WEBVTT	#Elemental Media Engine(TM) 2.17.0.602607

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The killings of two law

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enforcement officers in northern

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California have increased

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scrutiny of a far right

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fringe group called the "Boogaloo

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Boys." Members of this group

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have shown up heavily armed

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at George Floyd rallies, also

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at coronavirus lockdown protests

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in several states.

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L.A. Times crime reporter Richard

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Winton took a close look

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at the boogaloo movement to

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learn more about it.

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Always good to have you, Richard.

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Nice to be here.

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Richard, remind us what happened

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up in Northern California.

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At the start of protests

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over the George Floyd shooting, it

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was mysteriously

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a shooting, a fatal shooting of

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a federal protection officer at

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the Oakland federal courthouse and

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the wounding of a colleague of his.

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There was a white van seen leaving

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the scene.

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The FBI is investigating that.

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A few days later, another

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shooting of a deputy in an

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adjacent county.

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And immediately, FBI

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is making connection to those two

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shootings. They apprehend a man

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for that shooting

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and they apprehend a second man who

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they say was driving the van in the

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first shooting, and they tied him to

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a group called "boogaloo," or it's

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more philosophy than an individual

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group it sort of embraces a larger

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group of libertarians and

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potentially white separatists, and

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basically anti, anti-government

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types.

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It turns out according to the FBI

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and federal, other federal agencies,

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these these individuals are tied to

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that group.

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And where do these people come from?

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Like, where did this group emerge?

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Well, this group has sort of emerged

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and is a mishmash of other groups,

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really. And it's a like an

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embracing, larger philosophy.

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Experts tell me that they spread

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from being just

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straight up libertarian to

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supremacist. Some of these people

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are openly racist.

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Some of them are just

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more anti-government.

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With the COVID pandemic

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and the increased amount of

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government regulation and oversight,

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and these people have

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sort of come from out of the

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woodwork more and become more and

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more obvious.

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They've now taken to the Facebooks

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and the TikTok so you can see them.

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They start appearing at marches.

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Sometimes they're being armed.

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Some things they're being obvious

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that that the underlying philosophy

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is that the Second Amendment isn't

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just about the right

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to bear arms, but an insurrection

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is war.

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The only thing they all share, it

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seems, is they believe there's going

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to be a second civil war

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which will somehow change

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society in America.

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And some of them think they can

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bring it about by attacking the

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government.

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And talk about how the two

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biggest stories we've seen in two

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decades have impacted

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and fueled them.

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So basically with the COVID

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pandemic, there's been a large

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amount of announcements of

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government regulation, directives,

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masks.

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Don't do this, don't do that.

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Firstly, there, they're libertarian

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bent, they immediately

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seized upon this and started

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to ferment and grow sort of

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sympathizers, people who think

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the government is too heavy handed,

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over controlling. And secondly,

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with George Floyd, some of their

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members see the police as an

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extension of the state power,

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the government.

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They've kind of gotten drawn with

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people on the left, but they don't

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really share the philosophy.

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They're more opposed to the larger

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government in general and government

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control.

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Are they  mostly white?

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Overwhelmingly.

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But that doesn't mean exclusively.

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As I was talking to Professor

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Brian Levin at the Center for the

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Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal

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State San Bernardino.

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And he points out, and he has long

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studied extremist right wing and

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white supremacist groups, there all

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members of the boogaloo or boogaloo

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boys who are not, who

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are not white and they do

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not share the racist ideals.

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But they do share the ideas of like

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the insurrection, the

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uprising, the libertarian beliefs

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that the will of government is

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being imposed on the people.

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Talk about that name.

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I mean. I know that they sometimes

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are dressed like paramilitary

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people, sometimes dressed in

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Hawaiian shirts like Magnum P.I.

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What

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does this name mean and how

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does how does it unite

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them?

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It's just an overall ideal.

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And so they seem to embrace this

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much like people embrace some sort

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of color.

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Here Hawaiian shirts become as

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like a theme for them.

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So often they'll be seen at

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rallies with all Hawaiian shirts

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on. It's maybe because that's

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the most, you know, noncompliant

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way to dress.

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It's almost like they're trying to

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show that they are outside the

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system in some way.

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How do they recruit people, Richard?

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It's pretty much the way

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a lot of groups are recruiting

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nowadays. In the old days, they

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would go to bars, you know, 30

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years ago, extremists.

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But now, you know, they've got the

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Internet. It's a pull, so

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you, when you see young people

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who are maybe are espousing, you

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know, I don't want to wear a mask.

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I don't want to do this.

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I don't want to comply with that.

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Those are the people they're

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reaching out to, people they feel

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like well fed up or

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or think the government is imposing

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too much of a regime

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on people.

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And how did a recent tweet from

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President Trump give them a boost?

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Well, a lot of what they they

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see is that as the fertile ground.

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So a lot of these Trump tweets,

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which seem to strangely challenge

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the philosophy actually coming from

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the Centers for Disease

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Control, fuel some of

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these people, but they don't really

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directly, he's not directly

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giving driving people towards those

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kind of groups.

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But they know that that's the the

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ground and the words they can go in

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there and explore.

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So there's a part of the Internet or

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group or something which talks about

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that that's now a fertile ground for

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them to possibly pick up supporters.

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With these two killings of law

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enforcement officers up north,

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are officials more and more

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concerned that they are not as

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fringy as they thought and that they

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may, may

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be more organized

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and being more aggressive than

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before?

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Yeah, I mean, there's some

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suggestion that they sort of act

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alone, which is kind of how ISIS

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works in many ways.

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And this group has not been, you

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know, declared some sort of official

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terror group,

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because they're not really a single

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group. That's one of the, one of the

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clear things is that people

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do reflect that philosophy.

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And there's an growing number of

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people collecting that philosophy.

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Internally, federal government

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agencies have put out warnings to

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their employees to

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beware of the scenario of

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potentially these shooters,

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assassins, threats to the sort

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of, you know, government apparatus.

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And, you know, there's some

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suggestion in northern California,

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while these two weren't directly

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linked to someone like, giving

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orders, they may have known others

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or knew of people.

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Richard Winton.

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Really interesting story and very

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traveling. Thanks so much for giving

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us your time today.