A vigilante militia notorious for its patrols on America’s border with Mexico has threatened to take on the US military in recent weeks, with its founder baselessly claiming that Hurricane Helene was deliberately caused by a government energy weapon that needs to be destroyed, according to private and public Telegram chats.
Veterans on Patrol’s (VOP’s) conversations reveal that members believe the outlandish conspiracy theory that the US government caused the hurricane with weather manipulation technology, that the US military is spraying the American people with poisons, and that members should be willing to destroy government facilities in order to stop these activities.
The chats, provided to the Guardian by the Global Project on Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), raise the prospect of the conspiracy-fueled militia group engaging in renewed violence under the incoming Trump administration.
GPAHE co-founder Heidi Beirich told the Guardian: “VOP is one of the most dangerous militia groups out there now … with their recent targeting of military efforts to help with hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina, and their insane conspiracy theories, this is a recipe for disaster.”
The Guardian requested comment from VOP via an email to an address posted in their Telegram chats.
In early October, the main account on VOP’s public Telegram – probably run by the group’s founder, Michael “Lewis Arthur” Meyer – has been depicting Helene as an “act of war perpetuated by the United States military”, with the goal of ensuring that “the lithium mines are secured and the planned Ashville Smart City comes to fruition”.
The false claim that the federal government was seizing land from property owners in North Carolina in order to establish lithium mines circulated widely among the far right in the wake of Helene. The idea that smart cities are being created as a means of social control has a longer history among rightwing conspiracy theorists, and has even been linked to previous natural disasters.
In 2023, following wildfires in Hawaii, Canada and the Canary Islands, conspiracy theorists on social media went viral after linking the disasters to an international conference on smart cities. Those claims were further amplified by the likes of the far-right broadcaster Alex Jones and Trump ally Charlie Kirk.
In the aftermath of Helene’s catastrophic impact on North Carolina, the federal disaster management agency, Fema, had to alter its work patterns due to fears over militia threats. One man was eventually arrested and faces charges of “going armed to the terror of the public”.
On 30 October, in VOP’s main Telegram channel, the account holder posted a poll that read: “The US Military destroyed multiple communities and murdered hundreds by steering Weather Weapon Helene into Appalachia country, what should we do?” The answers offered were “Target military equipment and destroy the [directed energy weapons] easily accessible by the public”; “Destroy power and water lines that feed military bases”; “Locate all Top Brass bold enough to walk in public and detain them for murder”; “ALL 3 ABOVE”.
Some 72% of 49 respondents to the poll in the chat opted for all three.
Later the same day, the main account wrote: “VOP News is openly requesting the public to provide the locations of all USMIC equipment used to control the weather.” It added: “We intend to destroy this equipment in order to save lives.”
The account claimed: “We will not use violence against the puppet soldiers or murder the innocent like they do. But there are more than a few of us who are crazy enough to tear these weapons down just as we did the cartel water stations across the Arizona desert.”
This is a reference to a 2020 incident in which the group destroyed several migrant desert watering stations in Arizona’s Pima county, claiming that they were used by cartel scouts. In response, Pima county sheriff’s office has an open warrant for Meyer’s arrest over the alleged vandalism.
Although national media attention has moved on from the hurricane, VOP appears to have adopted the belief that it was a military attack on domestic targets into their belief systems, and this may have intensified their anti-government posture, with Donald Trump and Republicans being portrayed as complicit in the events.
The day after Trump was re-elected, the main account posted that “the US Military is currently poisoning the skies of Western North Carolina after it has already destroyed this area with Weather Weapon Helene”.
The account claimed that “American children are dying from fentanyl pouring across the border, bioweapons jabbed in their arms, and the poisons being absorbed that come straight from the US military”, with the referenced “bioweapon” being the Covid-19 vaccine.
The account has repeatedly pointed to Trump’s role in producing the Covid-19 vaccine as a reason that he cannot be trusted.
Members of the group have now melded their claims about the hurricane – and plans to strike equipment they believe to be used for controlling the weather – with long-held beliefs that “directed energy weapons” and “stratospheric aerosol injections” or chemtrails are being wielded by the government against the American people.
On Sunday, in a post headed “MILITARY TREASON ALERT”, the main account posted that the US air force was “spraying poisons” and “bombarding Western North Carolina”, adding that “until these Weather Weapons are eliminated, freedom and liberty are illusions”.
Beirich, the GPAHE founder, said: “Given the group’s general distrust of Trump and government agencies, we may well see more threats and possible targeted violence against government assets in the near future – particularly if Trump’s plans to use the military in his deportation plans aren’t up to snuff for VOP.”
VOP was formed in Pima county, Arizona, around 2015 as a self-described veterans’ advocacy group, though founder Meyer has acknowledged he is not a veteran. While the group initially assisted homeless veterans in the Tucson area, setting up temporary shelters and distributing supplies to those in need, from 2018 it refocused on vigilante patrols at the southern border, with Meyer spinning conspiracy narratives fueled by his apocalyptic Christian nationalist beliefs.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), VOP’s activities are founded on “anti-government and anti-immigrant ideas”, and the group has pushed “anti-Indigenous, antisemitic, anti-Catholic and anti-Mormon falsehoods” under Meyer, who is a self-proclaimed pastor.
From 2018, Meyer drew attention on social media and recruits to the organization by claiming Mexican cartels were orchestrating human trafficking operations at the southern border, a narrative that meshed with “QAnon” and “Pizzagate” conspiracy theories, which were then gaining currency on the far right.
The organization conducted unofficial desert patrols, and Meyer claimed to be in a “chess match” with the cartels. They have frequently falsely claimed to have found evidence of such trafficking: in one case in 2018, they claimed to have found a human trafficking site which authorities determined was simply an abandoned homeless encampment.
Their activities drew criticism from law-enforcement agencies, who stated that the group’s actions were interfering with legitimate investigations and potentially compromising real criminal cases.
The organization has since been known for using social media to promote various unsubstantiated claims about activities along the border. Their beliefs have led them into confrontations with property owners and law enforcement agencies.
In 2018 and 2019, Meyer was arrested several times for trespassing and other charges arising from the group’s unauthorized presence on private and public lands. Despite these legal challenges, VOP has continued to maintain an active presence in southern Arizona, though with diminished public attention compared with its peak period.
The group sparked controversy during a brief operation in Spokane, Washington, earlier this year, near where Meyer’s second-in-command, Shawna Martin, lives. In Spokane the group again made false claims about trafficking activities near homeless encampments. Local authorities and homeless advocacy groups objected to their presence, accusing VOP members of harassing and filming vulnerable individuals without consent. At that time, Meyer also spoke of building a “beautiful compound” in nearby Washtucna.
Telegram posts indicate that Meyer has been on the ground in North Carolina since soon after Hurricane Helene.
