INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 6/26/2015: Day of Terror, More on Charleston

DEVELOPING STORY

Terrorist Attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait Kill Dozens
Terrorists attacked sites in France, Tunisia and Kuwait on Friday, leaving a bloody toll on three continents and prompting new concerns about the spreading influence of jihadists. In France, attackers stormed an American­owned industrial chemical plant near Lyon, tried unsuccessfully to blow up the factory, and left behind a decapitated corpse. In Tunisia, at least one gunman disguised as a vacationer opened fire at a beach resort, killing at least 37 people before security forces shot him to death, officials said. And the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in one of the largest Shiite mosques in Kuwait City during Friday prayers.

FROM J.M. BERGER

A Day of Terror Highlights the Complexity of the ISIS Problem
Terror broke out around the globe Friday, as militants suspected or known to be aligned with the Islamic State carried out gruesome attacks in France, Tunisia, Kuwait, and Syria. As one of the largest extremist groups in recent memory, ISIS has the luxury of attacking on multiple fronts, using multiple methods, and it has increasingly displayed its willingness to do so.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Law Enforcement Assessment of the Violent Extremism Threat
Law enforcement agencies in the United States consider anti-government violent extremists, not radicalized Muslims, to be the most severe threat of political violence that they face. By Charles Kurzman and David Schanzer

Country Reports on Terrorism 2014
The State Department's annual report tracking terrorism globally.
ISIS WATCH

Me and Abu Taubah
Many struggle to imagine what goes on in the minds of an Islamic State recruit. A BBC reporter struck up a correspondence with one volunteer to try to find out. By Nina Arif.

Grisly ISIS Video Seems Aimed at Quashing Resistance
The video was one of the Islamic State’s most gruesome and appeared to suggest internal concern that civilians living in areas under the group’s control could be actively working against it.

Islamic State attacks Kobane 5 months after ouster; scores reported killed
Islamic State militants stormed into the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane on Thursday, launching suicide attacks and gunning down civilians five months after the extremists were driven from the area with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes.

ISIS bride reveals an unprecedented look inside the terrorist organization
A woman discusses why she returned home before marrying a fighter.

Father Tips Off Police to Son's Alleged ISIS Sympathies, Authorities Say
A North Carolina man was charged today with planning to gun down “a large number of citizens” in attacks to support ISIS here in the United States, authorities said. Ironically, it was the suspect’s father who first alerted authorities to his son’s ISIS sympathies. As a result, 19-year-old Justin Sullivan was arrested over Father’s Day weekend.

TERROR WATCH

Lone wolf extremists like Dylann Roof are easy to develop but hard to track
The rise of the self-taught extremist has put investigators in a bind: White racist groups are less capable of producing organized violence, but the attacks that do develop come mainly from solo actors whose paths to violence are far more difficult to track.

Homegrown Extremists Tied to Deadlier Toll Than Jihadists in U.S. Since 9/11
Since Sept. 11, 2001, nearly twice as many people have been killed by white supremacists, antigovernment fanatics and other non-Muslim extremists than by radical Muslims.

Link Exposed Between Charleston Killer And Haters' Convention In Russia
Jared Taylor and Sam Dickson, members of the white-supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens that is said to have inspired Roof before he opened fire on black churchgoers in South Carolina, attended the St. Petersburg conference of Russian and Western far-right leaders in March.

On Web, white supremacists stir up a growing and angry audience
An interview with the head of white supremacist site The Daily Stormer.

The Klan’s Vile Post-Charleston Recruiting Spree
Days after the massacre at a black church in South Carolina, some Americans woke to a vile surprise: KKK fliers with candy on their lawns. The propaganda included a phone number for the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

Putin’s Plot to Get Texas to Secede
For Moscow's right-wingers, payback means teaming up with a band of Texas secessionists.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Fringe Following
In 2013, J.M. Berger wrote about what big data and social media can tell us about white supremacists.

Omar and Me
J.M. Berger on his strange, frustrating relationship with an American terrorist.

Buy the new book ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. 

Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam

Labels: Weekly-Brief

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