World News | US charges 4 Americans, 3 Russians in election feud case

St. Petersburg (Florida) April 19 (AP) — Four Americans affiliated with black empowerment and political organizations have been charged along with three Russians with conspiring to sow discord in American society, spreading Russian propaganda and illegally interfering in the United States. election. The indictment was unsealed Tuesday.

A U.S. citizen and two Russians were added to an existing case in federal court in Tampa, Fla., involving Alexander Yonov, whom prosecutors say is the founder of the Moscow-based group that was funded by the Russian government and operated in the U.S. Secret influence activities.

Read also | Indian students have reportedly been turned away from five Australian universities for fake visas.

All four Americans are members of the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru movement, which has strongholds in St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis. Among those charged was Omali Yeshitela, the chairman of the US-based group — which was raided by the FBI last summer when Ionov was initially charged.

“Russia’s foreign intelligence services allegedly weaponized our First Amendment rights — the liberties Russia denies to its own citizens — to divide Americans and interfere in U.S. elections,” said the assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s National Security Division. Long Matthew Olsen said.

Read also | Accenture layoffs: Tech layoffs intensify as IT firm announces 19,000 layoffs, delays fresh graduate hiring; top five.

“Whether the culprit is a U.S. citizen or a foreign national abroad, the Department will not hesitate to expose and prosecute those who sow discord and corrupt American elections in the service of hostile foreign interests,” Olson said in a news conference. “

Yeshitela and three other U.S. citizens — Penny Joanne Hess, Jesse Nevel and Augustus C Romain Jr — were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Hess, Yeshitela and Nevel were also charged with impersonating foreign government agents. Yonov and two other Russians who remain in the country face charges of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Court records did not list attorneys for any of the seven defendants, and it was unclear whether they had been arrested. An email seeking comment was sent to the African People’s Socialist Party, which has previously denied secretly working for Russia or committing crimes by any of its members.

Prosecutors said Ionov ran an entity called the Russian Anti-Globalization Movement, which was used to carry out its influence work against the United States and was overseen by Russia’s intelligence agency, the FSB. They have recruited U.S.-based organizations to help influence elections, make the U.S. appear to strongly support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and support efforts such as a 2015 U.N. petition condemning U.S. “genocide against the people of Africa.” to the indictment.

Among other things, the indictment accuses an unnamed candidate for St. Petersburg magistrate of receiving secret funding and political tactics from the group. Yonov and another Russian have said their efforts in Florida will extend into the 2020 presidential campaign, which they call a “theme of the year.”

The indictment adds that Yeshitra traveled from Tampa to Moscow in 2015 to meet with Ionov and other Russians “to communicate about future cooperation,” according to an email from Ionov. This was followed by covert Russian funding and support of various events in the United States through the summer of 2022, including demonstrations at the California and Georgia state capitols and an unnamed social media company in San Francisco.

Much of the so-called cooperation involved supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In March 2022, Yestera held a press conference in which he said, “The Afro-Popular Socialist Party calls for solidarity with Russia in Ukraine’s defensive war against the colonial powers of the world.” He also called for the Russian-occupied The Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine became independent.

Separately, the Justice Department announced a separate indictment in Washington accusing Russian national Natalia Burlinova of conspiring with Russian intelligence agencies to recruit U.S. academics and researchers to programs that advance Russian interests. Prosecutors said Burlinova concealed that her efforts were funded by the Russian government.

It was unclear Tuesday whether Burlinova had a lawyer to speak on her behalf. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)