Morning Briefing: Pentagon Inspector General Halts Investigation of the Military Countering Extremism Program
Department of Defense inspector general has halted an investigation of the military's countering extremism program, because the 'project does not align with President Donald Trump's executive orders.'
Morning Briefing: The inspector general of the U.S. Department of Defense has reportedly “scrapped plans to investigate the military's training for identifying and countering extremism in the ranks — saying the project does not align with President Donald Trump's executive orders,” and targets efforts that focus on “radical organizations, white nationalist groups and militias such as the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and the Ku Klux Klan.”
This comes in the wake of reporting that the Trump Administration was already expected to dramatically reduce or eliminate efforts to monitor and disrupt domestic violent extremism (DVE), and that federal agencies have already reduced efforts to combat networks of far right extremists and White Supremacists online.
Current and former officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security DHS) have reportedly claimed that the federal agencies “have scaled back efforts over the past two years to disrupt violent extremists’ online activities,” and the agencies have “largely stopped flagging networks of white supremacist accounts that try to recruit or radicalize new followers.”
In San Diego, California, local law enforcement is reportedly “looking for three people who are suspected of a hate crime for vandalizing an LGBTQ-flag-themed fence at a home in Scripps Ranch on Valentine's Day,” and the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) is asking for information from the public.
In Ventura County, California, Newbury Park High School was reportedly vandalized with “graffiti that included a swastika,” and local law enforcement “documented the graffiti as a hate crime and vandalism.”
Andrew Tate’s influence on men and boys “shares concerning parallels to other forms of radicalization, such as terrorist and religious extremism,” according to a recent study from Monash University published in Cultural Sociology. The researchers found that the way Tate is manipulating men and boys to conform to a “restrictive and narrow-minded interpretation of what a male should look and act like has the potential to be hugely damaging to culture and society in a wider sense.”
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Jason Wilson writes that “a natalist conference featuring speakers including self-described eugenicists and promoters of race science, apparently including the man behind a previously pseudonymous race-science influencer account, and the founder of a startup offering IQ screening for IVF embryos, will be held at a hotel and conference venue operated by the public University of Texas, Austin. Details of the conference have emerged as a prominent supporter of pro-natalist positions, the tech billionaire Elon Musk, lays waste US government agencies under the banner of his ‘DOGE’ initiative, with the blessing of Donald Trump. Natalism in its current often rightwing iteration encourages high birth rates, and Musk has been a vocal proponent. He also maintains a large compound home near Austin, where reportedly he plans to house some of his children and two of their mothers. The Natal conference website embeds a Musk post on X, reading: ‘If birth rates continue to plummet, human civilization will end.’ Musk, who reportedly has at least 13 children by four mothers, was in recent days confronted on X by musician Grimes and the rightwing influencer Ashley St Clair over his alleged neglect of the children he has fathered with them.” [The Guardian]
Anna Merlan writes that “on Donald Trump’s first day in office, the Department of Defense announced a spate of hires, including 26-year-old Kingsley Wilson, who will serve as the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary. Wilson is the daughter of Steve Cortes, a longtime Trump advisor and right-wing commentator who promotes Latinos moving to the political right. Wilson is also a Trump 2020 campaign alum, and until taking the job at the DoD, ran digital media and communications for the Center for Renewing America, a pro-Trump think tank founded by Project 2025 architect Russell Vought. She’s also an overt internet troll with a long history of bigoted, xenophobic, and deliberately provocative shitposting. Wilson in many ways embodies the face of the new Trump administration: she’s worked in the MAGA world for seemingly her entire, very short career; besides her roles in the Trump campaign and at the Center for Renewing America, she also served as the national committeewoman for the DC Young Republicans. She also briefly worked at Gettr, the social media platform founded by former Trump aide Jason Miller and with deep links to fugitive Chinese mogul Guo Wengui.” [Mother Jones]
Cathy Young writes that “What is it with the American right and Putin? To some extent, the right wing’s Putin lovefest is simply the result of cultlike fealty to Trump: If he blasted the Putin regime as an evil empire tomorrow, most conservative pundits and ‘influencers’ would follow. But Trump’s evident affection for the Moscow dictator — which doesn’t require conspiratorial explanations like KGB recruitment or blackmail — also lines up with some independently existing trends on the right. In an astute analysis, expatriate Russian political strategist Stanislav Belkovsky argued that Trump’s affinity for Putin is explained by several factors: his hatred for the American and European political ‘establishment’ and readiness to see its enemies (including Putin) as allies; his general affection for authoritarian rulers; and grudges over what he sees as his persecution by Democrats over charges of pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine misconduct. But it’s not just Trump: Plenty of others on the right share some of these attitudes. Anti-establishment animus, for instance, has long flourished among conservatives — and, almost by definition, among libertarians.” [MSNBC]
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.
Look, man, the SS isn’t just going to form itself :-/
The layers of this agenda seem to have tentacles more woven through the Regime than I previously realized. Now what to do with all of this information, I share!! Thank you for your in depth research!