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Marginal groups from the far right and the far left called for gunfire on Friday in a sign of escalating tension over the U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion ruling.
“DEFEND YOUR CHURCHES TONIGHT,” far-right activist Nicholas Fuentes shouted on his personal channel of the Telegram messaging app, where he has more than 44,000 followers.
With people across the country taking to the streets to protest and support the decision, officials warned that the United States could face a wave of extremist violence. In many publications, Fuentes and other far-right influencers referred to a note released Friday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that warned churches, judges and abortion providers could be at increased risk of violence. “for weeks” in response to both the ruling and the expected changes in state laws and electoral measures resulting from the decision.
Although the DHS note said all parties were at risk, on far-right channels such as Fuentes, he referred to the note as a call to arms to protect pregnancy centers and churches from extremists. pro-abortion, according to disinformation researchers. Pregnancy centers are non-profit organizations created by abortion advocates to advise women against abortion.
“Save and protect your local church. Save and protect your local pregnancy centers. Call them in advance. Bring rifles and men with you,” read another post on a far-right Telegram channel. The publication called on “American patriots” to “defend the faith.” (The Washington Post retains the channel’s name so as not to amplify its influence.)
The revocation of the Supreme Court leaves states free to ban abortion
“We anticipate that this could be a garbage situation,” said Lisa Kaplan, founder and CEO of Alethea Group, a technology company that detects and mitigates misinformation and manipulation of social media, which she conducted research on violent publications. “On social media platforms we are seeing calls for politically charged left and right violence in response to the Supreme Court decision. Roe against Wade decision, ”he said.
Alethea said she had detected fewer calls of violence on far-left channels, but Kaplan said the investigation was preliminary. A post on a far-left channel called for the burning of all churches except black ones.
“Only black churches should be left standing. Burn them all,” one post said.
The DHS memorandum specifically identified a “far-left network of allegedly unaffiliated violent extremists, known as ‘Jane’s Revenge,'” that said it was linked to several threats calling for a “night of rage” over the decision. . DHS said the group allegedly claimed responsibility for vandalizing a building that houses the campaign office of a member of Congress and an anti-abortion group, and at least three arson attacks since May aimed at anti-abortion organizations. in Oregon, New York and Wisconsin.
Immigration courts in Dallas, Chicago and Portland announced they would close early Friday in anticipation of potentially disruptive crowds.
Many of the far-right posts urged fans to prepare to fight the violence predicted by Jane’s Revenge. Some of the far-right publications mentioned specific churches that could be targeted, including the churches of Stockton and Costa Mesa, California, and Detroit, and also pointed out the exact places where pro-abortion groups were planning protests during the chief. of the week. Other publications targeted Black Lives Matter activists, the anti-leftist group and lesbians.
One warned that “special interest groups” would hire rioters from left-wing antifa and Black Lives Matter groups to “burn your city,” according to posts shared by Alethea.
Another Telegram publication warned that “Any 300-pound purple-haired BULLDYKE nose is now a threat of terrorism. BLOCK AND LOAD PEOPLE AND BE VIGILANT AND READY TO NEUTRALIZE THE THREAT. WE DO NOT NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS!”
Other posts were more conspiratorial, arguing that Jane’s Revenge is really the FBI. Others were anti-Semitic.
Maria Sacchetti contributed to the report.