Thread by @reveal

1/ NEW: Over the last year, we’ve identified almost 150 current and retired cops who are members of @Facebook groups run by and for Oath Keepers, Three Percenters and other anti-government militias. revealnews.org/article/the-am…

2/ These law enforcement officers are a subset of a larger contingent of cops we identified as members of Confederate, anti-Islam, misogynistic or other extremist groups on @Facebook.

Read our first story here: revealnews.org/article/inside…

3/ Today’s analysis offers among the most extensive evidence yet that militias are drawing support – and membership – from within American law enforcement.

These connections place a number of American cops on a collision course with the federal government.

4/ Who exactly are The Oath Keepers and Three Percenters, and what do they believe? Here’s a quick rundown.

5/ In one FB group we briefly joined before being banned, we ID’ed 17 current and former law enforcement officers, including retired cops from MA, NY, MD, AK, Ill and TX; and cops and sheriffs who are still on duty in NY, Ill, MO and KY.

6/ The group, which has more than 14,000 members on @Facebook, serves as a place where militia members can organize and discuss real-life meetups and the formation of new chapters.

7/ Like several other similar @Facebook groups we joined, this group serves as a gathering place for conspiracy theorists and Islamophobes.

8/ Recently, its members have focused on the Somali-American Congresswoman @IlhanMN.

One poster encouraged someone to put a “bullet in her head,” using several slurs to describe her.

9/ At least two active duty and four retired law enforcement officers commented inside this group.

10/ When we presented our findings to police departments across the U.S., we got mixed results.

* Some expressed genuine concern and vowed to investigate.
* Others didn’t respond.
* Others were furious that we questioned the motives and activities of their officers.

11/ “Call the FBI, call the terrorist watch list, call whoever you want,” Chief Steven Dixon of the Cornwall-on-Hudson Police Department screamed at @willcarless in a phone call when we told him about Terwilliger’s activity in the Three Percenters group.

12/ Security expert Daryl Johnson said every police chief and sheriff in the country should be concerned about the presence of militia members in law enforcement.

13/ So who are these police?

Greg McWhirter, a sheriff’s deputy at the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office in Montana, is a member of at least 15 militia-connected Facebook groups.

14/ He also has appeared in an official Oath Keeper video, giving instructions about how to patrol polling stations after @realdonaldtrump warned – without evidence – that 2016’s elections would be rigged.

15/ Police aren’t just members of these groups; they’re organizing.

16/ In Massachusetts, John Rocca, a program manager for the Department of Veterans Affairs Police, discussed the dates and location of a forthcoming meeting with a fellow group member inside “Oath Keepers of Massachusetts” in 2015.

17/ In the same group, Charles Ricko, who retired from the Charlemont Police Department in Massachusetts last year, helped to organize meetings and offered moral support to fellow militia members.

18/ After another member posted about having organized a successful meeting, Ricko responded enthusiastically, “Sign them all up!”

19/ This is the second installment in a multi-part series investigating the ties between police officers and extremist groups.

Read part I here: revealnews.org/article/inside…

20/ And to never miss an investigation from us, sign up for our newsletter: revealnews.org/newsletter