Morning Briefing: White Supremacists Sentenced to Prison for Fire Bombing Church
Aimenn Penny, member of White Supremacist far right extremist groups, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for 'attempting to burn down a church because of its support for the LGBTQ+ community.'
Morning Briefing: Aimenn Penny, a member of the White Supremacist group White Lives Matter Ohio and the far right extremists neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, was sentenced by a federal judge to 18 years in federal prison for “attempting to burn down a church because of its support for the LGBTQ+ community,” and the judge “ordered him to pay $10,507 in restitution to the church, to undergo mental health treatment and to serve three years supervised probation after his release.”
Nathan Weeden, a member of the far right violent extremists White Supremacist group The Base, was convicted by a jury for “working to deface a Jewish synagogue using swastikas and images associated with a white supremacist group,” as Weeden and two accomplises reportedly used a Telegram channel to plan vandelism as part of “Operation Kristallnacht.”
William Dunfee, a pastor from Ohio, was found guilty of criminal charges “for his connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol,” and the charges included “obstruction of an official proceeding or aiding and abetting a civil disorder, and a misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds.”
The emergence of the incel movement is an “interaction between three factors–an evolved male psychology that is very eager to obtain sexual access and may be more prone to using intimidation, coercion, or aggression to achieve that end; the dynamics of the modern sexual marketplace in which financial and sexual autonomy allows women to be more selective and, in some cases, remain single; and technology that amplifies the visibility of both patterns,” according to a study published in the Journal of Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology.
Must Reads
Sarah Posner writes that a new reported has “tracked over 1,000 bills in state legislatures that sought to undermine equal rights based on religion, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, or otherwise undermined religious equality. That number was double the total in 2022 (the previous high). Of those, 162 became law, including bans on abortion and gender-affirming care, restrictions on trans kids’ freedom to use their pronouns and bathrooms at school, book and drag show bans, curriculum control, and more. Many of the legislators behind these bills, the group reports, were ‘emboldened and enabled by astroturfed activists.’ These activists pose as grassroots campaigners, when in fact they are backed by right-wing organizations bent on restricting Americans’ freedom to read, teach, learn, obtain medical care and even exist. Using buzzwords and phrases like ‘gender ideology’ or ‘grooming,’ and turning critical race theory and diversity, equality and inclusion into pejoratives are the keys to these moral panics. Right-wing groups try to use the term “parental rights” to put an appealing gloss on their anti-democratic agenda and obscure their goal of imposing a Christian nationalist ideology on others.” [MSNBC]
Tess Owen reports that “paranoia about federal entrapment is looming large over the ‘Take Our Border Back’ convoy, which departed Virginia Beach Monday morning and plans to arrive in Texas later this week. By noon Monday, after a few hours on the road, the convoy had amassed just a few dozen participants—so far, predominantly men over the age of 60. The convoy’s promoters promised over 700,000 participants. The low numbers could be due, in part, to conspiracy theories riddling Telegram channels for the convoy. Would-be participants are expressing fears that the demonstration could be a ‘psyop’ or ‘honeypot,’ spearheaded by the federal government and undercover agents with the goal of ensnaring right-wingers into a violent event. This is the basis of the Jan. 6 ‘fedsurrection’ conspiracy theory, which around a quarter of Americans believe, according to recent polling… The convoy is expected to stop over in Jacksonville, Florida, before making its way along the southern border. Three separate rallies are planned for Feb 3, in locations near Eagle Pass, Texas, Yuma, Arizona, and a third in San Ysidro, California.” [Vice News]
Tom Nichols writes that none of the Pentagon’s military leaders know “how to measure extremism, or what to do about it, in part because (as the IDA analysts admitted) many reports of extremist behavior, such as white-supremacist activity, get papered over by the military before they can make it to courts-martial or other public venues. The military tends to deal with such issues at the lowest possible levels before they become major cases, which means that we’re looking at the tip of an iceberg. How much danger waits below the waterline remains unclear. The American military-personnel system must change. Screening and security procedures are still rooted in a Cold War mindset about foreign loyalties and blackmail—which are real threats—but the system is woefully inadequate in identifying right-wing extremists, preventing their entry into the armed forces, denying them clearances they should not hold, and expelling them when discovered. Fortunately, the extremism problem in the military is still small. Is the Defense Department determined and capable enough to keep it that way?” [The Atlantic]
What to expect from Radical Reports: Morning Briefing provides a daily round-up of reporting on the Radical Right; Extremist Links offers a weekly round-up of extremists activities including the white supremacist and militia movements; Narratives of the Right delivers weekly analysis of the current narratives in far right online spaces and promoted by right-wing media; and Research Desk provides monthly highlights research and analysis from academia on the Radical Right.
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