American sanctions against the Russian Imperial Movement
The Trump administration on Monday designated a Russian white supremacist group a terrorist organization and hit its members with sanctions.
The move against the Russian Imperial Movement is the first time a white supremacist group has been named a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” group and comes amid doubts the administration believes extremist organizations of that type merit such sanctions. It was not immediately clear what the practical impact will be as the group is relatively small and does not have major international reach.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his counterterrorism coordinator Nathan Sales announced the step, which makes it illegal for Americans to engage in any transactions with the group and freezes any assets it may have in U.S. jurisdictions. The penalties can also include a travel ban.
In addition to the group, the administration placed individual sanctions on its leaders — Stanislav Anatolyevich Vorobyev, Denis Valliullovich Gariev and Nikolay Nikolayevich Trushchalov — by adding them to the list.
“These designations are unprecedented,” Sales said. “This is the first time the United States has ever designated white supremacist terrorists, illustrating how seriously this administration takes the threat. We are taking actions no previous administration has taken to counter this threat.”
The Russian Imperial Movement is alleged to provide paramilitary training to neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Russia and elsewhere from two camps it runs in St. Petersburg, according to U.S. officials. In 2016, it was alleged to have trained two Swedes who later carried out a series of terrorist attacks in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, including bombing a cafe and attempting to bomb a campsite housing refugees, they said.
There are dozens of entities on various U.S. terrorism blacklists, but most are Islamic extremist groups or separatist movements that have engaged in violence to achieve political ends. The al-Qaida network and Islamic State movement along with many of their affiliated organizations are perhaps the best known among them.
Trump and his administration have been criticized for not appearing to take the threat of white supremacism seriously, either overseas or domestically. Trump came under fire for not responding more forcefully to violence provoked by some neo-Nazi groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 and has been called out for supporting European nationalist politicians.
Monday’s designations will make it easier for national security prosecutors at the Justice Department to bring terrorism-related charges against anyone engaging in financial transctions to people affiliated with the Russian group.
Federal authorities have used the designation to bar entry to United States of members of named groups.
The state department said on Monday that the Russian Imperial Movement runs two paramilitary training camps in St Petersburg and has pulled in neo-Nazis from across the world.
“This is the first time the United States has ever designated white supremacist terrorists, illustrating how seriously this administration takes the threat,” said Nathan Sales, the state department counter-terrorism coordinator.
The Russian Imperial Movement and three of its leaders were blacklisted as specially designated global terrorists, meaning they will not be admitted to the United States and any US assets they hold will be blocked.
Sales said that the United States was alarmed by the rise in white supremacist violence around the world, including attacks on Muslims in Christchurch and against Hispanics in El Paso, Texas.
Donald Trump has faced widespread criticism for his uncritical treatment of white supremacists as well as his rhetoric that demonizes non-white immigrants as criminals.
Most notoriously, Trump said that neo-Nazis whose 2017 march in Charlottesville devolved into violence included “very fine people”.
Sales insisted that the administration was targeting white supremacists.
He said that the designation was made possible by an order by Trump that allows designation of terrorists based on their training, not necessarily participation in violence.
But he said that two extremists from Sweden, known for its generosity toward refugees, traveled in August 2016 to Saint Petersburg to undergo 11 days of paramilitary training.
They returned to Sweden and carried out a series of attacks including a bombing outside a migrant center in Gothenburg that gravely injured one person, the state department said.
“This group has innocent blood on its hands,” Sales said.
“Today’s designations send an unmistakable message that the United States will not hesitate to use our sanctions authorities aggressively, and that we are prepared to target any foreign terrorist group, regardless of ideology, that threatens our citizens, our interests abroad, or our allies.”
The designation of the Russian Imperial Movement as a terrorist organisation suggests the Trump administration is becoming increasingly concerned about a global threat from white supremacist movements.
The White House move also represents a change of tone, given that Donald Trump last March said he thought white nationalist violence was the action of "a small group of people" and not a rising global threat.
As is often the case these past few years, the test will now be whether the president echoes the concerns of his administration officials - or contradicts them.
Last year, under a separate authority Mr Trump designated Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organisation - the first time the US had declared another nation's military a terrorist entity.
The president has faced criticism for minimising the threat of white nationalist violence in the US, especially compared to other terror groups. He was widely condemned for his reaction to the deadly white supremacist rally in Virginia, and his comments suggesting there were "very fine people" on both sides.
This past summer, the US faced a wave of mass violence and attempted attacks, many of them targeting specific minority groups. The government lacks any federal penalties for acts of domestic terrorism, however, like those that exist for international acts of terror.
