The Extremism Roundup

Focused on Evidence Instead of Narratives
A weekly compilation of the most important developments in the struggle against radical ideologies

A Word about this week’s Roundup

with Richard Green

CEO, Co-Founder

Clarionproject.org

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Islamist Extremism

Iran May Be Activating Sleeper Cells Per Federal Alert

• The U.S. has intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as “an operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” outside the country, according to a federal government alert sent to law enforcement agencies.
• The alert, reviewed by ABC News, cites “preliminary signals analysis” of a transmission “likely of Iranian origin” that was relayed across multiple countries shortly after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28. READ MORE

Pakistani Man Admits Plot to Carry Out ISIS-Inspired Mass Shooting at Brooklyn Jewish Center

• Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, a Pakistani national living in Canada, pleaded guilty on April 8, 2026, to attempting to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries by trying to enter the United States and carry out a mass shooting with automatic weapons at a prominent Jewish center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
• The Justice Department said Khan began posting ISIS propaganda in November 2023 and later told undercover officers he wanted to use AR-style rifles to target Jewish sites; by August 2024 he had shifted his target to a prominent Jewish religious center in Brooklyn and hoped to attack on or around Oct. 7, 2024.
• Prosecutors said Khan identified a smuggler to help him cross from Canada into the United States, sent a photo of the area inside the target site where he planned to attack and was intercepted about 12 miles from the northern border before reaching New York; he is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 12, 2026. READ MORE

Wisconsin Mosque President Detained by ICE Over Terror-Funding Allegations

• Salah Sarsour, 53, a Palestinian-born legal permanent U.S. resident and president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, was taken into custody by nearly a dozen ICE agents after leaving his home in the Milwaukee area on March 31, 2026, according to the mosque and his attorneys.
• The Department of Homeland Security said Sarsour was suspected of funding terror organizations and accused him of lying on immigration forms. DHS cited his past conviction by an Israeli military court as a teenager in the West Bank.
• Sarsour is being held in a county jail in Indiana while his attorneys seek his release. READ MORE

Utah Man Previously Convicted on Terrorism Charge Killed After Pulling Knife on Trooper

• Sayed Mousavi, 29, of Sandy, Utah, was shot and killed by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper on Interstate 15 in South Salt Lake after a crash on April 4, 2026, when he got out of his vehicle and displayed a knife.
• Fox 13 reported that Mousavi had been charged in 2024 with threat of terrorism and other offenses after a traffic stop during which he allegedly said he was going to “kill Americans, kill the U.S.A. and buy guns to shoot up the Sandy Police Department.”
• A search of Mousavi’s vehicle in that earlier case recovered a handwritten note referencing attacks on Jews, military sites and leaders. The station reported that Mousavi later pleaded guilty to threat of terrorism in 2025. READ MORE

Militant-Right and Militant-Left Extremism

Reporter Assaulted While Covering Minneapolis Anti-ICE Protest

• Journalist Savannah Hernandez was assaulted while filming an anti-ICE protest outside the Whipple ICE facility in Minneapolis, Minn., on April 12, 2026.
• Three people identified as Paige, DeYanna, and Chris Ostroushko were caught on camera physically assaulting Hernandez, a Turning Point contributor, as she tried to leave. Footage shows Ostroushko forcefully shoving her to the ground and needing to be held back by five men to prevent further assault.
• The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office has said Ostroushko will face charges. A DOJ official said an investigation is being opened. READ MORE

Hate Crimes

Teen Arrested After Threatening to Kill Jewish Children in Brooklyn

• Eslam Alsaedi, 18, was arrested by the NYPD on April 6, 2026, after police said he made hate crime, aggravated harassment, terrorist threat and mass-harm threats against Jewish children in Brooklyn, N.Y.
• In a recorded video chat shared on social media, Alsaedi said, “If I see Jewish people in the U.S.A., I swear to God I’ve got to kill them,” adding that he wanted “a whole school with kids.”
• JNS reported that Alsaedi said he lived in Harlem and wanted to go to Brooklyn because he had heard many Jews lived there. READ MORE

Brooklyn Man Indicted in Anti-Jewish Subway Assault and Robbery

• Neil Hurlock, 20, of Brooklyn, was arraigned on April 1, 2026, on an indictment charging him with robbery and assault as hate crimes and related offenses in connection with an unprovoked attack on a Jewish man at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn.
• The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said the victim was targeted while wearing religious attire and was repeatedly punched during the attack.
• Hurlock was charged with second- and third-degree robbery as hate crimes, third-degree assault as a hate crime, petit larceny as a hate crime, third-degree menacing as a hate crime, aggravated harassment, and related counts. READ MORE

School Threats

Former Pierce College Student Arrested After Facebook Threat Triggers Lockdown

• Sergio Castanon Jr., 26, of Northridge, Calif., was arrested off campus at about 11:45 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2014, after a threat posted on Facebook prompted a lockdown and evacuation at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.
• The college began evacuating students at about 8 a.m. after authorities searched the campus following a social media threat that someone might come to campus with a gun; the campus was cleared within 30 to 40 minutes, according to the college president.
• ABC30 reported that the threat appeared on Castanon’s Facebook page at about 10:30 p.m. the night before, that photos of guns on the page raised the threat level, and that deputies later recovered an assault rifle, a handgun, ammunition, and illegal high-capacity magazines at his residence. READ MORE

Watkins Mill High Student Detained After Allegedly Bringing Gun to School

• Bethesda Magazine reported on April 7, 2026, that a Watkins Mill High School student was detained after allegedly bringing a gun to school in Gaithersburg, Md.
• The incident reportedly involved the high school student’s detention and an active police response at the school. Montgomery County police determined there was no additional threat to the campus. READ MORE

Foreign Influence

Turkey Expands Multi-Level Influence Campaign in Washington

• According to Nordic Monitor, Turkey has expanded its influence infrastructure in Washington through lobbying, legal, and advocacy channels, including a $600,000 lobbying and government-relations contract signed Jan. 31, 2025, with Skyline Capitol LLC and filed with the U.S. Department of Justice on Feb. 4, 2025.
• The report also stated that the Turken Foundation received $2 million during a six-month reporting period ending Nov. 30, 2025, from Turkish-linked entities including TURGEV and Ensar, and described those groups as part of a broader Turkish influence ecosystem in Washington. READ MORE

Former Congressman on Trial Over Undisclosed Lobbying for Venezuela

• David Rivera, 60, a former Republican U.S. congressman from Florida, is on trial in federal court in Miami on charges he secretly lobbied on behalf of Venezuela’s government without registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), according to reporting by the Associated Press.
• Prosecutors said Rivera received payments tied to a $50 million consulting contract with a U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela’s state oil company and used his political connections to push U.S. officials to ease sanctions on President Nicolás Maduro’s government during the early Trump administration.
• Brian Ballard, a prominent Washington lobbyist and ally of President Donald Trump, testified that he cut ties with Rivera after learning of the contract, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio—who also testified—said he was unaware Rivera was allegedly working on behalf of Venezuela when they met to discuss U.S. policy. READ MORE

— Andrew Jackson

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