The Wire - September 22, 2025

//The Wire//2300Z September 22, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY BEGINS IN NEW YORK. WHITE HOUSE "CLARRIFIES" H-1B POLICY BY CHANGING MUCH OF WHAT WAS ANNOUNCED. VIOLENT ATTACKS CONTINUE AROUND UNITED STATES. PRESIDENT TRUMP DESIGNATES ANTIFA AS DOMESTIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

Europe: Copenhagen Airport remains shut down as multiple drones continue to interfere with flight operations. The airport initially issued a temporary ground stop for all arrivals/departures, which as of this report has been extended until 5:00 a.m. local time. Separately, a military base in Oslo, Norway was placed on a heightened state of readiness due to drone reports as well, which resulted in the arrest of two Singaporean nationals who were operating a civilian drone over the military base.

-HomeFront-

New York: This week, the United Nations General Assembly has begun, with most of the noteworthy actions so far being the recognition of Palestinian statehood from a few nations. Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and a handful of others have been the biggest power-players to add to the list of nations which have recognized the legitimacy of the Palestinian government.

Analyst Comment: As with most diplomatic endeavors in the region, this move will probably result in very little impact overall. Most of these recent recognitions are probably last-ditch political moves to urge a two-state solution at the eleventh hour. Nevertheless, these statements will probably draw the ire of the United States to some degree, which is still negotiating trade deals with some of these nations.

Washington D.C. - Over the weekend the White House backtracked on the recent changes to the H-1B visa system. Despite Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stating in the Oval Office on the day of the announcement that the $100,000 fee for visas was per employee per year, the White House issued a "fact sheet" that reversed these statements, and that this is a one-time payment for companies seeking to hire non-American workers.

Also in Washington, President Trump signed the Executive Action this afternoon designating ANTIFA as a Domestic Terrorist Organization.

Analyst Comment: And now we wait. The verbiage of the order itself is not entirely indicative of how various federal agencies will respond to this, or what the outcome will be. Ordering agencies to police crimes that are already illegal isn't much help, but moving forward the most obvious theory is that federal terrorism charges might get slapped on any ANTIFA "Direct Action" attacks which are fairly standard in most major cities during periods of heightened tension. Only time will tell if various federal agencies are serious, though.

Mississippi: On Saturday a hit-and-run accident was reported in Gulfport, which resulted in the death of a cyclist. Xavier Omar Rigby was arrested after hitting the victim with his vehicle, and driving approximately 8 blocks with her body on the hood of his car. Rigby fled the scene without calling 911, and was later arrested in St. Petersburg.

California: The gunman which attacked an ABC broadcast station in Sacramento was detained over the weekend. Federal authorities state that Anibal Hernandez-Santana (an attorney, activist, and political lobbyist) conducted a drive-by shooting at the ABC Channel 10 television station in Sacramento.

Analyst Comment: The motive for this shooting has not yet been released, but the shooter's posts on social media indicate the motivations for this attack. Even his own attorney has stated that the primary method of prosecuting him (besides the bullet holes in the ABC station) will be the radical posts that his client made on social media.

New Hampshire: A mass shooting was reported over the weekend in Nashua, as a gunman targeted a wedding ceremony at the Sky Meadow Country Club. Local authorities arrested Hunter Nadeau at the scene, after event goers tackled him to stop the shooting. Despite these best efforts, one individual was killed in the attack, and around 6x people in total were wounded.

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Analyst Comments: Regarding the motive for the Nashua attack, witnesses state that the shooter shouted pro-Palestine statements during the shooting. However, investigators have stated that the shooter actually shouted many different statements so as to cause confusion during the attack and obscure his true motive. Right now there is not enough evidence in the public eye to determine what the true motive for the attack was with absolute certainty, but there are many indicators that should be noted. For one, targeting a wedding reception is an unusual choice for a terror attack since it is usually something that is not really on the radar of many would-be attackers...there are far more reliable targets for malign actors to select, as opposed to a wedding which is not explicitly a political target. Secondly, the wedding appears to have been for an Italian family, causing even more questions as to why an allegedly pro-Palestine activist would target this event. What is more likely right now is that this individual was determined to conduct a shooting for one reason or another and chose this venue due to a personal connection...the shooter allegedly used to work for this country club and therefore knew the location. Nevertheless, since the shooter was taken alive, more answers regarding motivations are likely to come about over the next few weeks.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
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