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US Designates Russian White Supremacist Group as Terror Organization

Nike Ching

   STATE DEPARTMENT/PENTAGON - The United States has designated the white
   supremacist group Russian Imperial Movement (RIM,) as a global
   terrorist organization, an unprecedented move that reflects increasing
   concerns about violent white supremacists with transnational
   connections.

   In Monday's State Department announcement, three of RIM's leaders
   --Stanislav Anatolyevich Vorobyev, Denis Valliullovich Gariev and
   Nikolay Nikolayevich Trushchalov -- have also been designated global
   terrorists.

   The move comes after the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on
   two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The March 15, 2019, attack
   was linked to a global rise in white supremacism and alt-right
   extremism since 2015.

   "These historic designations are just one part of the administration's
   broader efforts to counter white supremacist terrorism abroad," Nathan
   Sales, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism and
   ambassador-at-large, said Monday.

   "We're bringing all of our counterterrorism tools to this fight --
   information-sharing, counter-messaging, combating terrorist travel,
   engaging with tech companies and building partner capacity -- to
   protect soft targets like synagogues and mosques," Sales added.

   The designation denies RIM and its leadersaccess to the U.S. financial
   system.Any assets they may have in the U.S. are now frozen. Americans
   will also be banned from financial dealings with the group.

   The State Department said Monday's designation not only makes it
   "substantially more difficult" for RIM to move money throughout the
   international financial system, but also makes it easier for U.S.
   officials at the borders to stop RIM-related individuals from traveling
   to the U.S.

   "White supremacist groups are increasingly transnational in nature.
   This is an important first step by this administration, both in terms
   of substance and public messaging," said Seamus Hughes, deputy director
   of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

   RIM provides paramilitary-style training to neo-Nazis and white
   supremacists. The organization also attempts to rally like-minded
   Europeans and Americans against perceived enemies.RIM has two training
   facilities in St. Petersburg, which likely are being used for woodland
   and urban assault, tactical weapons, and hand-to-hand combat training,
   according to the State Department.

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