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White Supremacist (Domestic Terrorist) in America Have Killed More Americans Than Terrorist - Page 3
Eleven of 15 suspects are accused of distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
By Andrew Blankstein and Dennis Romero

Federal authorities in Utah announced a crackdown Friday on 21 white supremacist gang members and associates in the Salt Lake City area who allegedly distributed drugs or illegally possessed guns. The charges in 15 indictments unsealed Friday target Soldiers of Aryan Culture, Silent Aryan Warriors, and Noble Elect Thugs, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Justice's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force launched an investigation last year, concluding members of the gangs trafficked methamphetamine and firearms, according to the statement. Investigators said they purchased 1.65 pounds of meth and recovered 15 guns during the operation. "Many of the defendants have been involved in criminal conduct in Utah communities for many years," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Lawyers for the suspects could not be located for comment, and the Federal Public Defender's office in Utah did not immediately respond to a request for comment. more...
Arrest follows president’s controversial comments at debate: 'Proud Boys – stand back and stand by’
Chris Riotta

A member of the right-wing hate group Proud Boys was arrested in Oregon the morning after the first presidential debate, in which Donald Trump declined to disavow white supremacy, for assault and weapons charges resulting from a confrontation he had with protestors in August. Alan Swinney, who Oregon Public Broadcasting identified as a member of Proud Boys and the far-right protester that pointed a gun at demonstrators in downtown Portland last month, was arrested on Wednesday morning on multiple assault charges. He also faced charges for unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful use of tear gas, stun gun or mace, the outlet reported, as well as pointing a firearm at another person.

The 50-year-old, who remains held at the Multnomah County Jail, was seen pulling out a gun during a clash with countrprotestors at the Multnomah County Justice Center on videos shared online from the 22 August rally. Though he initially claimed he was cleared by officials of any wrongdoing during the violent clash, Swinney was reportedly arrested just hours after the president delivered a startling message to the hate group at Tuesday night’s debate in Ohio: “Proud Boys – stand back and stand by.” “Somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left,” Mr Trump added, referring to the anti-facisct movement that does not have any organizational structure in the United States. More...
By Annalisa Merelli

It’s not yet clear if the first US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden swayed the country’s few undecided voters, but there was another group who clearly enjoyed a moment in the spotlight last night: the Proud Boys. During the debate, Trump was confronted by Biden about his leniency toward white supremacists and right-wing militias, and he was asked by moderator Chris Wallace to publicly condemn them. He didn’t do that, although he did address one such group, the Proud Boys. He said:

Proud Boys stand back, and stand by, but I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem this is a left wing. Who are the Proud Boys Trump told to “stand back and stand by”? If you’re wondering, you’re not alone—the whole world (wide web) was , too, propelling the group toward newfound notoriety. More...
By Dave Goldiner New York Daily News

AOC to America: we told you so. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called President Trump a racist after his epic debate meltdown -- and boasted that she has been saying so for the longest. “Our country elected a (white) supremacist as President,” she wrote. “This is fascism at our door.” AOC suggested she was disgusted by Trump’s refusal to condemn his racist supporters under questioning by debate moderator Chris Wallace. But unlike millions of Americans, the firebrand lawmaker said she wasn’t surprised by Trump’s outrageous reaction. “People have been warning about this for a long time,” AOC wrote. “They were ridiculed, called hyperbolic & radical not (because) they were wrong, but (because) others couldn’t accept that.” More...
By Melissa Quinn

Washington — President Trump on Tuesday refused to unequivocally condemn white supremacists and far-right groups who have responded to ongoing protests against police brutality and racial injustice, instead pinning the blame for violent clashes on the "left wing." During the first presidential debate, moderator and "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace asked Mr. Trump if he was "willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha and we've seen in Portland?"

In response, Mr. Trump said he was "willing to do that," but claimed that "almost everything I see is from the left wing." "I'm willing to do anything. I want to see peace," the president continued. Amid prodding from Wallace and former Vice President Joe Biden to categorically denounce white supremacists, Mr. Trump asked, "what do you want me to call them? Give me a name. Who would you like me to condemn?" Biden then referenced the Proud Boys, a far-right group, while Wallace said white supremacists. More...
The testimony contradicted efforts by President Trump and other officials to downplay the threats.
By Zolan Kanno-Youngs

WASHINGTON — Christopher A. Wray, the director of the F.B.I., warned a House committee on Thursday that Russia is actively pursuing a disinformation campaign against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and expressed alarm about violent extremist groups. “Racially motivated violent extremism,” mostly from white supremacists, has made up a majority of domestic terrorism threats, Mr. Wray told the House Homeland Security Committee. He also echoed an intelligence community assessment last month that Russia is conducting a “very active” campaign to spread disinformation and interfere in the presidential election, with Mr. Biden as the primary target.

“We certainly have seen very active — very active — efforts by the Russians to influence our election in 2020,” Mr. Wray said, specifically “to both sow divisiveness and discord, and I think the intelligence community has assessed this publicly, to primarily to denigrate Vice President Biden in what the Russians see as a kind of an anti-Russian establishment.” Mr. Wray’s blunt comments were the latest example of a top national security official contradicting President Trump’s downplaying of Russian election interference. A homeland security official has accused the Trump administration of soft-pedaling both the Russian and white supremacist threats because they would make “the president look bad.” More...
By Geneva Sands, CNN

Washington (CNN) White supremacists will remain the most "persistent and lethal threat" in the United States through 2021, according to Department of Homeland Security draft documents. The most recent draft report predicts an "elevated threat environment at least through" early next year, concluding that some US-based violent extremists have capitalized on increased social and political tensions in 2020. Although foreign terrorist organizations will continue to call for attacks on the US, the report says, they "probably will remain constrained in their ability to direct such plots over the next year." The threat assessment -- which also warns of continued disinformation efforts by Russia -- is especially notable as President Donald Trump has often employed race-baiting tactics in his quest for reelection and frequently downplayed the threat from white supremacists during his term in office.

The Trump administration has portrayed Antifa and anarchists as a top threat to the US, with the President tweeting this summer that the US will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. The recently released draft reports, which were made public by Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes and first reported by Politico, assess a host of threats, including cyber, foreign influence and irregular migration. All three drafts state that white supremacist extremists are the deadliest threat. However, the placement and language about white supremacy in three versions of the DHS draft documents differ slightly.

The earliest available version of the "State of the Homeland Threat Assessment 2020" drafts reads: "We judge that ideologically-motivated lone offenders and small groups will pose the greatest terrorist threat to the Homeland through 2021, with white supremacist extremists presenting the most lethal threat." The lead section on terror threats to the homeland is changed in the latter two drafts to replace "white supremacist extremists" with "Domestic Violent Extremists presenting the most persistent and lethal threat." The reports, however, all contain this language: "Among DVEs [Domestic Violent Extremists], we judge that white supremacist extremists (WSEs) will remain the most persistent and lethal threat in the Homeland through 2021." More...
History, theology, and culture all contribute to the racist attitudes embedded in the white church.
By Michael Luo

Early on in “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” the first of three autobiographies Douglass wrote over his lifetime, he recounts what happened—or, perhaps more accurately, what didn’t happen—after his master, Thomas Auld, became a Christian believer at a Methodist camp meeting. Douglass had harbored the hope that Auld’s conversion, in August, 1832, might lead him to emancipate his slaves, or at least “make him more kind and humane.” Instead, Douglass writes, “If it had any effect on his character, it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways.” Auld was ostentatious about his piety—praying “morning, noon, and night,” participating in revivals, and opening his home to travelling preachers—but he used his faith as license to inflict pain and suffering upon his slaves.

“I have seen him tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked shoulders, causing the warm red blood to drip; and, in justification of the bloody deed, he would quote this passage of Scripture—‘He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes,’ ” Douglass writes. Douglass is so scornful about Christianity in his memoir that he felt a need to append an explanation clarifying that he was not an opponent of all religion. In fact, he argued that what he had written about was not “Christianity proper,” and labelling it as such would be “the boldest of all frauds.” Douglass believed that “the widest possible difference” existed between the “slaveholding religion of this land” and “the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ.” More...
By Alexandra Hutzler

FBI Director Christopher Wray said that the bureau has made "about the same number" of domestic terrorism arrests as international terrorism arrests so far this year and that a majority of domestic cases are motivated by white supremacy.Wray was on Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about congressional oversight of the FBI. Wray's hearing was considered a preview of what former special counsel Robert Mueller is likely to face when he appears before lawmakers on Wednesday to answer questions on the Russia probe.

The FBI director told lawmakers that he considered "homegrown violent extremists" to be the greatest threat to the United States. Wray clarified that those extremists are inspired by foreign jihadist organizations. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin immediately challenged Wray, pointing to an FBI/DHS intelligence report from May 2017 which found that white supremacists were responsible for more homicides from 2000 to 2016 than any other domestic extremist movement.

"We live in a world where the neo-Nazis and white supremacists are taking lives in many places," Durbin said. "The reason I raise this is because there is a concern that this is not being taken as seriously as it should be as one of the real threats in our country." Wray defended the FBI's handling of domestic terrorism cases, saying that the agency takes the issue "extremely seriously" and are "aggressively pursuing it." He added that so far this year the FBI has already made more domestic terrorism arrests than in 2018.
What happens when a meme becomes a terrorist movement?
Dale Beran

On May 29, two federal security officers guarding a courthouse in Oakland, California, were ambushed by machine-gun fire as elsewhere in the city demonstrators marched peacefully to protest the killing of George Floyd. One of the guards, David Patrick Underwood, died as a result of the attack, and the other was wounded. For days, conservative news broadcasters pinned the blame on “antifa,” the loosely affiliated group of anti-fascist anarchists known to attack property and far-right demonstrators at protests. But the alleged culprit, apprehended a week later, turned out to be a 32-year-old Air Force sergeant named Steven Carrillo, the head of a squadron called the Phoenix Ravens, which guards military installations from terrorist attacks. On May 29, two federal security officers guarding a courthouse in Oakland, California, were ambushed by machine-gun fire as elsewhere in the city demonstrators marched peacefully to protest the killing of George Floyd. One of the guards, David Patrick Underwood, died as a result of the attack, and the other was wounded. For days, conservative news broadcasters pinned the blame on “antifa,” the loosely affiliated group of anti-fascist anarchists known to attack property and far-right demonstrators at protests. But the alleged culprit, apprehended a week later, turned out to be a 32-year-old Air Force sergeant named Steven Carrillo, the head of a squadron called the Phoenix Ravens, which guards military installations from terrorist attacks.
ANGRY MOB
Madeline Charbonneau - Cheat Sheet Intern

Right-wing militias flocked to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday in response to online advertising of a fake antifa flag burning event. The event, which was purportedly meant to happen at the Gettysburg National Cemetery, was exposed as an obvious hoax by The Daily Beast, police and other officials last week. Still, hundreds of bikers and militia members arrived armed Saturday to the cemetery and the nearby statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Though they found no antifa event, a biker at the statue shouted that he’d received a phone call about some nefarious activity in the cemetery so the crowd rushed to converge on a single man wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt.
Trent Somes

Really processing my afternoon. I went to the Gettysburg National Cemetary to visit graves and honor those who fought in one of America’s bloodiest battles. On my way out, I was completely surrounded by 50 or so armed white supremacists. This video is onIy about 10 minutes long, but I only started filming after people started touching me, which was about 20 minutes into the altercation. I was screamed at, liquids were poured on me, and my life was threatened - all because I wore a shirt with the words “BLACK LIVES MATTER.” This video cuts out, but I left on my own accord escorted by DHS and NPS after they said my life was in jeopardy. Anyone who says white supremacy doesn’t exist, please watch this and listen to what they’re saying. #BLM
Heard on All Things Considered
Tom Gjelten

When a young Southern Baptist pastor named Alan Cross arrived in Montgomery, Ala., in January 2000, he knew it was where the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. had his first church and where Rosa Parks helped launched the famous bus boycott, but he didn't know some other details of the city's role in civil rights history. The more he learned, the more troubled he became by one event in particular: the savage attack in May 1961 on a busload of Black and white Freedom Riders who had traveled defiantly together to Montgomery in a challenge to segregation. Over the next 15 years, Cross, who is white, would regularly take people to the old Greyhound depot in Montgomery to highlight what happened that spring day. "They pull in right here, on the side," Cross said, standing in front of the depot. "And it was quiet when they got here. But then once they start getting off the bus, around 500 people come out – men, women and children. Men were holding the Freedom Riders back, and the women were hitting them with their purses and holding their children up to claw their faces." Some of the men carried lead pipes and baseball bats. Two of the Freedom Riders, the civil rights activist John Lewis and a white ally, James Zwerg, were beaten unconscious. Though he had grown up in Mississippi and was familiar with the history of racial conflict in the South, Cross was horrified by the story of the 1961 attack on the Freedom Riders. Montgomery was known as a city of churches. Fresh out of seminary, Cross had come there to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. "Why didn't white Christians show up?" he recalled wondering. To his dismay, Cross learned that many of the people in the white mob were regular churchgoers. In the years that followed, he made it part of his ministry to educate his fellow Christians about the attack and prompt them to reflect on its meaning. "You think about the South being Christian, but this wasn't Christianity," Cross said. "So what happened here in the white church? How did we get to that point?" It's a question he explored in his 2014 book, When Heaven and Earth Collide: Racism, Southern Evangelicals, and the Better Way of Jesus. The answer to the question lies partly in U.S. history, beginning in the days of slavery and Jim Crow segregation, but not ending there. Elements of racist ideology have long been present in white Christianity in the United States.

Racism from the pulpit
Less than three weeks after the 1961 attack on the Freedom Riders, Montgomery's most prominent pastor, Henry Lyon Jr., gave a fiery speech before the local white Citizens' Council, denouncing the civil rights protesters and the cause for which they were beaten — from a "Christian" perspective. "Ladies and gentlemen, for 15 years I have had the privilege of being pastor of a white Baptist church in this city," Lyon said. "If we stand 100 years from now, it will still be a white church. I am a believer in a separation of the races, and I am none the less a Christian." The crowd applauded.
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum was deeply involved with the Ku Klux Klan while designing the Confederate memorial at Stone Mountain, Ga.
By Diane Bernard

Since Calvin Coolidge spoke at Mount Rushmore’s groundbreaking ceremony in 1927, the national memorial in South Dakota has served as a backdrop for presidential patriotism. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton spoke there. Now, President Trump will travel to Mount Rushmore for a controversial fireworks celebration on the eve of Independence Day. The depiction of four of America’s greatest presidents — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt — has always been considered a grand tribute to the ideals of American democracy. That’s exactly what its mastermind, sculptor Gutzon Borglum, intended. Less well known: Borglum’s ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Borglum was born the son of Danish Mormon polygamists in 1867 in Idaho. A talented artist, he spent his childhood on the Western frontier and plains, in Utah and Kansas until leaving for Europe in the early 1880s to study sculpture. There, Borglum became fascinated with art on a grand scale with nationalistic subjects, which suited what many described as his bombastic, egotistical personality.
By Timothy D. Dwyer

Confederate President Jefferson Davis has been toppled from the most iconic street in Richmond, Va., and his neighbor, rebel Gen. Robert E. Lee, may soon follow. A U.S. vice president and ardent slavery defender, John C. Calhoun, was plucked from his 115-foot perch in the center of Charleston, S.C. And President Theodore Roosevelt may soon disappear from the steps of New York City’s American Museum of Natural History. Is there any monument in the United States that’s too big to fail a racial history test? A piece of public art with a connection to our checkered past that is too important, too monumental, to be removed from the face of America? Could Mt. Rushmore be that ultimate test? We could soon find out. President Trump is planning to spend Friday watching the fireworks — and, no doubt, lobbing a few verbal ones — in the Black Hills of South Dakota. His visit will likely remind Americans that Rushmore’s presidential problem is as plain as the nose on George Washington’s face. Washington (owner of 123 slaves) and Thomas Jefferson (who enslaved more than 600 humans throughout his life) are only the beginning. Roosevelt’s mixed legacy — the Smithsonian flat-out calls him a “racist” even while noting he invited Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House — adds another pockmark on those faces of history.
Al Lindsey

A draft report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) predicted white supremacy will be the “most persistent and lethal” terror threat in 2021. Politico reported that in three separate documents, DHS expressed a greater worry about white supremacy than foreign terror groups and election disinformation efforts. “Foreign terrorist organizations will continue to call for Homeland attacks but probably will remain constrained in their ability to direct such plots over the next year,” all three documents stated. The language does vary between each report, but the overall sentiment and conclusions are consistent.

“Lone offenders and small cells of individuals motivated by a diverse array of social, ideological, and personal factors will pose the primary terrorist threat to the United States,” the draft reads. “Among these groups, we assess that white supremacist extremists—who increasingly are networking with likeminded persons abroad—will pose the most persistent and lethal threat.” In a latter section called “The Terrorist Threat to the Homeland,” all three documents delve into further detail on white supremacy.

Each report also stated “Among DVEs [domestic violent extremists], we judge that white supremacist extremists will remain the most persistent and lethal threat in the Homeland through 2021. “Violent extremists almost certainly will continue their efforts to exploit public fears associated with COVID-19 and social grievances driving lawful protests to incite violence, intimidate targets, and promote their violent extremist ideologies,” the second and third documents read. The documents also state white supremacist groups are most likely to use simple tactics such as small arms weapons and IEDs. Many of these groups are disguising themselves as members of otherwise peaceful protests and are instead rioting and smashing windows.

Many believe Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three people, killing two, at a Kenosha, Wisconsin, anti-police protest last month, is a white supremacist. Rittenhouse, 17, who resides in Illinois, was given an assault rifle and driven to Wisconsin by his mom the night of the shooting. more...
'I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility,' late actor said in 1971 interview
By John T Bennett - Washington Bureau Chief

Donald Trump is accusing some Democratic officials of "incredible stupidity" for calling for actor John Wayne's name to be removed from an airport in California even after an interview resurfaced of "The Duke" embracing white supremacy. John Wayne Airport in southern California serves Orange County and Los Angeles. Mr Trump in January 2016, as a presidential candidate, held a special event at the John Wayne Birthplace Museum in Winterset, Iowa. He spoke at a lectern with a wax statue of the late actor behind him. After being introduced by Wayne's daughter, the GOP candidate called himself a "longtime fan" of the star of many hit Western films. "We love John Wayne," Mr Trump said that day. "We love John Wayne and we love his family equally, right? Equally." But amid ongoing protests and other social changes following the death of George Floyd, a black man, under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Mr Trump's full embrace of Wayne could give him yet another political headache. That's because of a 1971 interview the actor conducted with Playboy magazine. "With a lot of blacks, there's quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so. But we can't all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks," Mr Wayne said. "I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don't believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people." "I don't feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves. Now, I'm not condoning slavery. It's just a fact of life, like the kid who gets infantile paralysis and has to wear braces so he can't play football with the rest of us," he added. "I will say this, though: I think any black who can compete with a white today can get a better break than a white man. I wish they'd tell me where in the world they have it better than right here in America."
The actual Confederate States of America was a repressive state devoted to white supremacy.
By Stephanie McCurry

Americans are now debating the fate of memorials to the Confederacy—statues, flags, and names on Army bases, streets, schools, and college dormitories. A century and a half of propaganda has successfully obscured the nature of the Confederate cause and its bloody history, wrapping it in myth. But the Confederacy is not part of “our American heritage,” as President Donald Trump recently claimed, nor should it stand as a libertarian symbol of small government and resistance to federal tyranny. For the four years of its existence, until it was forced to surrender, the Confederate States of America was a pro-slavery nation at war against the United States. The C.S.A. was a big, centralized state, devoted to securing a society in which enslavement to white people was the permanent and inherited condition of all people of African descent. The Confederates built an explicitly white-supremacist, pro-slavery, and antidemocratic nation-state, dedicated to the principle that all men are not created equal. Emboldened by what they saw as the failure of emancipation in other parts of the world, buoyed by the new science of race, and convinced that the American vision of the people had been terribly betrayed, they sought the kind of future for human slavery and conservative republican government that was no longer possible within the United States. This is the cause that the statues honor.
Three self-identified boogaloo boys were arrested in Nevada for conspiracy to instigate violence at a George Floyd protest
By EJ Dickson

Three men with military backgrounds have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to instigate violence at the Las Vegas protests against the death of George Floyd. According to authorities, Andrew Lynam Jr., 23, Stephen Parshall, 35, and William Loomis, 40, all met at an anti-lockdown protest in April and self-identified as “boogaloo” boys, a term used to describe those calling for a violent civil conflict. They were arrested on Saturday on their way to a protest in downtown Las Vegas, after filling gas cans and making Molotov cocktails in glass bottles. They face federal charges of conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosives, and possession of unregistered firearms. They are currently each being held on $1 million bond, according to the Star Tribune. They have not yet entered a plea. Their intention was “to hopefully create civil unrest and rioting throughout Las Vegas,” a complaint filed in Las Vegas District Court on Wednesday said. (Rolling Stone reached out to the three men on Facebook for comment, and have yet to hear back.)
By Mehdi Hasan

Donald Trump is right. The anti-racism protests that have convulsed cities across the United States are also being used as cover, to quote the president, for “acts of domestic terror.” In late May, for example, three Nevada men were “arrested on terrorism-related charges in what authorities say was a conspiracy to spark violence during recent protests in Las Vegas,” reported the Associated Press. Federal prosecutors say the men had molotov cocktails in glass bottles and were headed downtown, according to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by AP. “People have a right to peacefully protest,” said Nicholas Trutanich, the U.S. attorney in Nevada. “These men are agitators and instigators. Their point was to hijack the protests into violence.” But here’s the thing: None of these three men were members of antifa, the left-wing, anti-fascist protest movement that has been blamed both by the president and his attorney-general Bill Barr for recent violence. They were all self-identified members of the so-called boogaloo movement, aka “boogaloo bois” aka “boojahideen” — perhaps the most dangerous group that, until the past week or so, most Americans had never heard of.
By Seth Cohen

On Tuesday, Air Force Staff Sergeant Steven Carrillo, already in custody for the alleged ambush, murder and attempted murder of sheriff’s deputies in Santa Cruz, was charged with murdering a federal security officer outside the U.S. courthouse in Oakland during a protest last month. Yet as troubling as the alleged killings themselves are, it is the affiliation of the suspect to the boogaloo movement, a collection of right-wing anti-government activists, that is even more worrisome. In Tuesday’s announcement, federal prosecutors charged Carrillo with the murder of Federal Protective Service officer David Patrick Underwood as well as other federal charges. Underwood was killed and his partner was wounded on the night of May 29 while they guarded a federal building in Oakland during a nearby protest over the death of George Floyd. When announcing the charges on Tuesday, which could be punishable by death, federal authorities alleged that Carrillo developed the plan to ambush the murdered officer during an online chat among right-wing extremist activists. On Tuesday, Air Force Staff Sergeant Steven Carrillo, already in custody for the alleged ambush, murder and attempted murder of sheriff’s deputies in Santa Cruz, was charged with murdering a federal security officer outside the U.S. courthouse in Oakland during a protest last month. Yet as troubling as the alleged killings themselves are, it is the affiliation of the suspect to the boogaloo movement, a collection of right-wing anti-government activists, that is even more worrisome. In Tuesday’s announcement, federal prosecutors charged Carrillo with the murder of Federal Protective Service officer David Patrick Underwood as well as other federal charges. Underwood was killed and his partner was wounded on the night of May 29 while they guarded a federal building in Oakland during a nearby protest over the death of George Floyd. When announcing the charges on Tuesday, which could be punishable by death, federal authorities alleged that Carrillo developed the plan to ambush the murdered officer during an online chat among right-wing extremist activists.

The boogaloo movement, adherents to which are often referred to as boogaloo boys or boogaloo bois, is a loosely organized American far-right extremist movement. Participants generally identify as a libertarian citizen-militia, and say they are preparing for a second American Civil War, which they call the "boogaloo". Widespread use of the term dates from late 2019, and adherents use the term (including variations, so as to avoid social media crackdowns) to refer to violent uprisings against the federal government or left-wing political opponents, often anticipated to follow government confiscation of firearms. The movement consists of pro-gun, anti-government groups. The specific ideology of each group varies, and views on some topics such as race differ widely. Some are white supremacist or neo-Nazi groups who believe that the impending unrest will be a race war; however other groups condemn racism and white supremacy. The boogaloo movement primarily organizes online (particularly on Facebook), and participants have appeared at in-person events including the 2020 United States anti-lockdown protests and the May 2020 George Floyd protests. They are often identified by their attire of Hawaiian shirts and military fatigues, and are heavily armed. In May and June 2020, Facebook acted to limit the movement's activities and visibility across its social media platforms.
By Katie Shepherd

As protests gripped Oakland on May 29, a white van pulled up outside a federal courthouse. A door slid open, and a man peppered the two security officers outside with bullets, killing one and wounding the other. For a little over a week, the crime was a mystery. Was it tied to the protests just blocks away? Even after the suspected killer was dramatically caught in the nearby mountains eight days later, his motive was murky. Now, federal authorities say the man, identified as Air Force Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo, 32, was an adherent of the “boogaloo boys,” a growing online extremist movement that has sought to use peaceful protests against police brutality to spread fringe views and ignite a race war. Federal investigators allege that’s exactly what Carrillo was trying to do last month. Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged Carrillo with murder and attempted murder, and leveled aiding and abetting charges against Robert Alvin Justus Jr., who has admitted to serving as a getaway driver during the courthouse ambush, according to the FBI. Protective Security Officer David Patrick Underwood was killed and a second officer, who officials have not named, was critically wounded in the ambush. Inside the three vehicles Carrillo used, police found a boogaloo patch, ammunition, firearms, bombmaking equipment and three messages scrawled in blood: “I became unreasonable,” “Boog” and “Stop the duopoly.”
By Mike Fitts mfitts@postandcourier.com

COLUMBIA — An employee of Richland County Emergency Services has been arrested in the wake of last weekend’s street violence with the Sheriff’s Department saying he appears to be a member of the “Boogaloo boys,” an alt-right group that wanted to foment violence during demonstrations. Kevin Ackley, 22, of Lexington was fired from his post as a medic with Emergency Services after he was arrested Friday, according to a statement from the sheriff’s department. Ackley is charged with inciting a riot and and aggravated breach of peace. According to the department, Ackley threw a water bottle at law enforcement officers during protests against police brutality. “It’s disgusting that a man who is supposed to be protecting the lives of citizens and law enforcement officers alike would participate in a riot that injured people,” Sheriff Leon Lott said. Ackley is alleged by the Sheriff’s Department to be a supporter of the “Boogaloo boys,” a right-wing or anarchist group that wanted to infiltrate peaceful protests and spur violence, according to media reports. Their stated goal is to trigger a second U.S. civil war, according to media reports.  
Over a Million People Sign Petition Calling For KKK to Be Declared a Terrorist Group
By Ewan Palmer

An online petition demanding that the Ku Klux Klan be listed as a terrorist organization has gained more than one million signatures in just four days. The Change.org petition is demanding that the white supremacist hate group be formally listed as a terrorist organization by the government. Currently, the KKK are classified as a domestic extremist group as there is no definition for domestic terrorism organizations in the U.S. "Ever since the inception of the Ku Klux Klan in December 24,1865 they have terrorized American citizens for the color of their skin and opposing views," the petition states. "This group has a long history of murder & intimidation of people based on color and religion. "Black Americans have suffered the most under this terror group." The "Change KKK status into Terrorist Organization" campaign is one of a number of similar petitions to have gone viral in recent days on the change.org website. One petition calling for the KKK to be classed as a terrorist organization has gained 178,000 signatures, with a second receiving more than 100,000 before it was closed. Another petition demanding "Make the KKK illegal" is also approaching one million signatures. The petitions started to go viral after President Donald Trump said the far-left and anarchist movement antifa will be treated as a terrorist organization. They also gained popularity amid ongoing debates about race relations in the U.S. in the wake of the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd which sparked worldwide protests.
Men in KKK Hoods Carrying Trump Flags Interrupt Black Lives Matter Protest in Nevada
By Ewan Palmer

A peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in Nevada was briefly interrupted by two men wearing Ku Klux Klan hoods and carrying Donald Trump flags. Video has emerged showing the moment protesters from both sides came together to jeer and chant against the men who showed up at the demonstration in Fallon on Monday. The clip shows one officer arriving to talk to the men in white hoods while at least one protester chants: "No Trump, No KKK, no racist, fascist USA." The footage ends with both men appearing to turn and walk away from the crowd after being spoken to by the officer. The Fallon Police Department has been contacted for further comment. The incident had marred what had been a peaceful protest, which resulted in BLM protesters and "all lives matter" counter-demonstrators, some of whom were armed, coming together and hugging. Max Ryan, one of those who brought a gun to the rally in order to "address my second amendment right to bear arms and to make sure this stayed peaceful," described how the BLM came over to the counter-demonstrators to discuss their views.
Petitions Demanding KKK Be Classed as Terrorist Group Reach 500,000 Signatures
By Ewan Palmer

Calls for the government to list the Ku Klux Klan as a terrorist organization are continuing to grow as a number of online petitions attract more than half a million signatures. For the past few days, several change.org petitions demanding the white supremacist group be classified as terrorists have gone viral. As of the morning of June 10, three petitions have gained at least 517,000 signatures between them, with a fourth petition demanding "Make the KKK Illegal" also attracting more than 233,000 signatures. "The KKK has long been a group of thugs that have suppressed the voices of and invoked fear into Minority Communities across the country. It is time for that to end," a description on the Declare the KKK a Terrorist Organization petition, backed by 118,000 signatures, reads. "This organization does not belong in this country, if declared a terrorist organization any attack would be an act of terror and will be treated as such. If equality and protecting the American people is your true goal this will easily resonate with you." A second petition, Change KKK Status into Terrorist Organization, has gained more than 300,000 signatures. It said that the KKK could be considered the best example of a "modern terrorist group that was even allowed, by the government, to function and even do marches in the capital of the country."
By Robert Kuznia, Drew Griffin and Curt Devine, CNN

(CNN) Benjamin Ryan Teeter was at his home in Hampstead, N.C., when the call to action came. It was an alert from the heart of the raging protests in Minneapolis, posted on an online forum by a fellow member of the Boogaloo movement, a loosely knit group of heavily armed, anti-government extremists. The "alert" was from a man who had a run-in with the Minneapolis police while on the frontline of the police-brutality protests set off by the death of George Floyd. "He caught mace to the face," said Teeter, and "put out a national notice to our network." After Teeter -- who goes by Ryan -- said he saw the online posting, he and a handful of other Boogaloo friends in the area mobilized. They grabbed their guns -- mostly assault rifles -- hopped into their vehicles, and made the 18-hour trek to Minneapolis. The Boogaloos are an emerging incarnation of extremism that seems to defy easy categorization. They are yet another confounding factor in the ongoing effort among local, state and federal officials to puzzle out the political sympathies of the agitators showing up to the mostly peaceful George Floyd rallies who have destroyed property, looted businesses, or -- in the case of the Boogaloos who descended on Minneapolis -- walked around the streets with assault rifles. Boogaloo members appear to hold conflicting ideological views with some identifying as anarchists and others rejecting formal titles. Some pockets of the group have espoused white supremacy while others reject it. But they have at least two things in common: an affinity for toting around guns in public and a "boogaloo" rallying cry, which is commonly viewed as code for another US civil war. Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University in North Carolina who monitors online extremism, said the movement started in obscure online platforms. It "is now growing on mainstream platforms, and in this moment of protest it is starting to move offline," she said. "It resembles the militia movement that came before it, which has been well documented as a force for promoting violence."
NBC News reported last weekend that members of the "Boogaloo" movement were seen at protests in states including Minnesota and Texas, as well as in Philadelphia.
By Andrew Blankstein, Tom Winter and Brandy Zadrozny

Federal prosecutors in Las Vegas have charged three men alleged to be members of the far-right extremist "Boogaloo" movement with multiple state and federal violations of conspiracy to cause destruction during protests in Las Vegas, as well as possession of Molotov cocktails. Charging documents say Stephen T. Parshall, aka "Kiwi," 35; Andrew Lynam, 23; and William L. Loomis, 40, all of Las Vegas, were arrested Saturday on a state criminal complaint alleging conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism, material support for committing an act of terrorism and multiple explosives violations. The plot was foiled with help from an informant, authorities said. The "Boogaloo" movement, which federal prosecutors describe as a "term used by extremists to signify a coming civil war and/or collapse of society," has been linked to some online posts about protests over the death of George Floyd. NBC News reported last weekend that members of the "Boogaloo" movement were seen at protests in states including Minnesota and Texas, as well as in Philadelphia. The movement, which says it wants a second civil war organized around the word "boogaloo," includes groups on mainstream internet platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit, as well as fringe websites including 4chan, according to a report released Tuesday night by the Network Contagion Research Institute, an independent nonprofit organization of scientists and engineers that tracks and reports on misinformation and hate speech across social media.
CNN

A Twitter account that tweeted a call to violence and claimed to be representing the position of "Antifa" was in fact created by a known white supremacist group, Twitter said Monday. The company removed the account.
Other misinformation and misleading claims spread across Twitter on Sunday night and into Monday related to the protests.
By Ben Collins, Brandy Zadrozny and Emmanuelle Saliba

A Twitter account claiming to belong to a national “antifa” organization and pushing violent rhetoric related to ongoing protests has been linked to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, according to a Twitter spokesperson. The spokesperson said the account violated the company's platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts. Twitter suspended the account after a tweet that incited violence. As protests were taking place in multiple states across the U.S. Sunday night, the newly created account, @ANTIFA_US, tweeted, “Tonight’s the night, Comrades,” with a brown raised fist emoji and “Tonight we say 'F--- The City' and we move into the residential areas... the white hoods.... and we take what's ours …” This isn’t the first time Twitter has taken action against fake accounts engaged in hateful conduct linked to Identity Evropa, according to the spokesperson. The antifa movement — a network of loosely organized radical groups who use direct action to fight the far-right and fascism — has been targeted by President Donald Trump as the force behind some of the violence and property destruction seen at some protests, though little evidence has been provided for such claims.
By Sonam Sheth

A white supremacist channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram encouraged its followers to spark violence to start a race war during nationwide protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, Politico reported, citing an internal Department of Homeland Security intelligence note. Floyd was a 46-year-old black man who died on May 25 after repeatedly saying he could not breathe when a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The DHS note warning of white supremacist linked violence was circulated among law enforcement officials, Politico reported. Citing the FBI, it said that two days after Floyd's death, the channel "incited followers to engage in violence and start the 'boogaloo' — a term used by some violent extremists to refer to the start of a second Civil War — by shooting in a crowd." One of the messages in the channel called for potential shooters to "frame the crowd around you" for the violence, the note said, according to Politico. On May 29, the note said, "suspected anarchist extremists and militia extremists allegedly planned to storm and burn the Minnesota State Capitol." The memo pointed to "previous incidents of domestic terrorists exploiting First Amendment-protected events" as one of the reasons the DHS is keeping an eye out for additional violence by "domestic terrorist actors." NBC News also reported on Monday that Twitter had identified a group posing as an "antifa" organization calling for violence in the protests as actually being linked to the white supremacist group Identity Evropa.
By Donie O'Sullivan, CNN Business

New York (CNN Business)A Twitter account that tweeted a call to violence and claimed to be representing the position of "Antifa" was in fact created by a known white supremacist group, Twitter said Monday. The company removed the account. Before it emerged the account was run by white supremacists, Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump's son, pointed his 2.8 million Instagram followers to the account as an example how dangerous Antifa is. "This account violated our platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement. "We took action after the account sent a Tweet inciting violence and broke the Twitter Rules." Although the account only had a few hundred followers, it is an example of white supremacists seeking to inflame tensions in the United States by posing as left-wing activists online. The revelation of the account comes as President Donald Trump increasingly blames left-wing activists for violence occurring at protests across America. On Sunday, Trump tweeted he would designate Antifa a terrorist organization, despite the US government having no existing legal authority to do so. Antifa, short for anti-fascists, describes a broad, loosely-organized group of people whose political beliefs lean toward the left — often the far-left — but do not conform with the Democratic Party platform. Antifa positions can be hard to define, but many people espousing those beliefs support oppressed populations and protest the amassing of wealth by corporations and elites. Some employ radical or militant tactics to get out their messages. The fake account, @ANTIFA_US, tweeted Sunday, "ALERT Tonight's the night, Comrades Tonight we say "F**k The City" and we move into the residential areas... the white hoods.... and we take what's ours #BlacklivesMaters #F**kAmerica." "Absolutely insane," Trump Jr. wrote on Instagram, sharing a screenshot of the tweet, "Just remember what ANTIFA really is. A Terrorist Organization! They're not even pretending anymore." CNN has reached out to a spokesperson for Trump Jr. for comment. There is no indication whatsoever that Trump Jr. knew who was behind the account or that it was fake. Twitter said that the account was in fact linked to Identity Evropa, a white power fraternity.

Mia Bloom, a Georgia State professor and an expert on political violence and terrorism, writes that the demonstrations in honor of George Floyd have been infiltrated by white nationalists who adhere to the accelerationist ideology, and that at least part of the violence and destruction – as clearly seen on TV screens – have been perpetrated by these extremists. “The accelerationists, if you have never heard the term, are an extreme subset of white nationalism whose goal is to bring about chaos and destruction,” she writes. Since Western governments are inherently corrupt, “the best (and only) thing supremacists can do is to accelerate the end of society by sowing chaos and aggravating political tensions.” Mia Bloom, a Georgia State professor and an expert on political violence and terrorism, writes in Just Security that “When anyone studies the Middle East for as long as I have, you become practically immune to conspiracy theories.” And yet, when one watches the demonstrations, taking place in several American cities since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, with a trained eye, “The images challenge our beliefs about who is really protesting and for what reason.” She notes, for example that the demonstration in Atlanta on Friday, 30 May, started as a peaceful demonstration in honor of Floyd – but that around 7:00pm, “the demographics of the demonstration changed in real time in front of the cameras.” “The demographics of a largely white, young, and destructive group fit more with a movement known as accelerationists than Black Lives Matter,” she writes, adding:

Dozens of white supremacist groups are operating freely on Facebook, allowing them to spread their message and recruit new members. The findings, more than two years after Facebook hosted an event page for the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, cast doubt on the company’s claims that it’s effectively monitoring and dealing with hate groups. What’s more, Facebook’s algorithms create an echo chamber that reinforces the views of white supremacists and helps them connect with each other. Dozens of white supremacist groups are operating freely on Facebook, allowing them to spread their message and recruit new members, according to a Tech Transparency Project (TTP) investigation, which found the activity is continuing despite years of promises by the social network that it bans hate organizations. TTP says it has recently documented how online extremists, including many with white supremacist views, are using Facebook to plan for a militant uprising dubbed the “boogaloo,” as they stoke fears that coronavirus lockdowns are a sign of rising government repression. But TTP’s latest investigation reveals Facebook’s broader problems with white supremacist groups, which are using the social network’s unmatched reach to build their movement. The findings, more than two years after Facebook hosted an event page for the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, cast doubt on the company’s claims that it’s effectively monitoring and dealing with hate groups. What’s more, Facebook’s algorithms create an echo chamber that reinforces the views of white supremacists and helps them connect with each other. With millions of people now quarantining at home and vulnerable to ideologies that seek to exploit people’s fears and resentments about COVID-19, Facebook’s failure to remove white supremacist groups could give these organizations fertile new ground to attract followers. Facebook’s Community Standards prohibit hate speech based on race, ethnicity, and other factors because it “creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion and in some cases may promote real-world violence.” The company also bans hate organizations. Since the Charlottesville violence, Facebook has announced the removal of specific hate groups and tightened restrictions on white extremist content on the platform.
Suggestion that outside ‘agitators’ were behind disturbances comes as Minneapolis curfew extended
By Gino Spocchia

Officials in Minnesota believe that white supremacist “agitators” were inciting chaos at protests against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd. The Minnesota state corrections department said on Sunday that white supremacists were thought to be attending demonstrations in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and making chaos. “They’re agitators,” said Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell on those who have caused destruction during demonstrations. Mr Schnell added that authorities were moving to break up demonstrations so that outside “agitators” could not create chaos. Minnesota governor Tim Walz announced on Sunday that the state’s curfew would be extended into Monday morning to allow law enforcement to continue targeting “those who meant to do harm”. Mr Walz added on Twitter that authorities had made several arrests whilst seizing weapons, narcotics, long guns, handguns, magazines and knives. “We have reason to believe that bad actors continue to infiltrate the rightful protests of George Floyd’s murder, which is why we are extending the curfew by one day,” announced the governor overnight. Minnesota corrections department commissioner John Harrington also announced later on Sunday that authorities had located several caches of flammable materials. Mr Harringon added: “The fact that we’ve seen so many of them in so many places now makes us believe that this is part of that pattern that shows that this in fact an organised activity and not some random act of rage”. It comes amid accusations that outside groups are behind the destruction witnessed in cities across the US, and in Minneapolis where Mr Floyd was killed in police custody last week.
by Mia Bloom

When anyone studies the Middle East for as long as I have, you become practically immune to conspiracy theories. The word in Arabic “muamarrat” is pervasive and after hearing my whole adult life about the hidden forces behind various catastrophes one automatically winces when someone tries to push the real story they heard somewhere or saw on social media. The protests that have torn through the United States, following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police officers, shift the emphasis in real time videos broadcast nationally. The images challenge our beliefs about who is really protesting and for what reason.

Minneapolis
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz echoed this sentiment in a press conference on Saturday alleging that the demonstrations that caused so much damage included provocateurs, likely from outside the area. State officials said around 80 percent of those arrested in the Twin Cities on Friday were from outside Minnesota. Former FBI agent and CNN commentator, Josh Campbell wrote, that Minnesota “authorities have been monitoring alleged criminals online, including postings by suspected white supremacists trying to incite violence.” Before the rioting started in Washington DC, Brooklyn, Denver, Atlanta, and other cities, allegations emerged that undercover police officers might be to blame for some of the worst commercial destruction in Minneapolis. Experts on political violence (and not just Qanon conspiracy theorists) shared stories on social media that the May 27 looting and arson at AutoZone by an unidentified man in a gas mask carrying an open umbrella (dubbed #umbrellaman) was not necessarily a protester but could be an agent provocateur or member of the police. In video posted to YouTube, while this man smashed windows with a hammer, protesters at the scene accused him of being an outsider and began to film him.

More than 200 white people wielding baseball bats and ax handles chased African Americans through the streets of downtown Jacksonville, trying to beat them into submission. It was August 27, 1960, a day that became known as “Ax Handle Saturday.” The violent attack was in response to peaceful lunch counter demonstrations organized by the Jacksonville Youth Council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The attack began with white people spitting on the protestors and yelling racial slurs at them. When the young demonstrators held their resolve, they were beaten with wooden handles that had not yet had metal ax heads attached. While the violence was first aimed at the lunch counter demonstrators, it quickly escalated to include any African American in sight of the white mob. Police stood idly by watching the beatings until members of a black street gang called “The Boomerangs” attempted to protect those being attacked. At that point police night sticks joined the baseball bats and ax handles. Bloodied and battered victims of the vicious beatings fled to a nearby church where they sought refuge and comfort from prayer and song. Eventually the white mob dispersed. Sixteen-year-old Rodney L. Hurst was president of the Jacksonville Youth Council, leading sit-ins at “whites only” lunch counters in Woolworth’s and W.J. Grant Department Store to protest racial segregation.

Hurst has written about his experiences in the award-winning book “It was Never about a Hot Dog and a Coke.” History teacher Rutledge Pearson inspired Hurst to become involved in the civil rights movement at a very early age. Hurst says that Pearson was an innovative teacher who facilitated interactive classes. “As we talked about American history and as he gave us his insights, he would tell us ‘freedom is not free, and if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.’ He would encourage us to join the Youth Council NAACP, which we did.” Today, Rutledge H. Pearson Elementary School in Jacksonville bears the name of the teacher who influenced many young people to become leaders in the African American community.

In 1959, the year before Ax Handle Saturday, Nathan B. Forrest High School opened in Jacksonville, celebrating the memory of the first Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. As of July 1, 2014, the name has been changed to Westside High School. The violence of Ax Handle Saturday did not occur in a vacuum. Racial segregation and overt racism had been building tension in Jacksonville for decades. In his book, Hurst places his personal story as a young activist into the larger historical context of the civil rights movement. “Jacksonville was a mess, not unlike a lot of other southern cities,” Hurst says. It is believed that the Ku Klux Klan organized the violence of Ax Handle Saturday. “The intent was to scare, intimidate, and bring physical harm,” Hurst says. “Many times you could not draw a line between the Klan and law enforcement, because law enforcement were at least accomplices to a lot of the things the Klan did.”
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