ARTIC Report
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UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY 7 Information Cutoff Date: 31 December 2019 Publication Date: April 2020 Table of Contents (U) Scope & Methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 2 (U) Army Policy on Extremist Organizations & Activities ................................................................................................. 3 (U) Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 3 (U) Army: Extremist Reporting 2017 – 2019 ....................................................................................................................... 4 (U) Marines: Extremist Reporting 2017 – 2019 ................................................................................................................... 6 (U) Airforce: Extremist Reporting 2017 – 2019................................................................................................................... 7 (U) Coastguard: Extremist Reporting 2017 – 2019 ............................................................................................................ 8 (U) Multibranch: Extremist Reporting 2017 – 2019 ............................................................................................................ 8 (U) Neo-Nazi / White Supremacist Organizations .............................................................................................................. 9 1 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (U) Scope & Methodology (U//FOUO) Due to indications of an increase in extremist activity by former and current military personnel, evidenced by a spike in open source reporting, the ARTIC has produced this report examining 22 cases of current and former DoD members expressing support for and or allegedly affiliated with extremist groups while serving in or having recently separated from the military from 2017 - 2019. For the purposes of this report, the ARTIC considered an organization to be “extremist” if its core ideology espouses racially motivated hatred, such as Neo-Nazism, white supremacism, or black separatism, and or religious hatred, such as espoused by al-Qa’ida or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The majority of the information within this report was obtained via open sources. Due to the nature of open source reporting, and the possibility of ongoing investigations involving DoD personnel within this report, some of the allegations presented may prove to be unfounded. UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED 2 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (U) Army Policy on Extremist Organizations & Activities (U//FOUO) Participation in extremist organizations and activities by Army personnel is inconsistent with the responsibilities of military service. It is the policy of the United States Army to provide EO and fair treatment for all Soldiers without regard to race, color, sex (including gender identity), national origin, religion, or sexual orientation. Enforcement of this policy is a responsibility of command, is vitally important to unit cohesion and morale, and is essential to the Army’s ability to accomplish its mission. It is the commander’s responsibility to maintain good order and discipline in the unit. Every commander has the inherent authority to take appropriate actions to accomplish this goal. This paragraph identifies prohibited actions by Soldiers involving extremist organizations, discusses the authority of the commander to establish other prohibitions, and establishes that violations of prohibitions contained in this paragraph or those established by a commander may result in prosecution under various provisions of the UCMJ. (Army Regulation 600-20; Para 4- 12) (U) Executive Summary (U//FOUO) Twenty out of the 22 reports examined by the ARTIC from 2017 to 2019 involved military members allegedly demonstrating support for white supremacist or neo-Nazi ideology and or associating with explicitly white supremacist or neo-Nazi organizations. Two reports involved alleged support for ideology in support of foreign terrorist organizations, namely ISIS. In all 22 reports the suspects were male. (U//FOUO) Of the 22 cases examined, 13 involved Soldiers, six involved Marines, two involved Airmen, and one involved a member of the Coast Guard. Seven out of the 22 members engaged in, or discussed engaging in, violent acts involving explosives and or firearms. (U//FOUO) Nine of the cases involved members of “Identity Evropa”, which re-branded as the American Identity Movement (AIM), an alt right white supremacist group; three cases involved members of “Atomwaffen Division” (AWD), a violent anarchist neo-Nazi group that became active in 2016; two cases involved individuals fighting with far-right paramilitary groups in Ukraine; two cases involved supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS); two cases involved individuals belonging to an alleged white supremacist affiliated group called “Ravensblood Kindredone; one case involved a member of the “Patriot Front (PF), a pro-white nationalist, anti- multicultural and anti-immigrant organization; and three were unspecified. (U//FOUO) It is likely that most if not all service members who embrace extremism were exposed to extremist ideology via the internet or social media applications. While the ARTIC found no evidence of extremist organizations specifically targeting DoD members through social media or other means, according to open source research, social media platforms play an important role in the likely self-radicalization processes of US extremists. According to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), in 2016 alone, social media contributed to the radicalization processes of nearly 90% of extremists contained within their database. Right-wing extremist networks in particular use Twitter, post videos on YouTube, establish Facebook pages, create Instagram accounts, and communicate on social media sites with minimal moderation such as Gab and 8chan. (U//FOUO) The ARTIC notes that based on investigations conducted by the Army Criminal Investigative Command (CID), CID does not assess a danger of white supremacy or any other form of racially motivated violent extremism becoming a pervasive issue across the Army. According to CID, focused collection on extremist activity within the past year revealed a common thread for the Soldiers identified as participating in extremist groups being that they are commonly isolated in units, failing to fully integrate into Army life, rather than emerging as influential among their Soldier peers. Although the ARTIC has not coordinated with investigative agencies from other military branches, based upon the reporting reviewed, we judge the findings by CID are likely applicable across the military. 3 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (U) Army: Extremist Reporting 2017 – 2019 (U) Brandon Trent East & Dalton Woodward UNCLASSIFIED (U) On 27 DEC 19, it was reported that Brendon Trent East and Dalton Woodward, of the Alabama and Georgia Army National Guard, received separation notices from their respective units for membership in “Norse pagan group Ravensblood Kindred” which is alleged to endorse white supremacy. Both East and Woodward are reported to have also attended a 2017 speech by a prominent white nationalist held at a public university in Alabama. (Open Source, 27 DEC 19; Open Source, 27 DEC 19) Brandon Trent East (L) & Dalton Woodward (R) (U) Jarrett William Smith (U) On 21 SEP 19, Spc. Jarrett William Smith was arrested and charged UNCLASSIFIED with one count of distributing information related to explosives and weapons of mass destruction. Smith was serving at the time of his arrest as an infantryman with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, at Fort Riley, Kansas. Smith stated that he did this to cause ‘chaos.’ The FBI began an investigation after it was reported in March 2019 that Smith had “disseminated guidance on how to construct improvised explosive devices" and had spoken about his desire to travel to Ukraine to fight with the Ukraine-based far-right paramilitary group, Jarrett William Smith (L), Members of Azov Battalion (R) Azov Battalion. (Open Source, 23 SEP 19) (U) Corwyn Storm Carver UNCLASSIFIED (U) As of 07 MAY 19, Fort Bliss, Texas, was investigating active duty soldier, Pfc. Corwyn Storm Carver, 22, in connection with reports he is a member of the Atomwaffen Division (AWD). The investigation arose after a reporter accused Carver of holding leadership in the AWD in April 2019, following open source reporting of 11 other service members under investigation for ties to Identity Evropa, another white supremacist group. (Open Source, 03 MAY 19) Corwyn Storm Carver in uniform & wearing Charles Manson shirt (U) Mark Domingo UNCLASSIFIED (U//FOUO) According to a DHS & FBI Joint Intelligence Bulletin (JIB), on 26 APR 19, FBI Los Angeles arrested Army veteran Mark Domingo for providing material support to terrorists by planning to conduct an attack at a political rally. Domingo met with an undercover employee (UC) at a residence to obtain an inert explosive device—which he believed to be functional—and told the UC his preferred length of time for the device’s timer after the UC showed Domingo how to operate the device. Once he took possession