The U.S. Justice Department announced a 15-count indictment on Monday against two men who it said lead a “transnational terrorist group,” and who allegedly solicited hate crimes and the murder of federal officials and sought to support terrorists.
Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, Calif., and Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho, were arrested on Friday, per the Justice Department. Each leader of the Terrorgram Collective faces up to 220 years in prison, the department added.
“Today’s indictment charges the defendants with leading a transnational terrorist group dedicated to attacking America’s critical infrastructure, targeting a hit list of our country’s public officials and carrying out deadly hate crimes—all in the name of violent white supremacist ideology,” stated Merrick Garland, the U.S. attorney general.
The duo, which is accused of soliciting the crimes on the Telegram platform, allegedly sought to enlist “others to engage in hate crimes and terrorist attacks against black, immigrant, LGBT and Jewish people,” according to Kristen Clarke, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights.
“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,” Clarke stated. “Make no mistake, as hate groups turn to online platforms, the federal government is adapting and responding to protect vulnerable communities.”
Humber and Allison allegedly operated with a “hit list” with “U.S. federal, state and local officials, as well as leaders of private companies and non-governmental organizations, many of whom were targeted because of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity,” per the Justice Department.
A person who shot three people—killing two—outside of a gay bar in Slovakia, one who planned to attack New Jersey energy facilities, and a third who stabbed five people near a Turkish mosque were allegedly inspired by the two defendants, the Justice Department said.
Per the 37-page indictment, one target on the “hit list” was identified for being “an anti-white, anti-gun, Jewish senator.”
The third of the 15 counts alleges that the two defendants “solicited, commanded, induced and otherwise endeavored to persuade other people to commit bias-motivated attacks targeting Jewish people.”
