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Extremism & social media
Since the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Parler has caught on among right-wing politicians and “influencers” – people with large online followings – as a social media platform where they can share and promote ideas without worrying about the company blocking or flagging their posts for being dangerous or misleading. However, the website has become a haven for far-right extremists and conspiracy theorists who are now interacting with the mainstream conservatives flocking to the platform.
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Terrorism
More than 120 Islamists in Germany pose a “high risk,” according to Germany’s federal police, with 115 more posing a potentially high risk. There is a growing debate in Germany about monitoring extremists, and about streamlining deportation policies for extremists about to be released from jail.
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Extremism
New research project aims to shed new light on the intentions of violent extremists. The “Disguised Compliance in Terrorist Offending” project will provide frontline staff across U.K. security agencies with the best tools and approaches to assess the true intention of people motivated to acts of violence by ideologies.
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Extremism
U.K. authorities have detained a suspect over a 1974 bombing that killed 21 people and injured 182 in Birmingham. The attack came during violent resistance to British rule in Northern Ireland, and it represents one of the worst terror incidents in British history.
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Extremism
The FBI has today (Monday) released Hate Crime Statistics, 2019, show that, in 2019, there were 7,314 criminal incidents and 8,559 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity.
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Domestic terrorism
The Michigan terrorists who plotted to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer and attack the Michigan State legislature building, planned for no one to emerge alive from the building, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.The plotters planned to carry food and supplies with them as they stormed the Capitol building, and barricade themselves inside. Their plan then called for the legislators to face televised “trials,” in which they would be charged with “tyranny,” and then executed. Fox and his fellow plotters believed they would be able to hold on for about a week, during which all the legislators and their staff would be executed and their executions televised.
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Terrorism
Austrian investigators have identified 21 suspected accomplices of an Islamist gunman who went on a deadly rampage in Vienna last week, officials said Friday. Police say it’s not clear how the shooter managed to get to Vienna’s city center armed with an assault rifle, handgun, machete and fake explosive belt. They’re also still looking into how the weapons reached Austria.
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ARGUMENT: France & radical Islamism
Martin Luther King memorably said: “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” Douglas Murray writes that that reflection may now be going through the head of the French president Emmanuel Macron. Last month, following another Islamist terrorist atrocity in France, Macron delivered remarks on what he called “Islamist separatism” in France. In a major speech he warned that a portion of France’s six million Muslims were forming a “counter-society.” Macron has turned out to be interested in actions as well as words. “Throughout this whole shocking episode there remains one great question. Where are France’s friends and allies?” Murray asks, adding: “Whether or not France’s allies are scared, Macron is not.”
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Terrorism
According to official data by Europol, France has witnessed more jihadist attacks than any other European Union member since 2014, when the Islamic State (IS) established its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria. Nearly 300 French citizens have died in those attacks.
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Terrorism
EU leaders say they want to increase cooperation among member states in the fight against terror, with common databases and greater information exchange. The plan follows deadly terror attacks in France and Austria.
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Extremism
Two years ago, white supremacist Robert Bowers killed eleven people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh after posting antisemitic, anti-immigrant rants on Gab. Today, supported by a founder who encourages hate speech, the social media site appears to be gaining traction among far-right extremists, including white supremacists: Sixty percent of the 47 far-right extremist groups currently on Gab were created this year.
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Terrorism
Most parts of the UK are now living in a state of some form of lockdown. Meanwhile, however, more police are out on the streets. This is because in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Austria and France, the UK’s terrorism threat level has been raised to “severe.”
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Terrorism
The use of vehicle ramming attacks (VRAs) by terrorists has been increasing. A trend toward unsophisticated tactics and weapons led to a rise in vehicular attacks, perpetrated by individuals motivated by different ideologies.
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Terrorism
The investigation into the terrorist attack in Vienna is still in full swing, said Interior Minister Karl Nehammer at a Wednesday press conference. Nehammer said that fourteen people were arrested – the arrested individuals are between 18 and 28 years of age; all have come to Austria as migrants; and a few of them do not have an Austrian citizenship. The interior minister also said police experts viewing more than 20,000 videos — more than a terabyte of data — concluded that the attacker acted alone.
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Terrorism
Islamist terrorism has struck again in Europe — this time in Vienna and Nice. Germany has also been the scene of numerous attacks, and the security forces keep tabs on hundreds of potential attackers. Deportation would have been an easy solution, but the main obstacle to deportation from Germany is that most of the people classified as agitators are German citizens.
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Domestic terrorism
Depending on their configuration, 3D-printed guns contain no metal parts, and thus can be smuggled into metal detectors-protected venues. In a criminal complaint filed against a West Virginia men selling 3D-printed gun components, the FBI says his customers included multiple members of the Boogaloo movement, a heavily armed extremist anti-government group.
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Terrorism
A massive manhunt is underway in the Austrian capital after an attack that left four civilians dead. Authorities say at least one “Islamist terrorist” was behind the shootings and that more suspects may be at large.
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ARGUMENT: Domestic terrorism
Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware argue that the right-wing threat is fracturing, with a wide range of overlapping groups and radical individuals posing a risk of violence that may overwhelm counterterrorism officials.
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Threats
Two weeks ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified about “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland” to the House Committee on Homeland Security. Wray acknowledges the “unique and unprecedented challenges” brought about by COVID-19, as well as important “aggressive and sophisticated threats on many fronts,” but in his opening statement he focuses on five main topics: cyber, China, lawful access, election security, and counterterrorism.
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Terrorism
An Islamist terrorist killed three people in Nice, France, before being shot and wounded by the police. The 21 years old attacker, a Tunisian citizen who arrived in France in late September, told police he had acted alone. The French government has beefed up security around religious institutions.
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More headlines
The long view
Patriots’ Day: How Far-Right Groups Hijack History and Patriotic Symbols to Advance Their Cause, According to an Expert on Extremism
Extremist groups have attempted to change the meaning of freedom and liberty embedded in Patriots’ Day — a commemoration of the battles of Lexington and Concord – to serve their far-right rhetoric, recruitment, and radicalization. Understanding how patriotic symbols can be exploited offers important insights into how historical narratives may be manipulated, potentially leading to harmful consequences in American society.
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”
“Tulsi Gabbard as US Intelligence Chief Would Undermine Efforts Against the Spread of Chemical and Biological Weapons”: Expert
The Senate, along party lines, last week confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National intelligence. One expert on biological and chemical weapons says that Gabbard’s “longstanding history of parroting Russian propaganda talking points, unfounded claims about Syria’s use of chemical weapons, and conspiracy theories all in efforts to undermine the quality of the community she now leads” make her confirmation a “national security malpractice.”