What is the Kenosha Guard militia group of 'patriots' and why are they clashing with BLM protesters in Wisconsin?
KENOSHA, WISCONSIN: With protesters in Kenosha continuing to clash with the police in the city over the shooting of an unarmed Black man Jacob Blake, reports are emerging of a self-proclaimed militia group of "patriots" that are offering their aid to law enforcement. The "Kenosha Guard" is making headlines across the state and country after the group was linked to Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old who allegedly drove to the city from Illinois armed with an AR-15, and then shot and killed two protesters on Tuesday, August 25.
According to a report in the New York Times, a Facebook group for the Kenosha Guard was first created on June 2 as protests over the Memorial Day death of George Floyd in Minneapolis spread across all 50 states. With Blake's shooting sparking violent tussles with the police in the city, the group's following swelled to 3,500 and its profile photos posted featured a large American flag and a man holding a military-style rifle.
While it identified itself as a "social club," its motives were seemingly to mobilize people against the protesters, with one post calling out for "patriots willing to take up arms and defend out (sic) City tonight from evil thugs?" Those calls for violence reached hundreds of thousands of people thanks to the help of "Infowars", which was founded by far-right radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
While Infowars is technically banned on Facebook, its articles can still be shared on the platform and users posted those where the website said groups such as the Kenosha Guard were "recruiting citizens to patrol." Tracking tool CrowdTangle showed Infowars' article on Kenosha was shared 274 times, reported Atlantic Council's Digital Forensics Research Lab. Furthermore, it was also posted nine times to pages where the combined audience crossed 103,000. Many of these pages also featured calls to violence, with one post reading, "Shoot to kill folks. Cause they won't give you a second chance."
The Kenosha Guard had also created a Facebook event called "Armed Citizens to Protect our Lives and Property" on Tuesday, the same day Rittenhouse went on a shooting spree, where they offered police their help because they would be "outnumbered."
"As you know I am the commander of the Kenosha Guard, a local militia," read the post, which was written to Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskins. "We are mobilizing tonight and have about 3,000 RSVPs. Our effort has made the national media. I ask that you do NOT have your officers tell us to go home under threat of arrest as you have in the past. We are willing to talk to KPD and open a discussion. It is evident that no matter how many Officers, deputies, and other law enforcement officers that are here, you will still be outnumbered."
Facebook Inc. removed the Kenosha Guard's page on Wednesday, August 26, stating the page had violated its policy against "militia organizations." But that move only came amidst accusations that Rittenhouse, who has now been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, had been inspired by their call to arms, something the company has denied.
A Facebook spokeswoman told the New York Times that they had not found any evidence suggesting Rittenhouse followed the Kenosha Guard page or had been invited to its event. The group had similarly tried to distance itself from the teen, posting a statement where they said they were "unaware if the armed citizen was answering the Kenosha Guard Militia's call to arms."