Brexit & Terrorism | Biden’s Looming War on White Supremacy |Universities & Extremism, and more

Brexit Will Disrupt Hunt for U.K.’s Most Wanted Fugitives, Terrorism Expert Warns (Josh Layton, Metro)
The hunt for some of the UK’s most wanted terrorists will be disrupted by Brexit, a former counter terrorism chief has warned. Sir Ivor Roberts, former Head of Counter Terrorism at the Foreign Office, says ‘White Widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite is among the fugitives who could go further off the radar after the end of mutual security arrangements with the EU. The British diplomat was involved in a key test of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) – one of the tools the UK no longer has access to. He claims the fast-track extradition of terrorist Hussain Osman will be ‘impossible to replicate’ after the January 1 departure from the EU. Sir Ivor was the British Ambassador to Italy at the time Osman was arrested in Rome over the failed plot to bomb London on July 21, 2005. The UK is no longer part of the EAW and has also forfeited its membership of Europol and the Schengen Information System II (SIS II), which British law enforcement accessed around half a billion times annually … Sir Ivor, senior advisor to US think-tank the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), has spoken of the continued threat posed by Lewthwaite and other fugitives at a time the world’s focus shifts to the far-right in the wake of the deadly riot at the US Capitol.

Extremism

Joe Biden’s Looming War on White Supremacy (Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic)
The insurrection could spur a federal-government crackdown on white-nationalist groups, as well as strengthen the case for systemic police reform.

How Republicans Are Warping Reality Around the Capitol Attack (Astead W. Herndon, New York Times)
Loyalists to President Trump are increasingly relying on conspiracy theories and misinformation, drawing false equivalence with last summer’s racial protests and blaming outside agitators.

QAnon Is Destroying the GOP From Within (Sen. Ben Sasse, The Atlantic)
Until last week, too many in the Republican Party thought they could preach the Constitution and wink at QAnon. They can’t.

Far Right Extremism’s History in America (Kirk Seigler, NPR)
Historians say the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol flowed in part from the refusal by some elected officials to openly condemn a particular strain of far-right extremism going back to the 1990s.

Inauguration Day Will Come and Go. Violent Domestic Extremism May Be Around for a While (Kevin G. Hall and Tara Copp, Military.com)
When it’s over, it won’t be over.
On alternative social media, self-styled militia and patriot websites and hate-group platforms like that of the Proud Boys, the message is the same: There are no plans to fade away after Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
“There’s no reason to believe that the problem we encountered in the U.S. Capitol on the 6th (of January) will dissipate,” warns Paul Joyal, a security expert who pointed to FBI alerts about possible political violence. “That in and of itself is evidence of a wide-ranging network of men of violence who are willing to take the law into their own hands.”

Purges Force Extremists Off Social Media Sites. That Can Complicate Investigators’ Work. (Ellen Nakashima, Mark Berman, and Matthew D. LaPlante, Washington Post)

How Susceptible Is a University to Extremism? (Mzwandile Poncana, The Link)
Marc-André Argentino, Concordia extremism researcher, discusses the psychology and the dangers of extremist radicalization

Blocked from Social Media, Extremists Discuss Turning to Radios to Plan Attacks, FCC Warns (David Goldman, CNN)
The US government is warning that groups could rely on radio equipment as an alternative to social media to plan future criminal activities.
In a stark warning Sunday, the Federal Communications Commission’s enforcement bureau said people coordinating or conducting criminal activity over radio waves are breaking the law.
The FCC licenses certain signals for people to broadcast over radio waves. Those messages are generally protected by the US Constitution’s First Amendment. But the FCC reminded radio licensees and operators that it is prohibited to transmit “communications intended to facilitate a criminal act.” People are also not allowed to encode their messages to obscure their meaning from law enforcement.
The laws governing airwaves apply to amateurs broadcasting with personal ham radios, which can reach long distances. But they also apply to people using Citizens Band (CB) radios commonly used for communication between truckers — or even walkie-talkies.

FBI Probes Possible Connections Between Extremist Groups at Heart of Capitol Violence (Devlin Barrett and Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post)
The FBI investigation of the Capitol riot has begun to zero in on potential key figures in the chaos, including some self-styled militia members who in some videos and photos appear to be planning or urging further violence. Though no one has been charged with leading or directing the violence, investigators are working to find out whether certain individuals helped coordinate aspects of the attack, before and during the chaos, or were merely opportunistic instigators. In nearly two weeks since the assault, the Justice Department has charged more than 100 people — mostly individuals who revealed themselves as participating in the Jan. 6 riot through social media boasts. But the weekend arrests of people with alleged ties to extremist groups reflects the FBI’s increasing attention to the more prepared, organized and determined groups among the larger mass of rioters. One of those newly charged was Robert Gieswein, 24, of Woodland Park, Colo. Charging documents and videos indicate he may have links to the three extremist groups that have drawn the most attention from the FBI: the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters. Some of the videos appear to include members who discussed storming the Capitol about an hour ahead of the riot

Extremists Exploit a Loophole in Social Moderation: Podcasts on Apple, Google (Tali Arbel, Associated Press)
Major social platforms have been cracking down on the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories in the leadup to the presidential election, and expanded their efforts in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. But Apple and Google, among others, have left open a major loophole for this material: podcasts. Podcasts made available by the two Big Tech companies let you tune into the world of the QAnon conspiracy theory, wallow in President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and bask in other extremism. Accounts that have been banned on social media for election misinformation, threatening or bullying, and breaking other rules also still live on as podcasts available on the tech giants’ platforms. Conspiracy theorists have peddled stolen-election fantasies, coronavirus conspiracies and violent rhetoric. One podcaster, RedPill78, called the Capitol siege a “staged event” in a Jan. 11 episode of Red Pill News. The day before the Capitol riot, a more popular podcast, X22 Report, spoke confidently about a Trump second term, explained that Trump would need to “remove” many members of Congress to further his plans, and said “We the people, we are the storm, and we’re coming to DC.