CA and ID - Two leaders of transnational terrorist group arrested, charged with multiple crimes

[Passeridae]

The official announcement by the Department of Justice: Leaders of Transnational Terrorist Group Charged with Soliciting Hate Crimes, Soliciting the Murder of Federal Officials, and Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Terrorists

The Justice Department announced today that Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, and Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho — leaders of the Terrorgram Collective, a transnational terrorist group — were charged with a 15-count indictment for soliciting hate crimes, soliciting the murder of federal officials, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Humber and Allison were arrested on Friday by law enforcement officials.

...

They also incited Terrorgram users to commit attacks in furtherance of white supremacist accelerationism, including the following individuals who were allegedly inspired or guided by Humber, Allison, and other members of the Terrorgram Collective to carry out attacks or were planning to do so when they were arrested by law enforcement:

• An individual who shot three people (killing two) outside of an LGBT bar in Slovakia;
• An individual who planned an attack on energy facilities in New Jersey; and
• An individual who stabbed five people near a mosque in Turkey.

Dallas Humber, at least, has been on the radar since March 2023. This HuffPo story describes how activists uncovered her identity, and gives her background. The Sacramento Dildo Saleswoman Behind A Neo-Nazi Network Advocating For Mass Shootings

Evidence compiled by a coalition of anonymous antifascist researchers — including from SoCal Research Club, @WizardAFA, @SunlightAFA and @FashFreeNW — and published this week on Left Coast Right Watch, an investigative news outlet, reveals that one of the Terrorgram Collective’s main propagandists is Dallas Erin Humber, a 33-year-old woman living in Sacramento, California.

HuffPost has corroborated the research indicating that Humber is the person behind multiple Telegram accounts associated with the Terrorgram Collective, and identifying her as the narrator of the collective’s documentaries and audiobooks.
...

Her unmasking comes not long after another Terrorgram Collective member may have been identified in court documents. Brandon Russell — the founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, fresh off a five-year prison stint for the unlawful storage of explosive materials — was arrested along with his girlfriend by federal authorities in Maryland earlier this month for an alleged plot to attack power stations and plunge the region into darkness. His usernames on Telegram are mentioned in federal affidavits, and archived messages show him interacting with accounts associated with Humber, the pair appearing to coordinate the release of the Terrorgram Collective’s latest propaganda.

I don't see much out there about Matthew Allison before the announcement earlier today.

EDIT: Removed some of the first quote. It's a press release and not an article and since it's from the DOJ I think it's public domain, but just in case - don't want to violate the copyright rules.

 

[Passeridae]

Here's the original story that uncovered Dallas Humber's identity last year.

HERE’S THE GORE ARTIST TURNING TERRORGRAM MANUALS & MANIFESTOS INTO AUDIOBOOKS | Left Coast Right Watch

A terrorgram propagandist has a long, sordid posting history & dates a convicted pedophile.

leftcoastrightwatch.org

IMAGES ARE NSFW.​

They're not horrible, but do feature some adult toys (her previous job was reviewing and selling them, apparently).

 

[Passeridae]

And a couple quick links on Terrorgram/the Terrorgram Collective:

A brief summary from the Anti-Defamation League: Terrorgram

The Wikipedia page on the white supremacist movement, which goes a bit more in-depth and shares attacks linked to the group (including ones not mentioned in the DOJ announcement of charges): Terrorgram - Wikipedia

A bit more on the group's connection to neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division (aka the National Socialist Resistance Front): Leaked Chats, Documents Show Atomwaffen Founder's Path to Terror Plot

And a couple of articles about the use of Telegram by hate groups generally, from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Both articles discuss Terrorgram as an example:

Year In Hate: New SPLC analysis shows extremists leveraging little-known and encrypted technology to spread dangerous messages, plot violence

www.splcenter.org

How an Encrypted Messaging Platform is Changing Extremist Movements

www.splcenter.org

 

[scapa]

Here's the original story that uncovered Dallas Humber's identity last year.

HERE’S THE GORE ARTIST TURNING TERRORGRAM MANUALS & MANIFESTOS INTO AUDIOBOOKS | Left Coast Right Watch

A terrorgram propagandist has a long, sordid posting history & dates a convicted pedophile.

leftcoastrightwatch.org

IMAGES ARE NSFW.​

They're not horrible, but do feature some adult toys (her previous job was reviewing and selling them, apparently).

Thanks for this -- excellent, well-researched and frankly terrifying article.

These two, along with their terror-mates, needed to be shut down years ago. Hopefully this one sticks.

 

[Passeridae]

Thanks for this -- excellent, well-researched and frankly terrifying article.

These two, along with their terror-mates, needed to be shut down years ago. Hopefully this one sticks.

Yeah, it's actually really concerning to me that Humber was identified and tied to this incredibly violent content last year, but it took a year and a half to get to an arrest.

And this is not a criticism of law enforcement or the system! I'm sure it took that long to gather digital evidence conclusively linking her and Allison to the crimes they were charged with, given that it seems most of it was happening on Telegram. I'm sure they were being surveilled that whole time, or maybe even earlier given their connections to Brandon Russell. I'm sure it involved either a lot of undercover work or turning informants, or both.

It's just scary that people can plan entire terrorist attacks on Telegram or other platforms without detection, while going about their normal lives. And it's a little sad that it seems like this woman - who to be clear is a monster - was so failed by the people around her as a child when she could have still been pulled out of this world, before she was involved in murder and terror plots.