Because revelatory cases like these come around so rarely, this series seeks to underline what was missed or under-emphasized by traditional media coverage -- and also to put what wasn’t missed into proper context from a homeland security perspective. This series of reports is based on a review and analysis of hundreds of publicly filed court records from the ongoing federal prosecution of alleged … [Read more...] about Part I of III Hezbollah’s ‘Unit 910’ in America: Recruitment, Targeting Jews, and a Building with a Doorman
Terrorism and Homeland Security
Terror in Paradise: Trinidad and Tobago Is Now a Jihad Hotspot
The Ministry of Tourism for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago hosts a website extolling the many exquisite charms of the “true Caribbean” to be found there. The islands offer rich history, culture, biodiversity, and lodging with views “to die for.” Of late, though, a diaspora of Trinidad and Tobago emigres have preferred the views in Syria and Iraq, and the company of Islamic terrorist … [Read more...] about Terror in Paradise: Trinidad and Tobago Is Now a Jihad Hotspot
Hezbollah South of the Border: A Rare U.S. Government Update with Bombs in Bolivia, Busts in Peru, Spying in Panama, Pressure in Paraguay
As a working journalist in 2007, I traveled to Nicaragua to find out why Iran had just set up shop in the country after the election of U.S nemesis President Daniel Ortega. In Managua, I found the Iranian compound in a posh neighborhood, guarded by a coterie of Nicaraguan troops. For about three days, I episodically knocked on the tall metal gates asking to interview the new Iranian … [Read more...] about Hezbollah South of the Border: A Rare U.S. Government Update with Bombs in Bolivia, Busts in Peru, Spying in Panama, Pressure in Paraguay
Lenient Prison Term for ISIS Terrorist Pits Prosecutors Against Federal Judge in Texas
Originally published in Pajamas Media, By Todd Bensman On September 10, just ahead of this year’s 9/11 anniversary, Texas resident Asher Abid Khan finally turned himself in to the U.S. Marshals office in Houston for providing material support to ISIS. He was off to the federal correctional institute known as “Forrest City Medium” in Forrest City, Arkansas, according to court filings. The … [Read more...] about Lenient Prison Term for ISIS Terrorist Pits Prosecutors Against Federal Judge in Texas
Trial in ISIS Plot to Kill U.S. Ambassador to Suriname; An Exotic Story of ISIS in South America Draws No U.S. Media Interest, Except (of course) Here
Last year, a few foreign news outlets reported an alleged local ISIS plot to murder the U.S. ambassador to … Suriname. My curiosity was piqued -- an ISIS franchise in South America? -- but coverage has been extremely rare. To date, no American media outlet has regarded an ISIS plot to murder an American diplomat in Paramaribo as newsy enough to send a reporter there, or even to ask around in … [Read more...] about Trial in ISIS Plot to Kill U.S. Ambassador to Suriname; An Exotic Story of ISIS in South America Draws No U.S. Media Interest, Except (of course) Here
Texas Terror Case Gives Rare Glimpse of Venal Hatred Inside Encrypted Jihadist Social Media
Researchers, journalists and anyone honestly seeking to understand modern Islamic terrorism need look no further than the now-vast trove of American court prosecution records. The Department of Justice has prosecuted 157 U.S. homegrown terrorism cases in 30 states just since 2013, and 220 since 9/11. Say what you will about the politicized upper echelons of the FBI. But the front-line special … [Read more...] about Texas Terror Case Gives Rare Glimpse of Venal Hatred Inside Encrypted Jihadist Social Media
Here’s the Case That Shows How to Handle the Jihadist Prison Radicalization Threat
A debate has long circled around the proposition that American prison systems at state and federal levels need counter-radicalization programs. The hypothesis claims that circle-talking and counseling will preempt the manipulation of predisposed inmates by predatory visiting prison imams, or by fellow Islamists inside. This 2013 Naval Postgraduate School study by Tennessee’s Assistant … [Read more...] about Here’s the Case That Shows How to Handle the Jihadist Prison Radicalization Threat
Texas Juvenile Terrorist Shows Why We Need State-Level Terrorism Statutes
Far too often during the Obama administration, attacks that had all the hallmarks of Islamist terrorism were never charged or labeled as terror attacks. Some of the many examples: The 2009 fatal shooting attack by Tennessee Islamic convert Carlos Bledsoe on a military recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas; the 2014 fatal decapitation attack by Oklahoma’s Alton Nolen at Vaughn Foods in Moore, … [Read more...] about Texas Juvenile Terrorist Shows Why We Need State-Level Terrorism Statutes
From Protected Protest to Domestic Terrorism Threat?
As is well-established, online incitement to violence by extremist groups is viewed as a significant homeland security matter because urging others to kill for a social cause has proven so tragically effective. This concern has usually focused on ISIS, but at least two recent arrests in the United States suggest that some activists among those opposed to President Donald Trump's immigration … [Read more...] about From Protected Protest to Domestic Terrorism Threat?
Bensman Testifies before Congress on Law Enforcement’s Fight Against White Supremacy and Domestic Terrorism
I testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee about my experience combating domestic extremism while working for the Texas Department of Public Safety. The testimony took place Tuesday, June 4, 2019 in the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. The topic of testimony for two panels (mine was the second) was “White Supremacy, Adequacy of the Federal … [Read more...] about Bensman Testifies before Congress on Law Enforcement’s Fight Against White Supremacy and Domestic Terrorism