US State Department classifies Russian white supremacist group as terrorist organization

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The US State Department announced Monday that it is classifying a Russian white supremacist group as a terrorist organization. This is the first time an American government has categorized white supremacists as terrorists – the classification is normally assigned to Islamic extremist groups.

In an apparent concerted move toward broadening the types of organizations the US deems to be terrorist, the Trump administration has designated the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), a Russian ultranationalist group, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). During a State Department teleconference, Nathan Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism said RIM provides paramilitary-style training to neo-Nazis and white supremacists at two training grounds in St. Petersburg.

Describing particular instances of terrorism carried out by RIM, Sales recounted: “In August of 2016, two Swedish men traveled to St. Petersburg and underwent 11 days of paramilitary-style training provided by RIM.  A few months later, these men and another person conducted a series of terrorist attacks in the Swedish city of Gothenburg.  In November of 2016, they detonated a bomb outside a cafe.  Two months after that, they bombed a migrant center, gravely injuring one person.  And three weeks after that, they placed another bomb at a campsite used to house refugees.”

Now that RIM has been designated an SDGT, the US government can prosecute anyone who conducts business with the group and freeze any US property or assets owned by the organization. Even if terrorists do not have a US bank account, Sales told the conference, an SDGT designation will cause them difficulty in moving money.

Jurist notes: “The US does not have the authority to designate groups or individuals as terrorists on the basis of constitutionally protected speech. Rather, groups are designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) for actions such as training to participate in terrorism, fundraising for terrorism, facilitation of terrorism, solicitation, or direction and control of terrorist acts.”

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