Tess Owen

An emerging guard of paramilitary activists are using social media and edgy aesthetics to build a new brand of anti-government, Christian nationalist militias.

Memes shared by the White House, DHS, and ICE have used catchy TikTok tunes to normalize mass deportation and Christian nationalist narratives. Experts say that’s the point.

Experts say that the suspect in the shootings of Democratic Minnesota lawmakers this weekend showed clear ties to forms of so-called charismatic Christianity that views abortion as a sacrifice to demons and seeks the end of secular democracy.

The alleged shooter is a 57-year-old white male; according to his ministry's website, he “sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer.”

Fresh out of federal prison, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio suggests he’s still in charge as the far-right organization looks to regroup.

Kash Patel, who has pushed conspiracy theories and helped produce a single featuring the J6 Prison Choir, has proposed investigating the investigators of the failed insurrection.

A recent neo-Nazi rally in Columbus, Ohio, drew national attention—but it was just one of dozens that increasingly-emboldened white power groups have held this year.

Militias that patrol the US border with Mexico are thrilled that Donald Trump has been elected—and plan to be a “valuable resource” to the incoming administration, whether or not they’re asked.

“Many many many executions are warranted,” one Trump supporter wrote on Truth Social. “These traitors are a terminal cancer that MUST BE completely eradicated to make America healthy again.”

With bombs, brawls, and stolen mail-in ballots already in play, the 2024 election is shaping up to be exceptionally chaotic. WIRED is tracking these incidents as they unfold.

Ahead of the election, anti-government militias are using Facebook to recruit, coordinate training, and promote ballot box stakeouts. Meta isn’t shutting their groups down and is even auto-generating pages.

A government memo viewed by WIRED states that insider threats “could derail or jeopardize a fair and transparent election process.”

The agency also cautioned that it’s unable to get a grasp on the full scale of the threat, due to extremists increasingly using encrypted chat tools.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and a whole host of conspiracy theorists are claiming the hurricane was planned in order to harm Republicans. Climate experts tell WIRED that’s impossible.

“You can sit and enjoy the show,” wrote the leader of a Kentucky militia on Facebook. “Or you can join it. There will come a time, you will have no choice!”

The words “RIP America” trended on X minutes after a jury in Manhattan found former president Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts for falsifying business records in connection to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Images of an upside-down American flag—a symbol of distress that became co-opted by the 2020 Stop the Steal movement—flooded social media, as Trump supporters, fringe extremists, right-wing pundits, and politicians voiced their anger. Ever since the trial b…

In the aftermath of the Capitol riot, far-right militia groups are using Facebook to organize—and they’re not worried about getting banned by Meta.

After lying low for years in the aftermath of January 6, militia extremist groups and profiles have been quietly reorganizing and ramping up recruitment and rhetoric on Facebook.