Christian Militants Are Using Instagram to Recruit—and Becoming Influencers in the Process

In a reel shared to Instagram on February 14, an account identifying itself with a group called “The 13th Northeast Guerillas” put out a call to prospective recruits in Vermont and New Hampshire. What they advertised was fairly benign on its surface: fitness, community, preparation, survivalist training. The video was set to the tune of Kendrick Lamar’s “TV Off,” and featured a rapid succession of highly edited images showing armed men posing in the wilderness in tactical gear. They sometimes wore skeleton masks, and everyone had their faces entirely concealed or censored. In many of the images, crucifixes are seen visibly dangling from their necks or sewn onto clothing.

In another post from earlier this year, one of the group's purported members shared a photo of a young man holding an