I only brought up the antisemitic aspect because that's their latest big whine. And I'm not sure if the feds automatically become involved if a case is deemed to be terrorism.
Federal terrorism prosecution MAY depend on the existence and strength of state anti-terrorism law. Idk about PA.
Just seems funny to me that participating in a protest supporting Palestinian rights is antisemitic per the cult. But firebombing a Jewish governors' residence may not be. I guess the bomber just hated that house.
Looks like PA is doing the charging: Attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson, aggravated assault. No mention of hate crimes enhancements. Appears that 38-year-old Cody Allen Balmer is seriously mentally ill with "an extensive criminal history".
... Balmer was described by his brother as a political independent until 2024, when he tried to convince his family members to vote for Donald Trump. In a warrant to search Balmer's possessions issued after the incident, state police stated in their search warrant that Balmer had targeted Shapiro based on "perceived injustices toward the people of Palestine". In a 911 call previously made by Balmer, he characterized Shapiro as a "monster" who should stop having his friends killed, put his people "through too much" and said that he would not take part in Shapiro's "plans" for the Palestinians....
Strong feelings about the Palestinians, no mention of Shapiro's Jewishness.
Why don't these people understand that "pro-Palestinian" or "anti-Israel" isn't the same as antisemitic? Jews are an ethnic religion - Israel is a country, not unlike any other country that people in a free-ish country should be able to criticize without penalty.
I have no sympathy for suicide bombers, but I do have some support for his cause. In a world with too many people and too many unwanted children I'm appalled by the vast resources dumped into treating infertility. I thought it was kind of funny that AL accidentally banned IVF, but that's been reversed, anyhow.
Why don't these people understand that "pro-Palestinian" or "anti-Israel" isn't the same as antisemitic? Jews are an ethnic religion - Israel is a country, not unlike any other country that people in a free-ish country should be able to criticize without penalty.
Largely because Israel and its supporters have blurred the distinction for decades. It's easier to win when opponents can be painted as being bigots.
Federal officials extradited an international neo-Nazi group leader they say inspired a teen to commit a school shooting in Tennessee earlier this year and plotted to commit a mass casualty attack in New York City targeting Jewish people.
The terrorist group’s leader, 21-year-old Michail Chkhikvishvili, orchestrated deadly attacks around the globe, prosecutors said. The citizen of the nation of Georgia was extradited from Moldova on May 22 after he was arrested in July. He was scheduled to be arraigned in Brooklyn on May 23, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The DOJ said the man, who went by the name "Commander Butcher," was the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, which goes by several other names including MKY. Chkhikvishvili has distributed a writing called the "Hater's Handbook," encouraging people to commit acts of mass violence and "ethnic cleansing," according to court filings. His "solicitations of violence" led to international attacks, including a 2024 stabbing outside a mosque in Turkey, prosecutors said....
Throw away the key.
He told an undercover law enforcement employee, “I see USA as big potential because accessibility to firearms and other resources,” in an electronic message sent Sept. 8, 2023, court filings show.
Students hold signs as they attend a student-led rally to honor Josselin Corea Escalante at Antioch High School in Antioch, Tenn., Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
Real antisemitism, of course:
'Murder cult' leader plotted to poison Jewish kids in NYC, feds say
Chkhikvishvili has been indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on four counts including solicitation of violent felonies. The charges stemmed from Chkhikvishvili’s communications with an undercover FBI employee in which he trained and encouraged the undercover agent to carry out a mass attack against Jewish people and minorities. Chkhikvishvili corresponded with the undercover agent between September 2023 and at least March 2024.
The plot included having an individual wearing a Santa Claus costume hand out poisoned candies to Jewish kids in New York City on New Year's Eve. It later evolved into targeting Jewish people on a larger scale. Chkhikvishvili said he wanted the attack to be a "bigger action than Breivik," prosecutors said. Breivik refers to Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a massacre in Norway in 2011 that targeted mostly teenagers at a camp.
Anders Behring Breivik, a RW xtian who targeted teenagers of nonviolent LW parents.
Fixed that for them.
Chkhikvishvili allegedly inspired Tennessee school shooting
The man’s arrest came before the deadly attack at Antioch High School on Jan. 22, 2025. However, prosecutors in the New York federal court linked the Antioch shooting to Chkhikvishvili’s solicitations of violence in a court filing on May 23, the Nashville Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.
2 days after the inauguration.
... Chkhikvishvili’s name also appeared in the document the DOJ said was written by the Antioch shooter – a 300-page writing in which the shooter espoused misanthropic White supremacist and Nazi ideologies. The shooter also referred to the founder of MKY and said he would write the founder’s name on his gun, according to prosecutors.
Josselin Corea Escalante, 16, died after the 17-year-old shot her with a pistol in the cafeteria of Antioch High School. Another student was injured during the attack. The shooter, 17-year-old student Solomon Henderson, then shot and killed himself.
... A male suspect was taken into custody on Sunday after multiple people were set on fire during an event calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza at a pedestrian mall in Boulder, Colorado, authorities said, in what the FBI described as a "targeted terror attack." ...
The wife and children of Boulder, Colorado, terrorism suspect Mohamed Soliman are in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the family is being processed for expedited removal, according to the Department of Homeland Security....
Soliman -- who was arrested after allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails in an "act of terrorism" during a pro-Israel demonstration on Sunday -- has been in the U.S. on an expired tourist visa, officials said.
The father of five was granted a work permit, but that had also expired in March....
