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CSUSB center’s preliminary report shows sharp increase in anti-Asian hate crimes
Nikkei Asia
Feb. 11, 2022
Hate crimes against people of Asian descent in U.S. cities surged more than fourfold in 2021, accelerating from the previous year's upswing spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic.
There were 274 reported incidents targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in eight cities, compared with 62 in 2020, according to preliminary data from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
"These accelerating increases in Anti-Asian hate crime in 2021 are occurring right after 2020, which was one of the worst years in decades," said CSUSB professor Brian Levin, the center's director.
"Generally, these increases are most pronounced in large densely populated coastal cities with high Asian populations and extensive mass transit systems," he said.
Read the complete article at “Anti-Asian hate crimes quadrupled in U.S. last year.”
Super Bowl is most secured event in U.S., CSUSB professor says
The Wrap via Yahoo! Entertainment
Feb. 11, 2022
Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was interviewed for an article about the massive effort underway for LA’s Super Bowl LVI to protect fans, athletes and celebrities from a dizzying array of threats including drone attacks, cyber hits, sex trafficking and pickpockets.
Because of its high profile and federal security coordination, the Super Bowl is the most secured event in the U.S. right now, noted Levin.
If someone is willing to kill themselves in a suicide bombing or there is some kind of coordinated attack, the biggest risk comes from just outside the secured area as large numbers of people are entering and exiting, he said. This is what happened during the deadly suicide bombing attack that occurred near the entrance at Kabul airport in Afghanistan last August.
“It’s not like everybody in the stadium gets magically dropped in there. They have to get there,” Levin said. “That’s going to be the biggest thing. You can’t have these perimeter protections extend to the ocean, right?”
In general, people are at a heightened risk today than in previous years “because the risk (of potential attacks) is so diversified now,” Levin said.
Read the complete article at “Inside LA’s Super Bowl security: Prepping for drone swarms, cyber hits and pickpockets.”
CSUSB professor profiles extremist group ‘Cali Bois’ after one of its members is arrested on a federal charge
The Press-Enterprise/Southern California News Group/Bay Area News Group
Feb. 9, 2022
Matthew Edward Chen was arrested on Jan. 28, about a week after he sold three auto sears — devices that can be attached to a firearm to make it fully automatic — to a purported member of the “Cali Bois,” a California-based group that subscribes to an ideology known as “Boogaloo,” an online movement that wants to bring down the U.S. government by encouraging civil war through violent acts.
Brian Levin, the director for the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, said the Boogaloo movement is particularly dangerous because its only central ideology is violence as a means to destroy, most often, the U.S. government, but also any kind of authority its members oppose.
Levin said Boogaloo adherents typically fetishize weapons and oppose gun laws of any kind. While the overwhelmingly majority of Boogaloo members have hung around hard right groups for years, they don’t fall neatly along mainstream political lines.
And while they can come from any background, Levin said Boogaloo members have typically had aggression issues for years that sent them down social media rabbit holes of violent ideologies, most often on Facebook.
What separates Boogaloo from other movements, however, is an edge of internet savvy humor, using jokes to promote hatefulness.
“It’s a very simple message that can attract can a wide swath of violent extremists,” Levin said. “They want chaos and civil war … what brings this movement a certain kind of unique flavor is an injection of quote unquote humor, of jokes and memes, that makes them part of this culture or lifestyle, using certain symbols that unify them.”
Read the complete article at “FBI arrests Boogaloo extremist group member in Pomona after gun sales meeting in Murrieta.”
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