Terrorgram leader sentenced to 30 years for soliciting hate crimes, murder

(CN) — A California leader of the far-right, white supremacist Terrorgram Collective was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in federal prison for soliciting hate crimes and the murder of federal officials, among other charges.

Dallas Humber, 35, of Elk Grove, California, was arrested last year and charged with operating Terrorgram channels and group chats, where they solicited their adherents to commit attacks in order to achieve the group’s goals of “accelerationism” and white supremacy and provided instructions on how to carry out those attacks.

The transnational group is linked to an October 2022 shooting outside of an LGBTQ bar in Slovakia in which two people were killed, a planned attack on energy facilities in New Jersey in July of last year, and the stabbing of five people near a mosque in Turkey in August of last year.

Humber entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors in August that called for a 25-to-30-year prison term and avoided her facing a life sentence if she was found guilty on all charges.

“From the comfort of her suburban California home, Humber used online platforms to celebrate violence and solicit attacks that took the lives of innocent people and injured others around the world," Assistant U.S. Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said in a statement. “Her incarceration makes the world a safer place.”

The Justice Department in January designated the Terrorgram Collective and three of its leaders in Brazil, Croatia and South Africa as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The group is predominantly active on the Telegram social media and digital messaging platform, where it promotes violent white supremacism, solicits attacks on perceived adversaries, and provides guidance and instructional materials on tactics, methods and targets for attacks.

Humber and Matthew Allison, of Boise, Idaho — who was also arrested last year — joined Terrorgram in 2019, federal prosecutors said in their indictment.

By 2022, they had become leaders of the group after a previous leader was arrested on terrorism charges. They ran the Terrorgram channels and group chats on Telegram and helped produce and spread various videos and publications, including “The Hard Reset,” “White Terror,” and “The List.”

The Terrorgram belief system recalls that of Islamic jihadists. Its members celebrate “saints” — white supremacists who died while carrying out attacks against people of color and LGBTQ people, an ethos used to inspire future attacks.

“The canonization of mass shooters and amplification of their messages creates an environment where aspiring attackers are increasingly willing to perpetrate violence as a way to honor previous ‘saints,’ attain sainthood themselves, and inspire future attacks,” Humber explained in a Telegram post in 2022.

She was charged with conspiracy, multiple counts of soliciting hate crimes and soliciting the murders of federal officials, as well as “doxing” of federal officials by making their restricted private information publicly available to intimidate them, transmitting interstate threatening communications, distribution of information related to explosives, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

A federal public defender who represented Humber, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Ms. Humber was groomed from a young age to get attention from men online in a way that she has clung to throughout her life,” the attorney said in a sentencing memorandum seeking a 25-year prison term.

“She has struggled with self-hate in myriad forms including drug addiction, anorexia, suicide attempts and remaining in violent relationships. The way in which Ms. Humber has managed to feel powerful and accepted is by expressing hate online although, notably, she has never personally acted to harm any person or structure.”

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