Threats against federal agents have spiked after the FBI executed a search warrant on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.
After the Mar-a-Lago raid, there was a significant increase in references to violence and civil war on social media platforms.
Alex Friedfeld, a researcher with the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, said that the Mar-a-Lago search is seen as the first shots of a war by the federal government. You're seeing calls for people to arm up, to lock and load, and to be prepared to use real bullets to defend themselves.
A warning bulletin was issued by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. Personal identifying information of possible targets of violence, such as home addresses, as well as identification of family members as additional targets, have been posted along with specific and credible threats.
An Ohio man tried to force his way into an FBI field office in Cincinnati with an assault rifle and a nail gun. Police shot and killed the suspect.
Adam Bies was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with making threats to kill FBI agents after the search on Mar-a-Lago.
According to the FBI affidavit supporting his arrest, one of the posts on Gab said "every single piece of shit who works for the FBI, from the director down to the janitor who cleans their toilets deserves to die." It's open season on you now that you've declared war.
The threats are not limited to online rhetoric, as some Republican politicians have called for violence.
In Florida this week, Martin Hyde, a GOP Congressional candidate for the US House said in a campaign video that FBI agents would leave his home if they tried to search him like they did at Mar-a-Lago. The Florida state house candidate was banned from social media after saying he would allow shooting federal agents.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump warned that "terrible things are going to happen" and that the country is in a "very dangerous position" following the search of his residence.
In response to the "flood of violent threats," Democratic lawmakers are pushing for action from social media platforms they say call for violence.
The Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Subcommittee on National Security sent letters to social media companies.
"We are concerned that reckless statements by the former President and Republican Members of Congress have unleashed a flood of violent threats on social media that have already led to at least one death and pose a danger to law enforcement officers across the United States." Any threats of violence against law enforcement that appear on your company's platforms need to be addressed immediately.
The company's enforcement teams are watching for violations of its existing violent threat, abusive behavior and hateful conduct policies after receiving the letter.
We always evaluate requests from law enforcement in line with our guidelines.
The Washington Post reported that Andrew Torba, the CEO of Gab, said the platform is considering its response to Congress and that it responded quickly to law enforcement requests. Telegram doesn't allow calls to violence, and uses a combination of user reports and proactive moderation to monitor threats, according to a Telegram representative.
Representatives for Gab, Telegram, Meta, TikTok, Truth Social, Rumble, and Gettr did not respond to Insider's questions.
The companies were asked if legislation could be needed to protect law enforcement personnel. Legislation hasn't yet been introduced.
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