Morning Briefing: Prisoner Allegedly Sold Weapons to Extremists on Telegram [UPDATE]
A federal prison allegedly sold weapons on Telegram 'through a clandestine chatgroup known for its affiliation with neo-Nazism and other racially motivated extremism.'
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UPDATE: Mark Adams Prieto was reportedly arrested and charged for “planning a mass shooting in Atlanta targeting African Americans,” and allegedly discussed plans to “incite a race war prior to the 2024 United States Presidential Election,” according to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Arizona.
Morning Briefing: Hayden Espinosa was allegedly “serving a 33-month sentence in federal prison while selling illegal firearm and gun parts online,” according to an indictment announced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The weapons were apparently sold “through a clandestine chatgroup known for its affiliation with neo-Nazism and other racially motivated extremism.”
The indictment also revealed that Espinosa “communicated with self-professed white supremacist Payton Gendron,” before Gendron’s 2022 racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket.
Stephen DeBerardini was “was sentenced today for threatening an interracial couple via Facebook Messenger in January 2021, and to attempting to prevent the couple from reporting the threats and harassment to law enforcement,” according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Massachusetts
Members of Patriot Front, the neo-fascists White Nationalist group, staged protest of Pride Month event in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and a post in group’s Telegram stated that LGBTIQ “events are an affront to the family, to virtue, and antithetical to the necessary morals of the nation.”
Pride Month events have been the targeted of far right groups and extremists violence for the past three years, and “yet federal law enforcement agencies have been virtually silent about these threats coming from our own backyards,” according a statement from Qommittee, a nonprofit network of drag artists.
Qommittee promoting a petition that calls for federal law enforcement to create a “comprehensive, publicly-available database tracking all threats to pride and drag events,” making a “commit to robust monitoring of threats at upcoming pride celebrations,” and the publishing of ”public statements condemning anti-LGBTQ extremism and affirming their commitment to protecting our community.”
Must Reads
David Gilbert writes that “Years after being accused of swinging a baseball bat at police officers during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, Edward ‘Jake’ Lang is now using encrypted messaging channels to create a nationwide network of armed militias in all 50 states. Though he has been in prison for over 1,200 days, Lang is working with a network of election deniers and conspiracists to promote the North American Patriot and Liberty Militia, or Napalm for short. The group officially launched last week with 50 state-specific militia groups on Telegram. Lang claims that the Telegram groups already have 20,000 members, including pastors, farmers, former military personnel, and currently serving sheriffs. However, multiple experts who reviewed the channels tell WIRED that figure was wildly overestimated, and that the real figure was closer to 2,500 members. But a group this size, they warn, is still large enough to cause a serious threat. And while unarmed members are welcome, the group is, at its core, a pro-gun organization.” [Wired]
Matt Shuham writes that “Donald Trump has no greater enemy than the United States’ federal bureaucracy — what he calls the ‘deep state.’ And he has a plan to bend it to his will if he’s elected in November. The plan, to create something called ‘Schedule F,’ would make tens of thousands of civil servants easier to fire, fundamentally changing the nature of the federal government — and, some worry, paving the way for authoritarianism. Schedule F is a new category, or schedule, of federal workers who are exempt from codified job protections, like being hired and fired based on merit and having the ability to appeal disciplinary action. The majority of federal civil service employees, from climate scientists to bank examiners to IT specialists, are covered by these protections; some positions, like postal workers and intelligence officers, are currently exempt. That system ensures that experience and skill, rather than political favoritism or personal connections, guide hiring and firing decisions within the federal government.” [Huffington Post]
Robert Downen and Juan Salinas write that “an influential grassroots group with close ties to Texas Republican lawmakers is hosting a conference next month that encourages its attendees to embrace Christian nationalism and resist a Democratic campaign ‘to rid the earth of the white race.’ Billed as the 15th anniversary celebration for True Texas Project, a far-right activist group that got its start as a North Texas tea party organization, the agenda claims there is a ‘war on white America,’ or elevate theories that white Americans are being intentionally replaced through immigration — a common belief among far-right extremists, including many mass shooters. ‘It’s absolutely vital we remember that when they say ‘white supremacy’ or ‘white nationalism’ or whatever the most recent scare phrase is, they literally just mean your heritage and historical way of life,’ reads the description for a session on ‘Multiculturalism & The War on White America.’ ‘It’s a culture war, simple as that. Stop apologizing. Stop backing down. Start fighting back.’” [Texas Tribune]
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.