United States authorities have identified the far-right white supremacist online extremist group Terrorgram Collective as a "terror group" and slapped it with sanctions because of promoting white supremacy and encouraging racially or ethnically motivated violence.
Several violent incidents have been linked to its users, such as the October shooting outside an LGBTQ+ bar in Slovakia that killed three people, including the shooter; a planned attack on an energy facility in New Jersey in July and a stabbing attack at a mosque in Turkey in August that injured five people.
On Monday, the Department of State issued a statement announcing the designation of the group, which primarily operated on the Telegram platform, and three of its leaders.
"The group promotes violent white supremacism, solicits attacks on perceived adversaries, and provides guidance and instructional materials on tactics, methods, and targets for attacks, including on critical infrastructure and government officials.
"The group also glorifies those who have conducted such attacks," the department said.
The collective's three leaders, Hedrik-Wahl Muller of South Africa, Noah Licul of Croatia, and Ciro Daniel Amorim Ferreira of Brazil, have each been named a specially designated global terrorist.
All property and interests in property owned by the designated entities, both individually and collectively, within the US are essentially blocked by the designations.
Consequently, it is illegal for Americans to do business with them.
The purpose of these terrorist designations, according to State Department officials, is to isolate and expose the individuals and organisations on the list, thereby denying them access to the US financial system.
In September 2024, the Department of Justice charged two US Terrorgram leaders with a 15-count indictment for soliciting hate crimes, soliciting the murder of federal officials, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
The charge claimed that the defendants distributed publications and films on the internet that offered what federal prosecutors described as "detailed instructions" for committing crimes, including a list of potential targets for killings.
They were accused of instigating people, including the perpetrators of the assaults in Turkey, New Jersey, and Slovakia.
The US government said it committed to countering transnational components of violent white supremacism.
IOL Politics