TERRORISM AND INTELLIGENCE
Islamic State Is Treating Churches as a Standing Target Set on Three Continents
Indago’s Islamic State assessment for the week ending July 20 identifies attacks on religious sites as a coordinated strategy running across Nigeria, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The assessment states that detained Islamic State members in Syria gave confessions outlining plans to bomb Christian churches and Shia shrines to deepen societal divisions, and that affiliates in West and Central Africa are systematically targeting Christian villages and burning homes alongside military assets. The report places churches on its priority target watchlist for Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Nigeria, and the DRC, citing demonstrated planning and execution capability against Christian places of worship. It also assesses that Islamic State in Syria has shifted away from targeting armed opposition factions and toward religious minority sites in order to maximize sectarian friction in the post-Assad security vacuum.
[Source: Indago Situation Report, Islamic State Weekly Update, 20 July 2026]
🛡️ My thoughts: this is something that I assessed long ago, but it’s nice to see another intelligence organization back it up. Many of you are running missions in these areas. You need to have a plan and you need to have safe houses that you can go to in the event of an emergency. I suggest that you get training in survival, evasion, resistance and escape before you go to one of these countries to help Christians.
ISIS-K Poster Names the US Capitol and Ties the Call to the World Cup
On July 14, the Islamic State Khorasan-linked al-Azaim Media Foundation released a poster depicting the United States Capitol and the Eiffel Tower as targets, carrying the message “Kill Them. Seize Them. Besiege Them” drawn from a Quranic verse. The release was timed to France’s Bastille Day and to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Indago assesses the poster as direct incitement to attack soft targets in the United States and France during high-profile events, and notes Islamic State media has been calling for attacks on World Cup host cities and venues since June 18. The National Counterterrorism Center listed the same poster in its terrorist publications compendium for the week of July 16 through 22. Indago names lone-actor vehicle ramming, knife, and explosives attacks against crowd gatherings as the highest-probability threat vector.
[Source: NCTC Counterterrorism Digest, 16 to 22 July 2026, and Indago Islamic State Weekly Update, citing MEMRI JTTM]
🛡️ My thoughts: this message is inciting lone actors within the United States. We saw that in New York City this week when a man did exactly what ISIS asked them to do. He poured gasoline and used fireworks as an IED to attack a federal building there. What if he decided to go after a church instead of the federal building? Would you be prepared for that? Some church security trainers are saying that I am over stating these threats. Ezekiel 33 tells us to sound the trumpet when we see danger. I am doing that now, and I think those trainers need to change their attitude and do the same. The chances of an attack at your church are very minimal, but it’s not zero. We know it will happen to somebody, I pray that they are prepared.
Federal Data Shows Homegrown Islamic State Supporters Are Staying Home and Planning Here
The NCTC spotlight this week summarizes research from the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center on American Islamic State supporters. The United States has federally charged 272 people with Islamic State-related crimes since 2014. Defendants ranged in age from 17 to 56 with an average age of 27, 83 percent held United States citizenship or permanent legal resident status, and 91 percent were male. Cases per year have been climbing since 2023. Roughly 35 percent of defendants in the post-caliphate period attempted to travel overseas, and no traveler has successfully reached a destination since 2019. The spotlight highlights the January 2026 indictment of Christian Sturdivant, 18, arrested in December 2025 after authorities determined he allegedly planned to use knives and hammers in a New Year’s Eve attack on a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant in North Carolina.
[Source: NCTC Counterterrorism Digest, 16 to 22 July 2026, citing NCITE and the US Department of Justice]
🛡️ My thoughts: you should see a theme here. The danger to our church and synagogues is growing. Look at the information they put out and use that to help you in your threat assessments in your situational awareness while you’re working.
Seven Federal Agencies Updated a Warning That Iranian Cyber Actors Are Inside US Utility Controls
The FBI, CISA, NSA, EPA, Department of Energy, US Cyber Command, and Treasury updated a joint cybersecurity advisory on July 22 covering Iranian-affiliated cyber actors exploiting internet-connected programmable logic controllers across United States critical infrastructure. The advisory names Government Services and Facilities, including local municipalities, Water and Wastewater Systems, and Energy as affected sectors. Investigators found that after the actors extracted device project files, they modified and deleted program logic and manipulated the data shown on operator displays, and that the changes disabled shutdown and alarm logic so systems could enter unsafe conditions without alerting operators. The July 22 update expanded the manufacturer scope beyond Rockwell Automation to include Schneider Electric and Siemens controllers. The agencies state the targeting escalated in response to hostilities between Iran and the United States and Israel.
[Source: Joint Cybersecurity Advisory AA26-097A, updated 22 July 2026]
🛡️ My thoughts: you should be very concerned about this report. It is a signal that they can shut off our power and water. Are you prepared for this? What if your region suddenly has no electricity? Our societal contract will start breaking down. Food and water shortages will occur. Access to medicine and health will be declined. I suggest you have 90 days of food and water on hand in a team of people that know how to survive. The government has been warning us and we should be listening and not dismissing it. The Bible tells us this is coming. Be a good steward to your people.
Three European Cases This Month Involve Minors Building Devices and Selecting Religious Targets
Munich prosecutors charged a 15-year-old Islamic State sympathizer from Augsburg, Germany with plotting a terrorist attack on a synagogue and with illegal handling of explosives, and stated the teen had obtained a large quantity of explosive material. In October 2025 that same teen detonated a homemade device that blew off two of his fingers and injured an associate. In Italy, the Polizia di Stato announced on July 17 the arrest of a 17-year-old Italian girl in Pavia for participation in an association with the purpose of international terrorism, after a search of her home recovered detailed instructions for making an explosive belt along with conversations with presumed Islamic State associates. In the United Kingdom, Kingston Crown Court convicted 16-year-old Yusuf Shah on July 15 of collecting terrorist materials and providing instruction in the preparation of acts of terrorism, with authorities stating he had expressed support for al-Qa’ida and the Pakistani Taliban on social media beginning at age 13.
[Source: NCTC Counterterrorism Digest, 16 to 22 July 2026, citing the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office, Polizia di Stato, and the UK Metropolitan Police]
Islamic State Fighters Hit a Girls’ School at 1:30 in the Morning With Inside Help
On July 19, Islamic State West Africa Province fighters attempted a mass abduction of students at the Federal Government Girls College in Monguno, Borno State, Nigeria. The assault came at roughly 1:30 a.m. against a facility being used as a hostel. Nigerian troops foiled the attack and rescued 46 students, though reporting states some were fatally struck during the firefight. Indago assesses the operation involved suspected collaborator assistance and signals intent to run complex, multi-element operations against soft civilian infrastructure. Nigerian forces separately arrested a suspected Moroccan Islamic State operative embedded with ISWAP on July 14 following a failed attack at Cross Kauwa, and Operation Hadin Kai troops arrested a woman at a Borno checkpoint on July 13 who had concealed 17 flashlights and 19 batteries inside her clothing intended for Boko Haram and ISWAP.
[Source: Indago Islamic State Weekly Update, citing Channels Television, and NCTC Counterterrorism Digest, citing The Sun Nigeria]
The Islamic State’s Own Weekly Ledger Counts Christians as Two Thirds of Its Victims
Issue 556 of the Islamic State’s Arabic weekly newspaper al-Naba, dated 2 Safar 1448 and covering roughly July 9 through July 15, opens with a full-page infographic tallying the group’s claimed results. It claims 21 operations and more than 34 killed and wounded for the week. It sorts those casualties into three categories of its own choosing: 23 it labels Crusaders, a term it applies both to Christians and to the armies of Christian-majority governments, 10 it labels infidels and apostates, and 1 it labels Shia. It also claims 3 officers killed, 12 vehicles burned or disabled, and 4 military positions burned. Operations break down as 13 in West Africa, 5 in Central Africa, 2 in Mozambique, and 1 in Iraq, with casualties concentrated at 19 in Central Africa and 13 in West Africa. By the organization’s own bookkeeping, Christians account for roughly two thirds of everyone it claims to have killed or wounded that week.
[Source: al-Naba issue 556, page 2 infographic, translated from Arabic]
Islamic State Named the Christian Villages It Raided and Described Cutting Captives’ Throats
Al-Naba 556 details raids on named Christian villages across two continents. In Borno State, Nigeria, fighters raided the village of Kautama on a Thursday, burned a vehicle and a number of homes, and took a motorcycle and other property. In Adamawa State they raided the village of Sura on a Monday, killed two Christians, and burned a vehicle, a motorcycle, and 10 homes. West Africa totals for the week include 3 Christians killed and 15 homes burned. The group separately states that on a Wednesday it shot and killed a member of a Christian organization after having captured him earlier on the road between Gubio and Kareto in Borno. In eastern Congo, fighters captured 5 Christians from around Beni village and killed them by cutting their throats, and the same day raided the Christian village of Mangina, killing at least 4 more and burning a home. That Mangina raid converts to July 14, the same date and the same village where Open Doors reported 6 killed including a church elder and a worship leader, covered in the International section below. Throughout, the publication calls these civilians “the fighting Christians,” which is the wording the organization uses to reclassify noncombatants as legitimate targets.
[Source: al-Naba issue 556, pages 4 and 5, translated from Arabic]
The Islamic State Published a Full Page on the Religious Merit of Standing Guard
The back page of al-Naba 556 is an infographic devoted to the virtue of sentry duty, assembled entirely from classical hadith and scholarly commentary. It compiles narrations holding that a night spent on watch outweighs a month of fasting and night prayer, that the eye which keeps watch will not be touched by fire, that a guard standing post in a land of fear is better than the Night of Decree, and that a man who guards other people in a place where the enemy is feared earns the standing of one stationed at the frontier. The page carries no operational content and makes no claims of attacks. It exists to make guard duty feel spiritually valuable to the people performing it.
[Source: al-Naba issue 556, page 8 infographic, translated from Arabic]
🛡️ My thoughts: That is dedication. Are you dedicated to protecting your church? We need to be more dedicated to our mission than the enemy.
VIOLENT CRIME
Five Shot Outside Detroit Church During Funeral — Detroit, Michigan
Five people were shot outside Greater Love Tabernacle Church on Plymouth Road on Detroit’s west side on Friday, July 17, 2026. Police Chief Todd Bettison said a physical fight broke out at about 5:48 p.m. during a funeral at the church, and one man involved in the fight produced a handgun and fired into the crowd. Officers were already posted in the area because Detroit police had received information about threats of violence tied to a separate visitation at the O.H. Pye III Funeral Home across the street. An officer who responded to the fight witnessed the shooting and returned fire, striking the shooter. Four victims and the suspected shooter were struck in the lower extremities, all were expected to survive, and the suspect was taken into custody.
🛡️ My thoughts: Watch the video above for my thoughts.
Gunfire Interrupts Funeral at Little Rock Church, Two Charged — Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock police responded to a shots fired call at Fellowship Christian Church, 8923 Sunset Lane, at about 2:10 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, 2026, during the funeral of 18-year-old Dillan Cheeter. Detectives already near the scene heard the gunshots and saw a vehicle leave northbound toward Baseline Road. Officers followed and stopped the vehicle, which carried 21-year-old Maddison Jackson and an unidentified minor. Jackson was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, unauthorized use of another person’s property, furnishing a handgun to a minor, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and the minor was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm and possession of a handgun by a minor. No one inside the church was injured, though mourners jumped over pews and ran for the doors, and the building was held as a crime scene. Cheeter had been fatally shot on July 5 in the 5100 block of Asher Avenue.
🛡️ My thoughts: Are you seeing the potential threats that funerals can have at your church? What are you proactively doing to protect your church during funerals? You need to determine how the person died, do they have family conflicts? If the dead is a gang member or criminal, expect rivals to come to take out friends that will show up.
Man Found Dead Behind Frayser Church, Death Investigated as Homicide — Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis police responded to a call just after 4 p.m. on Monday, July 20, 2026, in the 3700 block of North Watkins Street in the Frayser neighborhood, near Pursuit of God Church. Officers found a man behind the church, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the call came in as a report of a suspicious person. Investigators have not said how the man died, and the department is working the case as a homicide. No suspect has been named, and anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH.
🛡️ My thoughts: We don’t know how he died. What we do know: people that are fleeing danger often go to a church to seek refuge. We see this almost every week here. A 4k video system helps with security by having active monitoring AND it helps document crimes on the property and helps law enforcement find out what happened and who the perpetrators are.
Man in Crisis Detained Outside Catholic Church — Laredo, Texas
Laredo police responded to a call outside St. John Neumann Catholic Church at 102 West Hillside Road on Sunday, July 19, 2026. Officers said the call involved a man in crisis outside the church. Police detained the man and found no weapons. Authorities said the entire incident took place outside the building and that nothing occurred inside the church. The scene was cleared, and police have not released additional details.
🛡️ My thoughts: Not really a violent crime, but I’m putting it in here so you understand people in crisis come to the church for help. I see it at my church a couple of times a year. We need to help them. Sometimes we can’t and we need to call the police to help them. Just have a plan and keep this in your scenario line up.
Man Charged With Terror Threats Against Willow Creek Community Church — South Barrington, Illinois
Ryan Kang, 26, of Vernon Hills, Illinois, was charged with two counts of terrorism by false threat, a Class 1 felony, after police say he posted threats of violence on social media. The Vernon Hills Police Department opened the investigation after multiple people, including members of Kang’s own family, reported the posts. Deputy Police Chief Shannon Holubetz said the threats referenced school shootings, bombings, and acts of interpersonal violence, and were directed at Vernon Hills High School, Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, and several out-of-state residents. Police said Kang admitted to authoring the posts and that investigators determined he did not have the means or ability to carry out an attack. Kang was arrested on Saturday, July 18, 2026, and the department announced the charges on Tuesday, July 21. Willow Creek leadership said South Barrington police notified the church on Saturday and that there was no risk to Sunday services or other scheduled events.
🛡️ My thoughts: take these threats seriously! If somebody says that they’re going to do something to you, take it as a real threat. That means you have to respond to it in an appropriate way. Do not dismiss it and tell yourself that the person never really would do something. They absolutely would! That’s why they said it. If you dismiss that you are putting your people at risk.
SEX CRIMES
Church and School Leaders Charged in Pawleys Island Sex Offender Case — Pawleys Island, South Carolina
Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver announced criminal charges on Monday, July 20, 2026, against former Pawleys Island Community Church pastor Don Williams, his wife and church guest services director Ginny Williams, and Pawleys Island Christian Academy director Jennifer “Niki” Howard, and re-arrested Warren Perry, the registered sex offender whose probation violation arrest opened the case. Don Williams and Howard are charged with obstruction of justice, unlawfully placing a child at risk, and criminal conspiracy, and Ginny Williams and Perry are charged with obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy. Weaver said Perry had worked at the church since roughly 2020 and was serving as a custodian seven days a week at the academy, which enrolls children from six weeks old through kindergarten. Investigators obtained sworn statements, search warrants, and photographs placing Perry in close proximity to children, and Weaver played video at the press conference of Don Williams telling a deputy that Perry had never been around minors. All three church and school leaders resigned on July 17, Perry was denied bond on July 21, Howard was granted bonds totaling $75,000, and four lawsuits have since been filed against the church and the academy.
🛡️ My thoughts: I really need to do a more in-depth article and video on this incident. What this church leadership did is more common than you think. There’s nothing in the Bible that tells you to hide any crime. To do so is unconscionable. If you find out, there was a sexual assault involving your church, your first call is to 911. Do that before you notify anybody at the church. Will they be upset with you for calling before telling them? Sure! But you’re protecting everybody by not giving them a chance to cover up the crime.
Pastor Held on $17.5 Million Bail in Child Sexual Abuse Case — Monterey County, California
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office arrested Emmanuel Marchica, 51, of Hollister, California, on Friday, July 10, 2026, and released details of the case publicly the following week. Deputies said the investigation began July 5 after a report of ongoing sexual abuse of a child, and detectives identified several additional victims through witness interviews before serving multiple search warrants. Marchica was booked on felony counts including lewd or lascivious acts with a child, sexual penetration of a child, oral copulation of a child, and annoying or molesting a child. The sheriff’s office said Marchica was serving as a pastor and holding regular religious services at a community gathering center in the Hidden Valley community of San Benito County, and that he previously owned bakeries in Prunedale and Monterey and gyms in Sand City, Seaside, and Prunedale where he offered physical therapy and massage therapy and worked as a jiu-jitsu instructor. Investigators said one victim was allegedly molested during one of those therapy sessions, that victim disclosures date back to 2012, and that they believe additional victims exist. Bail was set at $17.5 million.
🛡️ My thoughts: more than likely, there will be more victims. If this person served at your church, you should start searching for victims and help them get justice.
Christian Preschool Employee Charged With Soliciting a Minor — Easley, South Carolina
The Easley Police Department arrested Heather Nichole Hill on Friday, July 17, 2026, on one count of criminal solicitation of a minor and eight counts of disseminating obscene material to a person under 18. Police confirmed Hill was employed at Siloam Christian Preschool on Siloam Road in Easley, South Carolina. A judge set bond at $10,000 on each charge, and jail records show she was released Sunday on a surety bond. The preschool said in a statement that its leadership team and church officials met Sunday afternoon and terminated her employment, and that the preschool and church contacted the Easley Police Department and pledged full cooperation. Police said the investigation is active.
Pastor’s Wife and Son Charged in Abuse of 14-Year-Old Living in Their Home — Poplarville, Mississippi
The Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office arrested Dawson James Brown, 27, and his mother Sabrina Brown, 54, on Friday, July 17, 2026. Investigators confirmed Sabrina Brown is the wife of a pastor at New Heights/College Heights Baptist Church in Poplarville, Mississippi, that Dawson Brown is their son, and that the victim was living with the Brown family at the time of the alleged offenses. The investigation began on or about June 30 after a referral from the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services following an anonymous report that the girl was pregnant, and investigators estimate she became pregnant in October or November 2025, when she was 13. Dawson Brown is charged with one count of statutory rape, two counts of sexual battery, and one count of human trafficking, and Sabrina Brown is charged with conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence, attempted tampering with physical evidence, and felony child neglect. Court documents allege Sabrina Brown instructed the girl on fabricating and submitting a false DNA document to investigators. The girl’s mother, Kendrell Bowden, 32, was arrested Tuesday, July 21, and the sheriff’s office said the investigation remains active and additional arrests are possible.
ARSON AND SUSPICIOUS FIRES
Dennysville Church Fire Ruled Arson — Dennysville, Maine
A fire at the Dennysville Edmunds Congregational Church at 17 King Street was reported shortly before 8 a.m. on Monday, July 20, 2026. The Maine Office of State Fire Marshal said the fire started outside near the rear of the building, and the Dennysville Fire Department knocked it down fast enough to hold the damage primarily to the exterior. A passerby saw the smoke and called 911. No one was inside the church at the time, and no injuries were reported. On Tuesday, July 21, the fire marshal’s office determined the fire was intentionally set and classified it as arson, and investigators have not publicly identified a suspect. Anyone who saw activity near King Street before 8 a.m. Monday is asked to call the fire marshal’s office at 207-973-3700.
🛡️ My thoughts
INTERNATIONAL
Woman Stabbed During Rosary Before Mass, Man Charged — Tramore, Ireland
A woman in her 50s was stabbed inside Holy Cross Church in Summerhill, Tramore, County Waterford, at about 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. Parish priest Fr Richard O’Halloran said the rosary was being recited ahead of 10 a.m. Mass with roughly 50 to 60 people present, and the woman was in the main body of the church when she was attacked. She received a single knife wound and was taken to University Hospital Waterford with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Gardaí arrested a man at a nearby house and seized a knife for technical examination. Niall Cummins, 36, of the Willows, Clarinwood, Tramore, appeared at Waterford District Court on Wednesday, July 22, charged with Section 3 assault causing harm and with possession of a knife at the church, and the court heard he made no reply after arrest and caution. The Diocese of Waterford and Lismore commended the parishioners who assisted the victim.
🛡️ My thoughts
Suspected Boko Haram Fighters Abduct Pastor’s Wife and Three Children — Borno State, Nigeria
Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram or Islamic State West Africa Province fighters stopped a commercial vehicle near Kareto village in Mobbar Local Government Area, Borno State, at about noon on Saturday, July 18, 2026. Community sources said the attackers ordered the wife of Rev. Moses G. Guguma and her three children off the vehicle, allowed the driver and remaining passengers to continue, and moved into the bush with the captives. Guguma leads a Church of Christ in Nations congregation in Damasak, about 156 kilometers north of Maiduguri along the road the family was traveling. Sources said the pastor’s wife had recently been discharged from a hospital in Maiduguri after a prolonged illness before making the trip. Damasak has been repeatedly attacked and occupied by Boko Haram and ISWAP in recent years, security agencies had issued no official statement at the time of reporting, and the family’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Plateau Pastor Reports Death Threat Letter — Plateau State, Nigeria
Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, regional chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations for Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, said in a statement posted to his X account on Friday, July 17, 2026, that he and members of his church received a letter threatening to kill them. Dachomo said the letter was written in both Hausa and English, warned that he would soon be attacked and killed, and that copies had been handed to heads of security agencies in Plateau State. He tied the threat to the July 11 attack on the Kum and Wereng-Camp communities in Riyom Local Government Area, in which nine members of a single family, including a two-month-old infant, were killed. Punch reported that it could not independently verify Dachomo’s claim that those victims were his relatives. Dachomo has been a prominent public advocate for victims of attacks on Christian communities in Plateau State.
Church Elder and Worship Leader Among 20 Killed in Three Attacks — Beni Territory, Democratic Republic of Congo
Open Doors reported that three attacks in Beni Territory, North Kivu Province, between July 12 and July 16, 2026, left more than 20 people dead. An Open Doors field contact confirmed an attack on the rural commune of Mangina on July 14 in which six people were killed, including a church elder and a worship leader, six more were injured, one person is missing, and two houses were burned. News outlets reported that Allied Democratic Forces fighters attacked an area west of the city of Beni on July 12, killing seven civilians and three Congolese Armed Forces soldiers, and that 10 more people died in a separate attack at Mangina on July 16. Open Doors said movement restrictions tied to an Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC are making information difficult to verify. The ADF is an Islamist group with ties to the Islamic State and has targeted Christian communities in North Kivu and Ituri with massacres, kidnappings, and the destruction of churches.
Cross-reference: the Islamic State claimed the July 14 Mangina raid in al-Naba issue 556, describing the village as Christian and stating its fighters killed at least 4 there and burned a home. See the Terrorism and Intelligence section above.
Copyright © 2026 Keith Graves. All rights reserved.
