DOJ Indicts 2 U.S. Leaders of Transnational Terror Group

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has arrested two leaders of a transnational online terrorist group operating through Telegram.

On Friday, the Justice Department charged Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, and Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho, with hate crimes, solicitation of murder and aiding and abetting a conspiracy to support terrorists.

Humber and Allison reportedly both communicated via Telegram and were known as the Terrorgram Collective, a network of users who promoted white supremacy thinking.

“Today’s indictment charges the defendants with leading a transnational terrorist group dedicated to targeting America’s critical infrastructure, compiling a kill list of our nation’s public officials, and carrying out deadly hate crimes — all in the name of violent white supremacist ideology,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“Today’s arrests are a warning that committing hateful crimes in the darkest corners of the internet will not hide you, and provoking terrorist attacks from behind a screen will not protect you.”

The suspects joined Terrorgram in 2019 and in 2022 they allegedly oversaw the production of Terrorgram media outlets that provided instructions on how to carry out crimes and compiled a list of “key targets for assassination.”

“The kill list included U.S. federal, state, and local officials, as well as leaders of private companies and nongovernmental organizations, many of whom were targeted because of their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity,” the Justice Department said.

The leaders gave instructions on how to carry out terrorist attacks on government infrastructure, including energy facilities, to accelerate government collapse and ignite racial warfare.

Individuals under their leadership committed crimes on an international level, including the alleged shooting of three people outside an LGBT bar in Slovakia and the stabbing of five people in Turkey. Others allegedly planned an attack on a power plant in New Jersey.

Humber and Allison have been charged with one count of conspiracy, four counts of inciting hate crimes, three counts of inciting the murder of federal officials, three counts of doxxing federal officials, one count of threatening communications, one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and two counts of distributing instructions for making explosives, the Justice Department said.

The suspects face a maximum prison sentence of 220 years.

“Hate crimes fueled by bigotry and white supremacy, and amplified by the weaponization of digital messaging platforms, are on the rise and have no place in our society,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke.

“Make no mistake, as hate groups turn to online platforms, the federal government is adapting and responding to protect vulnerable communities.”