Omar Yousef Barasneh

Yousef Barasneh, from an Arab American Muslim background, was charged last year as part of a crackdown on the neo-Nazi group The Base.

A man of Jordanian descent has been charged in Wisconsin with vandalizing a synagogue as part of his activity with a white supremacist group called The Base.

Yousef O. Barasneh, 22, was charged Friday with violating citizens’ rights to property.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper reported Barasneh spray-painted swastikas and other anti-Semitic symbols and slogans on Beth Israel Sinai Congregation in the city of Racine sometime between September 15 and 23 of last year….

According to the Facebook page of Barasneh’s father, he immigrated to the United States from the Jordanian city of Amman and the family is now settled in the city of Oak Creek. His mother, Aliceann, appears to be a Wisconsin native and a former employee of Salam School in the city of Milwaukee.

The Base, a collective of hardcore neo-Nazis that operate as a paramilitary organization, has proclaimed war against minority communities within the United States and abroad, the FBI has said, who found the group active in Wisconsin….

Authorities said the group’s plan to vandalize synagogues with anti-Semitic graffiti and break windows was part of what the group called “Operation Kristallnacht,” a reference to a 1938 incident when Nazis torched synagogues in Germany, vandalized Jewish homes and business and killed close to 100 people….

... At all times relevant, Barasneh was a member of "The Base," a neo-Nazi group that aims to unify militant white supremacists around the globe and provide them with paramilitary training in preparation for a "race war." Barasneh and other members of The Base communicated with each other through online platforms and encrypted online messaging applications. In these communications, Barasneh and others discussed, among other things, acts of violence against Jewish Americans and non-white Americans, Base military training camps, and ways to make improvised explosive devices. Starting around September 13, 2019, and continuing through around September 21, 2019, Barasneh participated in an online group chat with other Base members, including R.T., during which they agreed to oppress, threaten, and intimate African-Americans and Jewish Americans, who they viewed as enemies of the white race. A purpose of the agreement was to show the strength and cohesion of The Base, as well as to terrorize Jewish citizens so they would fear for their physical safety and refrain from freely exercising their rights to use and hold property in the same manner as non-Jewish white citizens. To this end, R.T. directed that between September 20-25, 2019, Base members should vandalize property owned by or associated with non-white and Jewish Americans. For example, R.T. told the group to "get out and act. Flyers, windows, and tires." He noted that arsons, breaking windows, and slashing tires are near impossible to track. In response to R.T.'s statements, Barasneh responded, "I agree with that. . . calculated action." Barasneh went on to write "imagine if across the country on local news, Everyone is reporting on new nazi presence." R.T. responded as part of the chat, "20th-25th, vandalize my friends. We'll push back on the enemy as they push bacjk [sic]." Another member of the chat wrote "No point in random vandalizing... Much more effective if its targeted," to which Barasneh responded "A A MAKE IT WORTH IT." As part of the chat, Barasneh wrote "Take your time, plan your out your AO." Later on in the group chat, Barasneh wrote, "Our op will be a perfect f##k you to these ki### if we become terrorists." R.T. later wrote a long entry titled "Operation Kristallnacht," discussing why this was the time to act, to which Barasneh responded "Sieg Heil." Following this agreement among Base members to terrorize non-white and Jewish Americans, Barasneh searched the internet for Jewish targets in Wisconsin. For instance, Barasneh's Google search history shows that on September 20, 2019, he searched for "jewish wisconsin" and "nazi propaganda," and he visited the website of the Beth Israel Sinai Congregation, in Racine, Wisconsin. Thereafter, on the evening of September 21, 2019, Barasneh went to the Beth Israel Sinai Congregation synagogue in Racine and spray-painted anti-Semitic words and phrases, as well as a swastika and the symbol for "The Base," on various parts of the building. The Beth Israel Sinai Congregation is organization consisting of Jewish members and guests who worshiped and conducted other religious activities at the Racine synagogue. On or around September 22-23, 2019, after he vandalized the Beth Israel Sinai Congregation synagogue, Barasneh used Google to search for news about the vandalism. Barasneh then sent links to news stories about the crime to R.T., confirming that he (Barasneh) followed through on their agreement. This information is provided for the purpose of setting forth a factual basis for the plea of guilty.

Yousef Omar Barasneh, 22, a member of the group known as the Base, pleaded guilty last month to spray-painting anti-Semitic messages and swastikas on the walls of the Beth Israel Sinai Congregation in Racine, Wis. last September. He’s now awaiting sentencing.

The documents describe the Base as “a neo-Nazi group that aims to unify militant white supremacists around the globe and provide them with paramilitary training in preparation for a ‘race war.’”

According to media accounts, Yousef Omar is the son of Omar and Aliceann Basraneh. The Jordanian flag flies in the breeze outside Omar’s house in Oak Park and a photo in the Wisconsin Muslim Journal shows Omar and Aliceann in a gaudy hijab. An older photo shows Omar, Aliceann, and Yousef at the Dome of the Rock: the victory mosque that Muslims had erected on the holiest Jewish site in Jerusalem.

Omar's Facebook likes included a campus branch of the anti-Semitic hate group Students for Justice in Palestine at Marquette U, and the Muslim Student Association at the University of Michigan.

Omar, a coach at Salam High School, has been quoted in the media on Muslim issues. Aliceann also used to work at the Salam school. The Salam school is run by the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. The ISM was established by the Muslim Students Association which was set up by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Othman Atta, the executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, regularly appeared at American Muslims for Palestine events. AMP has been described as another iteration of various Hamas front groups. Hamas is an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood making the terror group and ISM cousin.