Morning Briefing: Anti-Government Extremist Group Targets Weather Radar
Members of Veterans on Patrol, an anti-government extremist group, targeted the weather radar system of a local television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — 'temporarily knocking it offline.'
Morning Briefing: An anti-government extremist group targeted the weather radar system of a local television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and reportedly “temporarily knocking it offline.” Anthony Tyler Mitchell was later arrested and charged with “with malicious injury or destruction of property, and damage to equipment in a critical infrastructure facility.”
Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, who leads the anti-government conspiracy group Veterans on Patrol, claimed the group was responsible for the sabotage of the weather radar system. The Veterans on Patrol social media is awash in conspiracy theories about the government’s ability to control the weather, and these post range in tone from spiritual to incomprehensible.
During a recent interview, Meyer said his group plans addition attacks on weather systems: "When we destroy and eliminate over 15 in a state of Oklahoma, your radar maps are going to change big time, and the weather is just going to be completely different over Oklahoma and the surrounding area.”
There are several trends that were evident in the violent attacks and foiled attack plots linked to extremism in 2024, and these included the “biographical characteristics of suspects and perpetrators, motivations, tactics used, and targets selected.” However, the data shows that the “deadliest incidents recorded were not tied to traditionally defined extremist ideologies,” instead, the incidents were driven by a network of online subcultures related to “nihilistic violence,” according to a recent analysis by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).
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Brandy Zadrozny writes that “the most red-pilled in the MAGA base want proof of a secret world order: one run by powerful (and often, in these fever dreams, progressive, Jewish) elites who prey on — and in the internet’s worst corners, literally feed on — children. In this version, Epstein wasn’t just a predator, he was a secret agent in a global blackmail network controlled by billionaires, the media and the so-called deep state. At the Turning Point USA summit last week, after an earlier Q&A included MAGA activists openly criticizing Trump over the handling of the Epstein files, Steve Bannon appealed to these conspiracy theorists when he told an uncharacteristically riled-up crowd that the release would answer a ‘very simple’ question: ‘Who governs this country? The American people or the deep state?’ Conspiracy theorists on the left, branded ‘BlueAnon’ by critics, have their own false fixations. Among them, an allegation — stemming from a now-dismissed lawsuit against the president — that he raped a girl procured by Epstein. (There is no evidence to support such a claim, and the story behind that 2016 allegation is more complicated.) This is the crowd of bipartisan conspiracy consumers that MAGA influencers like Benz are speaking to. And it’s an audience researchers say can never be satisfied.” [NBC News]
Ben Makuch writes that “around the world, Canada isn’t the only country being introduced to these clubs, which are fitness and mixed martial arts groups operating out of local gyms and parks that espouse neo-Nazi and fascist ideologies. Already proliferating across the US in a number of states, active clubs openly take their historical cues from the Third Reich’s obsession with machismo and their modern inspiration from European soccer hooliganism. Recent research published by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) has shown that since 2023, these clubs are newly sprouting in Sweden, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, the UK, Finland and for the first time, in Latin America with two chapters in Chile and Colombia appearing. According to the GPAHE research, there are now chapters in 27 countries, with new youth wings – akin to Hitler Youth-styled clubs – are surging stateside and abroad, ‘metastasizing’ across western countries and recruiting young men into toxic, far-right ideologies encouraging race war.” [The Guardian]
Jack Hynes writes that “RAM is one example of the increasing tendency for far-right and fascist groups to use gyms to mainstream their political ideas, attract new members and advance reactionary politics. Gyms such as the Reconquista Club in Kyiv, the L’Agoge in Lyon and a secret boxing gym called La Phalange in Montreal are ‘named for historical legends and terms that symbolize brutal combat and nativist defense, and all focused on training far-right nationalists and extremists in hand-to-hand combat and street-fighting techniques’, notes sociologist Cynthia Miller-Idriss in ‘Hate in the Homeland’. Gyms provide a physical infrastructure that allows far-right groups to avoid any unwanted public scrutiny whilst bringing members together in person, a strategy which may develop group bonds more effectively than online forums, as far-right activists may experience life as a keyboard warrior to be insular, isolating and emasculating compared to jumping into action in the real world. All of this helps us understand why National Socialists Network (NSN) members were until recently operating out of the Legacy Boxing Gym located in Melbourne’s Western suburbs.” [Arena]
What to expect from Radical Reports: Morning Briefing provides a daily round-up of reporting on the Radical Right; Extremist Links offers a weekly round-up of extremists activities including the white supremacist and militia movements; Narratives of the Right delivers weekly analysis of the current narratives in far right online spaces and promoted by right-wing media; and Research Desk provides monthly highlights research and analysis from academia on the Radical Right.
