Leaked chats from the American Patriots Three Percent militia, also known as AP3 or APIII, reveal how the group reacted to media reports on their efforts to monitor ballot drop boxes in Arizona and how they organized their efforts. In 2022, extremist groups incited by lies about election fraud and spurred on by conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza began “operations” to watch ballot drop boxes throughout the country. The Arizona chapter of the Oath Keepers, the Yavapai County-based Lions of Liberty and Clean Elections USA, which is run by QAnon-linked Melody Jennings, were the focus of a lawsuit during the 2022 midterm elections aimed at preventing them from surveilling dropboxes, with critics calling it voter intimidation. Photos of two members of the AP3 militia in full combat-style gear made international headlines and led to fears among voter advocate groups that these tactics would cause voters to fear heading to the polls. The leaked Telegram chats, first reported by Unicorn Riot, show that the leaders of AP3 were upset when the photos were published. Telegram is an encrypted messaging application based in Russia that has become a major platform for far-right extremists. “We had a little incident today or last night in Arizona,” AP3 National Commander Scot Seddon says in a video shared to the chat. “One of our members who has done border ops has done something quite foolish. He went to monitor some of the polling ballot boxes, armed in full kit.” “We were hoping that people would use their heads and do things in a more tasteful manner,” Seddon said. The man in the picture ended up being a part of the North Carolina Chapter of AP3 who left the group voluntarily to “protect” them, according to a video posted in the chat by the head of AP3’s North Carolina chapter.
via azmirror: Leaked chats reveal right-wing militia’s coordinated efforts to watch AZ ballot boxes