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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Militant-Right and Militant-Left Extremism

FBI Names New Suspects in White House UFC Plot

• Newly unsealed court records identified Jordan W. Rincker of Missouri and William Lee Spartacus Falkner of Washington state as additional defendants in an alleged plot targeting the UFC Freedom 250 event scheduled for June 14 in Washington, D.C., bringing the total number of publicly identified defendants to seven.
• Prosecutors allege the group planned to use explosive-laden drones to trigger a mass evacuation before directing fleeing crowds toward prepositioned shooters, followed by a second wave targeting the White House gate. Falkner allegedly discussed obtaining and operating drones, while Rincker allegedly helped fund and facilitate the operation.
• According to court filings, Rincker allegedly transferred a pump-action shotgun to alleged ringleader Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez and sent money to another co-defendant to support travel to Washington. The plot was disrupted after the mother of defendant Tycen Proper contacted the FBI. READ MORE

Fifteen Members of Direct Action Minnesota Indicted

• Fifteen members of Direct Action Minnesota, a Minneapolis-based group with alleged Antifa ties, were indicted on charges including conspiracy to commit civil disorder and conspiracy to interfere with federally protected activities.
• According to the indictment, members of the group allegedly coordinated actions targeting public meetings, businesses and government facilities, using threats, intimidation and property destruction to disrupt activities and influence public policy.
• The Department of Justice announced the indictment June 18 and alleged the conspiracy operated over multiple years through organized planning, communications and direct-action events. READ MORE

Eight Defendants Indicted for Threat Campaign Targeting Jewish Federation and University Officials

• Federal prosecutors in Michigan announced charges against eight individuals accused of participating in a conspiracy that threatened University of Michigan officials, businesses and the Jewish Federation.
• According to the indictment, defendants allegedly engaged in coordinated threats and intimidation directed at individuals and organizations connected to the university and Jewish community.
• The Department of Justice announced the indictment June 18, and the criminal case remains pending. READ MORE

Islamist Extremism

North Carolina Man Sentenced for Attempting to Join ISIS

• Alexander Justin White, 30, of Durham, N.C., was sentenced June 22 to eight years in federal prison for conspiring to provide and attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
• Prosecutors said law enforcement arrested White as he attempted to board a flight to North Africa, where he intended to join ISIS as a terrorist and fight in ISIS-controlled territory.
• Between May and October 2024, White posted content supporting ISIS and jihad, engaged in fundraising efforts, attempted financial transactions to support terrorist camps and purchased equipment for use overseas. READ MORE

San Diego Man Charged in Hamas Fundraising Scheme

• Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi, 38, of San Diego, was charged in a five-count complaint with terrorism, sanctions evasion, wire fraud, money laundering and false statement offenses tied to alleged efforts to divert funds raised through purported charitable campaigns to Hamas and for personal use.
• Prosecutors said Sabassi used social media accounts, crowdfunding websites and his organization, Ikram—The Arab Charity Foundation Inc., to solicit donations that he claimed were for humanitarian aid in Gaza, while allegedly raising money for Hamas.
• According to the complaint, Sabassi raised about $600,000 through online fundraising campaigns between December 2023 and February 2024, sent about $116,000 to a Hamas member and attempted to convert about $382,000 into cryptocurrency to send to Hamas through Gaza Now. READ MORE

Hate Crimes

Indictment Alleges SPLC Official Had Financial Ties to Neo-Nazi Informant

• A New York Post report, citing a June 2 superseding indictment, alleges that a former Southern Poverty Law Center official referred to as “Employee-2” was in a romantic relationship with an informant known as “F-9,” who infiltrated the neo-Nazi National Alliance.
• Based on details in the indictment, the Post identified “Employee-2” as Heidi Beirich, 58, former director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project; the indictment alleges Beirich and F-9 shared a house and two bank accounts, and that about $140,000 in donor money flowed from an SPLC operating account into their joint bank accounts between 2015 and 2021.
• The report says the indictment also alleges SPLC paid a second informant about $6,000 to take responsibility for a 2014 burglary of National Alliance headquarters, where about 25 boxes of documents were stolen, copied and returned. The Post reported that Beirich and SPLC did not respond to requests for comment. READ MORE

Albuquerque Man Charged After Attacks on Jewish Facilities

• Rex Crofton, 25, of Albuquerque, N.M., was charged with damage to religious property after allegedly attacking two Jewish community facilities in Albuquerque on June 2.
• According to court documents, Crofton arrived at Congregation Albert at about 4:31 p.m., got out of a silver sedan and used a tool to shatter the synagogue’s glass entry doors before fleeing; about eight minutes later, he allegedly arrived at the Jewish Community Center and repeatedly struck its front doors with a metal tool.
• Prosecutors said the JCC issued an emergency closure after the incident. Crofton allegedly later sent threatening text messages to a family friend, and a federal search of his residence and vehicles recovered a crowbar-like wrecking bar, clothing from the attack, a revolver, high-capacity magazines, other weapons and a torn Ukrainian flag defaced with a swastika.
  READ MORE

Florida Man Indicted in Alleged Plot Against Jewish Victims

• Forrest Kendall Pemberton, 27, of Gainesville, Fla., was indicted in the Southern District of Florida on federal hate crime and firearm charges for allegedly attempting a mass shooting targeting Jewish victims because of their race and religion.
• According to court records, Pemberton armed himself with an AR-15-style rifle equipped with a silencer and traveled to the office of a nonprofit organization that lobbies the U.S. government in support of Israel.
• Prosecutors said Pemberton allegedly attempted to carry out the attack on Dec. 23, 2024, targeting the organization’s employees because they were Jewish. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison on the attempted hate crime count, up to 30 years on the firearm count and up to five years on the possession count. READ MORE

School Threats

Alabama Woman Ordered Held Without Bail in Alleged School Shooting Plot

• Katherine Joiner, 21, of Wilsonville, Ala., will remain in federal custody pending trial after the judge found probable cause supporting a charge of transmitting threatening communications in interstate commerce and ruled that no conditions of release would adequately protect the public.
• According to a criminal complaint, the FBI became aware of concerning Instagram messages on May 18 discussing violence, access to firearms, school shooters, and plans to commit a mass attack. Joiner allegedly admitted to investigators that she and co-defendant Ethan Bassett discussed carrying out violence at a school and that she planned to take firearms from her home, meet Bassett, and then kill herself after the attack.
• Prosecutors presented evidence, including photographs from Joiner’s bedroom showing gore-themed decals and imagery, as well as a rifle she allegedly discussed having access to. Investigators said Joiner and Bassett were part of an online group known as “TCC” or “True Crime Community,” whose members discussed notorious school shooters, including Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza. Judge England ordered Joiner held pending trial on June 17.
• The Clarion Project has been working for years to monitor TCC community spaces, educate law enforcement of the threat, and get those spaces shut down. READ MORE

Teen Sentenced in Detailed Kamiakin High School Attack Plot

• Mason Bently-Ray Ashby, 15, was sentenced Monday in Benton County, Wash., to remain in custody until age 21 after being found guilty of attempted first-degree murder, one count of threats to injure property and 11 counts of unlawful possession of a firearm stemming from a planned mass shooting at Kamiakin High School in Kennewick.
• According to court testimony, Ashby used one of his grandfather’s firearms after obtaining the code to a gun safe, created color-coded maps identifying targets within the school, wrote a manifesto and filmed a “dress rehearsal” walkthrough of the planned attack in September 2025. He was arrested the day after recording the video.
• The plot was uncovered after a 12-year-old in Florida saw a TikTok video posted by Ashby and the boy’s brother reported it to the FBI. Judge Jacqueline Shea-Brown imposed an exceptional sentence after finding Ashby posed a continuing danger to the community and was at high risk of reoffending. READ MORE

Foreign Influence

New Report: How Qatar Built Influence Inside America’s Top Universities

• A JINSA report states that newly released documents from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce provide insight into funding relationships between Qatar and American universities, examining how foreign-government donations may extend beyond financial support into institutional influence.
• According to the report, contractual agreements governing university partnerships in Qatar included provisions related to intellectual property, governance structures, academic credentialing and confidentiality, giving Qatari institutions access to areas of university operations not visible through federal foreign-funding disclosures alone.
• The report argues that Qatar has used these partnerships as part of a broader foreign-policy strategy and calls for greater scrutiny of foreign-government funding arrangements and the contractual terms underlying them. READ MORE

Russian Influence Operation Hijacked Bluesky Accounts

• Researchers linked a Russian influence campaign to the Moscow-based Social Design Agency, alleging that hundreds of Bluesky accounts belonging to journalists, academics and filmmakers were compromised to spread anti-Ukraine narratives.
• Clemson University researchers connected the activity to the Kremlin-linked Matryoshka influence network, which has previously used impersonation tactics, stolen branding and AI-generated voices in disinformation campaigns.
• Bluesky said it removed 4,907 accounts linked to state-backed influence activity this year. Researchers noted that while the operation was sophisticated, its online impact appeared limited before accounts and posts were removed. READ MORE

They accomplished a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society. They reared the fabrics of governments which have no model on the face of the globe. They formed the design of a great Confederacy, which it is incumbent on their successors to improve and perpetuate.

–James Madison