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Facebook boots Patriot Prayer, a far-right group with a history of violence

Facebook removed accounts belonging to far-right group Patriot Prayer and its leader Joey Gibson on Friday, citing a new effort to eradicate violent social militias from the platform.

That effort emerged through a policy update in mid-August to the companys rules around Dangerous Individuals and Organizations.

Those changes resulted in the removal of a number of groups and pages linked to the pro-Trump conspiracy theory known as QAnon and some militia organizations, as well as groups and pages linked to Antifa, a decentralized left-leaning ideology that opposes fascism.

Patriot Prayer is a Vancouver, Washington-based far-right group known for staging confrontational events in left-leaning urban centers.

Last year, Gibson pled not guilty to felony riot charges stemming from a street fight in Portland in which he pushed a woman, taunted a number of people and physically threatened others, according to court documents obtained by KOIN News.

The group attracted national attention this week when one of its supporters, Aaron Jay Danielson, was shot and killed on Saturday night after a caravan of armed Trump supporters drove into downtown Portland to clash with racial justice protesters who have been demonstrating in the city center for more than three months.

A suspect in Danielsons death, Michael Reinoehl, was shot and killed Thursday night when a task force of federal agents and local law enforcement made an effort to apprehend him near Olympia, Washington.

On Thursday, Gibson seemed to anticipate that the national attention might lead to his group being kicked off Facebook and encouraged Patriot Prayer supporters to follow him on the small conservative social network Parler.

Original article
Author: Taylor Hatmaker

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