US arrests leaders of alleged Telegram terrorist group

US prosecutors in California charged two people with running a white supremacist group on the messaging app Telegram to inspire acts of violence across the country.

In a 37-page indictment unsealed on Monday, Dallas Erin Humber, 34, and Matthew Robert Allison, 37, are accused of leading the “Terrorgram” network, which urged members to carry out terror attacks in an effort to spark a race war.

Officials said the defendants used Terrorgram to distribute materials for bombs, to send lists of potential assassination targets and to encourage others to carry out their own attacks.

Mr Allison told members to “take action now” and “do your part”, prosecutors alleged.

He and Ms Humber allegedly took over Terrorgram in 2022, after one of its leaders was arrested on terrorism offences.

According to the indictment, the group promoted “white supremacist accelerationism”, an ideology “centered on the belief that the white race is superior”, and that violence is necessary to bring about a “white ethnostate”.

At the helm of the network, the duo allegedly disseminated videos and posts called “The Hard Reset”, “White Terror” and “The List” – a list of “high value targets” that included a US, senator, federal district court judge, and as well as state and local officials.

Announcing the charges, officials claimed Mr Allison and Ms Humber were not just “inspirational” in their planning, but had worked to incite real attacks, and pushed members to follow through with their plans.

“These are not mere words,” Matt Olsen, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said on Monday.

And, prosecutors allege, multiple planned and actual attacks in past years could be tied to Terrorgram, including an October 2022 shooting in Slovakia at an LGBTQ bar, where two people were killed, and a stabbing attack in Turkey.

Both Ms Humber and Mr Allison face 15 federal counts, including solicitation of a murder of a federal official, solicitation of a hate crime and conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists.

Humber, of Elk Grove, California, and Allison, of Boise, Idaho, were arrested Friday, the Associated Press reported. It is unclear if either has an attorney.

Late last month, Telegram’s chief executive Pavel Durov was arrested under a warrant for offences related to his app. That investigation is reportedly about a lack of moderation, with Mr Durov accused of failing to take steps to curb criminal uses of Telegram.

The app is accused of failure to cooperate with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud. Telegram previously denied having insufficient moderation.