Morning Briefing: ‘Clear Divide’ Between U.S. and Allied Counties in Assessment of ‘Far-Right Violent Extremism’
Analysis finds 'clear divide both within the United States and between the U.S. and its allies over the severity of the threat posed by far-right violent extremism.'
Morning Briefing: The Proud Boys, the far right violent extremists group involved in the planning and coordinating of the Capitol Riot, have been designated a terrorist group by Canada and New Zealand, however, the number of local chapters of the Proud Boys in the U.S. has significantly increased since the January 6th Insurrection.
The Senate Armed Services Committee recommended that the Defense Department “halt its programs to prevent and root out extremism in the ranks,” and every member of the U.S. House Republican caucus voted against “bill that would order the government to investigate white supremacist and neo-Nazi activity in the military and federal law enforcement.”
The inaction to combat far right violent extremism and that preventing violent extremism in the military has become a “partisan dispute,” is evidence that “there is a clear divide both within the United States and between the U.S. and its allies over the severity of the threat posed by far-right violent extremism,” according to a recent analysis from The Soufan Center.
Matthew Albence, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the Trump administration, was hired as a senior vice president of client relations for GEO Group, and is the latest of example of the “direct pipeline of former federal immigration officials who have then gone to work for the private prison profiteers that make big bucks from jailing immigrants for the federal government.”
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, right-wing activists are opening up their playbook for several culture war issues, including preparing to “push religious worship into public schools nationwide — working to blur the line dividing prayer and pedagogy, and promising emotional, spiritual and educational benefits for students.”
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Greg Sargent writes that “right-wing media figures have always had an easy out. They could claim they didn’t condone the violence of Jan. 6 while maintaining it wasn’t really an insurrection, or was just a protest gone wrong, or that the attack wasn’t meaningfully linked to Trump, his movement and its genuine authoritarian aspirations, which are plainly shared by many Republicans in Congress. But now that it has been demonstrated with great clarity that Trump tried to weaponize the Jan. 6 violence to complete the job of destroying our political order, that justification has been foreclosed. Which has at least pushed some outlets into acknowledging what’s right at the end of everyone’s noses. As for the pro-Trump media holdouts? They can’t concede that the revelations they lied about for so long are so incredibly grave — or that they arose from precisely the effort at accountability that they tried to discredit for so long — without forcefully indicting themselves.” [The Washington Post]
Dani Anguiano writes that “anger over Covid-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates culminated in rowdy public meetings and vicious threats against officials. Both Donald Trump’s campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election and the recall effort against California’s Democratic governor the following year found widespread support. And in February, voters threw their weight behind a recall campaign against one of the five county supervisors, effectively giving control of the local government to a majority backed by the area’s thriving far-right movement. Since then, the new majority has embarked on what it considers a badly needed ‘course correction’. The board has fired the county health officer. The county CEO, under pressure from a conservative supervisor, has resigned. Amid the chaos and political division, the director of the health and human services agency retired.” [The Guardian]
Kristen Doerer writes that “around the country, right-wing forces are seeking to control state elections by pursuing secretary of state offices and taking over roles typically held by nonpartisan election workers. They’re spreading voter fraud conspiracy theories, casting doubt on the integrity of the elections. They’re no longer flirting with violent rhetoric but embracing it… With such false claims of fraud, far-right forces and right-wing media have been able to convince a broad swath of the American public that our elections are not safe. They have convinced Trump supporters that poll workers—public servants like Wandrea ‘Shaye’ Moss, who became the focus of Trump’s ire when he baselessly accused her of processing fake ballots—are to blame. And so they harass them and threaten them—and when they have driven good people away from those posts, they try to take their places.” [Right Wing Watch]
What to expect from Radical Reports: Morning Briefing provides a daily round-up of reporting on the Radical Right; Extremist Links offers a weekly round-up of extremists activities including the white supremacist and militia movements; Research Desk provides monthly highlights research and analysis from academia on the Radical Right; Field Notes delivers research on key organizations and analysis of the strategies and tactics of the Radical Right.
The Capitol Riot Map is an interactive visualization tool that maps the networks of the 800+ individuals who have been arrested and charged or subpoenaed for involvement in the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021.
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