Inside our FBI investigation, plus news on Oath Keepers, armed leftists: The week in extremism

The FBI has a little-known effort known as Social Media Exploitation, or SOMEX, that allows agents to monitor Americans’ social media posts for threats of violence and other law enforcement purposes, with virtually no oversight and no requirement to show a prior threat.

That’s the main finding of a USA TODAY investigation published this week. My colleague Tami Abdollah and I outline the FBI’s SOMEX efforts and consider how the FBI’s history of bias might impact this new era in domestic surveillance. We also drill into why bureau officials told Congress they didn’t have the “authority” to do something they’ve actually been doing for years.

Before this week’s roundup, here’s a look inside our report.

The FBI can, and possibly is, reading your social media posts

The FBI’s yearslong effort to monitor Americans’ social media posts is detailed in an extensive USA TODAY investigation published yesterday. Despite assurances from top FBI officials that the bureau  only has limited authority to monitor social media posts, an examination of that authority shows it is actually almost unlimited, and subject to very little oversight.

• The FBI’s SOMEX efforts include receiving tips from the public, other law enforcement agencies and contractors who scour social media looking for threats to the public or the government.

• This might seem obvious. After all, public posts are public. Yet top FBI officials have played down the bureau’s ability to keep tabs on social media postings — even public ones — repeatedly telling Congress they don’t have ability to monitor without an “authorized purpose.”

• When did they say this? When Congress asked them why they hadn’t noticed social posts than planned the Jan. 6 insurrection.

• It turns out the phrase “authorized purpose” is extraordinarily broad, and allows agents to search and monitor social media posts for intelligence and law enforcement reasons without having seen a prior threat or getting authorization from their supervisors.

• So what has changed? The number of threats against the FBI itself. Those have soared in the weeks since agents searched Trump’s Florida home and club Mar-a-Lago. The arrest of one man making those threats initially came from a tip to the FBI’s SOMEX team. It turns out the FBI is watching social media for threats, at least in this case, a threat directed at them.

WHAT WE DON’T YET KNOW: Just how many people – and how many posts, from how many different web sites and social platforms – federal agents and contractors may have seen, or preserved.

Other stuff that happened this week included President Joe Biden drawing a line in the sand on political violence, the arrest of a prominent Oath Keepers attorney, former president Donald Trumps’s Truth Social QAnon-inspired frenzy and a cadre of armed self-described anti-fascists “protecting” an all-ages drag event in Texas.

Biden speaks up on extremism

In a 24-minute speech in Philadelphia on Thursday, President Joe Biden railed against what he called “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans,” who he said “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”

• Biden, who announced his presidential run with a direct reference to the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, mentioned the rally in his speech: “No matter what the white supremacists and extremists say, I made a bet on you, the American people, and that bet is paying off, proving that from darkness, the darkness of Charlottesville, of COVID, of gun violence, of insurrection, we can see the light.”

• He referenced the Jan. 6 insurrection, prefacing his comments with the statement: “Plain and simple there is no place for political violence in America. Period. None. Ever.”

• “You can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-America,” he then added.   

Trump’s Truth Social frenzy

Trump went on a social media tear this week, using his account on the platform he founded, Truth Social, to post a total of 160 “Truths” and “ReTruths” (as posts are known on the platform) from Monday to Thursday. Most of these concerned Trump’s ongoing effort to discredit the Department of Justice’s investigation into classified documents he took to Mar-a-Lago, but he also posted a slew of memes, including conspiracy theories and QAnon-related content.

WHAT IT MEANS: Trump has done this before — sharing “edgy” content from the universe of conspiracy theorists who form part of his political base. Since being banned from Twitter, Truth Social has become his preferred platform for stirring up dissent against his political and legal adversaries.

Another Oath Keeper Jan. 6 arrest

A new defendant has joined the more than a dozen members of the self-styled militia the Oath Keepers facing trial for the Jan. 6 insurrection. A federal conspiracy case against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and 10 other members of the group is one of the most serious cases to come out of the insurrection.

• Kellye Sorrelle, an attorney from Texas, was indicted Thursday on four counts of tampering with evidence. Sorelle was arrested Thursday morning.

CONTEXT: SoRelle reportedly took over as leader of the Oath Keepers when Rhodes was arrested in January.

Guns: Not just for the far-right

Freelance journalist Stephen Monacelli reported on Sunday that armed black-clad individuals had shown up to an all-ages drag show in Roanoke, Texas. Monacelli described the group as “antifascists” who were there to protect attendees.

• Protesters had planned to confront people at the drag show, and the counterprotesters, apparently members of the John Brown Gun Club, were there to head them off. One had a patch on a jacket reading “I bite fascists.”

• Similar drag shows across the country have been attacked by far-right extremists in recent months.

• The Texas event was sold out despite the protests, Monacelli reported.

• Local police said they were aware of the event and were stationed in the area, but no arrests were reported. “We were there to try to keep the peace and basically keep these two sides apart,” Roanoke police Sgt. Ryan Otero told the Dallas Morning News.

CONTEXT: It’s far from the first time left-wing activists have shown up with guns. The John Brown Gun Club is one group that has periodically appeared at protests and events with members carrying rifles.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Weekly extremism: Biden criticizes; Trump 'truths;' leftists with guns