Extremists

The Nation reports: The assessment, dated August 17 of this year and marked for official use only, provides an overview of different threats to the election. Threats are said to include not just white supremacists but also individuals wary of the government’s Covid-19 restrictions, Second Amendment extremists, and confrontations between protesters and counterprotesters. The report reads: “We continue to assess …

Law & Crime reports: Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s record of losing legal battles remained unblemished this week when the Connecticut Supreme Court denied three separate delay motions in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by Sandy Hook families. Lead plaintiff Erica Lafferty sued Jones and his InfoWars media empire in the spring of 2018 for invasion of privacy by false …

“For those of you that say, ‘Well, it really doesn’t impact me, I don’t care if Trump goes to prison.’ Well, first of all, you absolutely should care. “Because if we lose, they’re going to come after the churches, they’re going to come after the organizations, they’re going to come after the people, they’re going to come after the social …

The Michigan Advance reports: Thursday’s legislative session in both chambers was canceled, sparking criticism from some Democrats that it was a precautionary move by GOP leadership to avoid armed visitors entering the state Capitol. Session on Thursday would have coincided with the annual “Second Amendment March” event on the Capitol lawn, hosted by a slew of pro-gun groups. Open carry …

Will Sommer reports at The Daily Beast: With her victory still just hours old, the newest Republican Senate nominee publicly thanked a white nationalist leader who marched in the “Unite the Right” rally and has questioned the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. Witzke has posted racist messages of her own on social media, calling Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) …

The Moscow Times reports: A convicted Russian neo-Nazi has been found dead in what appears to be a suicide inside his jail cell in the Urals region of western Siberia, prison authorities confirmed Wednesday. Maxim Martsinkevich, who went by the nickname Tesak (Russian for machete), was serving a 10-year sentence for a violent attack on synthetic cannabinoids dealers. Martsinkevich, 36, …

Delaware Today reports: Political newcomer Lauren Witzke will be the GOP’s candidate to try to unseat Sen. Chris Coons. Witzke took nearly 57 percent of the vote to defeat James DeMartino – winning by a margin of close to 10,000 votes. After the race was called, Witzke took to Twitter to thank voters and tout her America First foreign policy …

Media Matters reports: The Arizona Republican Party recently ran a Facebook video spotlighting congressional candidate and self-described QAnon follower Daniel Wood. During that video, AZGOP state chair Kelli Ward [photo] told him that “you are a man after my own heart” and encouraged people to volunteer and contribute to his campaign. Daniel Wood is running against Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva …

Politico reports: George Soros directs a “Deep State” global conspiracy network. A Joe Biden win would put America in control of “Jews and Blacks.” The Democratic nominee has a pedophilia problem. Wild disinformation like this is inundating Spanish-speaking residents of South Florida ahead of Election Day, clogging their WhatsApp chats, Facebook feeds and even radio airwaves at a saturation level …

The Associated Press reports: Vice President Mike Pence has canceled plans to attend a Trump campaign fundraiser in Montana following revelations that the event’s hosts had expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. The change comes after the AP reported Wednesday that hosts Cayrn and Michael Borland in Bozeman, Montana, had shared QAnon memes and retweeted posts from QAnon accounts. …

The Jerusalem Post reports: A new political advertisement for Jewish Republican congressional candidate Laura Loomer uses Holocaust imagery to attack her Jewish opponent, Democrat Lois Frankel, and calls Frankel “meshuggah,” Hebrew for crazy. Mark Mellman, CEO of the Democratic Majority for Israel, which supports Frankel, said the Loomer ad was “wholly and completely dishonest” and called Frankel “a key advocate …

The Associated Press reports: The Democratic candidate for an open U.S. House seat in Georgia dropped out of the race Friday, clearing a near-certain path to victory for a QAnon-supporting Republican contender who has been criticized for her incendiary comments. Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal bowed out of the race against Marjorie Taylor Greene for “personal and family reasons,” his campaign …

Bloomberg News reports: A popular website for posts about the conspiracy group QAnon abruptly shut down after a fact-checking group identified the developer as a New Jersey man. Qmap.pub is among the largest websites promoting the QAnon conspiracy, with over 10 million visitors in July, according to web analytics firm SimilarWeb Ltd., and served as the primary archive of QAnon’s …

CNN reports: Authorities in Oregon are pleading with the public to only trust and share information verified by official sources about the unprecedented wildfires sweeping the state. The pleas come as law enforcement agencies described 911 dispatchers being overrun with calls about a false online rumor that “Antifa” members had been arrested for setting the fires — a claim promoted …

Engadget reports: Twitter has banned the accounts of far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers and its founder, Stewart Rhodes. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the group is one of the US’s largest anti-government movements. It claims to have tens of thousands of members, many of whom identify as former law enforcement and military. The group recently tweeted there …

The Associated Press reports: Vice President Mike Pence and top officials from President Donald Trump’s campaign are slated to attend a Montana fundraiser next week hosted by a couple who have expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. The hosts of the fundraiser, Caryn and Michael Borland, have shared QAnon memes and retweeted posts from QAnon accounts, their social media …

The Associated Press reports: Vehicles waving flags for Trump, the QAnon conspiracy theory and in support of police gathered about noon at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City. Members of the right-wing group the Proud Boys went on to Salem, where a crowd of several dozen pro-Trump supporters had gathered. At one point Monday afternoon, the right-wing crowd rushed a …

The New York Times reports: Just before hundreds of far-right activists recently tried to storm the German Parliament, one of their leaders revved up the crowd by conjuring President Trump. “Trump is in Berlin!” the woman shouted from a small stage, as if to dedicate the imminent charge to him. She was so convincing that several groups of far-right activists …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: Photos of members of an anti-government group carrying long guns, a pipe wrench, and an inert rocket launcher into a Subway restaurant in Raleigh went viral in May. Now, one of those people has been accused of trying to sell weapons to undercover federal agents. Benjamin Ryan Teeter, 22, from Hampstead, NC, and Michael …

Politico reports: White supremacists present the gravest terror threat to the United States, according to a draft report from the Department of Homeland Security. Two later draft versions of the same document — all of which were reviewed by POLITICO — describe the threat from white supremacists in slightly different language. But all three drafts describe the threat from white …