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··NYPD Warns Polling Sites Remain Potential Targets for Extremist Violence
NYPD urges urged vigilance ahead of the midterm elections
··As Gas Prices Reshape Midterms, U.S. Extremists Plot to Attack Energy Sites
An ominous chorus of online chatter among domestic extremists about targeting U.S. energy
··Russia Reactivates Its Trolls and Bots Ahead of Tuesday’s Midterms
Russia hopes to sow distrust, help candidates critical of Ukraine aid
··Antisemitism Decried Four Years After Pa. Synagogue Attack
Grief is mixed with dismay over the continued and growing incidents of antisemitism in the U.S.
··F.B.I. Locates Suspect After Warning of Security Threat at New Jersey Synagogues
Officials said the threat had been “mitigated”
··How to Detect a Man-Made Biothreat
Detecting dangerous bioengineered organisms before they have a chance to cause significant harm
··Multisector Cooperation Against Terrorism
Terrorists acquire chemicals through weak points in the supply chain
··NASA Asteroid Threat Practice Drill Shows We’re Not Ready
Humanity is not yet ready to meet an asteroid threat
··What Happens When Everything Becomes TikTok
Technology has its limits
NYPD Warns Polling Sites Remain Potential Targets for Extremist Violence (Pat Milton and Sophie Reardon, CBS News)
Less than two weeks before Election Day, the New York City Police Department warned that polling sites could be targets for violent extremists. A law enforcement bulletin obtained by CBS News on Thursday said racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists and anti-government extremists “continue to prioritize the targeting of political rallies, voting sites, poll workers, and election officials.” The NYPD said, however, it is not aware of any specific or credible threat to the city’s polling sites, political candidates or election workers. The bulletin stated that hostile rhetoric and an abundance of generalized threats from likeminded people in chat groups, and other online forums “may effectively create echo chambers that circulate and reinforce false narratives and establish a permissive environment for violent action against election-related infrastructure and personnel.” The bulletin urged vigilance ahead of the midterm elections. Early voting in New York starts on Saturday and will continue through Election Day, which is Nov. 8.
As Gas Prices Reshape Midterms, U.S. Extremists Plot to Attack Energy Sites (Tom O’Connor and Naveed Jamali, Newsweek)
As rising fuel costs threaten the political hopes of Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections, an ominous chorus of online chatter among domestic extremists in the dark corners of the Internet advocating attacks on critical infrastructure across the nation may pose an even greater threat to U.S. consumers. Newsweek has obtained two documents that offer an insight into the scope of the threat, including reports of several actual attacks that have happened in past few months. The first is a corporate intelligence security memo detailing at least 15 instances over the course of just over a year showing suspected extremists openly threatening and calling for acts of sabotage against energy sites, especially electricity substations, but also including other targets such as cell towers and pipelines. The material included documents that could serve to help groups and individuals in carrying out such attacks, including maps, manuals and instructions on the vulnerabilities of electricity infrastructure and readily accessible methods to disrupt their operation. Those behind the posts, which were shared across various online platforms and chat rooms, expressed ties to a number of anti-government ideologies, mostly far-right and neo-Nazi beliefs, but also including eco-militancy and at least one user who shared messaging supportive of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).
