Militia Group Once Platformed by Facebook Complicates Delivery of FEMA Aid in North Carolina 
On Wednesday, the Washington Post published a story about a community in North Carolina that had been hit hard by hurricane Helene, cutting its residents off from water or electricity. Soon, a small group of men appeared and began distributing supplies – but they also disparaged FEMA relief efforts and declared that the US government had “generated” the hurricane as part of a scheme to seize private land in lithium-rich areas. Eventually, locals learned that the men belonged to Veterans on Patrol (VoP), an anti-government militia organization with “internal hierarchical structure, past firearm field-training exercises, and paramilitary-style activities they believe are enforcing national security measures,” in the words of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Eventually, a man unaffiliated with VoP joined their prayer circle and disrupted FEMA operations by threatening to “hunt” relief workers. The militia group left town soon after, having antagonizing residents and local law enforcement. 
 
In 2023, CfA’s Tech Transparency Project (TTP) published a report revealing that VoP was using Facebook to post about their anti-immigrant “operations” on the southern border. Much of VoP’s activity is rooted in online conspiracy theories; in 2018, the group sent believers to a homeless camp in Tucson, Arizona, which they falsely claimed was part of a sex trafficking ring. Today, VoP continues to reach thousands of followers on Telegram, turning its anti-government activities into content that can be shared on other extremist channels.