Tag Archives: terrorism

The Hill reports: Police on Thursday charged a Pennsylvania woman for making terrorist threats after she coughed on grocery store food while claiming to be sick. Margaret Cirko, 35, allegedly “intentionally contaminated” grocery items by coughing and spitting on them, claiming to be sick while attempting to steal a pack of beer, according to the Hanover Township Police Department. The …

The BBC reports: A man accused of deadly attacks on mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch a year ago has pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder. Brenton Tarrant, 29, also admitted the attempted murder of another 40 people, and one terrorism charge. He had previously denied the charges and was due to go on trial in June. …

NBC News reports: A New Jersey man was charged with harassment and making terroristic threats after allegedly purposely coughing on a Wegmans grocery store employee and saying he had coronavirus. George Falcone, 50, of Freehold, in the southern part of the state, was charged Tuesday by the New Jersey attorney general for allegedly making the threats on Sunday in a …

The Washington Post reports: The Justice Department’s second-highest ranking official on Tuesday told federal law enforcement officials across the country that they should consider using terrorism laws to investigate and prosecute those who try to intentionally infect others with covid-19. The guidance came in a memorandum from Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen [photo], addressing the many potential crimes prosecutors …

Via press release from the Justice Department: Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, formerly of Rochester, Minnesota, was charged today in the District of Columbia with transmitting highly sensitive classified national defense information to a foreign national with apparent connections to Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization that has been so designated by the Secretary of State. According to the affidavit filed in …

NBC News New York reports: New Jersey Homeland Security officials have increased the threat level for white supremacist extremists to its highest level possible, according to a new report. The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness has boosted the threat level from white supremacy groups from moderate — where it was listed in 2019 — to high for …

CNN reports: A gunman suspected of shooting nine people dead at two shisha bars in Germany is believed to have a far-right background, prosecutors said Thursday. The attack took place on Wednesday night at multiple locations in Hanau, a city around 25 kilometers (16 miles) east of Frankfurt. Federal prosecutors are treating the mass shooting — one of the deadliest …

Courthouse News reports: The families of those killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting can access the shooter’s computer, part of a deal that won court approval in their suit against gunmaker Remington. Donna Soto, whose daughter was one of the teachers killed attempting to shield her first-grade students from gunman Adam Lanza, is the lead plaintiff in the …

The BBC reports: Members of a far-right group arrested in Germany were planning attacks on mosques, politicians and asylums seekers, local media report. The 12, allegedly belonging to Der harte Kern (The Hard Core), were detained on Friday. Another man believed to be a part of the group is still on the run, according to newspaper Welt am Sonntag. Germany …

The Arizona Republic reports: A man who, motivated by his belief in the wide-ranging conspiracy theory known as QAnon, blocked the bridge near the Hoover Dam with a homemade armored vehicle, has pleaded guilty to making a terrorist threat. Matthew Wright, 32, who initially faced charges that could have put him in prison for the rest of his life, pleaded …

NBC News Las Vegas reports: A self-described white supremacist pleaded guilty Monday in Las Vegas to collecting materials and planning to bomb a synagogue or office of the Anti-Defamation League, or shoot people at a fast food restaurant or a bar catering to LGBTQ customers. Conor Climo, 24, stood rigidly in yellow jail scrubs, answering, “Yes, your honor,” while U.S. …

The Birmingham News reports: Officials in the tiny Alabama town of Geraldine say they are still investigating a policeman who suggested U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other “dumbocrats” could be targeted with a roadside bomb. “Due to the current investigation, no further comment can be made,” said Geraldine police Chief Heath Albright in a statement Friday morning. “We will …

CBS News reports: The FBI has elevated its assessment of the threat posed by racially motivated violent extremists in the U.S. to a “national threat priority” for fiscal year 2020, FBI director Christopher Wray said today. He said the FBI is placing the risk of violence from such groups “on the same footing” as threats posed to the country by …

The Informant reports: A man in Arizona has been accused by federal authorities of threatening to kill Congressman Adam Schiff, the lead prosecutor in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Court records show that Jan Peter Meister, a 52-year-old registered sex offender, told investigators he drunkenly left the threatening voicemail at Schiff’s Washington, D.C. office after watching Fox News …

Reuters reports: Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who killed nine black people at a South Carolina church in 2015, has appealed his conviction and death sentence, with lawyers arguing the mentally ill defendant never should have been allowed to represent himself at trial. “This Court should vacate Roof’s convictions and death sentence,” says his appeal, filed with the 4th U.S. …

The BBC reports: The American founder of US-based militant neo-Nazi group The Base is directing the organisation from Russia, a BBC investigation has found. Rinaldo Nazzaro, 46, who uses the aliases “Norman Spear” and “Roman Wolf”, left New York for St Petersburg less than two years ago. The Base is a major counter terrorism focus for the FBI. Seven alleged …

The San Jose Mercury News reports: A pastor at a Lutheran church in San Mateo was arrested after allegedly delivering letters full of shooting threats to a San Carlos church where he was formerly a congregation member, authorities said. In four separate instances between Jan. 7 and Jan. 16, Paul Michaelson, 79, dropped off letters to the Holy Trinity Church …

Law & Crime reports: Former senior CIA official Douglas London claimed in an article on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is “obsessed” with killing celebrity targets for the “immediate gratification” of media headlines while ignoring “important threats” and long-term interests. “When it comes to intelligence, like with so much else, President Donald Trump likes big names. It’s this focus on …

The New York Times reports: Attorney General William P. Barr declared on Monday that a deadly shooting last month at a naval air station in Pensacola, Fla., was an act of terrorism, and he asked Apple in an unusually high-profile request to provide access to two phones used by the gunman. Mr. Barr’s appeal was an escalation of an ongoing …

The Washington Post reports: A California woman has been charged with allegedly leaving voice-mail messages threatening to bomb, burn and kill people at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, after the private, Catholic all-girls high school announced plans to include information about same-sex weddings in its alumnae magazine, according to court filings. Sonia Tabizada pleaded not guilty Jan. 3 to federal charges …