As the FBI is attacked again, criminal threat cases continue to spike
A man crashes his car into the barricade at an FBI field office after reportedly posting about the QAnon conspiracy theory. The latest in a string of dangerous incidents at FBI facilities comes as new statistics show public threats have again spiked in early 2024.
Meanwhile, a trial begins in San Diego that could help define the movement known as Antifa. And far-right influencer Chaya Raichik, who runs Libs of TikTok, is added to a database of known extremists.
It’s the week in extremism.
As Atlanta FBI is attacked, threats against public officials spike
On Monday, a man drove into the security barrier at the FBI field office in Atlanta after a confrontation with officers. While the motive for the apparent attack is not yet known, researchers found the man detained in the case had likely posted conspiracy theories and talked about joining a militia online. The incident comes as new data, provided exclusively to USA TODAY, shows prosecutions of threats against public officials is set to hit a new record this year.
WIRED magazine reported Wednesday that Ervin Lee Bolling, a former Navy submarine technician, likely used social media accounts that posted about the QAnon conspiracy theory and also wrote “Just looking for a good militia to join.”
Initial reports said police found no weapons in Bolling’s vehicle. But the attack mirrors a similar incident in August 2022 when a man attempted to storm the Cincinnati FBI office. That man was wearing body armor and carrying an AR-15 rifle. He was shot and killed.
USA TODAY has been reporting about the significant rise in violent public threats in recent years. A team of researchers at the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center at the University of Nebraska Omaha, which tracks federal prosecutions under laws against threats, found 2024 is on track to surpass 2023, which was a record year.
In the first three months of 2024, at least 30 people in 18 states were federally charged, according to the researchers. The cases include threats made against law enforcement personnel, elected officials and elections officials, and health care and education workers. The total number of prosecutions in 2023 was 77.
“Unfortunately, we’re on pace for another record-setting year in threats against public officials,” Gina Ligon, who leads the research team told USA TODAY. “We’re seeing both an increase in violent talk and a laser focus by federal prosecutors to take on these types of cases.”
Landmark trial could define if Antifa is a gang
As USA TODAY reported this week, the trial is underway of two men accused of violence in a protest in San Diego three years ago. The trial centers on whether the defendants acted as part of a conspiracy, under the banner of the far-left activist movement known as Antifa, and experts say the outcome will help define how the controversial group is defined.
In opening arguments Tuesday, defense attorneys sought to distance their clients from the multiple acts of violence in Pacific Beach on Jan. 9, 2021. Using video and photo evidence, they showed that the protesters who were attacked by anti-fascists carried knives, used offensive language, and goaded counter-protesters into attacking them with bear spray.
Prosecutors portrayed the defendants as members of a shadowy organization — Antifa — whose members gathered under banners to attack “patriots” who were just trying to exercise their First Amendment rights.
As USA TODAY previously reported, the protesters who clashed with Antifa that day included people identified by activists as white supremacist agitators. At least one has a criminal record and has long been involved with neo-Nazi groups.
Two people connected to local far-right groups in San Diego also appeared at the courthouse on Wednesday afternoon and were involved in a vocal argument in the corridor outside the courtroom with a local activist who was there supporting the defendants. After bailiffs broke up the altercation, Judge Daniel Goldstein reviewed security footage and then ordered the two people to leave the building.
Investigation: California statehouse candidate says she didn't join Capitol riot. Video shows otherwise
Libs of TikTok influencer added to SPLC list of extremists
Chaya Raichik, the far-right influencer who runs the social media account Libs of TikTok, has been added to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Extremist Files, a catalog of domestic and international extremists that includes white supremacists and other anti-LGBTQ+ activists.
Libs of TikTok, as USA TODAY reported last year, has posted information in dozens of cases that directly preceded bomb threats against hospitals, schools and other public facilities. Raichik has said the account merely reposts the content that other liberal users have already posted − thus the name − but the posts also mock the LGBTQ+ community, and sometimes encourage followers to contact the original posters.
According to the SPLC, Raichik “helped revive in right-wing propaganda the anti-LGBTQ+ ‘groomer’ slur, which implies that all LGBTQ+ people are pedophiles. She spreads the anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theory that ‘groomers’ have infiltrated every social institution with the intent of ‘sexualizing’ children.”
Statistic of the week: Six
That’s how many Republican members of Congress wrote to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin this week, urging him to investigate far-left extremism in the US military.
The call comes after Aaron Bushnell, a member of the Air Force, set himself on fire and died in front of the Israeli embassy in February. Bushnell had posted in anarchism-related forums on Reddit.
USA TODAY has been reporting on the military’s sputtering three-year effort to combat extremism, an effort the Congresspeople referred to in their letter to Austin:
“Your dedication to rooting out extremist behavior within our ranks has been well documented,” they wrote. “It is with this shared commitment in mind that we urge your attention toward the equally pressing issue of left-wing extremism among active-duty service members and veterans."
Will Carless is a national correspondent covering extremism and emerging issues. Contact him at wcarless@usatoday.com. Follow him on X @willcarless.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ervin Lee Bolling held in FBI attack in Atlanta; criminal threats rise
