Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has received a Bitcoin donation, raising questions about whether his defamation victims will ever access those funds. In related news, multiple members of a white supremacist gang were arrested in Southern California, and neo-Nazis are leaving the Telegram messaging app.

It’s been an eventful week in extremism.

Alex Jones receives Bitcoin donation

Following a series of high-profile defamation cases that resulted in over a billion dollars in damages owed to his victims, Alex Jones has been striving to sustain his extravagant lifestyle. Analysts from the Southern Poverty Law Center, closely monitoring Jones’ Bitcoin account, observed a sizeable donation last week, leading to questions about whether he can keep these funds.

• In 2022, a court mandated Jones to compensate nearly $1.5 billion to the families affected by the 2012 Sandy Hook tragedy after he propagated false conspiracy theories related to their children’s deaths.
• Despite this ruling, Jones had yet to pay any of his victims a single dollar by this time last year, while he continued personal expenditures close to $100,000 monthly.
• Megan Squire, the deputy director for data analytics at the SPLC, flagged a recent donation of one Bitcoin, valued at nearly $64,000. This amount is notable as it far exceeds the typical contributions, which usually fall between a few dollars and around $100.
• The source of the Bitcoin donation remains unclear, though it is from someone with a vast cryptocurrency portfolio worth tens of millions. “We don’t know who they are, but they’re significant players and had previously made several smaller donations to Jones in 2021,” Squire informed YSL News.
• Recently, a bankruptcy judge directed Jones to sell his Infowars platform and associated assets to generate funds for reparations. This auction process is set to commence next month.

It remains uncertain if the recent Bitcoin donation will be included in bankruptcy proceedings and if it could eventually benefit the individuals defamed by Jones. An attorney representing Jones’ victims has not provided commentary on the matter, and Jones has not responded to inquiries.

Major neo-Nazi crackdown in Southern California

This week, numerous alleged members of a white supremacist gang operating in the Los Angeles area were apprehended in a comprehensive federal law enforcement operation. A total of 68 suspected gang affiliates face charges related to racketeering, firearms distribution, drug trafficking, and financial fraud.

• Those detained are reportedly part of the “Peckerwoods,” a white supremacist gang stemming from the prison system in California.
• As part of the investigation, authorities confiscated significant amounts of illegal weapons and many pounds of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin, according to the federal indictment.

“The Peckerwoods embody a violent white-supremacist belief system and their extensive criminal operations threaten our community,” stated United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “Their involvement in crimes ranging from drug trafficking to identity theft and COVID-related fraud, linked with a neo-Nazi prison gang, marks them as a serious threat.”

Neo-Nazis fleeing Telegram

Following the founder of social media platform Telegram, Pavel Durov’s arrest in France in August, many far-right users of the encrypted messaging service have been abandoning it for other alternatives. A recent report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank focusing on global extremism and misinformation, highlights this ongoing shift.

• The report from ISD, released on Friday, reveals that neo-Nazi groups are migrating to a new, unnamed platform chosen for its improved privacy features and absence of user identification measures like User IDs.
• One identified group has already recruited nearly 1,000 members on this new platform, according to researcher Steven Rai from ISD.
• Rai has tracked over 30 neo-Nazi and “accelerationist” groups transitioning to this new space. Accelerationism is a movement among white supremacists aimed at instigating a race war to establish a racially based world order.

Statistic of the week: Two

Last Saturday, two bridges in Pittsburgh were covered with banners displaying Nazi symbols. An investigation is currently underway regarding this incident.