Why did this Facebook account steer gun lovers, George Floyd protesters to the same spot?
WASHINGTON — Word spread quickly across social media platforms. A Facebook account with the username Scobo had sent community invites for competing events. It invited Pennsylvanians to a gun-rights rally on June 8, 10 a.m. in the capital city of Harrisburg. Separately, he also invited Pennsylvanians to a rally in memory of George Floyd — same place, same day and same time.
Who invited groups seemingly in conflict to march this coming Monday, amid tension and with the potential for bloodshed? Russia? After all it had promoted fake election rallies in 2016 that led people to the streets in Florida and Texas. Radical anarchists?
The answer isn’t entirely clear yet. It appears to be tied to sympathizers of a splinter offshoot of the libertarian movement, so-called agorists who are mostly young males who are anti-police and progun. And they’ve taken up as a martyr to their cause Duncan Lemp, a young Potomac, Md., man killed on March 12 during a largely unexplained police raid on his home.
Across the nation, young men rallying against government COVID-19 shutdowns have used Lemp’s name when detained. On his Instagram page, which remains active, the late Lemp posted under his handle @yungquant references to the Boogaloo network, a right-wing group that was targeted in FBI arrests in Nevada this week.
Scobo cited Lemp, born in Miami Beach although he grew up elsewhere, in touting a May 29 rally in memory of George Floyd, the black American man who died last month in Minneapolis, a police officer’s knee across his neck for nearly nine minutes.
And adding to the intrigue, many social-media followers of Lemp and Scobo make references to F--k 12 — a phrase scribble on signs and spray painted on walls and storefronts during this week’s protests nationwide. It’s slang for police, and the term is believed to have originated from the old TV police show “Adam 12,” and is also slang for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
It’s all a confusing cocktail of risks, grievances and beliefs.
Amid questioning from McClatchy and The Miami Herald, which became aware of the invites last weekend, Facebook took down the Scobo account and midweek took down related accounts on Instagram such as @Scobo —and @Scobo — currentdystopia. (Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012.)
In a statement, Facebook said the account is domestic and was removed for violations of its misrepresentation policy, which requires users to provide their authentic identities. Facebook declined to discuss if shared information with law enforcement but confirmed one of the now-deleted Scobo events referenced a common Boogaloo symbol.
Scobo’s true identity remains a mystery. A main account describes him as a “voluntarist” and shows a young man, from behind, wearing battle fatigues and holding up a military-style assault rifle.
“I just want to be free and live peacefully with my fellow neighbors. Government is violence,” read Scobo’s now-shuttered Instagram profile, which earlier this week boasted 7,308 followers.
People who interacted with Scobo’s Instagram claimed to not know him or remember their interactions. But on Monday, Scobo was already on the radar of Stephen Libhart, director of the Dauphin County Department of Public Safety, outside Harrisburg. He confirmed he was aware of the competing invites and that state police intelligence officials had the information, too.
By Wednesday, the organizers of a gun rally long-planned for Monday in the state capital, the one touted by Scobo, called it off. Police and state lawmakers were concerned that radicals planned on infiltrating either or both rallies and could open fire on crowds. It’s unclear if there was a real George Floyd rally planned for Monday.