{"id":1512,"date":"2021-01-16T16:59:44","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T20:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?p=1512"},"modified":"2021-01-17T12:16:56","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T16:16:56","slug":"french-donor-contributes-more-than-500k-to-u-s-alt-right-before-capitol-assault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/16\/french-donor-contributes-more-than-500k-to-u-s-alt-right-before-capitol-assault\/","title":{"rendered":"French Donor Contributes More than $500k to U.S. Alt-Right before Capitol Assault"},"content":{"rendered":"

In December 2020, approximately one month before the assault on the U.S. capitol, Laurent B., a French national, transferred the equivalent of \u20ac 400,000<\/a> to alt-right groups in the United States, illustrating the transnational component of U.S. domestic terrorism.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Financing<\/em><\/p>\n

On December 8, 2020, Laurent B, a French computer scientist, transferred \u20ac 260,000 from his Bitcoin account to far-right activist and Internet personality Nick Fuentes<\/a>, who was photographed on January 6, on the steps leading to the U.S. Senate, where he claims not to enter.\u00a0 Fuentes is a homophobic, anti-Semitic, white supremacist.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Chainalysis has also traced transfers<\/a> by Laurent B of \u20ac 20,000 to Patrick Casey, a leader of the U.S. supremacist movement Identity Evropa.\u00a0 On November 2020, it was dissolved. [3]<\/a><\/p>\n

At the start of December 2020, Laurent B. transferred \u20ac 410,000 to about fifteen groups and activists of the alt-right, as well as a few online services, including the ultra-right social network Gab.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Laurent B. financed his donation wallet with cryptocurrency from a French exchange, which he moved to the donation wallet through \u201cExtremist Legacy Wallet.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

On December 9, 2020, Laurent B. committed suicide, shortly after making the transfers.\u00a0 Before his death he posted on his personal blog, explaining his donations.\u00a0 He talked of the suffering of an illness and the \u201cdecadence of Western civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analysis<\/em><\/p>\n

The reports of the donations show that in a global world domestic extremism necessarily has links to international networks and financing.\u00a0 The reports also indicate that the January 6 attack was well organized and funded.<\/p>\n

The reports indicate the apparent use of cryptocurrency to make transnational funding of terrorist groups.\u00a0 In the last month the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Treasury (FinCEN) has increased regulations on transferring cryptocurrency and reporting cryptocurrency on Foreign Bank Reports.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

The reports of the transnational funding of U.S. domestic terrorist groups require the U.S. to quickly develop the counter-terrorism financial enforcement developed after the 9\/11 attacks, targeting foreign terrorist groups.\u00a0 U.S. law enforcement will need to redeploy some of these same mechanisms.\u00a0 They include designated terrorist groups and individuals, freezing assets, putting domestic terrorists on the \u201cno fly\u201d list, increasing public-private cooperation, and increasing terrorist financing intelligence.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

The current issue of the IELR will have a more comprehensive discussion of these developments.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Damien Leloup, The mysterious gifts of a French computer scientist to American neo-Nazis (Les myst\u00e9rieux dons d\u2019un informaticien fran\u00e7ais \u00e0 des n\u00e9onazis am\u00e9ricains<\/em>), Le Monde, Jan. 15, 2021.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Id<\/em>.\u00a0 For the Chainalysis account, see<\/em> Chainalysis Team, Alt-Right Groups and Personalities Involved In Last Week\u2019s Capitol Riot Received Over $500K In Bitcoin From French Donor One Month Prio<\/em>r, Jan. 14, 2021 https:\/\/blog.chainalysis.com\/reports\/capitol-riot-bitcoin-donation-alt-right-domestic-extremism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leloup, supra<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 Chainalysis Team, supra.<\/em><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Zagaris, FinCEN Will Require Persons to Report Virtual Currency as Part of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts and Will Require Recordkeeping for Transfers into Crypto Wallets<\/em>, 37 Int\u2019l Enforcement L. Rep. __ (Jan. 2021).<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 For background on the actions taken by the George W. Bush Administration on terrorist financing regulation and enforcement, see Jimmy Gurule, Unfunding Terror: The Legal Response to the Financing of Global Terrorism (2008).\u00a0 Gurule was the former Undersecretary (Enforcement) in the U.S. Department of the Treasury\u00a0 (2001-2003).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reports of cryptocurrency financing by a French national of alt-right groups in the US immediately before the January 6 assault on the US Capitol show the need to use and reimagine the tools for counter-terrorism financial enforcement against domestic terror in the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,125,33,45,16,4,115],"tags":[196,199,200,195,197,198],"class_list":{"0":"post-1512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-counterterrorism-and-international-human-rights","7":"category-counterterrorism-enforcement","8":"category-cybercrime","9":"category-cybercrime-and-cryptocurrency","10":"category-foreign-intelligence-and-surveillance","11":"category-money-laundering-and-bank-secrecy","12":"category-ounterterrorism-financial-enforcement","13":"tag-alt-right","14":"tag-anti-semitics","15":"tag-bitcoin","16":"tag-neo-nazis","17":"tag-pro-trump-insurrectionists","18":"tag-white-supremacists","19":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nFrench 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