Behind the Bastards
Capitol hill insurrectionists and tracking the groups behind them.
Welcome to Brackets! Each week of the newsletter, we will feature a reporter at the intersection of technology and journalism, and hear the backstory, tools, and inspiration behind their work.
Open-source investigators and journalists probably need to get some more sleep! They certainly didn’t have much of it last week, with most of the OSINT (open source investigative) community working around the clock to identify the individuals that breached the US capitol last Wednesday.
For those following the saga, the cast of characters rolled out like an unfortunate House of Cards & Game of Thrones crossover. There was the shirtless Viking, tagged as Q shaman Jake Angeli; the gleeful elf stealing the Speaker’s podium, profiled as Florida man Adam Johnson; and dozens of individuals bearing the Gadsden garden snake flag, identified as members of the Proud Boys, a militant neo-fascist group.
Tag Yourself! Which Capitol Hill Insurrectionist Are You?
Amid the chaos, digital investigators stepped to the occasion. Bellingcat set up a spreadsheet for video sources; and the FBI reportedly received more than 100,000 pieces of digital evidence after requesting for help identifying participants of the riots.
The Battle of Portland
One particular journalist, who’s incredible work I want to highlight this week, is Robert Evans, a former conflict reporter in Iraq and Ukraine, who has covered the Proud Boys extensively since its early mobilizations in Portland. Evans is also the host of Behind the Bastards, a lovely podcast about the most terrible people on the planet.
In the wake of George Floyd, Evans was physically attacked while covering protests in Portland. He had his finger broken. Bellingcat identified the perpetrator as Travis Taylor, a Proud Boy.
In the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake, I received a phone call from Evans at night. He was out protesting again, and had seen someone shot. He was typing with one hand, the other broken. And he asked me for help in investigating events in Kenosha and Portland.
The ensuing 48 hours, as we scraped and fervently analyzed social media sources for instigations of violence, were some of the most grueling and character defining moments of my life.
Figure 1: While investigating 8kun (the anonymous message board that Qanon conspiracies originate from), I found this shocking post. It’s almost like a step by step guide for Qanon followers on how to be a Twitter troll.
The “Battle of Portland,” as Evans likes to call it, is a precursor to the appalling events on January 6th. In many ways, the characters of the violent insurgency in Washington, were already casted in Portland and Kenosha.
Recently, Evans wrote a great article on “how the melding of media channels and personal ties between the violent extremist right, Qanon, and the broader MAGA community” converging in Washington will have consequences far outlasting the Trump presidency. Definitely a worthwhile read!
🧲 How the insurgents and MAGA right are being welded together on the streets of D.C.
What’s Next (for the alt-right)?
Parler, the preferred social media platform of alt-right groups, was shut down this week after Amazon pulled its web-hosting. Large swaths of MAGA supporters are migrating to free speech social networks Gab, Clouthub, and MeWe, as well as private messaging apps Signal, and Telegram, according to this Axios report.
In addition to social networks, Qanon supporters remain active on anonymous messaging channels, as 8kun remains a safe corner of the internet for conspiracy theorists to retreat in.
Planning for a second “million march” on January 20th is underway, as Twitter warns of mobilizations targeting the inauguration. US capital and State buildings are especially vulnerable to potential civil unrest and violence.
Thanks for reading!
If you’re interested in more Open Source Investigative content also check out an earlier issue of Brackets on tips and advice from New York Times visual journalist Christiaan Triebert.
Definetely barbarian, looks above everything