The thwarted plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer highlights role of social media in providing venue for extremists to recruit and connect, experts say.
The 13 men charged Thursday in a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used Facebook and secure messaging apps to connect and plot their attack. The group’s use of Facebook spans almost a full year. Members began to use the social media platform as a recruitment tool in November 2019, according to an affidavit filed by Brian Russell, a detective sergeant with the Michigan State Police. “Once recruited, members communicated via a secure, encrypted messaging platform,” Russell wrote. The group of 13 men, members or associates of the militia group known as the Wolverine Watchmen, used Facebook and at least two encrypted messaging platforms to plan their attack and to share videos, photos and posts, according to the criminal complaint on file in the U.S. District Court that details the FBI’s investigation into the conspiracy. The Free Press reviewed social media posts belonging to Brandon Caserta and Pete Musico, two of the men charged in the conspiracy, and found that they used online platforms to share anti-government and anti-police viewpoints in line with the “boogaloo,” a right-wing movement trying to start a second civil war that has grown primarily through utilizing online platforms, including Facebook, Reddit and YouTube. Several members of the group appeared to have shared videos, memes and posts online expressing anti-police sentiment and a desire to combat government overreach. Their use of social media likely facilitated the group’s growth, experts say. “This was on the larger side of what we call small cells,” said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University San Bernardino. Here’s what we know about how they used social media in what experts say is the latest in a series of incidents that demonstrates the ways in which social media creates a new opportunity for extremists to come together: On June 25, Adam Fox, one of the six men charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, livestreamed a video to a private Facebook group complaining about the judicial system and Michigan’s regulation of gym openings, according to the complaint. Fox called Whitmer “this tyrant b—-” and stated, “I don’t know, boys, we gotta do something. You guys link with me on our other location system, give me some ideas of what we can do.” When the group gathered in Cambria, Wisconsin, July 10-12 to participate in firearms training and other combat drills, members of the group shared photos and videos from the gathering in Facebook discussions, according to the complaint. “We about to be busy ladies and gentlemen … This is where the Patriot shows up. Sacrifices his time, money, blood sweat and tears … it starts now so get f—— prepared!!” Fox posted July 28 to a private Facebook page after he had decided to target Whitmer at either her vacation home or the governor’s official summer residence, according to the complaint. The complaint also references an encrypted group chat where members laid out their plan for kidnapping the governor. After meeting in Lake Orion, on Aug.23, members of the group decided to move their group chat to a different encrypted messaging application, according to the complaint.
