Protesters against a Texas drag brunch met by armed LGBTQ supporters
Protesters against an all-ages drag brunch in Roanoke, Texas, pushed the town into the middle of a larger controversy over the issue.
Jasper Colt, USA TODAY
Caution: This story refers to racist and homophobic language.
Annie Nygard didnt know what was happening.
The business owner from San Diego, who co-founded Restrained Grace, a company that creates and sells jewelry, gifts and fetish gear and whose online profile uses the term "Antifa" suddenly started getting dozens of hate-filled direct messages on social media. The messages poured in, telling Nygard to kill herself, sending death threats as well as 88, a white supremacist term that stands for Heil Hitler.
It was distressing, said Nygard, who identifies as agender and uses she/they pronouns. I already have complex post-traumatic stress disorder, so, logging on to all that hate is just triggering in general.
Further north, in Sacramento, California, Unieke, a drag queen who appears at a local all-age drag show was being bombarded in the same way.
I was getting photos sent to me of, like white power, Unieke said. People saying that my day of the rope will come. People sending, like, monkey emojis and stuff like that mostly just racist remarks.
In recent weeks, attacks like this have repeated across the country: A Jewish university student in New Jersey bombarded with anti-Semitic messages; a trans man in Florida attacked for his identity; a Black YouTuber in Kentucky targeted because of his race. All found themselves flooded with racist and homophobic insults, memes, offensive photos and death threats.
What these people all had in common, but didnt know, was that they had been chosen as targets by a vicious campaign of online raids, orchestrated by an account run by one of the internets most notorious white supremacists, using the secure messaging app Telegram.
For months, a USA TODAY investigation found, the Telegram channel Project Mayhem amassed more than 1,500 followers, who assisted in organized raids advertised on the channel.
The channel, which functions similarly to a Twitter account, would post a call to raid someone, usually identified by their social media accounts. Channel followers would then flood that persons online presence with hatred.
But in recent weeks the channel took to fully doxing its targets providing full names, addresses, phone numbers and emails of people the group wishes to target, as well as photos of them and their family members, including children.
According to the calls to action posted by Project Mayhem, most of the targets were chosen because theyre Black or LGBTQ or because they identify with the anti-fascist movement. Racial slurs abound.
Lets show this f----- what real white boys are like! reads a post from April 3.
Another from April 2 spewed the N-word and said the targets would "hang from this theoretical treehouse."
"Bully this antifa..." the channel posted March 30, adding another slur.
Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, who has monitored extremist activity since the 1980s, said shes never seen a campaign that was as open, blatant, and targeted as this one.
Whats so different about this is that it's literally orchestrated, Beirich said. Harassment usually just arises almost out of the ether because people don't like something somebody's saying, and so they get mobbed online. But to direct attacks, that's actually real nasty.
Telegram did not respond to a request for comment by USA TODAY on Friday. Sometime between that inquiry and Monday morning, the Project Mayhem channel disappeared from the site.
More from this report: He pushed harassment 'raids,' sold racist paraphernalia online. He was in federal custody at the time
While Americans enjoy significant freedom of speech because of the First Amendment, individuals do not have absolute free reign to use speech that internationally harasses or intimidates others, said Aaron Mackey, free speech and transparency litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Generally speaking, publishing information that is publicly available about individuals is not, in itself, going to be creating potential legal liability, Mackay said. But it gets trickier if you are directing people, or directly inciting people, to engage in a pattern of threatening or harassing an individual.
Danielle Citron, a law professor at the University of Virginia and author of two books on online harassment and privacy, said the bar to prosecute somebody for this sort of activity is even higher.
Successful prosecutions for online hate speech have to show a prolonged pattern of harassment against an individual, Citron said. Since Project Mayhem targets a new person every few days or even every few hours, it might not rise to the seriousness required to get the attention of prosecutors, Citron said.
When law enforcement pays attention is when it's targeted at a specific person, and it's sustained, it's not a one-off it has to be what they call a course of conduct. Citron said.
Thats at odds with the impact these raids can have on peoples lives, she acknowledges.
For any one person, it's 1,000 bee stings, and it is terrifying when you're the subject of the targeting terrifying and life threatening, Citron said. You may move, you may carry a gun, you may feel deeply unsafe, you may have people come to your home, right? So the consequences are profound and sustained for the victim. But for the perpetrators, any given perpetrator has to engage in a course of conduct.
None of the targets of the online raids who spoke to USA TODAY said they had reported harassment or threats to law enforcement.
But Citron acknowledged Project Mayhem could be a case that sets a new precedent.
The campaign is documented in months of online postings. The founder of the campaign is clearly identified, and while no one victim was targeted for more than a few days, the relentless attacks could be construed as a course of conduct, she said.
And, in this instance, law enforcement doesnt have to go far to find the man behind Project Mayhem. Indeed, even as he was directing many of these raids, he was in federal custody.
For years, Paul Nicholas Miller, a 34-year-old white supremacist from Florida, posted daily as Gypsy Crusader on Telegram, Gab and other websites, including identifying himself by that name in his livestream videos.
Miller announced the founding of an effort called Project Mayhem in Nov. 30, 2020.
The Project Mayhem chat for organized raids on social media has been established, Millers Telegram channel Gypsy Crusader News Network posted that day. RAID! WELCOME TO PROJECT MAYHEM appeared on the channel less than an hour later.
Miller first described his targets on his own channel. Later, he shared dozens of posts from a dedicated Project Mayhem channel. As Project Mayhem called for raids, Miller would post as himself in the discussions about the attacks. His Gypsy Crusader accounts would alert his followers to new Project Mayhem calls to action, announcing RAID INCOMING.
Miller also had a criminal record that traced to a 2007 drug arrest. When FBI agents raided his home in March 2021, they found he was illegally in possession of firearms. Miller went to prison for about two years, then was sent home in January under a supervised release program.
The Project Mayhem raids paused while Miller was in prison. But soon after his release, they began again.
And in recent weeks, the Project Mayhem posts became even more personal openly doxing people and calling for their harassment and bullying.
After transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney raised far-right extremists ire last month by partnering with Bud Light beer, Project Mayhem posted what appear to be Mulvaneys home address and phone numbers on Telegram. Mulvaney did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
Miller, at the time, was still in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons. The BOPs inmate locator placed him as being under the purview of a Residential Reentry Management office in Philadelphia, and a spokesperson confirmed that meant Miller was either in a halfway house or under home confinement.
A few days after receiving questions from USA TODAY about how Miller could be allowed to participate in online raids while still in federal custody, the bureau issued a statement saying, Out of an abundance of caution and in response to information recently received, Paul Miller was removed from community confinement and placed back into a secure facility.
Posts on the Project Mayhem channel stopped about the same time.
What is antifa? As crucial legal test for Antifa ideology heads to trial, right-wing media also scrutinized
When Nygard first saw the flood of hateful messages in her inbox, she was dismayed. Her initial response was to start deleting the messages and blocking the accounts sending them.
But then she decided to try a different tactic, and posted a story on Instagram describing the experience to her more than 35,000 followers.
The response was amazing, she said.
We had a flood of support messages, and a ton of trans people reached out to thank me for what I was doing to keep going, because it's important to just be present to be public right now, Nygard said. And that very quickly overwhelmed all the hate just all of those well-thought-out, crafted messages of love and support.
She added:
I think overall, I had a lot more faith in humanity restored by the experience, actually.
More: American extremists love Tucker Carlson. Five ways he helped spread their messages
More:
How the Telegram channel 'Project Mayhem' sparked online hate ... - USA TODAY
- Trump's Super Tuesday victories could mean the return of Antifa - Fox News - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- This Is America #194: Jeremy White on San Diego 'Antifa' Case, Smash by Smash West, Franklin Lopez on New ... - ItsGoingDown.org - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Aaron Bushnell cheered murder of U.S. soldiers | Israel National News - Arutz Sheva - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- January 6 rioters who broke windows falsely tied to Antifa - Yahoo News UK - December 7th, 2023 [December 7th, 2023]
- Donald Trump has been found liable for sexual abuse. Will it change anything? - Vox.com - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Former Navy reservist who admired Hitler is sentenced to four years over Jan. 6 riot - Yahoo News - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Fox CEO Avoids Mentioning Tucker Carlson by Name - Newsweek - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Not how white men fight: Tucker Carlson text reportedly worried Fox bosses - The Guardian - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Pennsylvania Proud Boys played a big role in Jan. 6 planning: Key takeaways from Capitol riot sedition trial - The Philadelphia Inquirer - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Claire Lehmann: Riding Out the Media Storm - Areo - Areo Magazine - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Fox News Fires Off Warning Shots Over Tucker Carlson Leaks - Newsweek - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- BREAKING Biological male 'daughter' of Democrat House Minority ... - The Post Millennial - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Tucker Carlson text describes how group of Trump guys jumped Antifa kid, not how white men fight - AL.com - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Tucker Carlson said he wanted white mob to 'kill' an 'Antifa kid': text led to his dismissal - Daily Mail - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Four Proud Boys guilty of seditious conspiracy over US Capitol riot - BBC - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Donald Trump Jr. Says He's Angered the 'Leftist Executives' at Fox News - Newsweek - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Leaked Video Shows Tucker Carlson Bashing FOX Streaming ... - KFI AM 640 - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Top Democrat Katherine Clark's transgender daughter gets PROBATION for 'hitting cop in the face' - Daily Mail - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Report: Fox News Fired Tucker Carlson After Discovering He Wasnt Just Playing a Racist on TV (Among Other Things) - Vanity Fair - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Scabbing With Tucker | claytoonz - Claytoonz - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Cleveland, Tennessee, man in Capitol breach trial found guilty on ... - Chattanooga Times Free Press - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Trans-identified homeless male, repeat offender, released without ... - The Post Millennial - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Tucker Carlson thirsts over guest's girlfriend and shares violent fantasies in leaked video and texts - TAG24 NEWS - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Civil War Reenactor Admits to Planting Bomb at Cedar Creek ... - Department of Justice - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Proud Boy who broke Capitol window slams 'fake' charges as trial wraps up - NBC News - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Richmond mayor Stoney hints at gubernatorial run and more Va ... - Virginia Mercury - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Protestors lose their marbles literally as Matt Walsh speaks at ... - Foundation for Individual Rights in Education - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Who is Klint Ludwig? Andrew Lester's grandson's Twitter posts go viral in wake of Don Lemon interview - Sportskeeda - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- LETTER: The real story - NWAOnline - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- The useful veneer of the aging Democrat | Government/Opinion - City-sentinel - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Finally, Portland Antifa is being brought to justice for its violence - January 23rd, 2023 [January 23rd, 2023]
- Examining Extremism: Antifa | Examining Extremism | CSIS - January 23rd, 2023 [January 23rd, 2023]
- Miami Antifa to Protest 'Gays Against Groomers': 'Bring Masks, Signs ... - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Twitter Bans Violent Antifa-Aligned Group for Radicalizing Militants - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Antifa Defendants Arrested In Attack On Trump Supporters Take Plea ... - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- AP finds most arrested in protests aren't leftist radicals - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Revealed: Laid-off Twitter employee attended Antifa Portland riots ... - December 2nd, 2022 [December 2nd, 2022]
- Antifa Armed with AR-15s Guard 'Kid Friendly' Drag Show in Texas - December 2nd, 2022 [December 2nd, 2022]
- Journalists win legal battle against Antifa-linked Canadian Anti-Hate ... - December 2nd, 2022 [December 2nd, 2022]
- Armed Antifa, Proud Boys clash at Texas kids' drag brunch - December 2nd, 2022 [December 2nd, 2022]
- Texas lawmaker on armed Antifa members showing up at 'kid-friendly ... - November 27th, 2022 [November 27th, 2022]
- Antifa: What is it and what does the movement want? - USA TODAY - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- FAKE NEWS: Newsweek Claims Ted Cruz Lied About Antifa Burning Down ... - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- DOJ: Minnesota man who claimed Antifa burned down his camper admits to ... - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- What is Technology: A Complete Overview - Tech Bubbles - November 1st, 2022 [November 1st, 2022]
- What Is Technology Meaning of Technology and Its Use - November 1st, 2022 [November 1st, 2022]
- Does Your Sheriff Think He's More Powerful Than the President? - The Marshall Project - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Former Wyoming man gets 30 days for role in Capitol breach - The Associated Press - en Espaol - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- NIH expands faster path used to develop COVID-19 screening to tests, therapies for Alzheimer's and other neurological disorders - Baltimore Sun - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- How DeepMind thinks it can make chatbots safer - MIT Technology Review - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Beijing bus drivers to have their 'emotions tracked' by government using AI bracelets - Daily Star - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- NJ 101.5 hosts stand up for teachers who have sex with students - POLITICO - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Trans extremists and Antifa try to shut down women's rights event in England - The Post Millennial - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- White nationalism, fueled by social media, is on the rise and attracting violent young white men - Arizona Mirror - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- A cop's eye view of the January 9 encounter with Antifa - San Diego Reader - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- TUPOC in the spotlight: Antifa rallies amidst eviction threats - Rebel News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Nextech AR Announces New Updates to Its Real-World Augmented Reality Spatial Computing Platform, ARway - Business Wire - July 21st, 2022 [July 21st, 2022]
- Weed, Women, and Video Games: Right-Wing Media Blames Just About Everything but Guns for Highland Park Shooting - Vanity Fair - July 11th, 2022 [July 11th, 2022]
- No evidence ties Highland Park shooter to antifa - PolitiFact - July 11th, 2022 [July 11th, 2022]
- The Death of Abortion Rights in America: A Postmortem - New Ideal - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Candace Bushnell, Hanya Yanagihara and More on Their Favorite New York City Novels - The New York Times - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- January 6 Was the Beginning of Ashli Babbitt as Martyr in Trumps Cult - Vanity Fair - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert asked Trump for a pardon after insurrection, Jan. 6 committee reveals - The Texas Tribune - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Leading Illinois GOP U.S. Senate candidate protested at the Capitol on Jan. 6 - WBEZ Chicago - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- School Board Candidates Who Criticized the Hiring of a Black DEI Educator Lose Their Elections - ProPublica - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Man Who Crashed Car Into Trump Store Had Pro-Antifa Band Tattoo - The Epoch Times - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- What We Saw During 'Night of Rage' Pro-Abortion Protest - Daily Signal - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Suspect accused of using flamethrower in attack at Los Angeles Antifa riot charged with attempted murder - The Post Millennial - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Freedom will always defeat tyranny | Opinion | news-graphic.com - News- Graphic - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Letters to the Editor | Opinion | benningtonbanner.com - Bennington Banner - May 9th, 2022 [May 9th, 2022]
- Between a Rock and a Hard Place The Brooklyn Rail - Brooklyn Rail - May 9th, 2022 [May 9th, 2022]
- Ginni Thomas's Texts Are a Barometer for the Far Right - The Atlantic - March 31st, 2022 [March 31st, 2022]
- DeSantis' office warns Antifa not to hold violent rallies in response to anti-grooming bill - Rebel News - March 31st, 2022 [March 31st, 2022]
- Moms for Liberty Member Supportive of Capitol Insurrection Appointed to Florida Board of Education by DeSantis - The 74 - March 27th, 2022 [March 27th, 2022]
- Mo Brooks Says Trump Asked Him to Illegally Rescind Election - The New York Times - March 27th, 2022 [March 27th, 2022]
- Biden book: "This Will Not Pass" on 2020 election and Biden's first year - Axios - March 17th, 2022 [March 17th, 2022]
- Get to heart of why Capitol Police didnt gird for Jan. 6 riot - The Boston Globe - March 17th, 2022 [March 17th, 2022]
- An errant golf shot launched Mariposa Castros devotion to Trump. Now the Gilroy mom will be sentenced for storming the Capitol - San Francisco... - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]
- A Twitter investigation reveals what the 'freedom convoy,' Islamophobes, incels and Hindu supremacists have in common - The Conversation CA - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Conservative Bill Sizemore Enters the Republican Primary for Governor - Willamette Week - February 11th, 2022 [February 11th, 2022]