NOTE: Faculty, if you are interviewed and quoted by news media, or if your work has been cited, and you have an online link to the article or video, please let us know. Contact us at news@csusb.edu.

Cal State San Bernardino professor and CSUSB alumna featured on Netflix show ‘Blown Away’
Fontana Herald News
Jan. 12, 2021

After a highly successful first season, the second season of the glassblowing competition show “Blown Away,” which once again features Cal State San Bernardino’s art professor Katherine Gray as the resident glass evaluator, will premiere on Netflix on Friday, Jan. 22.

Season two also welcomes CSUSB alumna Nao Yamamoto ’14 as a contestant.

Read the complete article at “Cal State San Bernardino professor and CSUSB alumna featured on Netflix show ‘Blown Away.’”

HNTB and Cal State San Bernardino celebrate 3-year partnership
Patch
Jan. 12, 2021

The Leonard Transportation Center at California State University San Bernardino and HNTB recently completed year three of the Regional Mobility Dialogue Series, a series of interactive seminars on topics relevant to the future of transportation in the Inland Empire.

Since 2017, HNTB and LTC have collaborated to bring together recognized experts from the public and private sector to discuss issues, opportunities and potential solutions to the region’s transportation challenges.

“Working closely with HNTB for the past three years has been transformative for the Leonard Transportation Center and the Inland Empire,” said Kimberly Collins, LTC executive director. “The Regional Mobility Dialogue Series has been a success and impacted students and faculty, local governments, transit agencies, non-profit agencies, and regional and international companies.”

Read the complete article at “HNTB and Cal State San Bernardino celebrate 3-year partnership.”

Far-right extremist groups likely to perpetrate more violence beyond Biden’s inauguration, CSUSB professor says
The Press-Enterprise/Southern California News Group
Jan. 12, 2021

This week, the FBI confirmed what experts who study violent extremism and domestic terrorism, including CSUSB professor Brian Levin, have said they feared since rioters breached the U.S. Capitol — continued violence before and after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

The crowd outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was a mixture of far-right groups, from the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters to QAnon and the Proud Boys, and they likely will perpetrate other acts of violence, said Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino.

He warns that the worst day for hate crimes in 2019 was the day after congressional Democrats announced plans to impeach Trump. With the House of Representatives poised to vote Wednesday, Jan. 13, on impeaching the president, by Levin’s assessment, there is more potential for violence.

According to Levin, the coronavirus pandemic galvanized a group of people on the right who were against virus-related lockdowns, motivating militias to form around the issue under the umbrella of The Liberate Movement, which called on government officials to “liberate” various cities from what supporters of the movement said were oppressive COVID-19 health protocols.

In October, federal agents said they thwarted a plot to kidnap and harm Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after she imposed restrictions on personal movement in response to the coronavirus. Levin points to “The Liberate” movement as a watershed moment

“The Liberate Movement became this Grand Central Station where the very conservative mainstream interfaced with conspiracy theorists, QAnon and Second Amendment folks under this elastic umbrella,” Levin said. “Not everyone wanted to storm the Capitol (on Jan. 6). But we have an insurgency and it’s coalesced millions of people who aren’t extremists, but have some type of grievance. The question is how hot and how long will this insurgency run.”

Read the complete article at “Experts fear violent demonstration could continue after Biden’s inauguration.”

CSUSB professor says authorities should be ready for violence as online calls are made for armed demonstrations
Inside Edition
Jan. 12, 2021

Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, was interviewed for a segment about the Capitol Police officer who was apparently attacked with a fire extinguisher during the Capitol Hill riot on Jan. 6.

Levin commented on the possibility of violence continuing nationwide, including one call circulating online for an armed march in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitols on Jan. 17, and culminating on Jan. 20, inauguration day. Levin said authorities will be prepared.

“Anyone thinking they are going to D.C. and not getting resistance will be very bluntly surprised,” Levin said. “The bad guys should be taking this seriously, because this time they will not be able to do a sucker punch.”

Read the article and see the related video report at “Disturbing video shows man hurl fire extinguisher at crowd of cops during capitol assault.”

The report did not include Levin’s affiliation with the center or the university.

Columnist cites past interview with CSUSB professor in opinion piece about officers who support extremists
The (Philadelphia) Inquirer
Jan. 13, 2021

An opinion column by writer Helen Urbinas critical of how some law enforcement officers support or express extremist’s views, using as an example of how some Capitol Police officers appeared to push open gates and pose for selfies with Trump supporters who had breached the building on Jan. 6, recalled a comment CSUSB professor Brian Levin shared with her colleague this past summer for another article.

“A month later, Philly police officers were seen happily mingling with the Proud Boys, a hate group, at the Philadelphia Fraternal Order after Mike Pence’s visit to the city.

(Philadelphia police union president John) McNesby didn’t have anything credible to say about their presence. But I do remember something said in one of our accounts by Brian Levin, a former New York City police officer and director of the Center for Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino:

“‘At a time when police-community relations are particularly strained, it’s bewildering that anyone associated with law enforcement would want to be in the same room with these folks,’ he said.”

Read the complete article at “Police keep showing us who they are. Pay attention. It’s not good.”

CSUSB professor interviewed about possible violence in aftermath of Capital Hill riot
KBUU Radio (Malibu)
Jan. 13, 2021

Originally aired on KQED Radio (San Francisco), Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was interviewed about the possibility of more violent protest similar to that of the Capitol Hill riot on Jan. 6 as authorities warned of the potential of armed demonstrations nationwide leading to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20.

“We know that kind of transition, particularly around these two catalytic political ones, are kind of increased risk,” Levin said. “The problem is, President Trump as the highest transmitter in the land has been able to coalesce and galvanize something, so this period of time will be an inflection point.”

‘People were organized for an insurrection’ on Jan. 6 at Capitol Hill, CSUSB professor says
Spectrum News 1 (Los Angeles)

Jan. 13, 2021

Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at CSUSB, was interviewed for a segment on the cable TV newscast’s coverage related to the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot. Levin was asked to put the violence, which involved white nationalists and other far-right extremists, in perspective, and how it was expected given the divisive politics of the last five years.

Levin recounted how in 2008 there was an increase hate crimes and threats against Barack Obama as he campaigned and won the presidency, the day after the 2016 presidential election and that it was one of the worst days for hate crime in years, as well as the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue attack during the congressional mid-term election.

“But what we’ve seen since then has been something very nefarious,” he said. “One, the growth of this ‘liberate’ movement online, which was an amorphous grievance collective. We also had folks who are Second Amendment insurrectionists who thought they could rise up.”

At the Capitol riot, he said, “we actually saw people who were organized for an insurrection.”

These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”