Byline: Shane Bauer; 2016-11-01; Mother Jones;
Report: Infiltrating the Far Extremes Shane Bauer
Tags: paramilitary militia undercover border
Article LinksArticle in full: http://motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/undercover-border-militia-immigration-bauer "Becoming a militia member began with opening a new Facebook account. I used my real name, but the only personal information I divulged on my profile was that I was married and that I had held jobs as a welder and a prison guard for the Corrections Corporation of America. A "Don't Tread on Me" flag was my avatar. I found and "liked" militia pages: Three Percenter Nation, Patriotic Warriors, Arizona State Militia. Then Facebook generated endless suggestions of other militia pages, and I "liked" those too. To keep my page active, I shared other people's posts: blogs about President Barack Obama trying to declare martial law, and threats of Syrians crossing the border. I posted memes about American flags and police lives mattering. Then I sent dozens of friend requests to people who belonged to militia-related Facebook groups. Some were suspicious of me: "Kinda have a veg profile, so I got to ask why you want to be my friend????" one messaged. Many, however, accepted my friend requests automatically. Within a couple of days, I had more than 100 friends, and virtually any militia member who looked at my page would likely find that we had at least one friend in common."
Description:"I bought a rifle and headed off to fight tyranny, protect the Constitution, and 'catch the fucking beaners,'" Shane Bauer went undercover for Mother Jones with the self-styled border militias.
Rights: Copyright Mother Jones, all rights reserved.
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