SCOOP: how the address of a suburban home in North America appears to help smuggle $80 million+ of microelectronics to the ‘Russian war machine’. It’s a tale of a Caribbean shell company, microchips, Kremlin spy agencies, and the OffShore Leaks.
Some actual terrorist groups that never attained that governmental designation: Ku Klux Klan, The Base, The Order, Atomwaffen Division, Aryan Republican Army. All white supremacist organizations.
Interesting how the headline on Cardi B's talk on Ukraine was that she doesn't want to take sides. It neglects she also said: "Wish these world leaders stop tripping about power and really think about [who's] really getting affected." Sounds pretty antiwar and humanitarian to me.
For
@CBCNews
iUnit: dug into Drake’s (at least) 52 companies; also found he bought Miami condos from Lev Leviev and Shaya Boymelgreen, two controversial businessmen accused of building West Bank settlements in Bil’in.
Very armed volunteers in Dnipro. When I see videos like this, I’m not sure how Russia hasn’t forecasted a very inspired insurgency even in the event the invasion *is* successful.
New scoop from
@MackLamoureux
and I: We've learned that the leader of neo-Nazi terror group the Base, Rinaldo Nazzaro, aka Norman Spear and Roman Wolf, worked with the US special forces as a contractor.
Scoop: Capitol Hill attacker accused of wanting to sell a stolen laptop used by Nancy Pelosi’s staff to Russian intel was allegedly active inside a neo-Nazi chat room.
Just learned neo-Nazi terror org Atomwaffen Division claims to have become a new group: 'National Socialist Order' founded by the remaining AWD leaders who weren't arrested in a nationwide FBI crackdown earlier this year. An interesting development for counterterrorism watchers.
Scoop:
@DHSgov
confirmed to me that it used to employ Rinaldo Nazzaro who is the leader and founder of the Base, the same type of domestic terrorist group it sees as a national security threat. The Base is also already under an intense FBI crackdown.
Amidst the news of an imminent Russian invasion a Ukrainian soldier just on the front line texted me he’s still not worried: “What (the) politicians say is one thing, but what I see on the front line is another.”
Scoop: I obtained secret communications showing Justen Watkins, 25, Michigan cell leader for the domestic terror group the Base, planning an armed and "fortified" all-white compound in northern Michigan. My latest for
@VICENews
.
Scoop: I obtained private chats between an ex-Marine leading a popular neo-Nazi channel on Telegram and a group of his followers making serious plans to move en-masse to Maine and make a white ethnostate. Even discussed a “Nazi home owners association.”
As the war in Ukraine rages on,
@CIA
chief Bill Burns says his agency is actively trying to "counter" and "disrupt" the Russian mercenary outfit, Wagner Group, in Africa with the help of the French and local governments.
Neo-Nazi accelerationists aren't discussing infiltrating protests or riots, but more about strategically taking advantage of depleted police forces to bomb synagogues or the powergrid. Some saying stay away from the protests altogether. My latest for
@VICE
Well, it's been a hell of a ride
@VICENews
. The layoff grim reaper finally got me. Thanks, for everything. In the meantime, if you are in the US, Canada, or even Europe (yes I'm becoming an EU citizen) hit me up with any work opportunities in the national security space.
Rinaldo Nazzaro, the founder of Nazi terror group the Base (under a crackdown by the FBI), is at it again: he's trying to organize a secretive paramilitary training network for Americans—from the safety of Russia—to train them for a Second Civil War.
While pro-choice protests at Supreme Court justices' homes have garnered the U.S. Marshals Service, far-right activists on Telegram dox Democrat federal judges and called for their killing. My latest for
@VICENews
:
Scoop
@theintercept
: I obtained hacked data from the inbox of a Russian officer in Tula recruiting Cuban mercenaries for the war in Ukraine. Cache includes images of 122 of their passports, Spanish service contracts promising 195k ruble bonuses, etc.
A domestic terrorist planning to car-bomb a hospital dealing with coronavirus was killed in an FBI operation thwarting his attack in Missouri. My latest on the very active far-right during this pandemic
@motherboard
@vice
A former leader of the Base in Michigan was just sentenced to four years in prison. He was preparing to kill police and an alleged plot to attack the VICE News headquarters, which we didn't hear about until today. Story w
@MackLamoureux
.
Scoop: Russia-based founder of domestic terror group the Base, Rinaldo Nazzaro, is back with the group (though it is a shadow of what it was) and it's recruiting/planning paramilitary training in the US again. I obtained its unpublished, new manifesto.
While the US military writ-large has a far-right extremism problem, mounting evidence suggests the Marine Corps has a serious neo-Nazi problem (and it isn’t new). My latest for
@VICENews
looking at the USMC and its links to domestic terror.
This is a take that needs to be more widely shared. Whatever funding occurred these are Canadians and one of the most Canadian things to do is think the far-right doesn't really exist in your country when there's a strong history of it.
Be cautious of amplifying ideas that this is a foreign funded/organized movement.
This occupation movement is Canadian, made up of Canadians, organized by Canadians.
There may be boosting, bots, money - but nothing concrete.
Don't absolve responsibility. Canada did this.
NEW from
@MackLamoureux
and I: We obtained a recording of Jason Lee Van Dyke, a onetime leader and former Proud Boys lawyer, trying to join Nazi terror group the Base in a vetting call with cell leaders.
So this Venezuelan coup by a Trump linked mercenary crew gets even weirder: One of the captured mercenaries and a former US spec ops soldier, Airan Berry, appears to be into the QAnon conspiracy theory. Yep. Here's my latest scoop for
@vice
@motherboard
I’ve reported from Russia many times and a very close friend just told me they’re rushing out of the country in fear of conscription and martial law. Flights are wildly expensive. This was unthinkable not a week ago. The world is changing.
UPDATE: Just confirmed Jacob Kaderli and Luke Austin Lane, the other two conspirators in The Base plot to assassinate an antifascist activist, will definitely be sentenced tomorrow afternoon in Rome, GA. The other man in the plot, Michael Helterbrand, received 20 yrs.
While Congressmen ridiculously claim the Capitol Hill invasion was the work of "antifa," Nazis are already bragging about being there. A Nazi group (founded by a former Base member) even showed off a stolen police riot helmet. Latest from me for
@VICENews
.
The Proud Boys, known for cringe initiations, rules against masturbation, and being mentioned by Trump in a presidential debate, also attracted eventual members of a more staunchly neo-Nazi terror org. My latest with
@MackLamoureux
German police and military counterintelligence carried out raids on 50 rightwing extremists in today. Among them, were 10 suspected members of neo-Nazi terror group Atomwaffen Division, according to federal prosectors. Story from
@MackLamoureux
and I.
And if you're looking for more on rightwing extremism in the military, we did an hourlong doc investigating it that was released last fall. Give it a watch for free on our
@VICENews
YT.
Big news for those following neo-Nazi terror group Atomwaffen Division and its demise: Infamous former leader John Cameron Denton, who went by the alias “Rape,” was just sentenced to 41 months in prison for for his role in a national swatting campaign
My latest in the twist and turns of the shambolic (and failed) coup d'etat on the Maduro regime masterminded by an ex-Green Beret. Mercenaries, the CIA, and a cabal of backers circled what is now known as "Operacion Gedeon"
Found evidence of the Hundred-Handers, a white supremacist group, impersonating
@XRebellionUK
to spread propaganda during this coronavirus pandemic. Latest on the far-right for
@motherboard
@vice
SCOOP: It appears the last known address of ‘Dark Foreigner,’ the infamous propagandist for neo-Nazi terror group Atomwaffen Division, was the site of a serious police action in Ottawa, Canada today.
Latest from
@MackLamoureux
and I:
Not a shocker, a simple Whois search now shows Parler is being hosted by Epik. If you don't know of it, Epik was the webhost savior of Alex Jones, 8chan and other far-right sites booted from their hosts.
If Russia succeeds in an invasion the war will not end: It will morph into an insurgency. I sat with a Ukrainian special forces soldier who says they already have agent networks, weapons caches hidden across the country and support from the Polish border.
Something to consider: It took nearly 100 hours, damning and horrific videos detailing the murder, and a city to burn for the killer of George Floyd to finally be arrested.
Longtime in the making: Through thousands of records we obtained, internal sources, and court docs, this is the story of Nazi terror group the Base. From
@macklamoureux
,
@zacharykamel
and I for
@VICENews
.
“If I don’t panic, then you shouldn’t either,” he just texted. I know CIA intelligence contradicts this, but part of this whole story has been a stark division on the expectations of this conflict.
FYI to any protesters right now: If we interview you, we will show you credentials and prove our identity. This is disgusting. Thanks for flagging
@SPLC
,
@hannahgais
and
@MichaelEHayden
Scoop: We identified a Marine dropout who was allegedly booted from Ukraine for his links to neo-Nazi terrorism in the country and the war in Donbass. That man is Ryan Burchfield, former member of domestic terror group the Base. w
@macklamoureux
.
New from
@jason_koebler
and I: All agencies involved in the police killing of Michael Reinoehl say there's no dashcam, body camera, drone, Ring, or helicopter footage of the fatal encounter, whatsoever...
After being notified last year, GiveSendGo, which prides itself as an accepting, Christian crowd funding site, permits Chris Pohlhaus—neo-Nazi influencer who showed up with a pistol to protest a drag queen story event in Ohio—to make thousands off of it.
Chicago cop just arrested for participating in the Capitol Hill attack. In a text exchange the FBI obtained he managed to say some racist stuff, admit to participating in said breach, and he went because he wanted to "fuck up some commies." My latest:
Hey, remember when Donald Rumsfeld owned the former plantation known as "Mount Misery" where Frederick Douglass was enslaved? I don't think I can ever forget that fact.
“They don’t care about other foreigners, they’re just beating people here and there. When you try to explain yourself, they slap you. They don’t treat their citizens the same way.”
African nationals say they’ve been assaulted trying to escape Ukraine.
Nazi accelerationists on Telegram, unsurprisingly, are seeing today’s violence as an opportunity to mainstream armed struggle with conservatives and MAGA types for a "Second Civil War." Two movements colliding. Latest with
@MackLamoureux
:
Big news from Canada: federal police finally arrested Patrick MacDonald AKA Dark Foreigner, highly influential Atomwaffen Division propagandist.
@MackLamoureux
and I unmasked him in the summer of 2021.
BREAKING:
@MackLamoureux
and I have also confirmed, the Base and Atomwaffen Division have officially been designated terrorist organizations by the Canadian government.
Scoop: Under the alias 'Dark Foreigner' he supplied propaganda to neo-Nazi terror group Atomwaffen and helped define the artistic aesthetics of the ultra-violent far-right.
@MackLamoureux
and I tracked him down to suburban Ottawa. Latest for
@VICENews
.
My latest from Ukraine, on foreign fighters: many of them have zero combat experience and show up in-country, reject a long term enlistment, then leave. Others, some who are actual war vets, stay and fight.
Further evidence that beyond the claims of some in the GOP like Rep. Paul Gosar, many who participated in the mob-attack on Capitol Hill had a history with far-right extremism.
Scoop: Former Marine Nick Tindall was charged for lying to the FBI about his involvement in a terrorist plot to attack the power grid, water facilities and U.S. citizens with unnamed co-conspirators. From
@MackLamoureux
and I:
Wow, big news in the Nazi-terrorism space: Former leader of Atomwaffen Division, John Cameron Denton, 26, who went by the alias 'Rape' was just arrested in Virginia for swatting, which included targeting
@propublica
; it originally exposed AWD.
As Russian forces circle, the Ukrainian government is posting Molotov cocktail recipes, handing out guns and asking citizens to destroy airstrike markers. The country is preparing for guerrilla war. A look at the latest in Ukraine from me for
@VICENews
.
Today, DHS reportedly said it will be looking into extremism within its ranks. Here’s my story earlier in the year when the department admitted a neo-Nazi terror leader, who founded a group under an FBI probe, once worked for it.
A neo-Nazi street gang, led by a known former-member of domestic terror group the Base, continues to maintain it was at Capitol Hill Jan. 6, but no FBI arrests have followed. My latest for
@vicenews
.
So
@DDoSecrets
just published a pretty expansive dump of data relating to neo-Nazi and QAnon Discord servers, making it all available in a searchable database. The latest in a wave of internal data dumps of the far-right.
This isn't new among militant neo-Nazis and fringe right who have increasingly advocated for building racist communities or compounds inside the US. For example, this story I reported in February
Good time to remember that Ghislaine Maxwell was invited and attended secretive/exclusive retreats held by the world's richest man. Celebrities, authors, and Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex trafficking fixer. My scoop from November for
@vice
:
Latest from me: The same mercenaries behind that bizarre and failed coup in Venezuela, claim to have provided
@realDonaldTrump
security at one of his political rallies in North Carolina in 2018 on the lead up to the midterm elections.
@motherboard
@vice
In a video I obtained, the ex-Marine/neo-Nazi influencer organizing a white migration to Maine (a project he described in peaceful terms) once explained to followers in detail how to takeout truckers in sniper attacks to disrupt supply chains.
While the world wonders if the war in Ukraine is about to start, a soldier on the front line just told me his friend was killed an hour ago from a shrapnel wound. As I've mentioned, this war hasn't started, it's been going for 8 years.
Azov in Mariupol claiming they were just struck with a chemical attack. A Russian military spox had said earlier they would call in their chemical units to smoke Azov out of the city. Ukrainian military I spoke with said so far this is “unconfirmed” and will be hard to verify.
Увага!!!
Близько години тому російські окупаційні війська використали проти українських військових та цивільних осіб в місті Маріуполь отруюючу речовину невідомого походження, яку було скинуто з ворожого БПЛА.
У постражалих спостерігається дихальна недостатність,👇🏼
My latest for
@guardian
looking at how American rightwing extremists, once fanboys and travelers to the war in Ukraine, have totally disavowed it: “I'm not going to allow… my guys' efforts and blood to go towards it.”
Scoop I helped
@cam_joseph
with for
@vicenews
: Ali Alexander, organizer of Stop the Steal turned siege on Congress, agreeing with ‘accelerationists’ in a closed email listserv for conservative political operatives.
Unsurprisingly, President Trump's continued holdout over the already lost election has become the oxygen of the violent, online neo-Nazi world of Telegram. My latest for
@VICENews
, with comment from
@fisher_birch
:
BLM protesters were met with armed soldiers in military fatigues waiting for them on the steps of capitol hill. Oppositely, today, this guy strolls around with that.
During the four years of the Civil War, the confederates never got closer to Washington than Fort Stevens. Until today, when insurrectionist supporters of
@realDonaldTrump
paraded through the U.S. Capitol Building carrying the Confederate battle flag.
So the
@gatesfoundation
continues to be the target of far-right conspiracy theories and we found a neo-Nazi Telegram channel with links to terror groups, sharing a data dump of alleged employee emails and passwords encouraging hacking.
Canada designates Proud Boys, Atomwaffen, and the Base terrorist groups. Also of note: Rinaldo Nazzaro, founder of the Base, just told
@MackLamoureux
and I the group is still in Canada, but not a terror org.
Patrik Mathews, ex-Canadian soldier and member of terror group The Base, plead guilty to firearm charges today but still faces others connected to a terror plot to shoot up a gun rights rally in January 2020. He's up for a potentially long stint in prison.
Polish security agency ABW confirmed it arrested a GRU spy near Ukraine in Przemyśl. He was posing as a journalist and headed over the border. This news won't lessen fears of Russian agents in the region. My latest for
@VICENews
.
In the latest in our investigation into the Base,
@MackLamoureux
and I report on the internal chaos inside the Nazi terror group as members were arrested by the FBI in a series of nationwide raids.
In a presser, Michigan AG
@dananessel
said America clearly has a problem with violent extremism and that the arrest of Watkins prevented tragedy.
“I truly believe that we prevented a massacre of untold proportions by investigating in this case and moving in when we did.”
In the wake of increased surveillance from the FBI, chatter I'm seeing among the far-right since Capitol Hill is to go offline and form in-person local cells. Infamously, OKC bomber Timothy McVeigh used that model and went undetected. Latest for
@vicenews
My latest: 2 more, previously unidentified guys in neo-Nazi terror group the Base were indicted for beheading a ram in an acid-fueled ritual during a paramilitary training camp in Georgia. One new unreported detail: They named the ram “Gar.”
Michigan cell leader of domestic terror group the Base, who was out on bond since February, turned himself in after a judge ordered him back in jail for violating the terms of his release: Not mingling with other members of the Base. Latest for
@vicenews
.
Nazi fight clubs/street gangs, in the vein of the Rise Above Movement, which is infamous for viciously attacking protesters in Charlottesville, showing up at BLM protests. One of the groups is directly linked to RAM. My latest for
@motherboard
@vicenews
Easily and unquestionably the highlight of my time at VICE was reporting with Mack on our coverage of The Base. We became great friends and perfect partners in crime. He’s got so much more to do, truly a star reporter.
The work I did with my main man
@BMakuch
on the rise and spread of militant neo-Nazi accelerationism—in particular our massive feature on The Base comes to mind. Our work has been cited by multiple governments in their terrorism policies.
Nazi terror org Atomwaffen Division, recently turned into the National Socialist Order and I spoke in more detail with one of its leaders (a former AWD cell leader) about the new group. He is one of 4 at its helm.
@vicenews
@vice
“We are buying houses and land and fortifying them,” said Watkins in early 2020. “Land is cheap [...] I’m setting up a community up there. Going to have houses set up to get guys moved in and situated.” He is free on bond right now, due to appear in court Feb 25.
My look at how a band of online neo-Nazis and white supremacists pulled a coordinated stunt across the US on the memorial of George Floyd’s murder: Dropping racist banners over highways and what that says about far-right activism post-Capitol Hill.
For our second and last episode on the Base for CYBER,
@MackLamoureux
discuss the inside world of the Nazi paramilitary group, which include never before heard vetting phone calls between cell leaders. Give it a listen!
My story w
@MackLamoureux
on today's sentencing hearing and generally about this tragic saga involving neo-Nazi terror group The Base. Jacob Kaderli is going in for 6 years, while Luke Lane, grilled by the judge for his conduct in court, gets 13 years.
Scoop: private Instagram of Justen Watkins, Michigan leader of the domestic terror group the Base, posted videos threatening killings with guns (some in public) before he was arrested. He is now free on bail while facing charges.
In the video we were tipped to, it shows Williams in a similar room as previous clips of hers wearing the signature Burger King crown adopted by the far-right, then putting on the neo-Nazi skull mask popularized by groups like Atomwaffen Division.
Another scoop from
@MackLamoureux
and I for
@vicenews
on the Base: We obtained a leaked phone call of cell leaders and Rinaldo Nazzaro (from 2019), discussing how the war in Ukraine could be a training ground. Nazzaro says someone is already there.
Significant that Nazzaro, a former Pentagon contractor and DHS employee, continues to work with the Base from St. Petersburg) while almost a dozen of its members have been arrested in an FBI crackdown. He says he has not been charged with any crimes and could fly back to the US.
Wrote for
@vicenews
about the latest on neo-Nazi terror group Atomwaffen Division; various guilty pleas of members and how this is basically the true demise of the org that influenced the rise of others.
So I had a showdown with one of these things in a hotel room in Islamabad (I won, narrowly, but this thing was basically a pissed off bird with a giant stinger) and I can tell you the rumours are true: These things are terrifying af.