Feds say white supremacist leaders of 'Terrorgram' group plotted assassinations, attacks

Federal prosecutors unveiled charges Monday against two alleged leaders of a white supremacist group, claiming the pair used Telegram to solicit attacks on Black, Jewish, LGBTQ people and immigrants aiming to incite a race war.

The group, dubbed "The Terrorgram Collective", used the social media site to celebrate white supremacist attacks around the world and solicit racially motivated violence, prosecutors said in a federal indictment. Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, and Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho, were charged with a total of 15 counts, including one count of conspiracy, four counts of soliciting hate crimes, three counts of soliciting the murder of federal officials, three counts of doxing federal officials, one count of threatening communications, two counts of distributing bombmaking instructions, and one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

If convicted, the two could each face a maximum of 220 years in prison. It was not immediately clear if they had lawyers.

The Terrorgram Collective used Telegram to promote a view of white supremacy that says the white race is superior, society's corruption is beyond saving by politics, and that violence and terrorism are needed to incite a race war so that government collapses in favor of a white ethnostate, the Justice Department said. The UK government designated Terrorgram Collective as a terrorist group in April, according to a release on the UK's interior ministry website.

“Today’s indictment charges the defendants with leading a transnational terrorist group dedicated to attacking America’s critical infrastructure, targeting a hit list of our country’s public officials, and carrying out deadly hate crimes - all in the name of violent white supremacist ideology,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a released statement Monday.

Humber and Allison joined Terrorgram in 2019 and became leaders in 2022, according to the indictment. Humber and Allison helped create and promote a document that sought to justify the group's ideology and included detailed instructions on carrying out terror attacks, including how to build bombs.

Feds: Men urged followers to achieve 'Sainthood,' kill people

Prosecutors claim the pair also collaborated on a list of "high-value" targets for assassination that included a sitting U.S. senator and a federal judge who were viewed as enemies of the white supremacist cause.

"The defendants solicited murders and hate crimes based on the race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity of others," said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California. "They also doxed and solicited the murder of federal officials, conspired to provide material support to terrorists, and distributed information about explosives that they intended to be used in committing crimes of violence."

In the indictment, federal prosecutors said Humber and Allison often encouraged their followers to carry out the attacks while staying hush about their actions to help further the spread of unrest. The two also celebrated many national and international news events such as the 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand massacre,

Both men shared documents in the group about how each member can gain "Sainthood" and be praised as "Saints," which are white supremacist mass murders, federal prosecutors said. The how-to told members they must be white, commit planned attacks for furthering the racist ideology, share their white nationalist views, and kill at least one person.

Humber and Allison became leaders of the group in 2022, helping oversee a network of Telegram channels and group chats that offered support for users to commit white supremacist violence, according to the indictment.

“Using the Telegram platform, they advanced their heinous white supremacist ideology, solicited hate crimes, and provided guidance and instructions for terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure and assassinations of government officials," said Lisa Monaco, deputy attorney general.

Feds targeting groups, individuals soliciting civil unrest through violence

The charges against Humber and Allison are the latest from the Justice Department targeting people or groups who are soliciting civil unrest through violence.

In July, federal authorities charged a man nicknamed "Commander Butcher" with soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence after uncovering an alleged plot to have an individual wearing a Santa Claus costume hand out poisoned candies to Jewish kids in New York.

According to court documents, Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian national, came up with a Santa Claus scheme to poison New York City children on New Year's Eve and a separate plot to poison Jewish kids in Brooklyn. Chkhikvishvili, 20, was arrested under an Interpol order on July 6 in Moldova.

Contributing: Michael Loria, USA TODAY; Reuters.

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter,@KrystalRNurse.