OUR PICKS LAST WEEKThe Attacks in Minnesota Reflect a Worrying Trend | What Is the Golden Dome, and Can the United States Afford It? | When the Military Comes to American Soil | The EPA Plans to ‘Reconsider’ Ban on Cancer-Causing Asbestos, and more
EXTREMISM
· The Growing Threat of Homegrown Religious Extremism
· Right-Wing Extremism: Brutally Young
· The Minnesota Shooting Suspect’s Background Suggests Deep Ties to Christian Nationalism
· The Attacks in Minnesota Reflect a Worrying Trend
· The Fear Coursing Through State Capitols
· Far-Right ‘Appeal to Heaven’ Flag Flown Above Government Agency in DC
· Terrorism Threat Grows in West Africa as U.S. Turns Away
· When Buddhism Turns Violent
· ‘Psyop’: How Far-Right Conspiracy Theories About the Minnesota Shooting Evolved to Protect MAGA
· Minnesota Shooting Suspect Allegedly Used Data Broker Sites to Find Targets’ Addresses
· As ‘Lone Actor’ Attacks Rise, Trump Cuts Program Aimed at Spotting Them
• Minnesota Shooting Suspect Went from Youthful Evangelizer to Far-Right Zealot
· Fewer Hate Groups Formed in 2024 Even as Far-Right Ideologies Are Gaining Ground in Mainstream Culture
· Terrorists Could Turn Driverless Cars into Slaughterbots, UN Warns
· Prompted to Harm: Analyzing the Pirkkala School Stabbing and Its Digital Manifesto
· Far-Right Parties Surge Across Europe
· Targeting Terror at the Source: AFRICOM’s Airstrikes Shield U.S. Homeland
· Far-Right Groups Buzz with Violent Talk on How to Respond to ‘No Kings’ Protest
· DHS Posted an Image Calling for Help Locating ‘All Foreign Invaders.’ It Was Previously Circulated by Far-Right Accounts
· How Young People Are Radicalized by Computer Games
· Far-Right Conservative Catholics in the U.S. Are Experiencing a Resurgence
THE LONG VIEW
· What Is the Golden Dome, and Can the United States Afford It?
· ‘I Think He Is About to Destroy Vaccines in This Country’
· Steel and Silicon: Shipbuilding’s Defense Tech Moment
· Traditional Federal Cybersecurity Modernization Has Failed – Time for a New Approach
· FBI Reports 50% Decline in Active Shooter Incidents – A Call for Standardized Response Protocols
· A Critical Mineral in a Critical Moment: The Antimony Crisis
· How Trump’s Executive Orders Are Transforming American Drone Policy
DEMOCRACY WATCH
· We May Be on the Brink of an Extremely Violent Era in American Politics
· The Minnesota Suspect’s Radical Spiritual World
· Trump Accelerates Push to Reward Loyalty in Federal Workforce
· Unpacking the Protective Power
· The “Unwilling or Unable” Test for Sending U.S. Military to Los Angeles
· When the Military Comes to American Soil
· American Bar Association Sues Trump Administration
· A Parade of Ignorance
· Trump’s Un-American Parade
· Is Trump Politicizing the Military?
· When a Radical Performance Artist Has Command of an Army
· Close Trump Allies Sponsored the Military Parade, Raising Ethical Concerns
MORE PICKS
· The EPA Plans to ‘Reconsider’ Ban on Cancer-Causing Asbestos
· Trump Scales Back Biden’s Product Security Demands
· On Immigration, Trump Runs into Reality
· Trump’s Deportations Aren’t What They Seem
· Head of FEMA Command Center Quits After Trump Says He’ll Phase Out the Agency
· How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance
· How Coast Guard Cyber Protection Teams Train for Real-World Port Attacks
EXTREMISM
The Growing Threat of Homegrown Religious Extremism (Mona Charen, The Bulwark)
The alleged Minnesota assassin was known as a ‘deeply religious’ Christian man. That should be an alarm bell for all of us.
Right-Wing Extremism: Brutally Young (Jan Heidtmann, Iris Mayer, and Christoph Koopmann, Suddeutsche Zeitung)
Alexander Ritzmann from the think tank “Counter Extremism Project” observes these groups closely. He says that in the spring of 2024, the party “Die Heimat” (formerly the NPD) with its up-and-coming organization Young Nationalists” (JN) changed its strategy because it was running out of members. Instead of being a party cadre factory, they want to bring people onto the streets – and is founding new local groups under the under the label “Revolt”, such as the Elblandrevolte in Dresden.
The Minnesota Shooting Suspect’s Background Suggests Deep Ties to Christian Nationalism (Tess Owen, Wired)
Experts say that the suspect showed clear ties to forms of so-called charismatic Christianity that views abortion as a sacrifice to demons and seeks the end of secular democracy.
The Attacks in Minnesota Reflect a Worrying Trend (Economist)
Threats are increasing—and state legislators are particularly vulnerable.
The Fear Coursing Through State Capitols (Elaine Godfrey, The Atlantic)
An assassination in Minnesota has given legislators a fresh awareness of their own vulnerability.
Far-Right ‘Appeal to Heaven’ Flag Flown Above Government Agency in DC (Vittoria Elliott and Leah Feiger, Wired)
The “Appeal to Heaven” flag, a popular symbol for Christian nationalists that was waved by January 6 rioters, was raised over the Small Business Administration headquarters last week.
Terrorism Threat Grows in West Africa as U.S. Turns Away (Elian Peltier, New York Times)
Insurgents are expanding from West Africa’s Sahel region toward Atlantic coastal nations such as Ivory Coast, creating new terrorism hot spots and displacing millions.
When Buddhism Turns Violent (Nilay Saiya, Lawfare)
Governments that rely on Buddhist leaders for legitimacy can empower extremists that promote violence.
‘Psyop’: How Far-Right Conspiracy Theories About the Minnesota Shooting Evolved to Protect MAGA (David Gilbert, Wired)
Influencers like Alex Jones and Elon Musk have spent the weekend blaming the murder of Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman on leftists and the deep state.
Minnesota Shooting Suspect Allegedly Used Data Broker Sites to Find Targets’ Addresses (Lily Hay Newman, Wired)
The shooter allegedly researched several “people search” sites in an attempt to target his victims, highlighting the potential dangers of widely available personal data.
