Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Daniel Martindale, the US missionary who has defected to Russia and publicly declared that he has spent the last two years spying on the Ukrainian military, describes himself as a Christian and 'conservative American', and subscribes to a wide range of conspiracy theories. ⬇️

2/ Martindale, a native of Indiana, held a press conference earlier today in Moscow in which he explained why he decided, as soon as the war broke out in Ukraine, that he would cross the border and spy for Russia while posing as an aid worker.

3/ During the press conference, he explained that he decided to support Russia because "the war in Ukraine is not as much of a cultural issue ... for people in Russia and Ukraine, as it is a continuation of Washington's battle with the rest of the world, really, …

4/ …and even with its own citizens. I see it as just America's attempt to contain and to repress Russia in their attempt to be an equal player in the world."

5/ "I see it as a war where one side is fighting for justice, and the other side is really just interested in their own financial and business interests, and really not interested in the well-being of their own citizens ... or even in the welfare of their own soldiers."

6/ Martindale also sees Vladimir Putin as someone who would be ideally suited to serve as President of the United States:

7/ "If I happened to be in the United States right now, it definitely would need to be a candidate who is for peace. But he also needs to do that in a way that is in line with my religious views.

8/ "So he needs to support a traditional family where you have a man, woman, children being brought up to be normal people in a productive society. If Putin was running in the United States today, I would vote for him."

9/ (Putin is known to have had several mistresses and a number of semi-secret children. Meanwhile, Russian children from kindergarten age upwards are being taught weapons handling, battlefield tactics and wound-dressing.)

10/ Martindale sees the United States government as a personal enemy of himself and people like him, claiming that it was responsible for 9/11. In his eyes, it is the enemy of 'conversative Americans', who have just cause to go to war with it:

11/ "I understand from about 2005 that the United States government is my enemy, personally, because of the fact that they are responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001."

12/ "For a conservative American, we always understand from the very beginning that the government is our enemy. But when they declare war on their own citizens, that is a cause to go to war with them."

13/ In a bizarre section of the press conference, Martindale played a video showing him admitting to his brother, mother and father that he had been spying for Russia and warning them to expect hostile attention from the US government. They, however, are supportive of him.

14/ - Brother: "I don't think it's a real big problem, Danny. I mean, what kind of pressure do you think they'd put on mom and dad anyway, throw us in jail for what?"
- Mother: "They have no morals, [they're not] Christians. They just killed so many people in North Carolina."

15/ - Brother: "Yeah... Well, if some neo-Nazis come up to our door, I'm going to smoke them."

16/ Martindale's social media accounts also show support for a plethora of conspiracy theories on topics such as vaccines, 4G and 5G, the gold standard, CRISPR gene-editing technology, Satanism in Hollywood, Trump 2020, colloidal silver, Bill Gates, and anti-government themes.

17/ Notably, his conspiracy ideation appears to start towards the later part of the COVID-19 pandemic around 2020. It appears that he, like many others, fell down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories during COVID-19 that has led him to commit extremely destructive acts.

18/ Russia has amplified conspiracy theories as part of its campaign of disinformation against the West, exploiting the anti-government sentiments of American conservatives. It seems that Martindale was already primed to believe Russia's versions of why it invaded Ukraine. /end

Sources:
🔹 youtube.com/watch?v=o8sb1z…
🔹 x.com/RyanO_ChosenCo…

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