The problem is inside the house.

January 4, 2025 7:14 AM

The Militia and the Mole Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.
posted by adamvasco (20 comments total)

A left-wing activist told me he personally knows about 30 people who’ve gone undercover in militias or white supremacist groups. They did not coordinate with law enforcement, instead taking the surveillance of one of the most intractable features of American politics into their own hands.

Fascinating to see how grassroots militarists spawn grassroots infiltrators. If it weren't so worrisome it might almost be funny, everybody LARP now.
posted by chavenet at 7:35 AM on January 4 [11 favorites]

It's extremely obvious why an infiltrator wouldn't notify law enforcement at any level: I would wager that even among the DC cops attacked, if you'd asked them before the coup attempt itself, you would find a very large majority in favor of the coup.

Cops love Trump. Local cops. FBI. Secret Service. Cops are the backbone of the New American Fascism, and they just got handed the zero-accountability boss they always wanted.
posted by tclark at 7:39 AM on January 4 [65 favorites]

Also, I find it disheartening that even ProPublica uses the sanitized "Capitol riot" language that became house style everywhere within a week afterward for the specific reason of downplaying the reality of it as an auto-coup attempt. That very bowdlerization of the reality of an attempted overthrow of legitimate government as a "riot" is a major contributor to the Overton window wherein the very man who inspired and stood to benefit from an autogolpe was elected again.

Williams wasn't outraged by a riot at the Capitol. He was outraged by an attempted coup.
posted by tclark at 7:48 AM on January 4 [53 favorites]

The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.

This doesn't appear to be true. The article explicitly says: "He sent [his initial anonymous e-mail message] to an array of reporters. I was the only one to respond."
posted by ElKevbo at 7:55 AM on January 4 [17 favorites]

Games without frontiers.

I admire this man's commitment, but, like the author of the article, it seems more like fascinating anthropological fieldwork than anything else to me, albeit a project requiring deep cover. Ofc I'm as much of a fan of true spycraft tales as anyone else.

The real threat to most people on this planet arising in the US lies in money being handed out by PACs, one PAC in particular, not a bunch of tough-talking white guys most of whom would prefer to pay a poorer white guy to act out their gun-slinging fantasies.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 8:17 AM on January 4 [10 favorites]

He should've told the people doing the Superman comics, or maybe the TV show. Supes did take down the Klan in the 50s.
posted by Spike Glee at 8:37 AM on January 4

The real threat to most people on this planet arising in the US lies in money being handed out by PACs, one PAC in particular, not a bunch of tough-talking white guys most of whom would prefer to pay a poorer white guy to act out their gun-slinging fantasies.

While this is true, fascist militias are actually a real threat within the U.S. They are Chump's brownshirts, his "boots on the ground" terrorist organizations intimidating local populaces (particularly minorities, immigrants, and other disenfranchised), and if/when it comes to it they will be the ones joining their ACAB brethren to murder protesters and other dissidents without repercussion.
posted by Pedantzilla at 9:32 AM on January 4 [11 favorites]

the plan seemed pretty clear when they were driving around in pickup trucks shooting protesters with paintball guns

we know exactly where this is going
posted by ryanrs at 10:04 AM on January 4 [7 favorites]

This whole thing reads very close to The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Or perhaps Vonnegut's Mother Night. "Be careful who you pretend to be," indeed.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 10:30 AM on January 4 [8 favorites]

Christofascist militias have been around for decades in many places in the US. The amount of damage they did was fairly contained until recently. TFG has really galvanized them and their ties to government and law enforcement entities pretty much guarantees they can operate unimpeded. We're in danger.
posted by tommasz at 11:03 AM on January 4 [9 favorites]

This was both an extremely bold/dangerous/foolhardy/lucky piece of undercover work and a damn good piece of reporting.

I appreciated the reporter documenting his own fact-checking process.

I admire the care Williams put into his preparation and precautions, and I'm glad he got out unhurt. Hope his former associates don't get to him.
posted by Pallas Athena at 12:24 PM on January 4 [10 favorites]

At the end of the training, AP3 leaders handed out matching patches. The ritual reminded Williams of a biker gang.

I would've gone with Girl Scout troop, myself.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:03 PM on January 4 [8 favorites]

At the end of the training, AP3 leaders handed out matching patches. The ritual reminded Williams of a biker gang.

I would've gone with Girl Scout troop, myself.

You say tomato...
posted by Pedantzilla at 1:46 PM on January 4 [3 favorites]

I’m not scared of these losers taking over the US or being part some widespread anything. The “auto coup” attempt was poor and didn’t succeed.

I’m ACAB, but there is not data that the majority of FBI, local cops, and SS all support this shit. The data out there about cops is dispiriting enough without claiming that.

Great article.
posted by alicebob at 4:06 PM on January 4

I think it's a bit silly that people on both the left and right think of cops as an instrument of the state, when the "good ones" hold the state hostage to get what they want (funding, hires, equipment, indemnity) and the "bad ones" are outright insurrectionists.
posted by klanawa at 4:21 PM on January 4 [2 favorites]

Abolition is the only way forward.
posted by ob1quixote at 6:28 PM on January 4 [3 favorites]

The real threat to most people on this planet arising in the US lies in money being handed out by PACs, one PAC in particular, not a bunch of tough-talking white guys most of whom would prefer to pay a poorer white guy to act out their gun-slinging fantasies.

IMO there’s plenty of existential threats to go around and dismissing someone’s work against something that is Bad isn’t really helpful. It’s a kind of modern online progressive tankie POV that serves to limits discussion and action more than anything.
posted by wemayfreeze at 8:08 PM on January 4 [6 favorites]

Good on this guy for taking up a difficult and dangerous antifascist mission. Antifascist actions and culture don't have to be this intense, though! There are plenty of ways to help keep yourself and your community safe!
- Here is a regular column that, despite the name, often covers antifascist actions
- Here is a list of ways, couched in Jewish cultural concepts, to build local solidarity to knit the community together against fascists and fascism.
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 10:59 PM on January 4 [8 favorites]

Dude has balls of steel and maybe a touch of mental illness. I hope he stays safe.

Thanks for posting. Terrifying.
posted by SystematicAbuse at 11:43 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]

If it weren't so worrisome it might almost be funny, everybody LARP now.

Jackass 6: Johnny, Steve-O, and the crew go to Idaho and LARP the Patriot Front training compound.
posted by vitia at 12:48 AM on January 5 [4 favorites]