TERRORISMA “Goofy” DJ’s Secret Life at the Center of an Online Terrorism Network
To friends, Matthew Allison was a likeable part of Boise, Idaho’s electronic music scene. But behind his computer screen, authorities say, he helped lead the Terrorgram Collective, an online network that inspired white supremacist violence.
Reporting Highlights
· Sinister Influence: An easygoing DJ led a dual life as an online propagandist for white supremacist hate and, prosecutors say, inspired followers to kill LGBTQ+ people and people of color.
· Producer of Hate: For years, Matthew Allison took advantage of lax moderation on the social media platform Telegram to churn out videos — around 120 in total — celebrating white terrorism.
· A Free Speech Defense: Allison has said he is a video “artist” and does not hate anyone. He denied inciting people to commit violence and plans to fight his case on First Amendment grounds.
Early last year, Matthew Allison could be found at the Space Banana dance club, awkwardly swaying to his own beat. Clutching the cheapest house beer, he’d greet people with a bear hug, a broad grin and his familiar, “Yo, bro!” salutations.
Allison, then a 37-year-old convenience store worker and Saturday-night DJ, seemed to like everyone he met in Boise, Idaho’s small electronic dance music scene. And most people seemed to like him back.
He was so gentle, former friends remember, that for a time he eschewed honey so as not to cause harm to bees.
He was “a little goofy,” a former friend, Tyler Whitt, recalled. “But bro goofy.”
But that lovable persona hid a more sinister core. When he was behind his computer screen, Allison used the handle BTC, short for BanThisChannel, he told ProPublica and FRONTLINE. On the social media and messaging platform Telegram, authorities say, Allison was a key figure in a network of white supremacist and neo-Nazi chat groups and channels known as Terrorgram.
There, Allison held court, promoting himself as “the most infamous and prolific propagandist of our time.”
Hyperbole aside, BTC was infamous. Extremism researchers in the U.S. and in Europe studied his posts but did not know who he was. Leftist activists sought to expose him. And law enforcement authorities tried to identify and jail him.
Last September, he was finally arrested.
Prosecutors allege that Allison was one of the leaders in the Terrorgram Collective, a secretive group that produced propaganda and instructions for terrorists, and disseminated that information through the Terrorgram ecosystem.
