US: White Supremacist Group Tried to Incite Race War on Telegram

A federal indictment unsealed on Monday revealed that a white supremacist group known as the Terrorgram Collective had devised a list of prominent targets for assassination. This list included at least one sitting senator and a district court judge.

According to the indictment, the group’s leaders incited their followers on the messaging platform Telegram to engage in hate crimes against various communities, including Black and Jewish individuals, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ members.

Dallas Humber, 34, from Elk Grove, California, and Matthew Allison, 37, from Boise, Idaho, face a total of 15 counts each. Charges include soliciting hate crimes and providing material support to terrorism, as outlined in a 37-page indictment filed in a California district court.

The document alleges that Humber and Allison encouraged their followers to attack government infrastructure, energy facilities, and other buildings in an effort to instigate a race war and accelerate societal collapse.

As part of their operations, the pair created a digital guide titled the Hard Reset, which detailed the group’s extremist ideology. This guide provided instructions on bomb-making and strategies for carrying out terrorist attacks, along with methods for evading law enforcement.

Additionally, the indictment references the creation of a list of “high-value” assassination targets. While specific names were not disclosed in the indictment, it stated that the senator and judge were viewed as enemies of the white supremacist agenda, making them prime targets.

The list reportedly included former U.S. attorneys, state and local officials, and leaders from various private companies and non-governmental organizations. Each target was assigned a digital card containing their name, address, photograph, and an image of their residence.

The motivations for targeting these individuals were linked to their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Prosecutors asserted that the actions of Humber and Allison were not merely theoretical; they had demonstrated a global reach. Several violent incidents have been traced back to the group, including the tragic shooting deaths of two individuals at an LGBTQ+ bar in Slovakia in October 2022 and the stabbing of five people near a mosque in Turkey the previous month.

Telegram itself has faced criticism recently, particularly following the arrest of its CEO Pavel Durov in France on August 24. This arrest was linked to a cybercrime inquiry examining Telegram’s alleged failure to effectively combat criminal activities on the platform, including the distribution of child sexual abuse material.

In response to these allegations, Telegram has denied that its platform facilitates illegal activities such as terrorism, fraud, and child exploitation.

In a related incident, federal agents in New Jersey successfully thwarted a planned attack on an energy facility by an unnamed 18-year-old in July.

Currently, Humber and Allison are in custody and awaiting a court appearance. At a press conference on Monday, officials reiterated the seriousness of the charges against them.

Kristen Clarke, the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, emphasized that the federal government is evolving its approach to combat hate-driven acts. She noted, “Whether carried out on our streets or perpetrated by way of online platforms, we will follow the facts where they lead and use every tool available to hold perpetrators of hate accountable.”