S2 INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Subject: John Brown Gun Club – Armed Extremism, Ideological Threats, and Emerging Risks
Date: 2025-07-10
Threat Level: Blue-4-Heightened
ID: 250710-2025z

SUMMARY

The John Brown Gun Club (JBGC) is a decentralized armed leftist group promoting community defense and anti-government activism. Recent actions, including the July 4, 2025 ICE facility attack involving member Benjamin Hanel Song, highlight a shift from protest security to violent extremism. With ties to anarchist and socialist networks, JBGC’s tactics increasingly mirror right-wing militias, presenting a growing threat that requires close monitoring.

SOURCES

• Wikipedia – Redneck Revolt
• Wikipedia – Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club
• GWU Program on Extremism – Left-Wing Violent Extremism in America (PDF)
• Justice.gov – FBI Domestic Terrorism Review 2024 (PDF)
• OJP.gov – Radicalization Trajectories of U.S. Citizens (PDF)
• DHS.gov – Homeland Security Threat Data (PDF)
• FBI.gov – Workplace Violence and Terrorism (PDF)
• FEMA.gov – Mitigating Potential Terrorist Attacks (PDF)
• Congress.gov – CVE and Terror Threats in NJ

STRUCTURE & HISTORY

The John Brown Gun Club (JBGC) is a decentralized armed left-wing activist network promoting community defense, mutual aid, and opposition to far-right ideologies. The group originally emerged in 2002 in Lawrence, Kansas, as part of the Kansas Mutual Aid Collective, dissolved in 2008, and reemerged in 2016. Since then, it has splintered into multiple autonomous chapters without a central leadership structure.

Notable chapters include:

• Puget Sound JBGC (Washington)
• Elm Fork JBGC (Texas)
• Mid-Missouri JBGC
• Steel City JBGC
• Spokane JBGC

JBGC was formerly affiliated with Redneck Revolt, a working-class, anti-racist, gun rights organization, and continues to share much of its ideological foundation.

IDEOLOGY AND OBJECTIVES

JBGC follows a militant leftist ideology with the following key tenets:

• Anti-fascism, anti-racism, and anti-capitalism
• Advocacy for police abolition and the demilitarization of state institutions
• Armed defense of marginalized communities, including BIPOC and LGBTQ+ groups
• Rejection of U.S. governmental systems, seen as structurally oppressive

While branding itself as a protective force for vulnerable populations, JBGC engages in open carry tactics, firearms training, and armed protest participation. Some chapters host community outreach efforts such as “brake light clinics” and food distribution, closely aligned with anarchist mutual aid principles.

CASE EXAMPLE: BENJAMIN HANEL SONG (2025 ICE ATTACK)

Identity and Background

• Name: Benjamin Hanel Song (AKA “Kelly No”)
• DOB: March 22, 1993
• Military: U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (2011–2016), discharged other-than-honorably
• Affiliations:
  • Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club
  • Dallas–Fort Worth Socialist Rifle Association (SRA)

Incident Summary

On July 4, 2025, Song allegedly participated in an armed attack on the ICE detention center in Periland, Texas, along with 11 other individuals. Song remains at large as of July 9, 2025.

Charges include:

• Attempted murder of a federal officer
• Discharging a firearm during a violent crime

Authorities recovered a jammed Franklin Armory FI15 with a binary trigger, abandoned at the scene and linked to Song. Cell phone data placed him at the facility before and after the attack. He reportedly evaded capture by hiding in nearby woods.

History of Escalating Behavior

• July 2020: Arrested in Austin, TX for aggravated assault during flyer distribution following the Garrett Foster shooting.
• April 2023: Participated in an armed counter-protest at a Fort Worth drag event; Elm Fork members were accused of pepper spray assaults and arrested.

Analyst Commentary

Song’s trajectory—from military service and activist engagement to armed violence—reflects a pattern of radicalization within far-left networks. His connections to JBGC and SRA, combined with his tactical background, mirror prior cases like Willem Van Spronsen, a Puget Sound JBGC member who firebombed an ICE facility in Tacoma in 2019. Song represents a high-risk archetype for future extremist activity by decentralized militant factions.

RISK ANALYSIS

EMERGING THREAT PATTERN

JBGC and its affiliated groups like the SRA present a gray-zone insurgent threat, blending lawful self-defense rhetoric with armed leftist mobilization. Their lack of formal hierarchy makes infiltration difficult, but their shared ideology and tactics suggest a decentralized network with national reach. This structure parallels that of far-right militias but has often escaped equivalent scrutiny.

ADDITIONAL INCIDENTS & ACTORS

STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS

• Militia Parallelism: JBGC shares operational similarities with far-right militias—autonomy, arms training, and ideological targeting.
• Civil Liberties vs. Security: Their stated purpose of “defending marginalized groups” complicates law enforcement intervention and public opinion.
• Tactical Shift: Recent ICE-related attacks demonstrate a shift toward targeting federal enforcement infrastructure.
• Protest Convergence Zones: JBGC’s presence at demonstrations creates high-risk environments when opposing armed groups (e.g., Proud Boys) are also present.

CONCLUSION

The John Brown Gun Club poses a growing and under-recognized threat in the spectrum of domestic violent extremism. Once viewed as a fringe activist network focused on mutual aid and armed deterrence, the group’s alignment with anarchist, Marxist, and anti-government ideologies, combined with its firearms training culture, makes it a decentralized but capable risk vector. The Benjamin Song case signals potential for future attacks carried out by similarly radicalized individuals. As far-left actors adopt tactics historically associated with right-wing militias, U.S. intelligence and security services must re-calibrate their threat detection and enforcement strategies accordingly.