BOTTOM LINE UPFRONT: On March 25, TRAC analysts detected the creation of a "White Lives Matter -04/11" channel on Telegram. The new community promotes "White Lives Matter" marches in cities across the United States on April 11. Within five days, we have monitored at least 31 separate "local" Telegram channels that have been created to help in spreading the word. In addition, our analysts have detected international interest with three channels operating in the United Kingdom and Germany. To this writing, the primary channel has grown to 1,347 subscribers. Claiming to be a grassroots network for white people, each channel presents their own perspectives on the need for the marches ranging from exposing violence against whites, to anti-government sentiments, to anti-mask movements. Although graphics and posters profess peaceful rallies, we note that there are many far-right extremist Telegram channels trumpeting that the events will turn violent. The hashtag #WLM is being used extensively on those channels even as some users debate if the marches could be a potential FBI and law enforcement "honeypot." The #131 Crew / NSC 131 has already announced its planned participation in the WLM rally, and Proud Boys propaganda is present in many of the individual Telegram channels, an indication that some Proud Boys will also participate."OPSEC" is already being debated, from mask wearing to not carrying a cell-phone.
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Images (Above): AQ related channel responding to the suspect's roots in Syria. (Below) Meme circulating on Telegram "Please Let the Shooter Be White" over and over again in prayer.
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TRAC INCIDENT REPORT: Ahmad Alissa Active Shooter at Crowded King Soopers Grocery Store & Parking Lot on Table Mesa Drive in Boulder, Colorado, United States |
Immediately following the mass shooting at a Boulder, Colorado King Soopers supermarket that left ten dead immediately sparked online chatter from various extremist groups. 21 year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa surrendered following the killing spree. Even before his identity was public, TRAC monitored violent extremist organizations were chattering. The reaction from white nationalists on Telegram was one of excitement that yet another shooting spree may spark a race war and cause the collapse of the United States often referred to as 'accelerationism' - a reference to Christchurch mass shooter Brenton Tarrant's manifesto. Many were hoping that the shooter would be white. Other memes that circulated on Telegram extreme far right circles celebrated that the shooter killed a policeman in his wake. Note to be left out of the unfolding developments, we detected an al-Qaeda affiliated Telegram channel that immediately claimed that Alissa was from al-Hader village in Aleppo. Additionally, the AQ channel underscored that the timing of the shooting coincides with the fall of Baghouz, the last of the Islamic State strongholds. This stopped short of a claim of credit, but is significant in that the AQ channel touted Alissa's roots.
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TRAC Incident Report: Female Islamic State Elements Ask for Freedom Then Threaten That Their Children Will Execute Apostates Upon Release, at SDF Detention Center al-Hol Camp, Hasakah, Syria |
Speaking of Syria, London-based TRAC analyst Sophia Badawy took a look this week at the demands by female Islamic State elements held at the al-Hol camp. In a video, the group demanded freedom from the SDF detention camp citing horrible living conditions and their children being deprived of their mothers. Badawy notes contradictions in the claims. At one point, the women threatened that even after their release, their children will be sent to conduct Islamic State attacks. We note
disturbing reports from within the camp that the number of children being held continues to grow. Considering no new prisoners have been brought to the camp combined with the fact that here are no grown men housed in the camp, there are only two possible explanations. Either SDF guards or the mature boys are fathering these new babies. Some postulate that within this self-created hierarchical structure, the female prisoners of the camp arranging marriage with fourteen-fifteen-year-old children to give birth to new "lion cubs of the Caliphate." Therefore, SDF has begun transferring boys from a certain age to other places, segregating them from the general population. It is worth noting that SDF did arrest 9 men hiding inside the camp last weekend.
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Image (Above): Video release; (Below) TRAC transcript of video with interesting claims.
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Images: (Above) Police inspect the blast site; (Below) The charred remains of the motorcycle used by the attackers to approach the church (Twitter).
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TRAC Incident Report: Dual Newlywed Suicide Bombers Wound at least 20 People During Palm Sunday Mass in Makassar, Sulawesi, Indonesia |
As Palm Sunday Mass concluded at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar, Sulaweisi, at 10:30 am local time, two suicide bombers detonated pressure cooker IEDs packed with nails.
The explosion followed actions by two security guards on the site who confronted two suspicious people who approached on a motorcycle and tried to enter the area. After being confronted, the two detonated their devices outside of the church, which undoubtedly saved lives. The two suspects, one man and a woman were killed by the explosion. At least 20 civilians were wounded. TRAC Senior Analyst Daniel Lebowitz notes that the use of pressure cooker IEDs in a suicide mission is highly unusual. Typically, pressure cooker bombs are designed to be left/planned at a location rather than being carried by an individual. This may suggest that the bomb-maker's skills were limited to this one type of device. Philippine counter-terrorism units confirmed that at least one of the two suicide bombers was a Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (part of the Islamic State East Asia (ISEA) network). Additionally, the bombers Lukman and his wife as Dewi, were newlyweds. The phenomena of "families" participating in bomb making and suicide operations began in Indonesia in May 2018. After the suicide bombings, police arrested an unknown number of JaD members in Sumbawa, in the province of West Nusa Tenggara.
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TRAC's Weekly Analyst Review is a small curated list of many events.
For more events TRAC is monitoring click here
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If your organization is interested in attending, please schedule with the link below. We look forward to having you join us and ask questions.
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