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CSUSB professor discusses New Jersey’s designation of white supremacist extremism as a major threat
Miami Herald via The Philadelphia Inquirer
Feb. 26, 2020
New Jersey says white supremacist extremism is one of the state's greatest terrorism threats – higher than al-Qaida and the Islamic State – and in doing so has positioned itself as a national leader in countering domestic terrorism inspired by racism, experts, including CSUSB professor of criminal justice Brian Levin, say.
Levin, director of the nonpartisan Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said white supremacy has been the most ascendant fatal form of extremism over the last few years, replacing violent jihadists at the top of the list of extremists most likely to commit ideologically motivated homicide.
The most clear example was the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., where one person was killed. But the influence is deeper.
'As we have this anti-establishment tilt and this fracturing and splintering of our sociopolitical landscape, what we see is groups that aren't meeting as much or holding rallies as much still are able to influence the white-supremacist narrative,' Levin said, 'but merely as one server in a buffet of hatred and a 24/7 Charlottesville online.'
Also, Levin cautioned that white supremacists 'are by far not the only one in a continuing arms race with a diversifying set of extremist movements both here in the United States and worldwide.'
Read the complete article at “New Jersey declared white supremacists a major threat. Here’s why it’s groundbreaking.”
CSUSB professor comments on emailed bomb threats sent to Jewish organization over the weekend
The New York Jewish Week
Feb. 26, 2020
Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, was interviewed for an article about bomb threats that were emailed to more than 50 Jewish Community Centers and Jewish institutions across the country last weekend.
“A spokesman for the Office of Homeland Security said no immediate link had been found between the increase in the threat level and the email threats,” the article said. “And Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said in an email interview that although ‘white supremacists have undertaken bombing plots and bomb threats [in the past], so have a lot of others.’”
He noted that white supremacists nationwide killed at least 26 people last year.
Read the complete article at “JCC bomb scares spur call for security funds.”
CSUSB professor comments on sanctions imposed on foreign entities and individuals over Iran’s missile program
Press TV
Feb. 26, 2020
David Yaghoubian, CSUSB professor of history, was interviewed for a segment about the United States announcing new sanctions on 13 foreign entities and individuals for allegedly supporting Iran’s missile program.
Yaghoubian said there is no law or treaty that prohibits the ownership or purchase of missiles by nations in the Persian Gulf region or even Israel. He said, “I really see this as yet another pathetic attempt by the neo-conservative of the Trump regime to extend the so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran
In a statement, the U.S. State Department said the sanctions targeted individuals and companies in China, Iraq, Russia and Turkey. Washington says the move is in line with its efforts to prevent Iran from advancing its missile capabilities. In May 2018, the United States withdrew from the multi-national 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, saying it should also cover Iran’s missile program, among other issues. Tehran has repeatedly said that its missile program is of a deterrent nature and is non-negotiable. The U.S. has since imposed stringent economic sanctions to get Iran to the negotiation table.
Watch the segment at “U.S. targets entities over Iran missile program.”
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