US prosecutors charge leaders of Telegram-based white supremacist group – JURIST

US prosecutors have charged two alleged leaders of a white supremacist group with using Telegram to calls for attacks on black, Jewish, LGBTQ people and immigrants.

The group, called “The Terrorgram Collective,” celebrated terrorist attacks around the world and called for further attacks, prosecutors told a federal court in Sacramento, California. The defendants, Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, and Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho, are charged with a 15-count indictment for inciting hate crimes, inciting the murder of federal officials and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Humber and Allison were arrested on Sept. 6, 2024.

The indictment charged Humber and Allison with one count of conspiracy, four counts of soliciting hate crimes, three counts of soliciting the murder of federal officials, three counts of doxing federal officials, one count of threatening communications, two counts of distributing bomb-making instructions, and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Prosecutors called Humber and Allison’s efforts to bring about a white power revolution by soliciting and supporting terrorist attacks on government organizations, infrastructure and other “enemies of the white race.”

The two are said to have joined Telegram in 2019 and become leaders of the group in 2022 after the previous leader was arrested and charged with terrorism offenses. The duo are said to have incited violence during the July 2023 French riots and after bomb threats targeted Nashville Tennessee pride events in 2023. The group’s goal was to inflame tensions and hasten the downfall of the government.

“Today’s indictment charges the defendants with leading a transnational terrorist group dedicated to attacking America’s critical infrastructure, targeting our nation’s public officials, and carrying out deadly hate crimes — all in the name of violent white supremacist ideology,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Today’s arrests are a warning that committing hate-fueled crimes in the darkest corners of the internet will not hide you, and plotting terrorist attacks from behind a screen will not protect you. The United States Department of Justice will find you, and we will hold you accountable.”

The two face a maximum of 200 years in prison for one count of conspiracy, four counts of solicitation of a hate crime, three counts of solicitation to commit the murder of a federal official, three counts of doxing, or disclosing private information, of federal officials, one count of interstate threatening communications, two counts of disseminating information relating to explosives and destructive devices, and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. They also face up to $3.75 million each in fines and criminal forfeiture.