Fighting Terror
Eye on 4R Network: Coming Home - A first-hand account of reintegration stories from two former extremists
In today's episode of our series on the 4R Network, Lucinda speaks to two former extremists, Ryan Lo’Ree and Bryant Vinas.
Ryan was once a right-wing extremist with one of the largest Nazi movements in the United States. After being confined, Ryan went through a process of transformation that focused on healing from trauma. As part of his healing and deradicalization, Ryan created the Team Revelation Mixed Martial Arts, a program utilized to prevent troubled youth from entering gang and extremist cultures. Today, he contributes his expertise to Parallel Networks as Programme Director and Interventionist.
Bryant was the U.S. first foreign fighter after 9/11. In September 2008, he participated in al-Qaeda attacks against U.S. Army bases in Afghanistan. After he was arrested in Pakistan in November 2008, he pled guilty in a New York federal court. While incarcerated, Bryant cooperated with U.S. law enforcement and provided helpful intel. U.S. authorities have called him the “single most valuable cooperating witness” in disrupting al-Qaeda operations.
In this final episode of our series on the 4R Network, Bryant and Ryan will share what it is like to come home after being convicted for offences related to extremism. The episode will explore differences and similarities in their reintegration processes, and we will learn which factors were essential for a successful reintegration process.
And just like that, our eight-episode series on the 4R-Network comes to an end. In case you have not listened to any of the previous episodes, we strongly encourage you to do so to learn more about the new CEP initiative, the 4R Network.
For more information about the 4R Network, see below the website:
https://4rnetwork.org/
You can find the video recording of the 4R Network launch event here:
https://www.counterextremism.com/video/cep-webinar-launch-4r-network-november-16-2022
In today's episode of our series on the 4R Network, Lucinda speaks to two former extremists, Ryan Lo’Ree and Bryant Vinas.
Ryan was once a right-wing extremist with one of the largest Nazi movements in the United States. After being confined, Ryan went through a process of transformation that focused on healing from trauma. As part of his healing and deradicalization, Ryan created the Team Revelation Mixed Martial Arts, a program utilized to prevent troubled youth from entering gang and extremist cultures. Today, he contributes his expertise to Parallel Networks as Programme Director and Interventionist.
Bryant was the U.S. first foreign fighter after 9/11. In September 2008, he participated in al-Qaeda attacks against U.S. Army bases in Afghanistan. After he was arrested in Pakistan in November 2008, he pled guilty in a New York federal court. While incarcerated, Bryant cooperated with U.S. law enforcement and provided helpful intel. U.S. authorities have called him the “single most valuable cooperating witness” in disrupting al-Qaeda operations.
In this final episode of our series on the 4R Network, Bryant and Ryan will share what it is like to come home after being convicted for offences related to extremism. The episode will explore differences and similarities in their reintegration processes, and we will learn which factors were essential for a successful reintegration process.
And just like that, our eight-episode series on the 4R-Network comes to an end. In case you have not listened to any of the previous episodes, we strongly encourage you to do so to learn more about the new CEP initiative, the 4R Network.
For more information about the 4R Network, see below the website:
https://4rnetwork.org/
You can find the video recording of the 4R Network launch event here:
https://www.counterextremism.com/video/cep-webinar-launch-4r-network-november-16-2022