A4 | Wednesday, June 2, 2021 | ExpressNews.com |San Antonio Express-News METRO Kerrville man charged in ‘mass casualty’ plot

By Jaclyn Peiser of mass shootings across the one condition of his release was the FBI, which confirmed that priated by the Nazis. There was al- WA SHINGTON POST country. On Mother’s Day, a gun- that he was forbidden from own- Blevins was serious about the so a Falangist flag, which once re- man in Colorado Springs killed six ing weapons, Leitha said. threat. presented the extreme nationalist Last week, Coleman Thomas people at a birthday party and Police began monitoring Bev- With the assistance of the FBI, group during Spain’s civil war in Blevins logged on to an online fo- then turned the gun on himself. ins in an online forum, which isn’t Kerrville Police Department and 1936. rum to confess a menacing plan, In mid-April, a 19-year-old fatally named in court documents, earli- the Secret Service, the sheriff’s of- Law enforcement also found police said: The 28-year-old from shot eight people at a FedEx plant er last week. Undercover officers fice arrested Blevins on Friday in several books tied to extremism, Kerrville was going to storm into a in Indianapolis. Other mass worked to gain a rapport with Ble- Kerrville, a town of more than including “The Turner Diaries,” a Walmart and shoot up the place. shootings in Atlanta and Boulder vins in the forum, according to 23,700 people about 70 miles right-wing novel that is said to But an undercover police offi- have left those cities reeling. the sheriff’s office. northwest of San Antonio. Blevins have inspired dozens of terrorist cer intercepted the message. Af- Texas has previously been the “Through the period of investi- was booked in Kerr County Jail on attacks and hate crimes, includ- ter consulting the FBI, law en- scene of a deadly attack at a Wal- gation, KCSO investigators made $250,000 bond. Jail records do ing the Oklahoma City bombing forcement swiftly labeled Blevins mart. In 2019, a 21-year-old gun- contact and conversed with Mr. not indicate if he has a lawyer. He in 1995, and “Revolt Against the anational security threat. man brandishing an assault-style Blevins, confirmed his affiliation could also faces federal charges Modern World” by Julius Evola, a On Friday, the Kerr County rifle stormed into an El Paso Wal- and networking with extremist from the FBI or other federal far-right Italian writer and philos- Sheriff’s Office arrested Blevins mart and killed 22 people, law en- ideologies,” the sheriff’s office agencies, the sheriff’s office said. opher who wrote about fascism in and charged him with making a forcement said, in what authori- said. It is unclear when Blevins is due in the 1920s and ’30s and who is of- terroristic threat — thwarting a ties called a hate crime and do- Then on Thursday, the sheriff’s court. ten referenced by domestic ex- possibly deadly scenario, police mestic terrorism. In the weeks be- office, with the help of the Texas Following the arrest, police tremists. There was also a T-shirt said. Officials said they later fore the incident that rocked the Department of Public Safety’s searched Blevins’s home, where with the symbol for the National found weapons and racist and ex- border town, the shooter wrote a criminal investigations division, they found an assault weapon, Partisan Movement, an online tremist materials in his home. manifesto using language bor- intercepted a message from Ble- ammunition, handwritten notes, group meant to groom the next “Our investigators did out- rowed from extremist groups, au- vins indicating he was preparing drugs and “racial ideology para- generation of far-right members. standing work in this case, and thorities said. to pursue a “mass casualty event” phernalia,” police said. “This case reminds us that we possibly saved many lives,” Sher- Blevins was previously convict- and “made a specific threat that Officers also found several need to always be vigilant,” Lei- iff Larry Leitha said in a news re- ed of a felony and was out on pro- included Walmart,” the sheriff’s flags, including a Confederate tha, the sheriff, said. “Many think lease Sunday. “The plot interrupt- bation, police said. It is unclear office said. flag, a Saudi Arabian flag and one ‘that can’t happen here,’ and it ed in this case is unthinkable.” what the crime was or how long Investigators with the county’s with a swastika and a sonnenrad, was well on the way to happen- The arrest comes amid a spate he has been on probation, but special operations division called aNorse symbol that was appro- ing.”

DENIM From page A1

“It brings a tremendous amount of depth and new capabilities to our applica- tion solution capabilities that span the entire soft- ware development life cy- cle,” he said. Billy Calzada/Staff Privately-held Coalfire, John Dickson, principal which provides assessment at the Denim Group, is and advisory services to ready to meet growing public- and private-sector cybersecurity challenges. organizations, did not dis- close how much it’s paying agement ... managed secu- for Denim Group. rity services, DevSecOps Founded in 2001, Denim (development security and Group helps clients gauge operations) and cloud secu- and mitigate application se- rity,” according to an April curity risk. The firm will re- articleby CSO. main in San Antonio and As organizations move to under the leadership of the cloud, new risks and principals John Dickson, threats are emerging, and Dan Cornell and Sheridan that’s turbocharging de- Chambers. mand for services, Carney The opportunity to work said. with a bigger team on a big- “The world is going digi- Danny Zaragoza /Laredo Morning Times ger stage was appealing, tal,” he said. Health care professionals, volunteers, Laredo College associate degree nursing students and their professors and combining the firms’ Coalfire’s acquisition of help prepare and distribute the second COVID-19 vaccine in January at the Sames Auto Arena. capabilities and expertise Denim Group brings to- was “a very attractive op- gether two firms with dif- tells that story to his patients workers for the state health of the vaccines to the public. tion” for many of their cli- ferent strengths — combin- BORDER —who pass that on to their department, Valley coun- “We’re used to teaching ents, Dickson said. ing expertise in working From page A3 families. ties, the city of Laredo, the and doing community advo- With cyberattacks in- with government agencies One man heard the story Texas Military Department, cacy,” Dobbs said. “This is creasing, demand is rising. and compliance, cloud op- VID skeptics or deniers.” from his wife and told Arre- Texas A&M University and what we really do well.” “This challenge has got- erations and software secu- dondo: “I would hate for my community volunteer orga- ten even more challeng- rity, said Guy Walsh, execu- Strong family ties family members to get that nizations — provide free School partners ing,” Dickson said. “How do tive director of the National Some say the trend was phone call.” child immunizations, hear- School districts have also we get in front of this issue? Security Collaboration unexpected, mainly be- Leveraging that bond in ing and vision screenings, been “phenomenal” part- How do we help organiza- Center at the University of cause most border counties public health messages diabetes and blood pressure ners in encouraging vacci- tions and governments not Texas at San Antonio. are 85 percent or more His- about the vaccine to youn- screenings, and physicals nation and distributing the get breached, hacked every “This is peanut butter panic, and in the early days ger generations — health of- that draw nearly 10,000 shots, Cuevas said. week?” and jelly,” he said. “Both of of the vaccination effort, ficials modeled their “Starr people each year. With an average of one- The purchase of Denim them are good on their Hispanics were being vacci- County Strong” campaign “We really have built third of residents under 18, Group, a senior statesman own. But when you have nated at lower ratesthan after the anti-smoking ads of deep roots and relation- border communities have a among San Antonio’s cy- those two together, that whites. Border counties also the 1980s that urged kids to ships, so now that there is an much higher share of chil- bersecurity companies, fol- combination is really build- are home to some of the push their parents to quit emergency where we need dren than the state as a lows the acquisition of two ing strength for both orga- poorest communities in the smoking — was a vital part of to get vaccines and do whole — and the school dis- other major local firms re- nizations.” country; lower-income Tex- the effort to convince the health assessments or make tricts maintain a stature in cently. The deal is a win for the ans tend to have less access area’s most vulnerable el- referrals, the community these communities that be- Denim Group has more local cybersecurity indus- to vaccines. derly residents to get the knows my team,” Cuevas came instrumental in boost- than 100 employees. try, and a “great success “I’m proud, but more shot, said Dr. Antonio Fal- said. ing vaccination rates, local Eden Prairie, Minn.- story” for the principals of than anything else, I’m cón, a local doctor for more Locals picked up the ef- officials said. based HelpSystems bought Denim Group in building a grateful,” said Dr. Ivan Me- than 40 years whose final fort themselves and have Melendez said that’s be- software company Global- company over 20 years lendez, Hidalgo County day as Starr County Health run with it, Cuevas said. In cause people stay in the Val- scapein August in a deal that’s carved out a niche, Health Authority and a CO- Authority was Monday. the Starr County city of Ro- ley for generations and are valued at $217 million. It al- said Will Garrett, vice presi- VID survivor. “All the pre- In Starr County alone, ma, the fire department still strongly connected to so acquired cybsersecurity dent of cybersecurity at vaccine hype about how mi- about 97 percent of resi- opened its bay doors and of- their high school alma ma- company Digital Defense in Port San Antonio. norities were more hesitant dents 65 and older have got- fered a drive-thru vaccina- ters. In Hidalgo County, February. Both were part of The city needs to help to get the vaccine than the ten at least one shot. tion clinic. more than one-third of the city’s old guard of cy- founders, startups and oth- rest of the population hasn’t “It was for the love of “We have not done a large them are connected to the bersecurity firms. er companies in the sector really panned out.” grandkids that the grand- number of clinics that are schools through students, Denim Group, Global- to “build a strong bench,” Another factor that has parents wanted to get vacci- DSHS-run,” Cuevas said. volunteerism, alumni scape and Digital Defense he said. contributed to a high rate of nated,” Falcón said. “I think “We’ve partnered with peo- groups and employment, he were among the biggest “While these acquisi- vaccine acceptance along that was very effective, ple, but mostly it’s local phy- said. names in San Antonio’s tions (and) mergers are fan- the border, locals residents priming grandma and sicians, it’s local school dis- El Paso Independent growing cybersecurity sec- tastic and I think it’s a and officials said, is the grandpa to get the vaccine tricts, the county judge, the School District began offer- tor — and among its largest strong signal to San Anto- strong family ties among when it came out. It helped local hospital. They’re all ing vaccines to its staff in homegrown companies. nio’s strength in cyberse- Hispanics in the region. to get the word out through working together.” January and, in early May, Combined, Coalfire and curity, we have an opportu- In Hidalgo County, for ex- the kids.” In McAllen, Arredondo launched a program called Denim Group will serve nity and a challenge as a ample, one in10 families has has spent hundreds of hours “Vaccinate Before You Grad- over 1,800 clients, includ- community to continue to at least three generations liv- ‘What we really do well’ fulfilling what he calls “my uate” that drew hundreds of ing the top five cloud ser- create the right environ- ing in the home. As demand for vaccines personal mission” to vacci- students on its first day. vice providers, half of the ment to grow the next Den- The same culture that soared, state health officials nate residents at El Milagro The La Joya school dis- largest U.S. banks, major im Group,” Garrett said. made distancing and isola- also tapped into existing re- Clinic, a health center serv- trict in Hidalgo County sent health care companies and Several factors are driv- tion from families particu- lationships locals already ing the indigent for the past school nurses to clinics, of- government agencies. ing the industry’s recent larly difficult to bear as the had with state health de- 25 years, which has part- fered vaccinations to stu- Bringing together Denim mergers and acquisitions. virus was hammering bor- partment field offices, nered with CVS as one of the dents and staff and part- Group’s ThreadFix plat- The field is “highly der counties now is leading schools, community clinics, chain’s strategies for “work- nered with police and other form and consulting servic- crowded” and companies families to get vaccinated so civic leaders and state and ing to increase access for civil service groups to get lo- es will “ensure vulnerabili- want to add different capa- they can safely see each oth- local health programs, in- vulnerable populations and cals vaccinated, spokesper- ties are managed and prior- bilities, which is often more er again, and adult children cluding long-standing ef- go deeper into communi- son Blanca Cantú said. itized efficiently, reducing expensive and takes a lot of to push their parents and forts to boost health care ties,” said CVS spokesper- The success of the vari- time to remediation by 40 time to do in-house, Garrett relatives to get vaccinated to along the border, said Eliza- son Monica Prinzing. ous vaccination efforts percent,” Carney said. said. Buying a smaller firm avoid more deaths, said beth Cuevas, the prepared- Over the past six years, comes as a relief to Melen- Investment funds advis- with niche expertise puts Frank Arredondo, a phar- ness, response and epide- the University of Texas Rio dez, who recalls getting ed by Apax Partners, a Lon- the buyer on a faster track. macist at a CVS Pharmacy in miology manager for the Grande Valley’s new School teary-eyed in the waiting don-based private-equity During the coronavirus Pharr and a COVID-19 surviv- Texas Department of State of Medicine has become a area of a mass vaccination advisory firm, acquired pandemic, more employ- or. Health Services in South trusted source of health in- clinic in Hidalgo County in Coalfire last year from the ees have been working vir- “I think that’s probably Texas. formation and services for January while watching old- Carlyle Group and the tually, which is forcing kind of the secret sauce — For example, Operation the community, making it a er people lining up for the Chertoff Group. Coalfire companies to secure much the strong familial bonds,” Lone Starhas run an annual key player in the vaccination shot. “For the first time in a has offices in Dallas and on larger networks, he said. said Arredondo, who esti- disaster preparedness exer- effort for area residents, year,” he said, “I left with the East and West coasts as Executives at small- and mates that he has adminis- cise in the Rio Grande Valley said Dobbs, the school’s some hope.” well as in England. midsize firms also are real- tered up to 4,000 COVID-19 for more than 20 years that chief medical officer. Aflurry of firms in the cy- izing that they need to in- vaccines since February. lets emergency responders About 80,000 shots have The Texas Tribuneis a bersecurity industry have vest in technology and When Arredondo caught practice setting up and op- been administered through nonprofit, nonpartisan merged or been purchased training to guard against at- the virus last year, doctors erating clinics that could be the medical school, he said, media organization that so far this year. tacks. twice told his wife that he used during a public health but another important role informs Texans about public The activity is being was about to die, he said. emergency. has been in communicating policy, politics, government fueled “by growth in sec- madison.iszler@ Now that he’s recovered, he The participants — health the safety and effectiveness and statewide issues. tors such as identity man- express-news.net