Psychological analysis of violent extremism

Can you recognize this signature?

Across all ideologies investigated by the researchers, people who endorsed “extreme pro-group action”, including ideologically-motivated violence against others, had a surprisingly consistent psychological profile.

The extremist mind – a mixture of conservative and dogmatic psychological signatures – is cognitively cautious, slower at perceptual processing and has a weaker working memory. This is combined with impulsive personality traits that seek sensation and risky experiences.

The first thing that crossed my mind is somebody who misses the funniest part of a joke, or wildly misinterprets the joke. I must admit I often throw something out when I first meet somebody, in an unconscious(?) attempt to gauge their personality. It's a faulty, self-centered approach, because you have no way of knowing what they're dealing with at the time. But it is surprisingly accurate. Here's more on their findings:

21st Century extremism: Tracking the Proud Boys

Not all heroes wear capes and fly around:

All five Proud Boys on trial this month in the Justice Department’s landmark seditious conspiracy prosecution were in Squire’s original data set. Another member who pleaded guilty and is expected to testify previously filmed himself railing against Squire on social media, and posted her private information on Telegram in retaliation for her research.

After years of observing Proud Boys act as if they’re above the law, Squire said, the trial offers the promise of long-awaited accountability. “This is where you end up when you’re in this movement. It’s not going to end well,” she said. “To use their own favorite expression: You eff around, and you find out.”

Yanno, folks on the right like to throw the word "Patriot" around to sauce up their gun fetishism, but Megan is what I consider a true patriot. Using her skills to protect the wider public from unhinged and dangerous people, even though she knows that comes with a serious risk:

White Supremacy in the ranks: Removing extremists not as easy as it sounds

Testing the limits of the 1st Amendment:

California is one of four states, including Oregon, Minnesota and Tennessee, along with Washington, D.C., that have proposed new laws to give law enforcement agencies more power to exclude officers with ties to extremism.

Various such efforts have been simmering around the country for years, spurred by F.B.I. reports starting more than 15 years ago that document a concerted effort by white supremacist and other extremist organizations to infiltrate the police.

They actually stumbled across intel in 2004 that pushed them to investigate further, discovering the deployment of "Ghost Skins." These are White Supremacists who don't wear the garb (or tattoos) of neo-nazis, so they can blend in and work from inside police and other organizations. Here's the redacted 2006 report released last year (can't copy and paste, you'll have to read it yourself). Here's more on the rights of racists:

Nazi for hire: Ukraine refuses to extradite NC man wanted for murder

If it walks like a Nazi, talks like a Nazi, you know the rest:

As he fought with Right Sector in Ukraine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas, he mentored Jarrett W. Smith about fighting with far-right paramilitary groups in Ukraine. Smith, who also served in the U.S. Army, later pleaded guilty to explosives-related charges.

Federal prosecutors in Kansas said Smith spread information about bombs and recipes for homemade napalm on the social networking site Telegram, while discussing plans to kill a Democratic Party politician and blow up a media company headquarters. The indictment did not identify the media company, but CNN reported that it was the target.

First of all, this article describes him as an Army veteran. He was booted out after going AWOL, se he doesn't deserve that "veteran" designation. But even if he had stayed in and was honorably discharged, plotting acts of domestic terrorism makes him guilty of treason, another reason to not refer to him as a "veteran." But aside from all that, the Ukraine has no business protecting a cold-blooded murderer:

Proud Boy organizes rally at high school for Trump cheerleaders

These guys are popping up everywhere:

Jeremy Onitreb, who told The Washington Post in Facebook messages he is not a student and does not have any relationship with anyone on the cheer squad, is organizing a free-speech rally on Friday across from the school. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 130 people have said they’re going and more than 950 people have said they’re interested in attending the event Onitreb created on Facebook.

“The truth is if there were a Bernie 2020 or Biden 2020 [sign] and conservatives complained, nothing would have been done at all,” Onitreb said. “It’s only because of the name Trump that there was ever an issue.”

Of course the right-wing nutters are up in arms about this, but it's really not a 1st Amendment issue. Had those girls not been in uniform, I doubt anyone would have even noticed, or taken any disciplinary actions. But they were, and that crosses several lines. Of course if you're an idiot like Richard Hudson, somebody needs to spell that out for you:

White Supremacist propaganda is littering college campuses

Looking for new (pure) blood to fill out their ranks:

During the previous academic year, ADL found at least 292 incidents of white supremacy propaganda. Generally, white nationalists who are not connected to the university are responsible for the material.

They have been increasingly targeting colleges and universities since January 2016, and began appearing in larger numbers in the fall semester of that year, according to the ADL. More than three years later their materials -- fliers, stickers, posters -- continue to proliferate on campuses.

These groups are evolving somewhat, although that evolution isn't heading in a "better" direction, just more clandestine. Especially since the Charlottesville debacle, the general public has become more aware of the potential dangers, and less inclined to tolerate outright Nazism. So Identity Evropa has given itself a makeover:

Supposed "charity" orgs funnel millions to hate groups

That word doesn't mean what they think it does:

Some of America’s largest charities have been secretly giving millions of dollars to hate groups for years. Backed by anonymous donors, the charitable gift funds have been funneling funds to white nationalists and anti-LGBTQ groups.

An investigation by Sludge reveals that Donors Trust, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Schwab Charitable Fund, and Vanguard Charitable have given nearly $11 million to 34 groups classified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Most reading this won't have to worry they might be inadvertently supporting these groups, because these funds are mainly geared towards the wealthy. But if you have a modest portfolio managed by someone other than yourself, you should check anyway. Here are some of the hate-filled groups that money is funding:

UNC students harassed online by associate of Pittsburgh mass-murderer

And apparently he lives in the area, too:

Another one of the website’s more prolific users, known as Jack Corbin, is ideologically allied with the suspected killer, Robert Bowers, 46, who would often repost Corbin. And Corbin -- whose real name is unknown, but has generated a following of more than 2,000 people on Gab -- has been harassing college students online, notably activists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, near where Corbin says he lives.

On Gab, Corbin took delight in coming up with a nickname for a graduate student who has protested Silent Sam -- calling her “lampshade.” One of Corbin’s followers had taunted the student, saying he would take her to the lampshade factory, apparently a reference to stories of Nazis who made lampshades from human skin. The student declined to be interviewed but told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Corbin has posted comments about her “looks, ethnicity and background” since August and she had started learning cardio kickboxing because she feared potential violence.

I have nothing but contempt for punks like this who hide behind an alias so they can threaten women with impunity. It's bad enough they have to deal with casual sexism and misogyny on a daily basis from males they do know, but some faceless stranger "joking" about brutal violence is beyond the pale. The 1st Amendment was not written to support predators and bullies, it was written to protect the voices of the oppressed; to keep the government from stifling legitimate complaints. The only thing "legitimate" about this stuff is that it's legitimately disgusting:

The Nazi next door: White Supremacy on the rise

And the mentally ill seem to be more susceptible:

A Cary police officer and an FBI agent met with Warden two days before the incident at the synagogue to discuss fliers that appeared twice in Cary neighborhoods in October, according to the application for a warrant to search Warden's home on Preston Grove Avenue.

On Oct. 16, fliers were found at homes on Roebling Lane that contained a swastika, the words "Aryan Youth" and a link to a channel on the online music-sharing platform Soundcloud that contained neo-Nazi music, the application states. Two days later, at least 60 fliers were in Cary with a swastika and the statement, "White man, are you sick and tired of the Jews destroying your country through mass immigration and degeneracy? Join us in the struggle for global white supremacy at the Daily Stormer."

It's long past time to shut down that particular website. I've held my nose and lurked a few times, and they have mastered the use of code words to (barely) conceal their hatred for blacks and Jews. But that platform (unless I'm mistaken) also provides the capability for private messaging, and even private "group" messaging. I haven't explored either Gab or 4Chan, and don't plan to, but it's safe to say that these platforms serve as an incubator for domestic terrorists. If law enforcement discovered al-Qaeda or Daesh (Islamic State) operating sites like this in the U.S., there would be a fricking task force rounding them up for an express trip to Guantanamo. But this dude will probably get probation:

The Chapel Hill Police Chief has been gaslighted: We shouldn’t

The Durham Herald Sun is featuring a story today about an uproar over a photo that emerged of a Chapel Hill police officer at the “Silent Sam” rally displaying tattoos associated with known violent white supremacist groups that took part in the massacre at Charlottesville.

You can read the Chief’s statement in the Herald Sun piece, but there’s an important point to make here: the police officer, not identified by the article or the department, was not dismissed, but told to “cover up” the tattoos.

BlueNC

White Supremacist Movements