Terrorism’s Geography Lessons | Extremism & Local News | The Case for Repealing Gun Manufacturers’ Legal Shield, and more

China and the United States are, along with Russia, regarded as global leaders in cyberwarfare research.

Elected Officials, Police Chiefs on Leaked Oath Keepers List  (Associated Press / VOA News)
The names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that’s accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to a report released Wednesday.
The data raises fresh concerns about the presence of extremists in law enforcement and the military who are tasked with enforcing laws and protecting the U.S. It’s especially problematic for public servants to be associated with extremists at a time when lies about the 2020 election are fueling threats of violence against lawmakers and institutions.

Ensuring Access to Courts for Gun Victims: The Case for Repealing PLCAA  (Kaya van der Horst and León Castellanos-Jankiewicz, Just Security)
Endemic gun violence is haunting America. According to the latest mortality data, there were a record 45,222 firearm-related deaths in the United States in 2020. The broad immunity enjoyed by the gun industry, however, means that judicial remedies for victims are alarmingly deficient. Since its adoption in 2005, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) has largely shielded gun manufacturers from civil liability suits. Although originally designed to deflect frivolous litigation, PLCAA has been invoked and interpreted expansively over the years in U.S. courts in a way that jeopardizes the right to a remedy to which survivors of gun violence and their family members are entitled, including under international human rights law. As the momentum to dismantle PLCAA steadily gains ground, international law and norms further support the case for the law’s repeal.

Soldier Who Said He Wanted Combat Experience to Kill Black People Booted After FBI Probe  (Steve Beynon, Military.com)
A former paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division who has been arrested said he enlisted to become more proficient at killing Black people and made overt references to white supremacy. Spc. Killian Ryan was taken into custody Aug. 26 on a charge related to lying on his secret security clearance and was kicked out of the Army the same day, according to the service. An investigation by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force discovered ties to white nationalism and threats of violence against minorities on social media accounts, according to court records. “I serve for combat experience so I’m more proficient in killing n——-s,” Ryan wrote in one social media post on May 27, 2021. That comment was posted roughly two weeks after he enlisted in the Army. His personal email address at the time was “NaziAce1488,” a reference to Adolf Hitler and American white supremacy. The Pentagon has vowed a crackdown on extremism in the ranks, taking measures such as modifying the vetting process to join the military and asking whether an applicant subscribes to any extremist ideology. But that line of questioning may rely heavily on the honesty of recruits. Ryan also filled out a Standard Form 86, or SF 86, a questionnaire for his security clearance. In it, he was asked whether he ever advocated for any acts of terrorism.

Ukraine’s Azov Battalion: Neo-Nazis or Russian Propaganda?  (Thomas Klikauer, Counterpunch)
According to all available information on Asov, to argue that the battalion is a monolithic Neo-Nazi, ultra-nationalist, and anti-Semitic unity is unjustified. German-extremism researcher, Alexander Ritzmann at Berlin’s Counter Extremism Project said recently, the Azov Battalion is definitely not a right-wing extremist Battalion in the Ukrainian army. Riztmann noted that many of Asov’s right-wing extremist founding members had, in fact, left the Azov Battalion in the course of its integration into Ukraine’s National Guard. Once outside, they founded the right-wing extremist Azov movement. Finally, the Azov Battalion and other right-wing extremists operating at Ukraine’s national level are insignificant for Ukraine as a whole. For example, all right-wing extremist parties combined received only 2.15% of public support in the last election.

How Is Cryptocurrency Funding Terrorism Across the Globe  (Mausam Jah, Financial Express)
At a time when the world is going through digital evolution, with currencies too being traded in the form of cryptocurrency, this has led to a rise in concern about insurgents using the same to mobilize terrorism. Case in point, when the Taliban a fundamentalistic Islamic group came into power on August 15, 2021, in Afghanistan, it was perceived that a lot of the money will be routed via cryptocurrency. However, the Taliban regime has banned cryptocurrency and claims to have arrested 16 local exchanges in the city of Herat in the northwest, according to the regional news website ATN-News. Furthermore, as per a report by the Israeli Anti-money laundering (I-AML) website, in the year (August 2020-August 2021), terror organizations received Ethereum (ETH), ERC20 tokens, and XRP donations. Da Afghanistan Financial Institution (the central bank) stated in a letter that the trading of digital currency has caused several problems including fraud and hence it needs to be shut down. Sayed Shah Sa’adat, the head of the Herat police’s counter-crime squad, told ATN-Information, “We acted and detained all of the exchangers involved in the business and shut down their shops.” Meanwhile, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism week in June 2021 stated that the Covid-19 pandemic increased the potential for terrorist organizations to obtain money through online sources.

Extremism Concerns Raised Against Bill to Empower Local News  (Bloomberg)
Digital rights advocates are warning that a bill to aid local journalism could force technology platforms to carry and pay for extreme content. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider the bipartisan bill (S. 673) Thursday. It’s intended to empower small news organizations to negotiate compensation from technology giants such as Meta Platforms Inc.‘s Facebook and Alphabet Inc.‘s Google. Allowing media companies to take legal action against tech platforms if they limit offensive or extreme content would violate the First Amendment and increase the amount of disinformation, hate speech, and harassment online, 21 groups told committee leaders in a Sept. 2 letter, made public Tuesday.

German Court Hands Islamic State Member 10 Years in Prison for Murder, War Crimes  (Reuters)
“A German court has sentenced an Islamic State member to 10 years in prison for war crimes and murder committed in Syria, including the beating of a prisoner who later died in custody. The man, who was not named, travelled to Syria from Germany and joined Islamic State in March 2014, according to a statement on Wednesday from the Duesseldorf court after the verdict. He became a prison guard and along with three other men was ordered to punish a prisoner. The defendant beat the handcuffed man, who was suspended from the ceiling by his hands tied behind his back. He died two days later. A German court last year sentenced a former Islamic State militant to life imprisonment for involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity.