A thread on Ordo Militaris Catholicus @MilitarisCath, which has been threatening and doxxing Twitter users.
OMC is a small but active group founded in 2016. It describes itself as a private US military corporation for the protection and liberation of persecuted Christians.
🧵/1
It should be noted that despite its professed Catholicism, OMC is not recognised by the Catholic Church or affiliated to any Catholic organisation.
The founder, Alexis Bugnolo, claims to be a Franciscan hermit from Rome, but this has been questioned.
patheos.com/blogs/throughc…
/2
OMC is a profit making corporation based in the USA. It has several websites
studium-scholasticum.org - 30 day courses in Italy
fromrome.info - Catholic news
ordo-militaris.net - political opinion
ordo-militaris.us/sign-up/ - religious & military recruitment for OMC
/3
The Twitter accounts of Ordo Militaris Catholicus include
@MilitarisCath
@Ordo_Militaris
@OrdoMilitarisCO
@OrdoMilitarisES
@OrdoMilitarisFR
@OrdoMilitarisRP
@OrdoMilitarisIT
@OMC_TX
@CrossAzureUKR
/4
Since 2016, OMC has spread conspiracies and misinformation via tweets, videos and articles.
These cover a range of topics such as race, religion, LGBTQ+ rights, masonry, immigration, vaccines, the "Deep State", the "Great Reset", NATO, and the American Civil War.
/5
In the past OMC founder Bugnolo has faced arrest.
In 2020, he was arrested in the Vatican and charged as an illegal alien and impersonating a priest.
abyssum.org/2020/02/11/bro…
In 2022, he was arrested in a Spanish cathedral for refusing to wear a mask.
fromrome.info/2022/09/21/a-n…
/6
OMC has expressed its support for Zelensky and the liberation of Ukraine. However, it is worth noting the organisation's initial response to Russia's invasion (the tweet has since been deleted). An earlier tweet accused Ukraine of "treachery against Christendom".
/7
In May 2022, Bugnolo registered Cross Azure @CrossAzureUKR in Ukraine to assist Ukraine's defenders.
opendatabot.ua/c/44701184
/8
Last year, OMC stated that it had donated over USD 20,000 profits to Cross Azure, contradicting OMC's Facebook page where it claims to be a non-profit.
Bugnolo is the director of both organisations. Cross Azure does not list trustees, nor is it a registered US charity.
/9
Cross Azure takes donations via SWIFT to a Ukraine bank account, or by Paypal to "Save Old St. Mary's Inc.", on behalf of Cross Azure. Its president is "John Bugnolo".
Donations page:
crossazure.org/donate/
MA filings:
corp.sec.state.ma.us/CorpWeb/CorpSe…
Website:
sosm.education
/10
No published accounts for OMC or Cross Azure have been seen, and it does not appear to work with any other charity in Ukraine. Bugnolo had a lunch meeting with UK4UA, which delivers medicines and supplies to Ukraine.
/11
Since 16th March, OMC has engaged in an intense attack on #NAFO supporters on Twitter.
#NAFO is a network of people who have donated to a recognised Ukraine charity. Its aims are to support fundraising and counter russian propaganda. It does not take money.
/12
OMC's interest in NAFO started when a NAFO supporter reported a probable fake NAFO account requesting money.
OMC then wrote multiple tweets suggesting widespread fraud in NAFO, and the next day published a video on its website, "Beware of NAFO", under an anti-Semitic slur.
/13
Many NAFO supporters pointed out that NAFO has no way to accept money as its purpose is fundraising for Ukraine charities, and that it is recognised by Zelensky and Defence of Ukraine. Others linked to the NAFO page listing supported charities. [Here: nafo-ofan.org/blogs/charitie…]
/14
To understand the most likely reason for Ordo Militaris Catholicus's hostility towards NAFO supporters, it is worth reading this conversation (note: @AjBaalman is co-founder of OMC).
/15
Since then, OMC's accusations towards NAFO have become increasingly bizarre, extreme and in some cases disgusting. These are just a few examples.
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1641043…
/16
In the past week, around 300 people who reply to @MilitarisCath tweets have been intimidated with the same bogus legal threat, and some have been doxxed to their employers.
/17
To sum up, Ordo Militaris Catholicus is a US corporation for defence and security that accepts donations for undisclosed activities, promotes misinformation and conspiracy theories via its website, and threatens individuals who reply to its tweets with legal action.
/18
There is a more insidious aspect to Ordo Militaris Catholicus suggesting that it is not merely a hard right religious organisation, but a radicalised hate group. In the 7 years since its inception, it has consistently used the classic motifs of anti-Semitic discourse.
/19
When anti-Semitic and racist beliefs are combined with personal attacks, conspiracy theories, and unaccounted funding, it greatly increases the risk of extremism.
Here is an example of anti-Semitism. Note that it is nothing to do with what the person said.
/20
The remainder of this thread is a collection of screenshots of anti-Semitic tweets by Ordo Militaris Catholicus, whereby I hope to show that it is a dangerous and extremist organisation.
There are other forms of bigotry expressed too. If anyone wants to add these, please do.
/21
Please feel free to comment or correct anything you see wrong, thought it may be advisable to block these accounts first:
@MilitarisCath
@Ordo_Militaris
@AjBaalman
@CrossAzureUKR
@OrdoMilitarisCO
@OrdoMilitarisES
@OrdoMilitarisFR
@OrdoMilitarisRP
@OrdoMilitarisIT
@OMC_TX
/22
/23 (thread on anti-Semitism)
/24 (thread on anti-Semitism)
/25 (thread on anti-Semitism)
/26 (thread on anti-Semitism)
/27 (thread on anti-Semitism)
/28 (thread on anti-Semitism)
/29 (thread on anti-Semitism)
/30 (thread on anti-Semitism)
/31 (thread on anti-Semitism)
/32 (thread on anti-Semitism)
/end
Since this thread was written, we have obtained further evidence of the group's extreme anti-Semitism. John Bugnolo, the brother of OMC founder Alexis Bugnolo, posts regularly on the group's own "social media" site at crossazure.net
/33
Meanwhile on Twitter @MilitarisCath continues its obsession with Jews
/34
/35
@threadreaderapp unroll
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.