Violent Domestic Extremists on the Rise | Big Tech & Skilled Immigrants | Terrorists Use Crypto, and more

Enduring perceptions of election fraud related to the 2020 general election continue to contribute to the radicalization of some violent extremists, and likely would “increase their sensitivity to any new claims perceived as reaffirming their belief that US elections are corrupt,” according to the assessment. The joint federal assessment comes as election workers are increasingly concerned about physical threats to themselves and election infrastructure, and foreign actors seek to widen divisions in the United States. “We assess that election-related perceptions of fraud and [domestic violent extremist] reactions to divisive topics will likely drive sporadic [domestic violent extremist] plotting of violence and broader efforts to justify violence in the lead up to and following the 2022 midterm election cycle,” the bulletin states.

Big Tech Cites National Security in Push for Immigration Changes  (Suzanne Monyak, CQ-Roll Call / Phys.org)
Policy leaders in Big Tech have revved up a push for Congress to pass immigration changes before the end of the year, with a pitch aligning those policies to the national security concerns that sparked a recently enacted science and technology funding law.

UN Says Crypto Use in Terror Financing Likely Soaring  (Sidhartha Shukla, Bloomberg)
A United Nations official said more cases of crypto use in terror-financing are being detected amid stepped up scrutiny of such practices. A couple of years ago 5% of terrorist attacks were viewed as crypto-financed or linked to digital assets, but “now we’re thinking that it may reach about 20%,” Svetlana Martynova, senior legal officer at the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, said in an interview in Mumbai. “Statistics here are not our best friends,” Martynova stressed in the Oct. 28 interview. “We’re just seeing more as we’re looking more into it.” Cryptocurrency-based crime hit an all-time high in 2021, with illicit digital-asset addresses receiving $14 billion, up from $7.8 billion in 2020, according to a report by blockchain specialist Chainalysis Inc.  A number of militant organizations, like Al-Qaeda or al-Qassam Brigades — Hamas’ military wing — tried to finance operations with crypto but it’s hard to find “a group that has gotten away with it,” Chainalysis said. Martynova said a UN Security Council resolution specifically calls on member states to tackle the risks linked to virtual assets and terrorism financing. She added that the Financial Action Task Force has helped to set global standards on regulations, particularly for tracking information on blockchains across jurisdictions — known as the Travel Rule.

Sheriff’s Office Says Antisemitic Messages in Jacksonville Were Not Crimes  (Michelle Watson, Sara Weisfeldt, Hannah Sarisohn and Eric Levenson, CNN)
The multiple antisemitic messages that appeared in public spaces in Jacksonville, Florida, this weekend, including at the high-profile Florida-Georgia college football game, do not constitute crimes at this time, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said. “At this time, the Sheriff’s Office has not identified any crimes having been committed; the comments displayed do not include any type of threat and are protected by the First Amendment,” public information officer T.N. Dash said in an email. “We will continue to monitor any reports of this nature to determine if they rise to level of a criminal nature.” The Jacksonville branch of the FBI also said it is in contact with the sheriff’s office in case the investigation reveals further information of a crime. “Investigating these acts remains a top priority for the FBI because hate crimes are not only an attack on the victim – these acts are meant to threaten and intimidate an entire community,” FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Sherri Onks said. The police statements came as local and state officials condemned the antisemitic messages. The US has seen a rise in antisemitic incidents over the past few years, with 941 incidents in 2015 jumping to 2,717 tracked in 2021 by the Anti-Defamation League. Four years ago, a gunman stormed into a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and killed 11 people in the deadliest attack on Jewish people on US soil.

Far-Right Extremist Nicholas Fuentes Tries to Get Back on Twitter — but Is Banned  (Ariel Zilber, New York Post)
Nicholas Fuentes, a white nationalist who was banned from Twitter last year, tried to get back on the social media site now that it’s owned by free speech advocate Elon Musk — only to be turned away by the platform once again. Fuentes — who has been banned by other tech sites including YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, Spotify, Venmo and Clubhouse for making several incendiary comments deemed racist and anti-Semitic — created new Twitter accounts in hopes of rejoining the service, according to the Daily Beast. Among the new Twitter handles that Fuentes created in hopes of getting back onto the microblogging site were @spookygoblin8, according to the Daily Beast. The Post has sought comment from Fuentes and Twitter. Fuentes first gained notoriety in 2017 when he said he was forced to leave Boston University, where he was enrolled as a student, after receiving threats for taking part in the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. He would eventually found an organization called America First Foundation, which the Justice Department has deemed a white nationalist organization. Fuentes was removed from several tech platforms last year after making controversial comments about the US losing its “white demographic core” while praising the riots at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as “awesome.”

Hate Cleric Anjem Choudary Returns to Twitter After Ban with New Account, Telling Elon Musk: ‘If You’re True to Your Word, I’ll Keep Preaching Online’  (Darren Boyle, Daily Mail)
Islamic hate preacher Anjem Choudary is back on Twitter and has praised its new owner Elon Musk for giving him the opportunity to reach a global audience.  Choudary, 55, was jailed in 2016 for five-and-a-half years for inviting support for ISIS. The former lawyer was released from jail on license having served half of his sentence but was subjected to stringent conditions, including a ban from preaching in person or online.  He was banned permanently from Twitter less than a week after he rejoined the social network in 2019. But now he believes he can resume his career.  Speaking to MailOnline, Choudary said he will continue preaching online.  When asked if he will be banned again, he replied: ‘Who knows… if what Elon says about free speech holds true then it should stay up.’ The Twitter account has several links to sermons as well as an upcoming online debate being hosted on Telegram. In a series of tweets posted over the past 24 hours, Choudary criticises the PM Rishi Sunak and condemns the up-coming FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He also calls on King Charles III to convert to Islam. Before it was banned, Choudary was a leading member of al-Muhajiroun which was accused of radicalizing youths. Before being jailed, he helped to radicalize Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby in South-East London in 2013; and Khuram Butt, the ringleader of the London Bridge attacks of 2017.

Antisemitic Campaign Tries to Capitalize on Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover.  (Stuart A. Thompson, New York Times)
A coordinated campaign to spread antisemitic memes and images on Twitter resulted in more than 1,200 tweets and retweets featuring the offensive content, according to an analysis by the Anti-Defamation League. The tweets identified by the A.D.L. added to a flurry of racist, transphobic and rule-breaking content that coursed through Twitter on Friday after Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, had officially taken control of the platform. Mr. Musk has promised to loosen content moderation rules in the name of “free speech,” worrying many who believe the changes will allow offensive content to spread on the platform. The A.D.L. said the antisemitic tweet campaign was hatched on 4chan, the fringe message board that is loosely moderated and where hate speech has thrived. On Thursday, an anonymous 4chan user posted instructions for sharing antisemitic content on Twitter after Mr. Musk’s takeover was made official. The post was circulated on Telegram, the chat app popular with the far right, according to the A.D.L.“Now that Elon is taking over Twitter it’s time to finally put our skills to use,” read the post, which told users to argue with Jewish users and “like” tweets from other participants.”

Hate Speech, Online Extremism Fed Pelosi Attack, Terror Experts Believe  (Heather Timmons, Reuters)
The frequent targeting of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by online extremists and political opponents likely contributed to the violent attack on her husband Paul, terrorism and extremism experts said. The intruder at the Pelosis’ home yelled “Where’s Nancy?” before assaulting Paul Pelosi with a hammer, according to a person briefed on the incident. An internet user with the same name as the man arrested at the scene, David Depape, expressed support for former President Donald Trump and embraced the cult-like conspiracy theory QAnon in online posts that referenced “satanic pedophilia.” Police have yet to comment on a motive in the attack. But terrorism and extremism experts believe it could be an example of the growing threat of so-called stochastic terrorism, in which sometimes unstable individuals are inspired to violence by hate speech and scenarios they see online and hear echoed by public figures. “This was clearly a targeted attack. The purpose was to locate and potentially harm the speaker of the house,” said John Cohen, a former counterterrorism coordinator and head of intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security, who is currently working with state and local law enforcement across the country on the issue. “This is a continuation of a trend that we have been experiencing over the past several years. It is a threat dynamic that has law enforcement extraordinarily concerned.”