In a major strike against domestic terrorism, the Department of Justice indicted Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, and Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho, on a 15-count indictment. Both are alleged to be leaders of the Terrorgram Collective transnational terrorist group. The charges include soliciting hate crimes, soliciting the murder of federal officials, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. A law enforcement official took both into custody.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the charges were serious: the defendants led a group bent on destruction of critical infrastructure in the country and violence against public officials, masquerading under a video-game-like violent white supremacist ideology. Garland vowed that hiding behind digital platforms would not protect perpetrators of crimes.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco underlined that the Telegram platform was used to advance the white supremacist ideology of the group members and to solicit hate crimes. She reiterated that the Justice Department is committed to preventing such abhorrent behavior and underlined that it has no place in America or anywhere else.
The case serves as a reminder of how racial bias and hostility toward government norms will not be tolerated when it pushes an organization to commit acts of domestic terrorism. Said FBI Director Christopher Wray: Terrorism remains the top priority for the FBI, and we won’t hesitate to hold accountable anyone who provides material support to violent actors.
Kristen Clarke, the Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, spoke to the growing number of hate crimes inspired by bigotry and white supremacy propagated through online message platforms. According to Clarke, this indictment charges the leaders with multiple civil rights offenses for soliciting hate crimes and terrorist attacks on marginalized communities.
The head of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Matthew G. Olsen, had identified the group’s conspiracy to provide material support and solicit attacks against federal officials and critical infrastructure. He emphasized that the Department of Justice is committed to fighting back against the threats that violent extremists pose and protecting Americans.
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, Phillip A. Talbert, reiterated that the defendants solicited murders and hate crimes based on race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity. He assured that his office would not stop working tirelessly together with law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute such violations of federal criminal law.
The indictment unsealed today alleges that Humber and Allison led the Terrorgram Collective, promoting white supremacist accelerationism-a belief in the superiority of the white race that is coupled with the necessity of violence and terrorism to create a race war to accelerate the collapse of the government.
The superseding indictment describes how Humber and Allison distributed videos and documents from Terrorgram with explicit instructions for committing crimes, as well as propaganda and glorification of white supremacist violence. In addition, they disseminated an assassination hit list of “high-value targets” to be murdered, including federal, state, and local U.S. politicians and government agents, executives of private companies, and NGOs.
Charges levied against Humber and Allison include conspiracy, soliciting hate crimes, soliciting murder of federal officials, doxing federal officials, threatening communications, distribution of bomb-making instructions, and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Each carried a maximum of 220 years of prison time if convicted.
In a related development, a federal appeals court reinstated charges against members of the Southern California white supremacist group Rise Above Movement, or RAM – Robert Rundo and Robert Boman. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial, rejecting a lower court’s ruling that the defendants had been selectively prosecuted. The court stated that Rundo failed to carry his burden of showing selective prosecution.
Rundo and Boman were initially indicted on charges of rioting and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Riot Act. The indictment detailed how RAM members participated in violent brawls at political rallies across California, where the group would often recruit new members and arrange hand-to-hand combat training.
Meanwhile, in Nashville, the Jewish community is demanding that something be done against a spate of neo-Nazi rallies, staged by the Goyim Defense League, known as the GDL. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the GDL is an anti-Israel white supremacist group whose goal is for Jews to be deported from America. The Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville called on state and local lawmakers to utilize current laws in protecting the community.
Rabbi Dan Horwitz, CEO of the Jewish Federation spoke before the Metro Council meeting to make Nashvillians aware of recent threats by anti-Jewish groups. The Federation will hold a community event to let it be known there is no place for antisemitism or hate in Nashville.