The bizarre story Capitol Rioter, Riley June Williams, is a full circle moment for Russia, which seeks new ways to strengthen its own influence, fueling the destabilizing ascendancy of democracy from a globally connected radical right.
The big picture: Five years ago, Russia used a botnet and strategic hack and leak operations to encourage a far-right US unconscious. Now, at least one American extremist is accused of voluntarily offering alleged material support to Moscow.
What is happening: Williams, according to court documents, helped lead the charge of protesters upstairs towards the office of Mayor Nancy Pelosi, where Williams herself stole a laptop.
- As Pelosi’s helper said the computer was “used for presentations only”, any electronic device belonging to one of the most powerful people in the United States government is inherently sensitive, even if there is no confidential information contained therein.
The intrigue: At least on a superficial level, Williams also understood this. According to a former Williams romantic partner quoted in court documents, the 22-year-old “intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service” .
Reality check: It was a cartoon plot with little chance of success, even assuming the SVR would be interested in the laptop – or would consider Williams’ offer reliable.
- But what is interesting about covering Williams’ alleged joke about for-profit espionage is what has not been said: that someone on the far right of the United States would even consider betraying their country by Moscow.
Bottom: Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has turned to a fragile ultranationalism that often frames Moscow as the last defender of “traditional” values against a decadent and divided Europe.
- Russia has built connections with far-right political movements across Europe, including Italy and Austria; a Russian bank even loaned French pro-Kremlin extremist Marine Le Pen more than $ 12 million to support its political party’s finances.
Long before the Trump era, American white nationalists began to see Russia as a natural ally, with prominent extremist Richard Spencer even calling Russia “the only white power in the world”.
- American far-right activists traveled to Russia to meet with radical politicians. And Rinaldo Nazzaro, a former Pentagon contractor who was the head of a violent neo-Nazi organization called “The Base”, now lives in Russia. He now calls for “the restoration of secret paramilitary training in the United States” in an effort to cultivate potential terrorist cells.
- Even Nazzaro’s own allies in the United States suspected those who supported him and “joked that he was part of the FSB … suspecting that he had orders to interfere in the American political scene through the terrorist group,” writes Vice.
Russian propagandists – including those from Moscow’s intelligence services – have long understood the country’s appeal to European and American right-wing radicals and how to reach out to these communities in their online disinformation campaigns, including, recently, Gab and Parler.
- Actors linked to the Russian government, such as the Internet Research Agency, have also invested in online misinformation aimed at consumers of left-wing news.
The footprint: It is important not to overstate the extent to which evil foreign interests may be influencing American domestic politics.
- The overwhelming majority of American right-wing radicals are entirely local, and there is a long and shameful history of domestically generated white supremacist violence that has haunted this country since its founding.
Yes but: US opponents would be foolish if they did not try to take advantage of these domestic fractures. Russia has already internalized this lesson.
- In Europe, current and former Russian military intelligence officials have been involved in training extremist groups in Hungary and Slovakia.
The end result: US law enforcement officials mapping the networks of violent radicals who helped invade Capitol – and the infrastructure supporting these individuals – may soon come across the prospect that what starts as a criminal investigation may leak into the wider world foggy counterintelligence.