Unprepared for the Unthinkable | Keeping ISIS Down | Anti-Terror Crackdown on Crypto, and more

“The defendant’s plan to bomb a Pittsburgh church and risk death or injury to residents in the area in the name of ISIS was thwarted by the extraordinary work of the Pittsburgh Joint Terrorism Task Force,” said U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “Our office will continue to hold accountable individuals who threaten the safety of our communities.” In May 2019, Alowemer distributed instructions on how to make and use an improvised explosive device (IED) to an FBI employee who was posing as a fellow ISIS supporter.

Russia, China and Islamic State Jump on Musk’s Twitter Bandwagon  (Mark Scott and Shannon Van Sant, Politico)
Elon Musk has some new super fans: Russia, China and the Islamic State. After the world’s richest man bought Twitter for $44 billion last month, officials and journalists linked to Russia and China — and even some jihadists — urged him to lift restrictions on their use of the platform. So far, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. But the repeated requests — including from high-profile figures like Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry — are part of efforts by these individuals to use Musk’s takeover as a chance to make a comeback on Twitter. Right-wing extremist groups in the West have already heralded Musk’s ownership as a signal that they can post hate-filled and potentially illegal content online with little, or no, resistance.  Now, Russian and Chinese state-backed Twitter accounts have taken up the same free speech argument, demanding the platform reinstate them, remove labels that identify these accounts as linked to Beijing or Moscow, and allow them to post more freely, including on hot-button topics like the war in Ukraine. “They are doing this to jump on the bandwagon now that the right-wing community are putting pressure on Musk,” said Felix Kartte, a senior adviser at Reset, a technology accountability lobbying group. “They are pushing it because everyone else is pushing Musk, too.

Countries to Face ‘Grey List’ in Anti-Terror Crackdown on Crypto  (Liam Gibson, Al Jazzera)
Countries that fail to implement anti-money laundering guidelines for cryptocurrencies could be added to a “grey list” that includes Syria and Haiti under a global watchdog’s plans to tighten scrutiny of virtual assets. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is preparing to conduct annual checks to ensure countries are enforcing anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules on crypto providers operating in their jurisdiction, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Al Jazeera. The use of yearly reviews — instead of mutual evaluations that run on 10-year cycles — will give non-compliant countries less time to enact standards set by the intergovernmental organization, raising the risk they are added to a “grey list” of countries subject to increased monitoring, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. One of the sources said that while failure to comply with the rule would not automatically result in a greylisting, it would affect a country’s overall rating, potentially moving some jurisdictions much closer to the threshold of being listed. The plans for annual checks have sparked fears within the crypto industry that governments may enact blanket bans on crypto service providers or pressure banks to cease servicing platforms to avoid an FATF listing. In response, crypto industry leaders are preparing to unveil a set of proposals at the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali this month aimed at minimizing the potential fallout for cryptocurrency users and exchanges.

Neo-Nazi ‘Building White Ethnostate’ in Maine Now Working with Local Extremist Group  (Ben Makuch, Vice)
Neo-Nazi Christopher Pohlhaus published video to Telegram of himself at the flash mob in Lewiston and another after, which were both obtained by VICE News through the Counter Extremism Project—a not-for-profit terrorism watchdog based in New York City. In the first video, he is clearly seen walking with other NSC-131 members, while in the second he makes a veiled threat to the Somali community of the city, demanding them to leave “my state” and adding “you don’t want to wait, until Mainers give us the greenlight.” “Nah, I just support those guys and offer a helping hand to the community wherever and whenever” said Pohlhaus via text, confirming his presence with the neo-Nazi group NSC-131 at the march, but clarified that he wasn’t a member of the group. The Anti-Defamation League has labeled NSC an extremist organization.

Three Convicted of Terrorism for Aiding Plot to Kidnap U.S. Governor  (Barron’s)
Three members of a far-right US militia group on Wednesday were found guilty of domestic terrorism charges including providing support to people who plotted to kidnap and kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The court action comes two months after two militia members were convicted of conspiring to abduct Whitmer and detonate a bomb over the tough Covid-19 pandemic restrictions she imposed on the northern state. They were among six people arrested in October 2020 following an FBI sting operation that uncovered the plot. “Today, three defendants were found guilty of material support for terrorism, gang membership, and possession of a weapon while committing a felony in support of the plot to kidnap and kill me,” Whitmer, a Democrat, said on Twitter shortly after the convictions were announced by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “No threat, no plot, no rhetoric will break my belief in the goodness and decency of our people. And these verdicts are further proof that violence and threats have no place in our politics,” Whitmer added. Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar and Pete Musico — all from Michigan and described as members of the Wolverine Watchmen — face up to 20 years in prison and $20,000 fines, the attorney general said in a statement. Sentencing is scheduled for December 15.

The World is Unprepared for the Unthinkable  (Brian McCloskey, Jennifer B. Nuzzo, David Heymann, Think Global Health)
A biological attack anywhere would have profound and far-reaching political, military, and health consequences.