The director of the FBI on Wednesday condemned supporters of former President Donald Trump who have used violent rhetoric in the wake of his agency's search of Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago.
Christopher Wray, who was appointed director of the agency in 2017 by Trump, called the threats circulating online against federal agents and the Justice Department "deplorable and dangerous."
"I'm always concerned about threats to law enforcement," Wray said,
"violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you're upset with."
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Wray made the remarks following a news conference during a long-planned visit to the agency's field office in Omaha, Nebraska, where he discussed the FBI's approach to cybersecurity.
He declined to answer questions about the hours-long search FBI agents conducted Monday of Trump's resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
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It has been easy to find the threats and the call to arms in the corners of the Internet favored by right-wing extremists since Trump himself announced the search of his Florida home.
Reactions included the ubiquitous “Lock and load” and calls to assassinate federal agents and even US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
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Brian Murphy, a former Department of Homeland Security and FBI official who is now an executive at open-source intelligence firm Logically, said his company has seen a huge increase in threats against FBI personnel and facilities on platforms. of social media from the Mar-a-Largo registry.
Murphy told NBC News that the threats were uncovered as part of Logically's daily investigation into threats to election officials and operations.
He noted that threats against the FBI often contained references to violence against specific targets.
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The online threats follow the same patterns the company has seen during its election work, Murphy said, and are found openly or underground on various platforms, including Telegram, Rumble, Gettr and Gab.
Logycally has identified threats against FBI individuals and facilities, and has provided relevant information to authorities, according to Murphy.
“As an experienced intelligence official, I can say that
I have never personally seen anything like the increased threats seen in recent days against FBI personnel and facilities,
coming amid already escalating threats against officials and the FBI.
electoral infrastructure,” Murphy said.
On Gab — a social network popular among white supremacists and anti-Semites — a poster bearing Stephen's name said he was waiting for "the call" to mount an armed revolution.
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“All it takes is one call.
And millions will arm themselves and take back this country.
It will be over in less than two weeks,” the message read.
Another Gab poster implored the others: “Get this started!
This illegitimate and unelected regime has gone overboard with its GESTAPO roundup.
It's about time the liberal socialist filth was removed from American society."
The search of Trump's residence on Monday is part of an investigation into whether Trump took classified White House records to his Florida residence, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department has been investigating possible mishandling of classified information since the National Archives and Records Administration said it had received 15 boxes of White House records, including documents containing classified information, from Mar-a-Lago. early this year.