DOJ indicts two alleged leaders of white supremacist ‘Terrorgram’ chat group
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Monday charged two California individuals who were alleged leaders of a white supremacist group that wanted to ignite a race war in the United States and allegedly plotted to kill “high value” targets and incite its followers to carry out terror attacks around the globe.
Dallas Humber and Matthew Allison allegedly became leaders of a group that deemed itself “Terrorgram” and was formed on the encrypted social media site.
The two were charged with a host of federal crimes including solicitation of the killing of a federal official, doxing federal officials and making interstate threats.
“The defendant’s goal, the indictment charges, was to ignite a race war, accelerate the collapse of what they viewed as an irreparably corrupt government and bring about a white ethno state. As the indictment lays out, defendants use the internet platform Telegram to post messages promoting their white supremacist accelerationism,” Kristen Clarke, the DOJ’s head of its Civil Rights Division, said during a press conference Monday.
The indictment alleges that the group “solicited terrorist attacks” including on alleged “enemies,” on government infrastructure, and on “high value” targets such as politicians and government figures.
“The List,” according to the indictment, includes U.S. senators, federal judges, U.S. attorneys and local officials.
When disseminating the so-called list, Allision allegedly included comments like “take action now” and “do your part.”
In at least three separate instances detailed by prosecutors in the indictment, users of the group have allegedly moved forward in carrying out violent attacks inspired by the group chat.
One user was a 19-year-old from Slovakia who killed two people at an LGBT bar in Bratislava before killing himself, according to the DOJ. The indictment alleges that the attacker sent a manifesto directly to Humber, which Humber later purportedly narrated and turned into an audiobook.
Both Humber and Allison later allegedly took credit for the attack and celebrated the attacker as the group’s “first Saint,” according to the indictment.
A separate case highlighted in the indictment involved the arrest in July of 18-year-old Andrew Taskhistov of New Jersey who was allegedly incited to plot an attack on an energy facility through his membership in the group. A third case highlighted in the indictment involved an 18-year-old from Turkey who allegedly livestreamed himself stabbing five people outside a mosque and later shared multiple publications from the group.
Part of the group’s alleged strategy was to target critical infrastructure, according to the DOJ.
Humber and Allison also allegedly created a documentary that celebrated racist incidents around the country from 1968 on, according to the indictment.
The pair also allegedly stressed the need to be covert about their operations and, according to the indictment.
No attorney information for Humber or Allison was immediately available.
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — A small, twin-engine plane crashed into a residential neighborhood Saturday in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, killing two people aboard the aircraft and one on the ground, authorities said Sunday.
The Cessna 421C plane slammed into a row of townhouses near Heartwood Circle in Fairview after experiencing mechanical issues, according to a statement from the Gresham Fire Department.
Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis confirmed Sunday that the pilot of the aircraft and a single passenger were killed, as well as a resident of one of the townhouses the plane crashed into.
The names of those killed were not released.
The plane crashed near Troutdale Airport around 10:20 a.m. local time, hitting a power pole or tower, which caused a brush fire. The aircraft then crashed into a building of connected townhomes, igniting a fire in two structures, before spreading to a fourth, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said at a news conference Saturday.
At least five families have been displaced, with a sixth condo currently being evaluated, according to Lewis.
Two transmission lines from Portland General Electric remained down Saturday afternoon, according to officials.
Fairview is about 15 miles northeast of Portland.
Debris from the crash is scattered across multiple areas, and the sheriff’s office is securing the scene to assist the FAA investigation.
Photos show thick smoke and a burning home after the plane crashed.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.
(WASHINGTON) — On Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a stern warning to those who would seek to harm election officials.
“I will reiterate again today, these cases are a warning if you threaten to harm or kill an election worker or official or volunteer, the Justice Department will find you and we will hold you accountable,” Garland said at a press event.
But more than three years after the Department of Justice announced a task force to “promptly and vigorously prosecute” offenders who threaten election workers, lawmakers and election officials have raised concerns about the federal government’s ability to effectively prosecute cases and deter threats ahead of the November election.
Election officials and advocates have criticized the task force for what they call a lack of transparency regarding its investigations, saying there have been yearslong delays in providing accountability, and that the task force has brought far too few cases following an onslaught of threats related to the 2020 election.
Of the more than 2,000 threats referred to the FBI by election workers, the Justice Department has opened 100 investigations, according to figures released in April. In total, the task force has charged 20 people and landed 15 convictions.
The numbers are modest, in part, because many of the threats received by election workers are protected by the First Amendment. But that’s done little to reassure the community of election workers and officials who have been left disillusioned by threats and harassment.
“It makes it really difficult to want to do the job when it also feels like your community, your state and your nation have turned on you,” said Amy Cohen, executive director of the National Association of State Election Directors. “You never know really if what you’re submitting is being investigated. You never really have any understanding of why something isn’t investigated.”
When reached for comment, a DOJ spokesperson highlighted the task force’s work engaging with election workers through more than 100 meetings and trainings, as well as helping FBI field offices and U.S. attorneys’ offices expand their capacity to investigate threats to election workers.
And ahead of the November election, Garland said “task force representatives” will be on the ground meeting with election workers and hosting events with the FBI to address issues and potential crimes.
But as Election Day approaches and threats to election workers persist, calls for action from the Justice Department have grown louder. In July, Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, launched an inquiry into the DOJ’s work protecting election workers, and a group of senators last month wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland saying that “more must be done to counter these persistent threats and ensure that election workers can do their jobs.”
As part of their inquiry, the group of senators asked the DOJ to tell them how many threats have been identified by the task force and the number of ongoing investigations and prosecutions. As of this week, the Justice Department had not responded to their request for more information about the task force’s progress.
‘Help is on the way’
The DOJ’s task force was launched in 2021 as election officials faced a torrent of threats related to the 2020 election. Led by the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, the group was tasked with reviewing individual reports of threats, then partnering with United States attorney’s offices and FBI field offices to investigate and prosecute those cases.
“A threat to any election official, worker, or volunteer is, at bottom, a threat to democracy,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco wrote in a memo to prosecutors in June 2021. “We will promptly and vigorously prosecute offenders to protect the rights of American voters, to punish those who engage in this criminal behavior, and to send the unmistakable message that such conduct will not be tolerated.”
Election officials rejoiced, hoping the highly publicized announcement might serve as a deterrent and stem the tide of threats that was flooding their offices. At the time, 17% of local election officials reported having being threatened due to their job, while 32% reported feeling unsafe, according to a survey of election officials conducted in April 2021 by the bipartisan Brennan Center for Justice.
“When the DOJ announced a task force, we were thrilled in a lot of ways, because it was like, ‘Oh, there’s going to be help. Help is on the way,'” said Cohen.
But in the three years since the announcement, election officials have continued to face heightened threats, including physical violence, fentanyl-laced letters, swatting incidents, threatening voicemails, and violent threats on social media.
According to a May 2024 survey conducted by the Brennan Center, nearly 40% of local election officials reported experiencing threats, harassment, or abuse — a marked uptick from earlier surveys.
“The pressures that my colleagues fall under nationwide — over things that are literally unfounded — has become hard to deal with every day for folks who didn’t sign up for that kind of pressure,” said Dag Robinson, the county clerk in Harney County, Oregon.
‘Justice is not swift’
Despite the fanfare it received in 2021, the task force got off to a sluggish start. A year after it was formed, the Justice Department had only charged four cases despite reviewing over 1,000 referrals involving hostile or harassing contact, then-Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite told a meeting of election officials in 2022. Only 5% of referrals resulted in actual investigations.
While the task force’s success rate improved slightly over three years — charging 20 individuals, achieving 15 convictions, and losing one case — multiple election officials told ABC News that the modest number of cases compared to the thousands of threat referrals is disheartening.
“I could certainly recognize that my friends and colleagues across this country don’t feel supported,” said Julie Wise, the director of elections for King County, Washington.
In Colorado, officials say Secretary of State Jena Griswold has been the subject of thousands of abusive, harassing, and threatening communications over the last two years, including frequent messages calling for violence against her.
“You have a family, Jena,” one user said on social media “Think about that before you continue.”
Of the 1,140 threats referred to the Department of Justice by Griswold’s office since January 2023, 13 have led to investigations, and one case has been prosecuted, according to her office.
Election officials across the country say that in some instances, charges have been announced two or three years from the time a threat was made.
“It seems as though justice moves slowly, and I have seen that some clerks who were assaulted or threatened from the 2020 election just were [only recently] able to give their victim impact statements for the sentencing of those individuals — so justice is not swift.” said Barb Byrum, county clerk in Ingham County, Michigan.
‘Legally off the hook’
In response to election officials’ concerns, Justice Department officials say that charging cases requires a high burden of proof — and many of the threats targeting election workers are protected speech under the First Amendment. To land a conviction in a threats case, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the statements are likely to be reasonably perceived as threatening — known as “true threats.”
“One of the biggest challenges in bringing these criminal cases is parsing what is a true threat from what is constitutionally protected speech,” according to Jared Davidson, counsel at nonprofit Protect Democracy.
Statements that are vague, hyperbolic, or figurative can be hard to prove as threats in a criminal setting, where defense attorneys can parse out the meaning of a statement to create reasonable doubt, said Davidson.
For example, the phrase “We’re going to take you out” could be perceived in multiple ways depending on the context of the statement, according to Eugene Volokh, a professor emeritus at UCLA School of Law.
“In context, that could mean ‘kill you,’ or it could mean ‘throw you out of office,'” Volokh said.
“A ‘vast majority’ of the communications directed at election officials, however offensive, are protected by the First Amendment and cannot be prosecuted,” then-Assistant Attorney General Polite said in 2022.
After prosecutors charged a Nevada man who, following the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, allegedly made multiple calls to the Nevada secretary of state’s office — including saying that they were “all going to … die” and wishing they would “all go to jail for treason” — a jury acquitted the defendant, illustrating the challenge of proving a true threat.
Adding to the challenge of bringing these cases is a 2023 Supreme Court decision that clarified the standard for true threats by finding that a defendant needs to have some awareness that their statement would be viewed as threatening.
“If you say something ambiguous and you don’t even realize that it might be perceived as a threat, you’re legally off the hook,” said Volokh.
Cohen, who said she has been publicly raising these concerns since early 2022, told ABC News that situation has led many election officials to believe that reporting threats can be “pointless,” which has led many of them to no longer refer threats to the task force. A 2024 Brennan Center survey showed that 45% of threats to election workers are unreported.
“It’s just hard not to feel, in some ways, like no one is taking this seriously,” Cohen said.
(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — Former Illinois sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson said he feared for his life during his encounter with Sonya Massey, the mother of two who he fatally shot in her home after she called 911 to report a prowler, according to new documents released by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO).
The documents are a compilation of field case reports from various deputies who were called to the scene following the shooting of Massey, who was shot in the head during the July 6 incident. Included in the reports is an account from Grayson, who now faces three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in Massey’s death. The former deputy is being held without bond while awaiting trial.
“While on scene, I was in fear Dep. (redacted) and I were going to receive great bodily harm or death. Due to being in fear of our safety and life, I fired my duty weapon,” Grayson wrote in his field case report.
Grayson’s report detailed his account of what happened when Grayson and a fellow Sangamon County deputy were called to Massey’s home.
“I approached the house and knocked on the door multiple times. I could see someone moving around inside the residence, but no one would open the door,” Grayson wrote.
After Massey, 36, came to the door, Grayson asked her a few questions, according to bodycam video of the exchange reviewed by ABC News. The then-deputy wrote in his report that “it seemed as if Sonya’s mind was all over the place and not able to focus or have a conversation. Sonya stated she was doing OK and had taken her medicine.”
Once inside the home, the unnamed deputy who was with Grayson checked the home for a possible intruder while Grayson spoke with Massey. While talking to Massey, Grayson said he heard a crackling noise, then noticed a large metal pot of “unknown liquid” on the stove. He asked the other responding deputy to turn the stove off before a fire started in the residence, according to the report.
That is when Massey, who’d been sitting on the couch, went to the kitchen to turn off the stove, the video shows. She grabbed the large pot and walked toward the sink, acting as if she was going to pour out the water in the sink, according to Grayson.
“With both hands on the pot, Sonya turned to face me holding the pot,” the deputy wrote. “I feared Sonya was going to throw boiling liquid on to us, causing great bodily harm to or death.”
“I advised Sonya to put the boiling liquid down. Sonya stated she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus. She stated this twice,” Grayson wrote. “I interpreted this to mean she was going to kill me.”
At that point, Grayson said he drew his weapon and pointed it at Sonya, giving her verbal commands to drop the pot of boiling liquid. Upon seeing his weapon, Massey crouched down. Body camera video of the incident recorded Massey repeatedly apologizing to the deputies.
“Sonya stood up from a crouched position, grabbing the pot, raising it above her head and throwing the boiling substance at me. I was in imminent fear of getting boiling liquid to my face or chest, which would have caused great bodily harm or death,” Grayson wrote in his report.
“I fired my duty weapon in Sonya’s direction. I observed Sonya fall to the ground behind the counter,” Grayson said.
A review of Grayson’s body camera footage, case report, use of force report, as well as evidence from the unnamed attending deputy who was present during the incident, concluded that Grayson had violated SCSO policies and procedures.
The internal investigation, conducted by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department Division of Professional Standards, found Grayson had violated policy by immediately escalating to deadly force, citing that “body camera video shows that the inappropriate escalation of force set in motion a series of events that led to Deputy Grayson shooting the decedent in the head,” despite Massey’s “non-aggressive behavior.”
The department also found that Grayson did not abide by the Sheriff’s Office Standard of Conduct after his body camera recorded statements made by him that violated policy, including calling Massey by expletives, and saying, “I’m not even going to waste my med stuff then,” after bringing his medical kit and not providing aid to Massey.
Grayson also violated the department’s policy and procedures for providing medical aid and response when he discouraged his fellow attending deputy from providing aid to Massey, saying, “nah, headshot dude; she’s done,” “let her just, there is nothing we can do,” and letting approximately 3 minutes, 40 seconds go by between the time Massey was shot and when Grayson brought in his medical kit, according to the investigation.
Additionally, Grayson was found to be in violation of policy by not having activated his body camera until after shooting Massey, as well as insubordination after refusing to answer questions during his internal affairs interview.
Sean Grayson’s attorney declined ABC News’ request for comment.