The Reemergence of Militia Group on Facebook

Three Percenter Militia on Facebook

Ken Silva, writing for Headline USA, reports that the Three Percenter, or III%er, militia group is proliferating on Facebook in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election. This information was initially reported by tech publication Wired. The Three Percenters, named after the estimated 3% of colonists who took up arms against King George during the American Revolution, are a national network of militias. They were involved in both the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer and the Capitol Hill uprising on January 6, 2021.

FBI Infiltration of the Three Percenters

Wired's report, however, does not mention that the FBI heavily infiltrated the Three Percenters. The FBI even used the group as a front in the Whitmer plot, creating fake Three Percenter Facebook groups run by its informants. This information was revealed during the first Whitmer trial in 2022.

The Role of FBI Informants

During the trial, defense attorney Christopher Gibbons, representing militia "ringleader" Adam Fox, stated that FBI informant Steve Robeson created the Michigan Three Percenters' Facebook page. Gibbons explained that Robeson announced on the Facebook page that Fox had become the leader of the Michigan branch in June 2020. Around this time, Fox became active with the Wolverine Watchmen, the group associated with the alleged Whitmer kidnap plot. Fox was made the administrator of the Michigan Three Percenters' Facebook page, created by FBI informants.

The Escalation of the Plot

After becoming the administrator of the Facebook page, Fox received a message from another FBI informant named "Mark". He then attended a militia training event in Munith, Michigan, on June 28, 2020. The plot escalated from there, leading to the arrest of Fox, Barry Croft, Daniel Harris, Brandon Caserta, Ty Garbin, and Kaleb Franks in October 2020. Following the arrests, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed to have alerted the FBI about the Whitmer plot, seemingly unaware that his company was alerting the FBI about its own informants.

Recent Developments

The Intercept recently reported that FBI informant Jenny Plunk was also involved in creating the fake Michigan Three Percenters. Plunk created a private Facebook group called 'Michigan Patriot III%ers', classified as a domestic terrorism threat by the FBI. The first members of this Facebook group were Plunk and Robeson, both on the FBI's payroll, and Fox and his girlfriend, Amanda Keller. Wired's article, however, does not mention these details, focusing instead on the apparent resurgence in extremism.

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