Slow Decline
Weird Little Guys
Unpacking Terrorism Narratives
This chapter critically examines a report linking Nazism to militant Islamism, revealing unverified claims and potential biases of its author, Dr. David Gartenstein-Ross. It also explores troubling legal issues, including allegations of Islamophobia within high-stakes terrorism cases and the contradictory definitions of terrorism in American law. Through these discussions, the chapter highlights systemic biases in the judicial process and societal perceptions regarding domestic versus foreign terrorism.
In 2016, Nicholas Young became the first American police officer to be arrested and charged with a federal terrorism offense. At trial, jurors were shown mountains of evidence about his collection of nazi memorabilia. But what does that have to do with the gift cards he texted to an FBI informant he thought was a member of ISIS?
Sources:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4559133/united-states-v-young
Helen Taylor (2019): Domestic terrorism and hate crimes: legal definitions and media framing of mass shootings in the United States, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism
https://www.academia.edu/81063064/Domestic_terrorism_and_hate_crimes_legal_definitions_and_media_framing_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/11/19/official-allegedly-hinted-at-saudi-torture-of-va-man/d2a5ab07-28dd-4390-a245-c937083178f4/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/13/AR2008091302275.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20210924060335/https://www.nysun.com/national/a-prosecutor-is-called-relentless/82727/
https://harpers.org/2009/03/more-prosecutorial-misconduct-in-the-al-arian-case/
https://theintercept.com/2021/07/17/julian-assange-extradition-gordon-kromberg/
https://theintercept.com/2017/03/16/prosecutors-allege-dubious-isis-nazi-connection-in-terror-sting-case/
https://www.cair.com/cair_in_the_news/va-terror-prosecutor-accused-of-anti-muslim-bias/
https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/prosecutor_accused_of_personal_animus_in_muslim_terrorism_cases
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2015/08/foundation_for_the_defense_of_democracies_inside_the_small_pro_israel_think.single.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20150818165301/http://www.thenation.com/article/washingtons-sketchy-pro-israelanti-iran-camp/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/opinion/conservative-think-tanks-bannon.html
Human Rights Watch & Human Rights Institute, Illusion of Justice: Human Rights Abuses in US Terrorism Prosecutions, (2014).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/human_rights_institute/44
T. Ward Frampton, Predisposition and Positivism: The Forgotten Foundations of the Entrapment Doctrine, 103 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 111 (2013).
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol103/iss1/3
Dru Stevenson, Entrapment By Numbers, 16 J. LAW & PUB. POL’Y 1 (2005)
https://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=5903&context=expresso
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross & Madeleine Blackman, 2022. "Fluidity of the Fringes: Prior Extremist Involvement as a Radicalization Pathway," Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(7)
German, Mike and Beth Zasloff. Policing White Supremacy. The New Press, 2025.
Hoffman, Bruce, and Jacob Ware. God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America. Columbia University Press, 2024.
Marc‑André Argentino, Shiraz Maher, Charlie Winter, 2021. Violent Extremist Innovation:
A Cross‑Ideological Analysis, International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation
https://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ICSR-Report-Violent-Extremist-Innovation-A-Cross%E2%80%91Ideological-Analysis.pdf
Marc‑André Argentino, Amarnath Amarasingam, Emmi Conley, 2022. “One Struggle”:
Examining Narrative Syncretism between Accelerationists and Salafi‑Jihadists. International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation
https://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ICSR-Report-One-Struggle-Examining-Narrative-Syncretism-between-Accelerationists-and-Salafi%E2%80%91Jihadists.pdf
Connecting the Fringes: Neo-Nazi Glorification of Salafi-Jihadi Representations Online, Julien Bellaiche
https://gnet-research.org/2021/08/24/connecting-the-fringes-neo-nazi-glorification-of-salafi-jihadi-representations-online/
Meleagrou-Hitchens, Alexander; Ayad, Moustafa; Program on Extremism, George Washington University; and National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, "The Age of Incoherence? Understanding Mixed and Unclear Ideology Extremism" (2023). Reports, Projects, and Research.
https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs5746/files/2023-06/the-age-of-incoherence-final.pdf
Martin Laryš (2024) “White Jihad” and “White Sharia”: Jihadism as an Instrument of Intra-Extremist Outbidding among Right-Wing Extremists, Terrorism and Political Violence, 36:7, 853-870, DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2023.2214240
Ariel Koch, Karine Nahon & Assaf Moghadam (2024) White Jihad: How White Supremacists Adopt Jihadi Narratives, Aesthetics, and Tactics, Terrorism and Political Violence, 36:7, 919-943, DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2023.2223694
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