Extremists

The Branch Covidians are determined to own the libs: Ammon Bundy, the rancher who led an armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, said he plans on holding an Easter gathering despite stay-at-home orders implemented during the coronavirus pandemic. Bundy told CNN he wants to gather several hundred people in Idaho at a yet-to-be-announced location. He said he …

The Daily Beast reports: The Food and Drug Administration is demanding that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones stop advertising dubious dietary supplements as coronavirus treatments and threatening legal action if he doesn’t comply. The FDA sent a letter to Jones and his website InfoWars on Thursday demanding that he stop telling the viewers of his popular internet broadcasts that they can …

Politico reports: The National Rifle Association has laid off more than 60 employees in recent weeks, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The move comes as the gun rights group faces acute financial challenges during the economic crunch caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The association recently took a large financial hit when the pandemic forced the NRA …

Talking Points Memo reports: Anti-government extremist Ammon Bundy led a meeting where he agitated for Idahoans to physically defy the state’s stay-at-home order, which is meant to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bundy is perhaps best known for leading the armed, 10-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016. But these days he’s threatening …

Media Matters reports: The #filmyourhospital TikTok video with the most views as of the afternoon of April 3 comes from Owen Shroyer, a host on Infowars, an outlet that has already been banned from most major social media platforms. In the video — whose caption encourages people to “Take Part In The #filmyourhospital Takedown Of The Fake News Media” — …

The New York Post reports: New York is trampling on Second Amendment rights by shuttering gun stores during the coronavirus pandemic, the National Rifle Association says in a new lawsuit. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to label gun shops “non-essential” businesses has made it virtually impossible for New Yorkers to legally buy a firearm in the state, the gun-rights argued in …

Bloomberg News reports: The National Rifle Association accused Governor Gavin Newsom in a lawsuit of taking away the right of Americans to access firearms by shutting gun stores during the coronavirus outbreak. The nation’s leading gun-rights group filed the complaint Friday in Los Angeles federal court along with two individuals, retailer Gun World and three other firearms advocacy groups. “The …

Never let a global crisis go to waste: The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), the group’s lobbying arm, recently posted a fundraising pitch to members that tried to fearmonger about people losing their Second Amendment rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. The plea claims that “anti-gun lawmakers are exploiting” the pandemic “to deny you and your loved ones your fundamental …

ABC News reports: The suspected white supremacist who plotted to bomb a hospital facing the coronavirus crisis was in touch with a then-active U.S. Army soldier who wanted to launch his own attack on a major American news network and discussed targeting a Democratic presidential candidate, according to an FBI alert summarizing the case. On Tuesday, as 36-year-old Timothy Wilson …

The Huffington Post reports: Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist and repeated loser of court battles, was ordered today to pay more than $20,000 in attorney fees after losing another appeal in a defamation case related to the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He now owes nearly $150,000 in legal fees before he even faces a jury. The …

The BBC reports: A man accused of deadly attacks on mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch a year ago has pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder. Brenton Tarrant, 29, also admitted the attempted murder of another 40 people, and one terrorism charge. He had previously denied the charges and was due to go on trial in June. …

The Associated Press reports: A man fatally injured by the FBI was planning a bomb attack on a medical facility in the Kansas City area, the agency said in a news release Wednesday. Timothy Wilson, 36, was injured Tuesday when FBI agents served a probable cause arrest warrant in Belton after a long-running domestic terrorism investigation, according to a statement …

ABC News reports: Racist extremist groups, including neo-Nazis and other white supremacists, are encouraging members who contract novel coronavirus disease to spread the contagion to cops and Jews, according to intelligence gathered by the FBI. The FBI’s New York office reports that “members of extremist groups are encouraging one another to spread the virus, if contracted, through bodily fluids and …

Heavy.com reports: Oprah Winfrey became the No. 1 trend on Twitter on Tuesday night, with numerous reports claiming her house in Boca Raton, Florida, was being raided, and that she had been arrested on sex trafficking charges. The problem with these claims going viral online is that none of it is actually true. The conspiracy theory surrounding Oprah started with …

NBC News reports: New York State Attorney General Letitia James has warned conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to stop selling fake coronavirus cures, according to a statement from her office released Thursday. James sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding Jones stop selling products such as toothpaste, dietary supplements and creams that make coronavirus claims via the website for InfoWars, Jones’ media company. …

“I’m not going to belabor this, I’m just going to tell you that for just your daily life and your gums and your teeth for regular viruses and bacteria, the patented nanosilver we have, the Pentagon has come out and documented and Homeland Security has said this stuff kills the whole SARS-corona family at point blank range. Well of course …

The Austin Statesman reports: Austin-based conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was booked into the Travis County Jail on a charge of driving while intoxicated just after midnight Tuesday, the Travis County sheriff’s office said. Jones, 46, was booked at 12:37 a.m., said Kristen Dark, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office. The driving while intoxicated charge is a class B misdemeanor, she said. …

Jared Holt reports at Right Wing Watch: White supremacist Robert Sterkeson has been identified as the man who briefly displayed a swastika flag at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign rally in Arizona on Thursday. Sterkeson has been known as an extremist for more than a decade​; he operates an obscure anti-Muslim hate group. Sterkeson was reportedly first identified by​ Imraan …

CNBC reports: Rep. Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican, wielded an AR-15 rifle in his office and dared former Vice President Joe Biden and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke to “come and take it” in a jaw-dropping video posted online Friday. “I have a message for Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke, if you want to take everyone’s AR-15s in America, why don’t …

The Guardian reports: The president is heading to his private resort club Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Florida, later today and is holding a fundraiser this evening. But Donald Trump revealed this morning that he is also meeting with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro at the club this weekend. “He wanted to have dinner,” Trump told reporters. The meeting is expected …