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Title: January 28, 2026

GRAY ZONE BRIEF 28 JANUARY 2026
 
RIOTING CRIMINALS ARRESTED IN MINNESOTA
 
Several of the agitators arrested outside a Minnesota hotel where they believed Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino was staying have criminal records, with one arrestee openly embracing a "disrupt disturb resist" slogan on Instagram.
 
The agitators were outside the SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Maple Grove, Minnesota, on Monday night where they had thought Bovino was staying. Arrests were made after authorities said the demonstration was "no longer considered peaceful," and declared it an unlawful assembly.
 
Maple Grove police said its officers were responding to reports of a protest at the hotel, adding that it escalated when agitators allegedly began damaging property and throwing objects at officers.
 
Several people were arrested after they allegedly did not leave once an unlawful assembly and dispersal order was issued, officials said.
 
13 individuals with lengthy criminal backgrounds were arrested in total.
 
РОССИЙСКАЯ ДЕЗИНФОРМАЦИЯ  (RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION)
 
**Russia's 'most successful disinformation campaign' targets free speech in Europe **
 
Russian state media and officials are amplifying a narrative portraying European regulation of social media as censorship, particularly targeting efforts by the U.K. and the European Union to oversee X. Experts say the campaign exploits criticism from American leaders and X owner Elon Musk while ignoring Moscow’s own sweeping restrictions on online speech; X, Facebook, and Instagram are all blocked in Russian. Analysts argue the EU’s Digital Services Act and U.K. enforcement actions focus on transparency and harmful content, not suppressing dissent. The messaging has gained traction internationally, even as Russia continues blocking major platforms and tightening domestic controls, highlighting what experts describe as a deliberate and effective disinformation strategy.
 
ONLINE DOMESTIC TERRORISM
 
**Woman arrested for recruiting people on social media to assassinate Trump**  
 
A woman in West Virginia was arrested after allegedly trying to recruit people to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Morgan Morrow, 39, has been charged with one count of terroristic threats. Deputies said Morrow was recruiting individuals to pursue and assassinate Trump and that further details will be released as the investigation continues.
 
EXTREMISTS ONLINE
 
**They're Coming for Our Kids: How Extremists Target Children Online**  
 
Predatory extremist groups, ranging from Neo-Nazi organizations to Islamist radicals, are aggressively recruiting children online across mainstream digital platforms, while the U.S. government has dismantled the very prevention programs designed to stop it. Drawing on rising youth radicalization and past successes in early intervention, Dexter Ingram, former Director of the Office of Countering Violent Extremism at the U.S. State Department, warns that treating extremism reactively rather than preventively leaves families and communities dangerously exposed.
 
U.S. MILITARY BASES INCREASE DRONE DEFENSE
 
**Pentagon Allows Drone Defense Beyond US Base Perimeters**
 
The Department of War has issued new guidance expanding the authority of U.S. military commanders to counter drone threats beyond the boundaries of military installations. The move is in direct response to a sharp rise in unauthorized drone activity near and over sensitive military sites in the United States. A military commander told reporters last fall that drone incursions at U.S. bases were happening at a rate of approaching two per day.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA LAWSUIT
 
**Meta, TikTok, YouTube head to trial over allegations their technology is addictive**
 
Jury selection is set to start in a trial over whether Meta, TikTok and YouTube fuel excessive social media use by children in ways that harm their mental health. At the heart of the case are allegations by a 19-year-old plaintiff, identified only as "KGM," who claims that using social media from a young age caused her to become addicted to the technology, which led her to develop depression and suicidal thoughts. KGM's lawsuit alleges that the social media addiction and mental illness she suffered were caused by deliberate design choices made by companies that sought to make their platforms more addictive to children to boost profits. This argument, if successful, could sidestep the companies' First Amendment shield and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms. "Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, Defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue," the lawsuit says.
 
TIK TOK
 
**TikTok moves to settle a major social media addiction case shortly before trial**
 
It follows Snap in reaching an agreement to resolve the first of several cases slated to go to trial this year about social media’s alleged harm to users, an attorney for the 19-year-old plaintiff confirmed. That leaves Meta and YouTube as defendants in the case going to jury selection today. The settlement was reached just as jury selection began. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is anticipated to testify during the trial phase, while the details of TikTok's settlement and a prior agreement with Snap remain undisclosed.
 
NEI NAZI ONLINE PRESENCE
 
**Neo-Nazi Accelerationist Website Encourages Non-U.S. Followers to Access Site Via Tor**
 
On January 20, a Telegram channel connected to a neo-Nazi accelerationist website linked to former AWD members and members of successor organizations, recommended that their followers outside of the U.S. access the site via a .onion address using the Tor browser. The post recommended that, given recent anti-hate speech laws in Australia, followers there unsubscribe from the Telegram channel and access the site only via Tor, noting that readers in the United Kingdom and Canada should do the same due to anti-hate speech or counterterrorism laws.
 
DAESH/ISIS IN SYRIA
 
**Pro-ISIS Telegram Channels Note Changing Al-Hol Camp Situation, Urge Freeing of Prisoners**
 
Between January 17 and 20, pro-ISIS Telegram channels posted news regarding the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrawal from the area around the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria and their replacement by Syrian transitional government forces. Posts celebrated the SDF repositioning from the camp, which contains an estimated 26,000 people, including 6,000 foreigners from approximately 60 countries, many of them women and children, who are allegedly linked to ISIS or previously lived in ISIS-held territory. Additional posts claimed that some individuals had escaped, amidst news reports claiming that potentially hundreds of detainees had fled Shaddadeh prison, a different facility in Northern Syria.
 
DAESH/ISIS IN NIGERIA
 
**ISIS Releases Propaganda Video Showing Executions in Nigeria** - On January 23, ISIS released a propaganda video from the group’s self-proclaimed West Africa Province. The five-minute video, titled “The Consequences of Betrayal 2,” consisted of execution footage of individuals accused of working for the Nigerian government, including 11 members of local militias, eight individuals accused of spying on behalf of the Nigerian military or government, and one man described as a pro-government village official. In the video, speakers declared that they were watching militia members and alleged spies in Nigeria. The last video from ISIS’s West Africa Province, “The Consequences of Betrayal,” was released on July 15, 2025.
 
Pray.
 
Train.
 
Stay informed.
 
—J.G.
 
—END REPORT