White supremacist leaders in US charged with 15 criminal counts, including igniting race war

ISTANBUL

Federal prosecutors have charged Dallas Humber, 34, and Matthew Allison, 37, the so-called leaders of the white supremacist group "Terrorgram Collective," with 15 criminal counts, including soliciting hate crimes and providing material support for terrorism, according to the US Department of Justice.

The indictment, unsealed on Monday, in Sacramento, California, accuses the pair of running the "Terrorgram Collective," a group that promoted white supremacist ideology and sought to "ignite a race war," by encouraging attacks on critical infrastructure and public officials.

It also stated that the pair used the messaging platform Telegram to incite racially motivated violence and promote a societal collapse in the US.

"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," said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

"Soliciting 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," he added in the document.

Prosecutors say Humber and Allison were responsible for producing a digital manifesto called "Hard Reset," which contained detailed instructions for making bombs and carrying out terror attacks.

The document also included a list of high-profile assassination targets, including a sitting US senator and a federal judge, whom the group considered "enemies of the white supremacist cause."

The Justice Department detailed several violent incidents, including attacks in Slovakia and Türkiye, which were traced back to the group.

It connects both leaders to the shooting deaths of two LGBTQ+ people at a Slovakian bar in October 2022 and the stabbings of five people outside a mosque in Türkiye last month.

According to the document, FBI Director Christopher Wray reaffirmed the agency’s commitment, saying: "Whether motivated by racial bias or antagonism toward government and societal norms, such behavior will not be tolerated. Terrorism is still the FBI’s number one priority."

During a press conference on Monday, Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, emphasized the department’s commitment to combatting hate-fueled violence in both physical and digital spaces.

"Whether carried out on our streets or perpetrated by way of online platforms, we will follow the facts where they lead and use every tool available to hold perpetrators of hate accountable," Clarke said.

Humber and Allison are both in custody and face up to 220 years in prison if convicted of all charges, according to the document.

The arrests coincide with increased scrutiny of Telegram and its founder, Pavel Durov, who was detained in France in late August over concerns about child exploitation and other criminal activity on the platform.

Telegram has faced criticism for allegedly failing to stop the spread of extremist content.

Durov has since vowed to improve the app’s moderation policies.