Saturday, December 21

Tag: threat

The Threat Posed By Militias – Oath Keepers Convictions Shed Light On The Limits Of Free Speech
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LAW ENFORCEMENT

The Threat Posed By Militias – Oath Keepers Convictions Shed Light On The Limits Of Free Speech

The verdicts in a high-profile, monthslong trial of Oath Keepers militia members were, as one defense lawyer acknowledged, “a mixed bag.” Leader Stewart Rhodes was found guilty on Nov. 29, 2022, of the most serious charge – seditious conspiracy – for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and was acquitted on two other related charges. One of Rhodes’ four co-defendants, Kelly Meggs, was also convicted of seditious conspiracy. All five on trial were found guilty of obstructing an official proceeding, namely Congress’ certification on Jan. 6, 2021, of the 2020 presidential election results. The convictions for seditious conspiracy – a rarely used, Civil War-era charge typically reserved in recent decades for terror plots – are the most significant yet relating to t...
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A Stark Reminder Of A Familiar But Preventable Threat – The Knoxville School Shooting
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EDUCATION, VIDEO REELS

A Stark Reminder Of A Familiar But Preventable Threat – The Knoxville School Shooting

With most U.S. students having learned virtually in 2020 because of the pandemic, the nation logged a record low for school shootings. There were just three deaths in a total of 10 school shootings in all of 2020. This compares with eight deaths in 25 school shootings in 2019. Now, as students return to schools for in-person instruction, the specter of school shootings is back. This was evidenced in the April 12 school shooting at the Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. The shooting left one student dead and an school resource officer injured. A school shooting in Knoxville, Tennessee, has left one person dead. As criminologists and authors of a new book, “The Violence Project: How to Stop A Mass Shooting Epidemic,” we worry that gun violence at America’s schools may ...
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Longer-Term Threat To Biden Presidency Armed Groups From Capitol Riot
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Journalism

Longer-Term Threat To Biden Presidency Armed Groups From Capitol Riot

Details continue to emerge about the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol incursion. Exactly what happened – including the degree of planning involved and rioters’ possible connections with Capitol police or even members of Congress – may not be known for some time. But there are looming threats of more possible violence, not just in Washington, D.C., but in all 50 state capitals. As a scholar of American militants, I see the groups behind the Jan. 6 events looking beyond Inauguration Day toward broader opposition to the Biden administration. Different groups, different goals Among the insurrectionists were members of various groups with a wide range of generally right-wing views, including neo-Nazis, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters and militia members. There were also supporters of Donald Trum...
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Twitter hack exposes broader threat to democracy and society
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SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter hack exposes broader threat to democracy and society

In case 2020 wasn’t dystopian enough, hackers on July 15 hijacked the Twitter accounts of former President Barack Obama, presidential hopeful Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian and Apple, among others. Each hijacked account posted a similar fake message. The high-profile individual or company wanted to philanthropically give back to the community during COVID-19 and would double any donations made to a bitcoin wallet, identical messages said. The donations followed. The hack on the surface may appear to be a run-of-the-mill financial scam. But the breach has chilling implications for democracy. Serious political implications As a scholar of internet governance and infrastructure, I see the underlying cybercrimes of this incident, such as hacking accounts and financial fraud,...
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How people react to the threat of disease could mean COVID-19 is reshaping personalities
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COVID-19, TECHNOLOGY

How people react to the threat of disease could mean COVID-19 is reshaping personalities

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic will be “imprinted on the personality of our nation for a very long time,” predicted Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. No doubt in the future people will mourn those who’ve died and remember the challenges of this period. But how would COVID-19 shape people’s personalities – and into what? I am a psychology researcher interested in how people’s minds shape, and are shaped by, their life circumstances. Human beings are born into this world ready to deal with basic problems – forming close relationships, maintaining status in groups, finding mates and avoiding disease. People are adaptable, though, and react to the circumstances they find themselves in. Psychological research suggests that concerns...
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Feeling overwhelmed? Approach coronavirus as a challenge to be met, not a threat to be feared
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Feeling overwhelmed? Approach coronavirus as a challenge to be met, not a threat to be feared

You have a choice to make when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. Do you treat this time as an insurmountable threat that pits you against everyone else? This option entails making decisions based solely on protecting yourself and your loved ones: stockpiling supplies regardless of what that leaves for others; continuing to host small gatherings because you’re personally at lower risk; or taking no precautions because the effort seems futile. Or do you treat the coronavirus as a collective challenge that will require shared sacrifices to achieve a difficult but not impossible goal? That option would mean taking recommended precautions: practicing social distancing, hand-washing and restricting travel. These actions might not be your most desired or convenient path as an individual, bu...
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There’s a name for Trump playing down the threat and failing to take action against the virus: Institutional betrayal
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

There’s a name for Trump playing down the threat and failing to take action against the virus: Institutional betrayal

U.S. intel agencies issued dire, classified warnings to President Trump in January and February about the dangers posed by the coronavirus, according to revelations reported in The Washington Post. For weeks, U.S. communities coast to coast sounded the alarm. They didn’t have enough tests to diagnose, track and limit the spread of COVID-19. Meantime, federal and some state officials downplayed the need for a coordinated response. There’s a name for situations when systems that are supposed to take care of others do harm: institutional betrayal. As trauma psychologists, we see that betrayal by the Trump administration, and we offer some lessons from behavioral science to guide the government response to this global health crisis. Traumatic events involve death, or the threat of death, ser...
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Why isn’t the US dealing with the rising threat of white supremacy?
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POLITICS, VIDEO REELS

Why isn’t the US dealing with the rising threat of white supremacy?

  Despite growing white nationalist violence worldwide, US conservatives are pushing for antifa to be designated a "terrorist" group. Twenty people are dead in a weekend shooting at an El Paso Wal-Mart. The incident is being called one of the worst attacks on Latinos in US history. The suspected shooter is in police custody, and posted an anti-immigrant manifesto online before the attack. Authorities are charging him with “domestic terrorism .” Around the country, calls are growing for the US to starting taking white nationalism seriously. In July, FBI director Christopher Wray said the majority of the 100 "domestic terrorism" arrests made by the bureau this year involved white supremacists. And white supremacists were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks in the...
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Anchorage Man to Face Charges in Pennsylvania in Lafayette College over Dark Web Bomb Threat
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LAW ENFORCEMENT

Anchorage Man to Face Charges in Pennsylvania in Lafayette College over Dark Web Bomb Threat

An Anchorage man was arrested by police last week and will be charged in Pennsylvania for a dark web bomb threat at Lafayette College, which has caused panic in Easton. The FBI launched an investigation after a wave of panic, caused by a bomb threat posted on Twitter, spread on social media. Law enforcement conducted a warranted search at the Lafayette College campus in Easton on Saturday night, 5 May 2018, and a young man, who claimed to be a student at the college, was arrested. He had, on several occasions, openly declared his allegiance to the ISIS terror group and was planning to bomb the campus, according to his social media posts. Gavin Lee Casdorph was arrested in a house to house raid on Easton campus and has since admitted to making bomb threats after the FBI confronted him in ...
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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Is Trump a Threat to Your First Amendment Rights?

"If you don't agree with me, shut up!" "And if you don't shut your mouth, I'll shut it for you!" That seems to be the alarming attitude of a significant number of American college students, based on a new survey of 1,500 respondents from both private and public colleges, conducted by John Villasenor of UCLA. Among the disturbing findings, 19% advocate violence to silence a speaker engaged in "hate speech," and 51% think it is OK to shout down a speaker with whom they disagree. The students also showed serious ignorance about the First Amendment; only 39% knew that "hate speech" is indeed protected. While students' ignorance and these views are reprehensible, they are shared by some faculty members. Monday, at my alma mater at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, 30 academic...
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