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CSUSB political science professor co-writes ‘There’s a huge gap in how Republicans and Democrats see discrimination’
FiveThirtyEight
June 17, 2020
Meredith Conroy, CSUSB associate professor of political science, and Perry Bacon Jr., FiveThirtyEight senior writer, wrote, “Democrats and Republicans have very different views about how much discrimination various demographic groups face in American society. That disagreement underlies virtually everything happening in American politics today, from the discussions about race and policing in the wake of George’s Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police to the 2020 presidential election.”
Read the complete article at “There’s a huge gap in how republicans and democrats see discrimination.”
CSUSB professor sheds light on extremist ‘Boogaloo’ movement
KQED Radio (San Francisco)
June 17, 2020
Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was a guest on the public radio station’s “Morning Edition” program for a segment about the U.S. Air Force sergeant charged in the killing of a federal officer and a Santa Cruz County sheriff’s deputy. Federal authorities say the suspect has ties to the extremist, anti-government “Boogaloo” movement.
Levin explained the ideology of the Boogaloo movement and what motivates it. He said the movement is relatively new, starting withing the last year, “but it has threads of far-right, and at times, racist movements, that have preceded it. … What it involves is an ideology around guns and an unlimited view of individual rights. Particular to that is a view of the Second Amendment, called the ‘insurrectionist doctrine,’ which says that private, armed citizens can strike a rebellion against a tyrannical government.”
Listen to the segment at” 06:31 KQED-FM (Radio).”
‘Boogaloo’ movement extremists are ‘2nd Amendment insurrectionists,’ CSUSB professor says
Los Angeles Times
June 17, 2020
In the wake of the killing of two law enforcement officers in Northern California, more attention is being directed to the “Boogaloo” movement, a far-right fringe group that has been tied to violence around the country.
On Tuesday, federal law enforcement officials announced they were charging Air Force Sgt. Steven Carrillo, 32, and suspected accomplice Robert A. Justus Jr., 30, in the May 29 shooting death of a federal security officer in Oakland. Carrillo also faces state charges in the June 6 killing of a Santa Cruz sheriff’s deputy.
Brian Levin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, says boogaloo followers include ultra-libertarians and white supremacists, but they all share a belief that a second civil war is coming.
“They are 2nd Amendment insurrectionists,” Levin said. “The Boogaloo Boys believe in armed insurrection and include attacks on the police.”
Read the complete article at “Far-right ‘boogaloo boys’ linked to killing of California law officers and other violence.”
CSUSB professor discusses link of two shooting suspects with extremist ‘Boogaloo’ movement
Los Angeles Times
June 16, 2020
Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was quoted in an article about the arrest of two men associated with the extremist “Boogaloo” movement, whose goal is to incite civil unrest face. The pair face federal prosecution in the fatal shooting in Oakland last month of a federal security officer. One of them also faces state charges in the killing of a Santa Cruz County sheriff’s sergeant.
Levin said one of the suspect’s posts on social media, including Facebook, had become increasingly disturbing. Levin says far-right groups are now more of a threat to government and law enforcement.
“Our research shows 27 far-right extremist-connected homicides” in 2019, Levin said. The FBI arrested three devotees of the Boogaloo movement in Nevada recently, and they were charged with inciting violence with the use of Molotov cocktails at protests.
Levin said Boogaloo followers range from ultra-libertarians to white supremacists, but they all share a belief in a second Civil War coming.
“They are 2nd Amendment insurrectionists,” Levin said. “The Boogaloo boys believe in armed insurrection and include attacks on the police.”
Read the complete article at “Suspect in killing of 2 Bay Area officers tied to right-wing Boogaloo group, prosecutors allege.”
Far-right media ecosystem and how some law enforcement officers participate in it is discussed by CSUSB professor
The Huffington Post
June 17, 2020
The police media ecosystem that includes social media, message boards and specialty news media is not necessarily a broad representation of what most cops believe, the news website reported. But inside this echo chamber, which has thousands of users and readers, extremist views dictate the narrative. Wild misinformation and bigotry are rampant, with people who claim to be current and former officers posting debunked falsehoods and racist stereotypes about protesters.
“What I think we have here is a market for this kind of racist and divisive garbage across the internet, and unfortunately police are participating in that wave that is witnessed across various professions,” said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. “It pains me as a former NYPD officer to see this,” he said. “These posts are devastating.”
Levin doesn’t think people should assume that “cops en masse subscribe to this,” but he does see dangerous potential, because online echo chambers tend to “self-accelerate” bigoted beliefs. For “police in particular, who so often have to hold their tongue and try to restrain themselves,” he said, “online it becomes even more [of an] accelerant.”
Read the complete article at “Inside the dangerous online fever swamps of American police.”
CSUSB professor discusses police responses to Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 protests
Yahoo! News
June 15, 2020
Marquise Francis’s article on the apparent differences law enforcement have treated demonstrators protesting against police brutality and “demonstrations, generally much smaller, by racist groups including remnant groups of the Ku Klux Klan, and unrelated protests against coronavirus lockdowns by largely white, conservative, armed mobs,” included comments from Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
“If we contend that systemic racism runs across institutions in society, including police departments … to the extent that people of color are to be stopped by police, frisked and disproportionately killed in interactions by police, it stands to reason that the [issues] that are brought by citizens have some merit,” said Levin in an interview with Yahoo News. “It stands to reason that the same kind of bias is similar with respect to rallies.”
Levin added that in the wake of tense protests between officers and community members, the only solution is for the two sides to work together towards change, to get beyond the optics of police throwing Black Lives Matter protesters to the ground, and police treating racist mass murderer Dylann Roof, who shot up a prayer meeting at an African-American church, to a meal from Burger King after his arrest.
“What activists have to do as well as police is roll up our sleeves together and figure this out,” Levin said. “This includes the development of self-policing by rallygoers.”
Read the complete article at “As incidents of police brutality multiply, historians hear echoes of 18th-century ‘slave patrols.’”
CSUSB professor emeritus writes letter to U.S. Treasury secretary about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam discussions
Ethiopian News Agency
June 17, 2020
The news service published a letter by Alemayehu G. Mariam, professor emeritus, political science, to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchen concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam discussions with Egypt. The Treasury Department’s diplomatic engagement in the GERD talks is an egregious usurpation of the statutory duties of the State Department, Mariam noted.
Read the complete article at “Professor emeritus, attorney at law calls on USA to revoke ‘agreement’ on GERD.”
These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”