📰 Still Wearing the Swastika: Ukraine’s Extremist Problem Isn’t Going Away

A new investigation by Le Monde has found that hundreds of soldiers in Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade — a key Western-trained military unit — are continuing to display neo-Nazi symbols, including swastikas, SS insignia, and Hitler salutes.

💭 “Des saluts nazis, des croix gammées, des emblèmes de la SS…”

— Le Monde, June 18, 2025

The 3rd Brigade is one of the Ukrainian army’s most prominent fighting forces. It receives direct support, equipment, and training from Western countries, including France. It's also the successor to the Azov Regiment, originally founded by far-right activists during the 2014 conflict — and long controversial for its links to extremist ideology.

📋 Le Monde’s visual investigation identified more than 200 active members of the brigade using far-right symbols on publicly accessible social media. The images weren’t hidden — they were posted proudly.

💼 The findings raise questions Western governments have been reluctant to answer:

* How can NATO justify training and equipping units with visible neo-Nazi affiliations?
* What standards, if any, are being applied to Ukraine’s military integration?
* And why has this continued for over a decade with little official pushback?

🤔 If a European police unit shared this symbolism, it would be a scandal. Why does Ukraine get a pass?

#Ukraine #Azov #NATO #extremism #war #WesternAid #LeMonde #accountability #foreignpolicy

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📰 White Power, White House: How the Aryan Freedom Network Is Thriving in Trump’s America

💭 “Our side won the election.”

— Dalton Henry Stout, leader of the Aryan Freedom Network

📊 The Surge
• From the Fringes to the Footnotes of MAGA: The Aryan Freedom Network (AFN), a neo-Nazi network led by two descendants of Ku Klux Klan leaders, says Trump’s return to power has “turbocharged” its recruitment.
• Rhetoric as Rocket Fuel: Attacks on diversity programs, anti-immigrant framing, and “Western values” language have, according to AFN’s leaders, normalized ideas that used to be confined to the political sewer.
• Law Enforcement Shift: With federal counter-extremism programs downsized and resources redirected to immigration enforcement, groups like AFN see less scrutiny — and more space to organize.
• Mainstream Bleed: Researchers warn that the line between hard-right Republican rhetoric and extremist ideology is eroding, making Proud Boys look “almost moderate” by comparison.

💼 The Network
• Roots in the Klan: Stout and his partner “Daisy Barr” were born into white supremacist dynasties, inheriting ritual, symbolism, and recruiting tactics from America’s most infamous hate group.
• Accelerationist Edge: While claiming to stay “within the law,” AFN openly prepares for a “Racial Holy War” and draws members from defunct or diminished extremist groups.
• National Spread: From Texas flyers to swastika burnings in wooded clearings, AFN now claims nearly double the number of chapters it had two years ago, with researchers estimating up to 1,500 members.
• Weapon Culture: Federal cases, like that of convicted member Andrew “Thor” Munsinger, reveal a culture of firearms training, tactical drills, and encrypted coordination.

🤔 The Real Question
Is the AFN’s growth a byproduct of Trump-era political permission — or proof that America’s extremist fringe has learned how to march right alongside the mainstream without changing its core?

#WhiteSupremacy #AFN #Extremism #KuKluxKlan #NeoNazis #TrumpEra #DomesticTerrorism #FarRight #MAGA #HateGroups

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FBI Stops New Year's Eve Bombing Plot: Four Arrested Before Desert Test

The FBI arrested four members of the "Turtle Island Liberation Front" on December 12 before they could build functional bombs. The group planned to plant explosive devices at five locations in the Los Angeles area on New Year's Eve, targeting logistics centers (Amazon-type facilities), Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and their vehicles. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the foiling of the plot on Monday. The arrests came just days after she ordered law enforcement to "ramp up investigations" into leftist extremist groups.

The "Operation Midnight Sun" blueprint
In November, one of the defendants — Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30 — handed a paid FBI informant an eight-page handwritten document titled "Operation Midnight Sun" describing the entire bombing plan. Carroll and co-defendant Zachary Aaron Page, 32, then recruited Dante Gaffield, 24, and Tina Lai, 41. The group traveled to the Mojave Desert on December 12 to build test explosives. FBI agents intervened before they could assemble a functional device. Surveillance footage obtained by the FBI showed them placing precursor chemicals and bomb-making materials on a table in the desert.

The group's Signal chat was called "Order of the Black Lotus." They described themselves as radical. The plan had two phases: bombs at logistics centers on New Year's Eve, then pipe bombs targeting ICE agents in January or February. Carroll allegedly said: "That would take some of them out and scare the rest of them."

The timing and the narrative
The announcement comes days after Bondi issued a memo ordering law enforcement to investigate extremist groups with "leftist-leaning agendas." The group describes itself as anti-capitalist, anti-government, devoted to "decolonization and tribal sovereignty." Attempting to build and detonate bombs is terrorism — but the timing of Bondi's announcement, just as Trump's Justice Department is under pressure to show it's taking domestic extremism seriously, raises questions about whether this is a genuine threat that was stopped, or a narrative moment in a political messaging campaign.

Prosecutors expect more charges. The four were arrested December 12. The U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles declined to identify which companies were targeted, only that they were "Amazon-type logistics centers."

#Terrorism #FBI #LosAngeles #extremism #bombing

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