Extremists

NBC News reports: A New Hampshire man who was involved in the violent 2017 “Unite The Right” rally in Virginia was charged Thursday with threatening a person using the online messaging app Telegram, authorities said. Christopher Cantwell, 39, was taken into custody and indicted on two counts, extortion over interstate communications and threatening interstate communications, according to the FBI’s Boston …

Newsweek reports: One-third of French people believe a modern-day Holocaust could happen in the U.S.—more than say it could happen in their own country. A poll conducted by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) ahead of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, saw 36 percent of French respondents say something like a Holocaust could …

The Hill reports: Virginia House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert is calling on hate groups that spread “white supremacist garbage” or violence to stay away from the State Capitol, as officials prepare for a gun rights rally that has prompted the governor to declare a temporary state of emergency. “Lobby Day is a time for people to peacefully assemble and petition …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Three suspected neo-Nazis who were arrested this week in Maryland and Delaware discussed opening fire at a scheduled pro-gun rally Monday at Virginia’s state Capitol, according to local law officials. Three other men were also arrested in Georgia this week and have been linked to the same group as the men who allegedly planned the …

The BBC reports: Brazil’s culture minister has been sacked after using parts of a speech by Nazi Germany’s propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels in a video, sparking outrage. In the clip posted on the ministry’s Twitter page, Roberto Alvim detailed an award for “heroic” and “national” art. Lohengrin by Wagner, Hitler’s favourite composer, played in the background. Earlier, Mr Alvim said …

The Associated Press reports: Gun-rights groups asked a judge Thursday to block Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam from banning guns on Capitol grounds during a massive pro-gun rally scheduled for next week. Northam on Wednesday announced a state of emergency and banned all weapons from the rally, citing threats that armed militia groups were planning to attend. The Virginia Citizens Defense …

The New York Times reports: The F.B.I. has arrested three men suspected of being members of a neo-Nazi hate group, including a former reservist in the Canadian Army, who had weapons and discussed traveling to a pro-gun rally next week in Richmond, Va., in anticipation of a possible race war. The men were taken into custody on Thursday morning as …

Roanoke’s CBS affiliate reports: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) declared a State of Emergency ahead of Monday’s planned pro-gun rally on Capitol Square. According to Northam’s statement, “Law enforcement intelligence analysts have identified credible threats of violence surrounding the event, along with white nationalist rhetoric and plans by out-of-state militia groups to attend.” All weapons, including guns, will be prohibited …

ABC News reports: The U.S. Justice Department has charged a former Virginia college student with calling in fake emergencies to prompt law enforcement responses, in coordination with a group the FBI labelled as sympathetic to neo-Nazi ideology. John William Kirby Kelley, 19, was charged last week with conspiracy to make threats. He’s accused of being part of a network that …

The Dallas News reports: A North Texas militia member and vigilante who led armed patrols of the Texas-Mexico border and was wanted by federal authorities died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to law enforcement officials. Kevin Lyndel Massey’s body was discovered Dec. 23 in Van Zandt County, according to the sheriff. Pending autopsy results will officially determine the …

The San Jose Mercury News reports: A San Francisco Bay Area woman who opposes mandatory childhood vaccinations has been charged with two felonies over allegedly flinging a cup of menstrual blood at state senators last year. The Sacramento County district attorney’s office filed charges of assault on a public official and vandalism against Rebecca Dalelio, 43, on Thursday. Senators had …

The SPLC’s Hatewatch reports: “Alt-right” figure Augustus Sol Invictus was denied bond Thursday for charges of kidnapping, domestic violence and possession of a weapon during a crime of violence. Invictus, born Austin Mitchell Gillespie, has lingered on the margins of the modern radical right for years, using its growing visibility to preach his own violent, misogynistic and totalitarian worldview. In …

Back in November, I reported that four adherents of the bizarre QAnon cult had declared their 2020 candidacy for the US House. Per Media Matters, that number has now swelled to nine. The conspiracy theory, which revolves around an anonymous account known as “Q,” started on far-right message board 4chan, later moving to fellow far-right message board 8chan, which has …

Vice News reports: A senior employee at a for-profit immigrant detention center in Nevada was active on the neo-Nazi site Iron March and aspired to establish a white nationalist chapter in his area. Travis Frey, 31, is currently employed as a captain at the Nevada Southern Detention Center, which is run by private prison behemoth CoreCivic and contracted with ICE. …

The Miami Herald reports: Ex-Florida Senate candidate and white nationalist Augustus Sol Invictus has been arrested on an out-of-county warrant on charges of kidnapping, “high and aggravated” domestic violence and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. Invictus, who campaigned as a libertarian in a 2016 Senate run and later headlined the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally …

The Independent reports: A Texas judge has ordered InfoWars founder Alex Jones to pay $100,000 in legal fees in a defamation case brought against him by the father of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim, the latest court setback for the conspiracy theorist. In a 20 December ruling, judge Scott Jenkins of Travis County District Court said that Mr Jones …

The Guardian reports: Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders has revived his plan to hold a contest for cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad, more than a year after cancelling such an event out of fear for attacks in the Netherlands. In a tweet late on Saturday, Wilders called on people to send in their Muhammad cartoons. “Freedom of speech must prevail …

Spokane’s CBS News affiliate reports: The House Republican Caucus has expelled Matt Shea after an investigation revealed that he “participated in an act of domestic terrorism against the United States.” Shea represents Washington’s 4th District, which encapsulates the area surrounding Spokane Valley. He has since taken to social media to call the investigation a “sham.” The 108-page investigation found that …

Reuters reports: Washington state Republican lawmakers urged one of their own to resign after a state report found that he engaged in “domestic terrorism” against the United States by participating in armed conflict through the right-wing militia movement. “Representative Shea participated in an act of domestic terrorism against the United States by his actions before and during the armed takeover …

The Seattle Times reports: State Rep. Matt Shea planned and participated in domestic terrorism against the United States before and during the armed takeover at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, an investigation commissioned by the Washington state House found. The 108-page report found that beginning in November 2015, Shea, working with militia leader Ammon Bundy, helped “in the planning and preparation” …