(NewsNation) —Prosecutors have charged two hate group leaders who called for a race war and the assassinations of some U.S federal officials on media platform Telegram.
Authorities said Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, and Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho, are leaders of a “transnational terrorist group” called “Terrorgram” which believes “violence and terrorism are necessary to ignite a race war and accelerate the collapse of the government and the rise of a white ethnostate,” according to a federal indictment unsealed on Monday.
The two pushed out several videos and publications that provide specific advice for “carrying out crimes, celebrate white supremacist attacks, and provide a hit list of “high-value targets” for assassination,” court papers stated.
They called for the targeting of people who are Black, Jewish and LGBTQ+, among other groups, the filing stated
They also shared a hit list of “high-value targets” to assassinate, which included a U.S. senator, a U.S. District Court judge and a former federal prosecutor.
Court papers did not reveal the names of these officials.
The hit list also named leaders of private companies and non-governmental organizations, many of whom were targeted because of “race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity,” according to the authorities.
They each face 15 counts of soliciting hate crimes, soliciting the murder of federal officials, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. They were arrested on Friday by law enforcement officials.
“Today’s arrests are a warning that committing hate-fueled crimes in the darkest corners of the internet will not hide you, and soliciting terrorist attacks from behind a screen will not protect you. The United States Department of Justice will find you, and we will hold you accountable,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.
Their actions and guidance have led to several violent encounters by their followers.
These included an individual who shot three people killing two outside of an LGBT bar in Slovakia, an individual who planned an attack on energy facilities in New Jersey, and someone who stabbed five people near a mosque in Turkey, officials said.
If convicted of all charges, Humber and Allison each face a maximum penalty of 220 years in prison.