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John Guandolo

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John D. Guandolo is an American former FBI Special Agent and anti-Islam counter-terrorism activist who has provided training sessions for law enforcement and local politicians and who has been described as an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist.[1][2][3]

Career and FBI resignation

Guandolo graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1989, after which he served in the Marine Corps and took part in Operation Desert Storm.[4] He joined the FBI as a field officer in 1996.[4] According to press reports, Guandolo was a counter-terrorism expert in the FBI[5] following the September 11 attacks.[6] He also became involved in other cases, and according to court documents, Guandolo was found to have "had an intimate relationship with a confidential source that he thought could damage an investigation," in connection with the corruption case against former US Representative William Jefferson.[5] Guandolo resigned from the FBI on or about December 1, 2008, before the bureau's Office of Professional Responsibility could question him about his sexual liaisons with the source, as well as with women FBI agents.[5] He later expressed "deep remorse" for the relationship.[5]

Post-FBI activities

Since his resignation from the FBI, Guandolo regularly provided training courses for law enforcement and elected officials across several US states under the title "Understanding and Investigating the Jihadi Movement" with his consulting company Understanding the Threat (UTT),[5] a counter-jihad organization[7] founded in 2010.[8] He also helped run a company called Strategic Engagement Group, which aimed to "educate the public on the counter jihad movement,"[9] and has worked with groups such as ACT for America and the Center for Security Policy (CSP).[6] In 2007 he was awarded the "Defender of the Homeland Award" by the CSP.[6]

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) routinely monitors Guandolo who it describes as "a disgraced ex-FBI agent" who makes a living from "anti-Muslim witch-hunts,"[5] and has categorized UTT as a "hate group".[4] Guandolo in turn claims that the SPLC is "intentionally supporting a terrorist organization in violation of U.S. Law."[5] The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has called on local Republican Party chapters to cancel events with Guandolo, who it describes as "a disgraced ex-FBI agent and anti-Muslim extremist who has peddled conspiracy theories about Islam and Muslims."[5] Guandolo in turn claims that CAIR is a front for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.[10] In 2014, it was reported that Guandolo helped draft a bill introduced by Rep. Michele Bachmann that would have designated the Muslim Brotherhood a "foreign terrorist entity".[6]

In 2016, a planned event at Cedar Valley College in Texas was cancelled after pressure from CAIR.[1] The same year the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) attempted to cancel an event in Maricopa County, Arizona.[11] In 2018 Guandolo hosted a law enforcement training in San Angelo, Texas, which after pressure from advocacy groups was rejected by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement because it "paints an entire religion with an overly broad brush" and "does not seem to provide any law enforcement training value to attendees."[2][12] The same year, several of his planned events in the Midwest were cancelled due to local activism.[13] He was also secretly filmed by an Al Jazeera undercover investigation.[14] By 2022, Guandolo's bookings from law enforcement had "lessened significantly."[15]

By 2022, Guandolo organized training sessions for right-wing citizens about the perceived threat of "communist & Jihadist networks,"[2] and to "organize communities into operational forces to identify roots of corruption & dismantle the hostile networks behind it, and re-establish a Republican form of government at the local level," which were joined by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.[16] In June 2023 his organization Understanding the Threat closed down, stating that "the assaults from our adversaries financially and legally have been withering and overwhelming."[17]

Civil lawsuit

Guandolo was accused in 2017 of assaulting a Minnesota sheriff at a National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) expo in Reno, Nevada, where Guandolo was a presenter.[6] Guandolo had previously claimed in a blog post that the sheriff "works with jihadis in the community".[6][18] Nevada prosecutors quietly dismissed the charges against Guandolo, stating that even from a video of the incident, it was not clear who made first contact.[5][18][19] Two years later, a Dallas County jury, however, awarded the sheriff $600,000 in a civil lawsuit.[2][20] Guandolo later lost a self-defense appeal in court.[21]

Views

Guandolo has claimed that "nearly every single Muslim organization in North America is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood or a derivative group, and that they seek to impose Islamic law in furtherance of establishing an Islamic state here."[6] He has stated that the US Justice Department should have prevented two Muslim women (Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib) from being elected to Congress, and has claimed that former CIA Director John Brennan is a secret Muslim convert.[5][22] In 2018 Guandolo's Twitter account was suspended after he posted a tweet that tied the Democratic Party to the Ku Klux Klan and the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh.[2][23] In 2019 he suggested the US should bomb the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia with cruise missiles in retaliation for the Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting.[24] Following the January 6 United States Capitol attack, having been present at the pro-Trump "Stop the Steal" rally with a group to pray,[4] he praised insurrectionists for "showing restraint by not publicly executing lawmakers," most of whom he claimed are "traitors" who should be "swinging from a rope."[16][25]

Books

  • Team B II (2010). Shariah: The Threat To America. Center for Security Policy Press. ISBN 978-0982294765.
  • Guandolo, John (2013). Raising a Jihadi Generation: Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in America. Lepante Publishing. ISBN 978-0988724501.
  • The Tiger Team (2015). The Secure Freedom Strategy: A Plan for Victory Over the Global Jihad Movement. Center for Security Policy Press. ISBN 978-1507756133.
  • Guandolo, John D. (2019). Islam's Deception: The Truth About Sharia. Guandolo Associates LLC. ISBN 978-0988724518.

References

  1. ^ a b "Texas college cancels controversial law enforcement training event led by 'anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist'". The Independent. June 2, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e Brindley, Emily (May 4, 2023). "Tarrant County's top elected official held meeting with anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
  3. ^ "Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theorist Trained Senior U.S. Marshal, National Guard Members, Documents Show". The Intercept. May 25, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d "Understanding the Threat". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tilove, Jonathan (March 6, 2019). "John Guandolo: From 'undercover' FBI agent to uncovering Islamic terrorists under every bed". Austin American-Statesman.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Factsheet: John Guandolo". Bridge Initiative. Georgetown University. December 8, 2017.
  7. ^ Pertwee, Ed (October 2017). 'Green Crescent, Crimson Cross': The Transatlantic 'Counterjihad' and the New Political Theology (PDF). London School of Economics. p. 268.
  8. ^ McCullough, Jolie (May 14, 2018). "This ex-FBI agent who called Islam "barbaric and evil" was allowed to train Texas law enforcement". Waco Tribune-Herald.
  9. ^ "Guess Which Local Politician is Sponsoring 'Islamophobic' Seminar for Arizona Cops?". Phoenix New Times. May 11, 2017.
  10. ^ Bova, Gus (December 4, 2018). "John Guandolo is on a Crusade to Turn Texas Cops Against Muslims". Texas Observer.
  11. ^ Lemons, Stephen (June 30, 2016). "Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery Spent Public Money on Islam-Bashing Seminar". Phoenix New Times.
  12. ^ "In reversal, Texas agency says ex-FBI agent who called Islam "barbaric and evil" can't train law enforcement". The Texas Tribune. May 16, 2018.
  13. ^ "John Guandolo's tour collapses and longtime partner Chris Gaubatz quits". Southern Poverty Law Center. April 12, 2018.
  14. ^ "Ex-FBI agent caught teaching police Islamophobic ideas". Al Jazeera. May 14, 2018.
  15. ^ "California Trains Cops, Prison Guards With Anti-Muslim Video". Southern Poverty Law Center. December 9, 2022.
  16. ^ a b Mantyla, Kyle (July 22, 2022). "Michael Flynn teams up with radical far-right activist John Guandolo". Flux.
  17. ^ "Anti-Muslim Hate Group Known for Biased Law-Enforcement Training Shuts Down". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 21, 2023.
  18. ^ a b "No charges in Sheriff Stanek scuffle at Reno hotel-casino". FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. October 31, 2017.
  19. ^ "Video Shows Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theorist John Guandolo's Alleged Assault on Minnesota Sheriff". Fox 9. CAIR/YouTube. October 31, 2017.
  20. ^ Sarder, Sarah (September 24, 2019). "Leader of Dallas-based anti-Muslim group must pay ex-Minnesota sheriff $600K for assault, jury decides". The Dallas Morning News.
  21. ^ Miranda, Janet (March 23, 2022). "Ex-FBI Agent Loses Self-Defense Appeal Over Fight With Sheriff". Bloomberg Law.
  22. ^ "John Brennan, CIA nominee, may have converted to Islam: report". Al Arabiya. February 12, 2013.
  23. ^ Burkitt, Bree (October 28, 2018). "Controversial Muslim 'threat' trainer suspended after tweet about synagogue shooting". AZCentral.
  24. ^ "Ex-FBI Agent Urges U.S. to Bomb Mecca in Retaliation for Pensacola Shooting, Says a 'Cruise Missile' Would Send the 'Message'". Newsweek. December 19, 2019.
  25. ^ "Right-Wing Activist Praises Rioters For 'Restraint' In Not Executing Lawmakers". Newsweek. January 8, 2021.
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