DOJ charges 2 in white nationalist 'Terrorgram' plot

Feds say Dallas Humber and Matthew Allison were plotting assassinations through a terrorist network on Telegram

White supremacist meme on Telegram, showing Adolf Hitler
White supremacist meme on Telegram, showing Adolf Hitler
(Image credit: Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

What happened

The Justice Department unsealed an indictment yesterday against two Americans it accused of running an online "transnational terrorist group" dedicated to fostering attacks on public officials and infrastructure "in the name of violent white supremacist ideology," Attorney General Merrick Garland said. The indictment identified Dallas Humber, 34, and Matthew Allison, 37, as leaders of the "Terrorgram Collective," a network of channels and group chats on Telegram.

Who said what

Humber and Allison were arrested Friday in California and Idaho, respectively, on 15 counts including soliciting murder and providing material support to terrorists. The DOJ said the pair took over Terrorgram in 2022 and urged followers to kill certain "high value targets," including a U.S. senator and a federal judge. The alleged goal of the violence was to ignite a "race war" and bring about a "white ethnostate." The hit list included names, addresses and photos, the indictment said, and the pair distributed detailed instructions on how to carry out a terrorist attack, including how to make bombs. "These are not mere words," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said. "Terrorgram users have carried out, or planned, attacks," including the stabbing of five people in Turkey last month, an attempt to destroy an electrical substation in New Jersey in July and a 2022 fatal shooting outside an LGBTQ bar in Slovakia.

What next?

Humber pleaded not guilty on Monday and Allison is expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.