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 Since the leak made headlines, FBI headquarters rescinded the report, claiming it does not “open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity.”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
