Investigative researchers give inside look at how they uncover and report extremist threats

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Researchers are monitoring online extremist spaces for threats to law enforcement in the wake of the search of Mar-a-Lago.

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Investigators said they are on alert after the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a warning about these threats. Government and civilian examiners are ready to act.

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A regular day for Ben Popp includes combing the Internet for videos and threats. He’s an investigative researcher for the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.

He looks for posts, comments, videos and audio in extremist online spaces and on social media. The ADL’s researchers recently examined a threatening voicemail California Congressman Eric Swalwell said someone left for him. It mentioned violence against Swalwell’s wife and children.

It is not an easy job.

“I almost have to take off my normal person hat and put on my researcher hat when I enter these online spaces because that’s the only way to stay sane when you’re seeing such clear hate online,” Popp said.

The FBI explained increasingly, lawmakers and law enforcement are targets of these kinds of threats. Officials on both sides of the aisle have condemned this kind of intimidation.

“I will not standby silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a press conference.

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Popp said they regularly see language he’d describe as distrustful of government, but since the search of Mar-a-Lago, it’s become outwardly violent.

“All we can do now is just continue to monitor these spaces and be ready to act if anything does happen,” he said.

It can be difficult to differentiate between rhetoric and someone who might act, according to Popp.

“I’d say it’s definitely more of an art than a science in determining how to treat each case,” he said. “It’s pretty much a case-by-case basis how we can either move forward with law enforcement or logging the comment and being prepared to share information if that does become necessary.”

Popp explained the ADL has a good working relationship with law enforcement.

“We need to hold people accountable for their comments and actions in any way that we can legally and socially,” he said.

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The past illustrates how important this work is, according to Popp.

“January 6th demonstrated that these sort of hateful comments and violent narratives that are spreading online can lead to in-person political violence and that is a cause for concern and a reason that we should continue to monitor these spaces,” he added.

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