FBI Retracts Report Labeling Trad Catholics Thought Terrorists
Evita Duffy-Alfonso1 of 2FEB. 09, 2023
A leaked FBI report revealed that the Bureau’s Richmond, Virginia Division is investigating the threat of “white supremacy” among Catholics who prefer Latin Mass. Since the leak made headlines, FBI headquarters rescinded the report, claiming it does not “open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity.”
This seems to contradict the document itself, which says its findings are based in part on “liaison reporting.” According to the document’s whistleblower and former Special Agent Kyle Seraphin, liaisons “are overt contacts with trusted members of a community or an industry.” That suggests the FBI already has been investigating Americans based on “First Amendment protected activity.”
The January 23, 2023 document claims “Radical-Traditionalist Catholics” (RTCs) are “typically characterized by the rejection of the Second Vatican Council” (which allowed for Mass to be said in people’s spoken language) and their “adherence to anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology.” According to the FBI, the threat comes from RTCs increasingly fraternizing with “Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists” (RMVE).
To further surveil “Radical-Traditionalist Catholics,” the document says the Bureau may potentially mitigate this “threat” with “tripwire and source development,” which means further infiltration into Catholic communities using various kinds of informants. The report also implies the FBI will begin monitoring social media posts for what it claims is “Radical-Traditionalist Catholics” ideology.
Terrible Sourcing
The FBI sources grounding the field office’s recommendation to increase federal surveillance of conservative Christians include two Salon articles, the infamous “rosary extremism” Atlantic article, and a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center — all left-wing sources, three of which were op-eds.
Nowhere in the document does the FBI explain how traditional Catholics pose a “violent” threat. The document offers only two pieces of evidence of an “overlap” between “Racially and Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists” and “Radical-Traditionalist Catholics.” One is that both groups are “[hostile] toward abortion rights advocates.”
For the second, the FBI cites an alleged collaboration between Nick Fuentes’ “American First/groyper Movement” and Church Militant, a Catholic media organization that has been hyper-critical of the Catholic Church’s handling of sex abuse cases and woke ideology infecting American bishops.
The evidence sources provide for the “overlap” between Radical-Traditional Catholics and “Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists” include Fuentes’ supporters and Church Militant activists attending the same pro-life demonstration and Michelle Malkin speaking at Church Militant rally.
One of the Salon articles even has a quote from Church Militant founder Michael Voris explicitly stating there’s no association between Church Militant and America First: “Church Militant doesn’t align itself with any specific group in a formal way — including groups that are expressly Catholic,” Voris said at the time.
“Church Militant might partner with anyone in a particular effort to achieve a limited and shared goal,” Voris added. “In this particular case (Roe), yes. [Church Militant] will link arms with almost anyone who decries the horror of babies being hacked to death in their mothers’ wombs. Isn’t ‘linking arms’ the very thing Antifa and BLM and the Democrats do?”
The Federalist asked Voris if there have been any associations between Fuentes or America First and Church Militant. Voris responded: “Zero. Never has been.” …
https://thefederalist.com/2023/02/09/fbi-retracts-memo-labeling-traditional-catholics-violent-white-supremacists-pushing-infiltration-of-christian-communities/