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Representative Elissa Slotkin last week sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blink calling for an unprecedented step in naming 13 extremist foreign terrorist organizations, arguing that the move will “help apply more stress to reduce these violent organizations”. the ability of their leaders to act in their own groups. “
Of the 13 teams listed in letters to BuzzFeed News in his office, at least four are missing, one is a California-based American club, separated and new, and another changed its name used in Slotkin’s letter six years ago. when he became a member of the national guard of an allied nation.
“The list was great – in 2018,” Matthew Feldman, director of the London-based Center for the Analysis of the Radical Right, told BuzzFeed News. “Each one [the listed groups] was active. They were all dangerous. ‘
Feldman praised Slotkin’s effort and the motivation behind the list, saying they are a step in the right direction. But he said it serves as an example that the U.S. government has been able to detect the threat posed by extreme right-wing violence at home and abroad.
Biden has stated his intention to fight domestic extremist violence, specifically that white supremacists were among the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and that the FBI sees it as a major threat. The head of the Department of Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, told lawmakers last month that extreme domestic violence is “the most deadly and enduring threat to terrorism for the homeland today.”
Experts say it is also important to follow foreign extremist groups, as they often communicate, coordinate, and inspire their American counterparts.
If the Biden administration were to list groups proposed by Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, as an official Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), or would have been designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), it would help reduce dangerous white supremacist organizations. argued a member of Congress in an earlier letter Reuters reported.
“It would also provide the U.S. government with more tools to contact, support, train, and attract and flag Americans who join them. [white supremacist extremist] the team, ”Slotkin wrote.
But Elizabeth Neumann, a former assistant secretary of terrorism and threat prevention against the Department of Security in the Donald Trump administration, told BuzzFeed News that the process is long and difficult.
“The FTO process is at a fairly high level,” he said. “I was disappointed that we were able to achieve the Russian Imperial Movement. That wasn’t the only team we looked at. “
In April 2020, the US named RIM and three SDGT leaders – the first time this classification was used.
Asked about Slotkin’s letter, a State Department spokesman told BuzzFeed News, “In general, we don’t comment on congressional correspondence and we don’t comment on appointments or deliberations related to potential appointments.” But Blinken said Of MSNBC Meet the Press calling the white supremacist foreign groups on Sunday a foreign terrorist organization is “something we are looking at”.
A former COT analyst, focused on foreign terrorist organizations in the Middle East, Slotkin wrote that he was “impressed by the threat posed by these white supremacist groups, their number of relations with US extremists, minimal intelligence and diplomatic reports.” we are talking about these groups and the relative lack of review by the US Government. “
According to Slotkin, among those deserving of a terrorist designation is the National Action Group, a neo-Nazi organization founded in the UK and banned in 2016. aimed at young British people. 2018 US counterterrorism report he described it as a terrorist group that promotes violence against politicians and minorities. He was a Metropolitan Police officer named Ben Hannam condemned partner on April 1st.
Another is the Nazi resistance movement, the same as the 2018 US report described as a transnational organization against the West behind the violent attacks, both against Muslims and left-wing groups.
But not all the groups that have asked the government to pay attention are currently active.
Kacper Rekaw, a researcher based in the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project in Slovakia, said Slotkin’s list is a list of people looking for far-right groups on Google.
“The effort of the Slotkin representative is commendable. Designations that are rarely used in the European context should help address the threat of violence from far-right organizations,” Rekaw told BuzzFeed News. “However, an in-depth analysis of local far-right scenes needs to be done. They often bring together a large number of actors who speak out, but they don’t walk away in terms of violence.”
Rekue and Feldman said the Feuerkrieg Division, Sonnenkrieg Division, Atomwaffen Division Deutschland and Northern Order are neo-Nazi groups, all on Slotkin’s list. Team members – all inspired by the US Atomwaffen Division and neo-Nazi Americans James Mason “Culture of the siege, ”- were linked to violence or violent plots United Kingdom, In the US, Germany, Canada, and elsewhere.
Rise Above Movement (RAM), linked to a white supremacist fight club in Southern California neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine and the Balkans were also roughly disbanded in August 2017 after three of its members were jailed for participating in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. The founder of RAM, Robert Rundo of New York, was charged in another federal case with several protests in California as a result of the violence. The charges were suspended in June 2019 but reset in the last month.
It is now said Hidden from Bosnian authorities after being banned from Serbia Bellingcat the report said he was trying to plant roots in the country.
After this story was published, Slotkin staff clarified that it was included in the RAM list as a way to identify the group’s foreign affiliates.
Another problematic group on the list of slots is the Ukrainian Azov Battalion. The paramilitary force was created in 2014 by far-right extremists when the war in eastern Ukraine broke out with a willingness to take up arms against Russian-backed forces. He became part of the country’s National Guard in January 2016 and has been part of the Azov regiment ever since.
His political party, the National Corps, has been declared a “nationalist hate group” by the State Department. But naming the regiment a foreign terrorist organization is likely to be challenging, especially because of its adherence to the state and because Ukraine is an ally of the United States.
BuzzFeed News turned to Slotkin for comments on the list. An aide said they were aware of the situation in Azov and the disbanded groups after a letter from the representative was reported by Reuters. But, the aide said, they plan to move forward with groups on the list that remain at least active.
“We’re confident we can get the nomination level,” the assistant said.
Read Slotkin’s full letter.
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