Week in Review for Violent Extremism and Terrorism Analysis: 2023-02-27
Happy Monday everyone, here is your recap for the week of February 27, 2023. Feel free to send my way recommendations for next week.
1) ICSR launches the Repository of Extremist Aligned Documents.
ICSR launched a database called the Repository of Extremist Aligned Documents for researchers, practitioners, policymakers and law enforcement. This has long been in the making and represents an important dimension of research into violent extremism and terrorism, which is ease of access to primary sources of information for researchers and practitioners. Primary sources are an important tool to leverage; however access to some of these materials are not easily available to researchers and practitioners either due to the nature of the actors we research, the ecosystems they are active, or even lack of knowledge of groups/spaces. READ offers a way for researcher and practitioners to access both widely known documents related to violent extremism and terrorism, as well as niche documents that have been curated by the team of experts at ICSR, without having to directly engage in violent extremist milieus. Further, there are several important actors in the field that need access to primary sources to accomplish their work, such as frontline prevention practitioners, or policy analysts that might not be able to access these documents or even know they exist. Our field is known for individuals and organizations who hoard data and do not share it, at times for legitimate reasons, but for others for selfish ones. I have always been an advocate for sharing data and resources in our field and READ is a step in that direction. This is also an effort that relied and will continue to rely on crowdsourcing, we all have our areas of expertise and our niche actors and milieus we focus on. Databases like these are an important source of information to understand both past and emerging trends. I also want to highlight that not everyone is trained or equipped (psychologically or emotionally) to go into the spaces where this material is found. This should not prevent them from having the tools they need to do their research. Researchers and practitioners should not have to choose between their mental health or safety and security to get access to primary data and I hope READ accomplishes this.
2) Global Investigative Journalism Network Shares New Reporting Tools to Archive Videos, Find QAnon Networks, and Track Targets via Online Reviews
This piece has a set of tools and databases for researchers and practitioners. Worth highlighting is firstly the Bellingcat Auto Archiver which is a tool that “Bellingcat’s tech team created an Auto Archiver in 2022, which can save posts including video clips, remarkably, using just a simple copy-and-paste function. The tool automatically chooses the ideal downloading and archiving strategy for each URL, and uses the Wayback Machine as a backup.” Secondly is the QAnon in Europe Database includes a searchable database of about 2,200 social media channels, and 36 million posts, related to the QAnon conspiracy community in Europe.
3) Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats: Exploring The Role Of The Internet In The Radicalisation Process And Offending Of Convicted Extremists
This publication is an overview of Dr. Jonathan Kenyon’s dissertation exploring the role of the Internet in radicalisation pathways and offending of convicted extremists in England and Wales. “The overarching aim of this doctoral research was to investigate the role of the Internet in radicalisation pathways and offending of convicted extremists in England and Wales. The empirical study was unique because it benefitted from access to closed source risk assessment reports within His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). These reports were authored by Psychologists and Probation Officers with access to restricted case documentation and in the majority of cases, direct interviews with the individuals concerned.”
4) A Collective of Anonymous Antifascist Researchers Have Uncovered the Identity of the Terrorgram Collective’s Main Propagandists
SoCal Research Club, @WizardAFA, @SunlightAFA and @FashFreeNW — and published last week on Left Coast Right Watch, revealed that one of the Terrorgram Collective’s main propagandists is Dallas Erin Humber, a 33-year-old woman living in Sacramento, California. Their findings were later corroborated by HuffPost.
Link to Left Coast Right Watch
Link to HuffPost
5) A Neo-Nazi Troll Network Is Making Money Abusing Jews
Mack Lamoureux dives into the videos of neo-Nazi abuse that have been shared widely lately. Though they have been banned from the majority of social media sites, the Goyim Defense League is actively trying to make a living off their virulently racist and anti-Semitic stunts.
6) Michigan attorney general says she was target of plot to kill Jewish state officials
The FBI confirmed that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says she was the target of a plot to kill Jewish state officials. “The FBI said it had uncovered that Carpenter is being investigated for the theft in December 2022 of a firearm, which, according to the Justice Department, he currently had in his possession.”
7) RCMP alleges 'major' cache of firearms, neo-Nazi material found in home west of Montreal; charges laid
Two brothers are facing several firearms charges after a "very significant" stash of guns and ammunition was allegedly found in a home west of Montreal, according the RCMP. Officers also allegedly found neo-Nazi material inside the residence. In total, police seized 37 firearms, weapons parts, and military accessories, and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition. They also found approximately 200 high-capacity magazines.
8) 5 held after series of Fresno bombings. Police, FBI probe links to hate groups
Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama on Wednesday announced the arrest of five people after a series of bombings in the city. A task force of local police and FBI agents also seized bomb-making components, firearms, methamphetamine and white supremacist paraphernalia, including Nazi flags.
According to Vice, Police recovered flags, banners, and a collection of mugs emblazoned with Nazi symbols from his residence. One of the flags they recovered features a totenkopf, an image of a skull used by an elite division of Nazi Waffen-SS that’s become increasingly popular among modern American white supremacist groups. Anderson also had a baseball cap featuring the text “14 Words”—a reference to a white supremacist slogan, as well as a T-shirt saying “Smash Cultural Marxism” alongside words like “Race,” “Nation,” and “Heritage.”
Link to Fresnobee
Link to Vice
9) Former U.S. Army Soldier Sentenced To 45 Years In Prison For Attempting To Murder Fellow Service Members In Deadly Ambush
Federal Prosecutors announced that Ethan Melzer sent sensitive information to a group chat with neo-Nazis, he hoped the group could accomplish its goal of murdering U.S. service members from his own troop in Turkey as part of an ambush. Melzer “unlawfully disclosing his unit’s location, strength, and armaments to other O9A members and jihadists in furtherance of this ambush, Melzer traitorously sought to attack the very soldiers he was entrusted to protect.”
10) Election-denying former Colorado clerk guilty of obstruction
A former Colorado clerk who has become a hero to election conspiracy theorists was convicted Friday of a misdemeanor obstruction charge for trying to prevent authorities from taking an iPad she allegedly used to videotape a court hearing.
11) Two California Men Sentenced To Prison For Conspiracy To Attack Democratic Headquarters In Sacramento
Prosecutors announced that Ian Benjamin Rogers was sentenced to 108 months in prison and Jarrod Copeland was sentenced to 54 months in prison for their respective roles in crimes including a conspiracy to destroy the Democratic Headquarters in Sacramento.
“The defendants in this case admitted that they intended to destroy the headquarters of a political organization by firebombing it, Their decision to ‘go to war’ was based on their thought that they would rather destroy their political opponents’ building than acknowledge they lost an election and rely on the political process to make change. Ian Rogers and Jarrod Copeland will now have plenty of time to reflect on the fact that resorting to violence is not an acceptable means of making political change in our democracy. Prosecution and imprisonment await those who attempt to supplant the political process with fear and violence.”
12) GNET/ARC will be Hosting a Webinar - Militant Accelerationism: Defining the Threat
This is the first instalment of The Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) and The Accelerationism Research Consortium (ARC)'s joint event series on the key facets of militant accelerationism.
This session will focus on defining militant accelerationism, situating it as a set of tactics and strategies rather than an ideology. The panellists will describe the various manifestations of these tactics both on- and offline, and why the threat matters.