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Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), part of Fairfax County Public Schools, received hundreds of thousands of dollars from groups tied to China’s military.

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The prestigious high school partnered with Tsinghua University High School (TUHS) to help it adopt the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) curriculum that TJHSST is famous for. In exchange TJHSST received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Tsinghua University.

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TUHS is closely tied to Tsinghua University, considered by the Pentagon to be a Chinese military university. [Read More]([link removed])

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Since the mid-2000s, China has consistently graduated more STEM PhDs than the U.S., andChina is pulling ahead of the U.S. in a number of key indicators of science and engineering competitiveness.

North Korea's New Social Media Propaganda Campaign

- North Korea’s government appears to be fabricating stories to mislead international viewers into believing that life in North Korea is normal.
- There has been an upsurge in YouTube and Tik Tok accounts in the past two years that depict streets with Audi, Mercedes, and Hyundai cars and people attending amusement parks, fitness centers, and restaurants.
- North Korea ranks last out of 180 countries in the World Freedom Index, and every social media post from North Korea must first be reviewed by state media officials. [Read More]([link removed])

Research and Trends in Extremism

[LA Mayor Karen Bass looks on at US Attorney Martin Estrada]([link removed])

LA Mayor Karen Bass looks on as U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada speaks at a press conference in Feb. announcing the arrest of Jaime Tran for the attempted murder of two people outside separate synagogues - Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

New FBI Supplemental 2021 Hate Crime Statistics

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The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program released a 2021 hate crime statistics supplement about bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation.

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The original release of the 2021 data was marred by low participation rates by law enforcement agencies across the country due to new reporting systems.

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The U.S. supplemental figures found that reports of bias-motivated attacks rose by nearly 12 percent in 2021. [Read More]([link removed])[link removed]

QUOTABLE

“The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.”

- James Madison

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.

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