C/O Futures Terrorism Research Note Series
Zachary Z. Horsington and Robert J. Bunker
1 February 2024
In Fall 2016, a terminally ill member of the neo-Nazi group Aryan Strikeforce (ASF) / Combat 18 (C18) discussed a bomb plot with Joshua Steever, the original founder of ASF in the US, and Ronald Pulcher, ASF/C18’s then president, during a gathering at Pulcher’s residence.[1] A cooperating witness who attended the get-together mentioned that the three discussed a plan to target counter-protestors—expected to resist a white supremacist rally that was to be hosted in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania—using an improvised device concealed in an afflicted member’s medically required oxygen tank [2] The ailing attacker in question had volunteered himself for a suicide attack. On 5 November 2016, approximately 50 members of the American National Socialist Movement (NSM) rallied in Harrisburg, on the Pennsylvania Capitol steps and were met by some 200 counter-protestors.[3] Ultimately, no suicide bombing event occurred. US government filings do not provide any insight into why the attack did not transpire such as whether it failed as a result of human error, lacked capability, or was interdicted by law enforcement. The consideration of martyrdom tactics to inflict mass casualties in a public space by ASF/C18 in and of itself , however, exhibits traits associated with the phenomenon described as ‘White Jihad’.[4]
