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Anti-Zionism Mutates into Anti-Semitism on the Political Left
Expressions of anti-Israel bias from left-leaning political organizations in several European democracies have devolved into anti-Semitism and even violent attacks against local Jewish communities.
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Fame-seeking Mass Shooters More Likely to Plan “Surprise” Attacks; Novelty of Their Locations, Targets Brings Added Fame
Mass shooters pursuing fame often plan their attacks as “surprises,” carefully crafting them in ways that set them apart from previous incidents, which makes them uniquely challenging to prevent. Fame-seekers — unlike those mostly motivated by personal grievance or revenge — planned their crimes around the novelty of the location and targets.
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The Mythical Tie Between Immigration and Crime
Opponents of immigration often argue that immigrants drive up crime rates. Research by Stanford’s Ran Abramitzky and co-authors uncovers the most extensive evidence to date that immigrants are less likely to be imprisoned than U.S.-born individuals.
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Outlaw Alliance: How China and Chinese Mafias Overseas Protect Each Other’s Interests
The rise of Chinese organized crime in Europe highlights its ties to the Chinese state, national security officials say. Recent cases show the suspected role of mobsters in Beijing’s campaign to repress diaspora communities and amass influence.
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Significant Intelligence Failures by FBI, DHS in Lead-Up to January 6th Capitol Attack
A Senate panel released a new report detailing the results of an investigation examining intelligence failures by the FBI and DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) in the lead-up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The investigation found that intelligence failures and operational missteps by the FBI and DHS I&A contributed to the security planning failures that left frontline officers unprepared for the violent mob that breached the Capitol and disrupted the peaceful transfer of power.
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Planned in Plain Sight
Beginning in December 2020, the FBI and DHS I&A were receiving increasingly detailed, and worrisome, information – from informers, encrypted chat rooms, and other sources — that Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and other far-right violent extremist groups supporting then-President Donald Trump were planning attacks on the Capitol and other federal buildings in an attempt to prevent the peaceful transition of power to the winner of the November election, Joe Biden. Despite the dire nature of the information, the FBI and I&A failed to issue sufficient warnings to the Capitol police, DC police, and other frontline personnel based on, and reflecting, the available intelligence indicating January 6th might turn violent.
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Facing Charges, Some Goyim Defense League Extremists Embrace “Sovereign Citizen” Tactics
As they rack up littering charges for distributing propaganda, some individuals associated with the antisemitic and extremist Goyim Defense League (GDL)—including leader Jon Minadeo—have adopted pseudo-legal “sovereign citizen” tactics in a misguided attempt to escape legal troubles.
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Four Ways Criminals Could Use AI to Target More Victims
Warnings about artificial intelligence (AI) are ubiquitous right now, but we have been using AI tools for a long time. AI is a tool to increase efficiency, process and sort large volumes of data, and offload decision making – and these tools are open to everyone, including criminals. Observing how criminals have adapted to, and adopted, technological advances in the past, can provide some clues as to how they might use AI.
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New Law Targets Gun Trafficking to Mexico
A new law that imposes harsher penalties on gun trafficking is giving U.S. prosecutors a powerful tool to combat the illicit flow of weapons from the United States to drug cartels in Mexico. The cartels use the weapons to protect their drug smuggling operations, fueling an overdose epidemic that is claiming the lives of tens of thousands of Americans.
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How Texas’ Plan to Curb School Violence Was Knocked Down by a Pandemic and Little Oversight
Threat assessment teams were created to prevent the next school shooting. However, confusion surrounds how these teams operate and what they even do with a child exhibiting threatening behavior.
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Militia Members Indicted for Conspiracy to Murder Border Patrol Officers, Illegal Immigrants
Two members of the self-styled 2nd American Militia who conspired to go “to war with border patrol” have been indicted two weeks ago by a federal grand jury on charges related to a conspiracy to murder Border Patrol officers and kill illegal immigrants crossing the border. The plot was thwarted by a shootout with FBI agents who arrested them.
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American Extremists Serving as “Sources of Inspiration,” Says U.S. Counterterror Official
There is a sense among senior U.S. counterterrorism officials that the actions of a handful of Americans are helping to drive the growth of racist and far-right extremist groups around the world. Specifically, these officials point to mass shootings and other high-profile attacks in the United States, which have helped to turn the perpetrators into martyrs for like-minded groups and individuals.
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Teachers' Views on School Safety
What are the most common safety concerns that teachers have in schools? How do teachers feel about arming teachers at school? Do they believe that arming teachers will make schools more or less safe? How do teachers’ opinions vary by individual and school-level characteristics? Would teachers choose to carry firearms at school if they were allowed? What impact do physical security measures (e.g., cameras, metal detectors) have on school climate? There is a consensus on many security measures, but stark division about arming teachers.
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Gun-Related Deaths in U.S. Reach Record High
CDC data for 2021 shows that there were 48,830 firearm fatalities in the United State in 2021 — 3,600 more than the previous record high set in 2020. More than half of those lives lost were due to suicide. Guns continued to be the leading cause of death for children and teens ages 1–19, as well as young adults under the age of 25. Black people were nearly 14 times more likely to die by gun homicide than their white counterparts.
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Four More Oath Keepers Sentenced for Seditious Conspiracy
Four members of the Oath Keepers were sentenced last week on seditious conspiracy and other charges for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The four defendants were found guilty of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to prevent Members of Congress from discharging their official duties.
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More headlines
The long view
Need for National Information Clearinghouse for Cybercrime Data, Categorization of Cybercrimes: Report
There is an acute need for the U.S. to address its lack of overall governance and coordination of cybercrime statistics. A new report recommends that relevant federal agencies create or designate a national information clearinghouse to draw information from multiple sources of cybercrime data and establish connections to assist in criminal investigations.
Twenty-One Things That Are True in Los Angeles
To understand the dangers inherent in deploying the California National Guard – over the strenuous objections of the California governor – and active-duty Marines to deal with anti-ICE protesters, we should remind ourselves of a few elementary truths, writes Benjamin Wittes. Among these truths: “Not all lawful exercises of authority are wise, prudent, or smart”; “Not all crimes require a federal response”; “Avoiding tragic and unnecessary confrontations is generally desirable”; and “It is thus unwise, imprudent, and stupid to take actions for performative reasons that one might reasonably anticipate would increase the risks of such confrontations.”
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
How DHS Laid the Groundwork for More Intelligence Abuse
I&A, the lead intelligence unit of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) —long plagued by politicized targeting, permissive rules, and a toxic culture —has undergone a transformation over the last two years. Spencer Reynolds writes that this effort falls short. “Ultimately, Congress must rein in I&A,” he adds.