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A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 23 december 2020
Oregon case reflects extremists' need of online presence

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A man directly involved directly in
supported the Islamic State Islamic State online activi-
group for years from a ties as Mothafar is alleged
Portland, Oregon, suburb to have been.
by helping the extremists Around 40% of the 221
maintain an online pres- people who have been
ence that encouraged at- charged in the U.S. as of
tacks and sought recruits, November with Islamic
federal agents and pros- State-related crimes were
ecutors said. accused of traveling or at-
Hawazen Sameer Motha- tempting to travel abroad.
far, who was arrested in One-third were accused
November and whose trial of plotting domestic ter-
is scheduled to begin in ror attacks, according to
January, produced and George Washington Uni-
disseminated propagan- versity's Program on Extrem-
da and recruiting mate- ism.
rial through social media "To be part of the actual
platforms, according to a formal pro-ISIS or ISIS-affil-
grand jury indictment. iated publications, to be
Mothafar pleaded not working on that in a for-
guilty to charges of provid- mal capacity in America is
ing material support to a In this Jan. 27, 2016, file photo, multiple security details are seen outside of the Mark O. Hatfield unique. That I had not seen
designated terrorist orga- U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Ore. before," Reimer said.
nization and conspiring to Associated Press Mothafar is also accused in
provide that support. Mark the indictment of providing
Ahlemeyer, his federal pub- tempts to take down Islam- Mothafar, who lived in the terrorism expert with Rand assistance, including mod-
lic defender, declined to ic State's online presence Portland suburb of Trout- Corp., said the arrest does erating private chat rooms,
comment. often resemble a game of dale, is accused of editing not seem to represent a to Al Dura'a al Sunni, or
The case underscores the whack-a-mole. A year ago, and producing material al major blow to the group, Sunni Shield, a pro-Islamic
importance of having an European law enforcement Anfal, a newspaper that but anyone helping create State internet-based me-
online presence, often re- officials removed accounts "advocates violent jihad" and spread its propagan- dia organization.
ferred to by experts as a and information linked to and receives its orders from da plays an important role. In 2016, he opened a Face-
"digital caliphate," for the the Amaq agency, which Islamic State's central me- "ISIS propaganda is a huge book account for a senior
group, which by late 2017 spreads propaganda and dia office, known as Diwan, component of what they Islamic State official who is
had lost most of the territo- news for the group. But the indictment says. do," said Reimer, a former currently in custody in Iraq,
ry it had seized in Iraq and as recently as last month, It also said said Mothafar intelligence analyst for the the indictment says, add-
Syria and its self-declared Amaq carried a state- had been working on be- New York City Police De- ing that Mothafar also dis-
caliphate along with it. The ment in which Islamic State half of the group since at partment. tributed online articles that
group continues to carry claimed responsibility for a least early 2015 until his ar- Reimer said it is rare for described how to kill and
out and inspire attacks. shooting rampage in Vien- rest in November. someone in the United maim with a knife and that
Law enforcement's at- na that killed four people. Jordan Reimer, a counter- States to be as deeply and encouraged attacks.q

U.S. population growth smallest in at least 120 years

smallest rate in at least 120 years tion in July was more than 329 mil- cluding California, the nation's
from 2019 to 2020, according to lion residents, according to Census most populous state, which de-
figures released Tuesday by the Bureau estimates. clined 0.18% to 39.3 million resi-
U.S. Census Bureau — a trend An analysis by Frey shows that it's dents.
that demographers say provides the smallest increase this century New York — the pandemic's epi-
a glimpse of the coronavirus pan- and smaller than any in the last center in the spring — had the
demic's toll. century as well. At the height of nation's biggest decline, losing an
Population growth in the U.S. al- the Spanish flu, the growth rate estimated 126,000 residents, or a
ready was stagnant over the past from 1918 to 1919 was 0.49% — dip of 0.65%. The Empire State has
several years due to immigration even with U.S. troops abroad dur- been losing residents since 2016,
restrictions and a dip in fertility, ing World War I. but the drop from 2019 to 2020 was
but coronavirus-related deaths ex- The Northeast and Midwest regions significantly larger than in years
acerbated that lethargic-growth of the U.S. had tiny population de- past.
trend, said William Frey, a senior clines from 2019 to 2020, while the New York's population decline was
fellow at The Brooking Institution's South and West regions had slight followed by Illinois, with a 0.63%
Metropolitan Policy Program. increases. drop; Hawaii, with a 0.61% decline;
"I think it's a first glimpse of where Among the states, Idaho had the West Virginia, with a 0.58% drop;
we may be heading as far as low largest single-year population in- and Mississippi, with a 0.38% de-
Commuters crowd the Grand Central
Terminal in New York on Tuesday, May population growth," Frey said. "It's crease, growing 2.1% to 1.8 million cline.
15, 2018. telling you that this is having an im- residents. It was followed by Ari- The estimates released Tuesday
Associated Press pact on population." zona, which grew 1.8%; Nevada, were conducted independently of
The U.S. population grew by 0.35% which increased 1.5%; Utah, which the 2020 census, which is a head
By MIKE SCHNEIDER from July 2019 to July 2020, an in- grew 1.4%; and Texas, which in- count of every U.S. resident. The
Associated Press crease of 1.1 million people in a creased 1.3%. 2020 census numbers are still being
The U.S. population grew by the nation whose estimated popula- Sixteen states lost population, in- crunched.q