‘Trans girls need guns’: Terrorism inquiry puts supporter of leftist gun community behind bars

Read the original at Washington Examiner ↗
Washington Examiner · collected 2026-10-09 · by Hudson Crozier

Quick Summary

Anthony Slota, a transgender individual who supports leftist views and advocates for gun rights online, has been arrested in Alabama along with another person, Levi Belcher, as part of a terrorism investigation. The arrests came after threatening messages to kill immigration agents were discovered online. Police found weapons and anti-government materials during the raid on their home and vehicle. Slota’s social media posts include endorsements of violence against political opponents and encouragement for armed conflict. He faces federal charges related to illegal rifle possession, along with a state charge of possessing a sawed-off rifle, holding him in jail with a $15,000 bond.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

In December 2025, 18-year-old Levi Belcher from Tennessee made threats against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on social media, which were reported by a witness. After being listed as missing in January 2026, law enforcement searched an apartment in Huntsville, Alabama, on September 10, finding it filled with anti-government symbols and writings, including a rifle marked "anti fascist." Belcher was arrested along with two roommates, Tadashi Erekson and Anthony Slota, who were charged with possessing unregistered rifles. Belcher was additionally charged with threatening communications. The FBI alleged that the suspects had planned to follow law enforcement officers around as a form of community protection but this behavior was interpreted by authorities as potential terrorism. This case highlights tensions between left-wing political activism and perceived threats to national security under President Donald Trump's administration, which viewed such activities as significant concerns.

Written for “Extremist Threats InvestigationAlabama” on 2026-10-10, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 2 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 69442: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-09

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
33
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
9%
3 of 33 hedged
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Correction & hedging signals
69.4
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-10-09 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Extremist Threats InvestigationAlabama
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 16% hedged 8 of 51 📰 publisher trust 64
“The articles describe different individuals arrested in separate incidents related to online threats and support for violence, not the same specific school shooting incident.”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 19% hedged 5 of 26 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles describe police actions and findings on September 10 in Huntsville, Alabama involving Levi Belcher and Anthony Slota, including weapons and anti-government symbols.”

Publisher

Washington Examiner · 2419 article(s) · 4 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 4 correction(s)
2026-10-09
Christa Pike woke up: With a 7% botch rate, lethal injection is an engineering disaster
2026-10-03
Tennessee’s prison chief resigns after failed Christa Pike execution, Bill Lee says
2026-10-03
Alito says there’s no perfect time to retire while confirming he will reconsider next year
2026-10-01
Christa Pike was set to be the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in 200 years before botched attempts: What to know

Who wrote this

Hudson Crozier
21 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Slota told officials that “he and Belcher would ‘cop watch’ meaning they would follow law enforcement, such as [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and [Huntsville Police Department], around as a means of protecting the community,” an FBI counterterrorism agent wrote.
🔮 The speaker expressed hope that they could “put a complete stop to major aspects, if not the entire border wall happening here.”
🔮 But many in the place I grew up would recoil at a statement like that.
🔮 A witness later reported the suspect to authorities over alleged December 2025 posts on Threads saying Belcher would “gun down an [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agent on sight” and showing a firearm.
🔮 The rapid growth of America’s Muslim population is renewing fears that Sharia could undermine American values, including in Texas, where Republicans are strategizing on how to restrict Islamic political influence.
🔮 “I am sensitive to any situation that would unduly expose our colleagues to such risks.”
🔮 The snafu marks another example of the DSA struggling to decide just how extreme its positions will be as it increasingly influences U.S. elections.
🔮 A New York criminal justice activist said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is failing to stop “racist” policing in a recent interview with the Democratic Socialists of America.
🔮 SUPER UW, which was active as early as 2012, gained attention in May 2025 for fomenting a UW building takeover that led to fire, vandalism, and arrests.
🔮 Former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon made a splash in early September for resigning and claiming artificial intelligence could one day kill humanity.
Also by Hudson Crozier
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 21 articles by Hudson Crozier →

Topics

Alabama FBI Huntsville The Department of Justice Washington Examiner

Subjects

Slota PERSON · 16× Belcher PERSON · 4× FBI ORG · 2× Instagram ORG · 2× Alabama GPE · 1× Anthony Slota PERSON · 1× Huntsville GPE · 1× Levi Belcher PERSON · 1× Violet PERSON · 1× Washington Examiner ORG · 1×

Narrative

Slota told officials that “he and Belcher would ‘cop watch’ meaning they would follow law enforcement, such as [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and [Huntsville Police Department], around as a means of protecting the community,” an FBI counterterrorism agent wrote.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-09
🔮 Slota told officials that “he and Belcher would ‘cop watch’ meaning they would follow law enforcement, such as [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and [Huntsville Police Department], around as a means of protecting the community,” an FBI counterterrorism agent wrote.

Claims (33 extracted, 3 hedged)

A transgender firearm connoisseur is in Alabama custody on gun charges stemming from a terrorism investigation into his roommate. asserted
connoisseur → stem → roommate
Anthony Slota, referred to as “Violet” on social media and in court records, was arrested on Sept. 10 with fellow defendant Levi Belcher after online threats to kill immigration agents put authorities on their trail. asserted
threats → refer → trail
Slota’s online footprint shows a history of endorsing violence against political enemies, training with firearms, and inviting other leftists to prepare for possible armed conflict before his arrest, a Washington Examiner review found. asserted
review → show → arrest
Police found numerous weapons and anti-government materials in the defendants’ vehicle and Huntsville apartment, according to court documents. uncertain
Police → find → documents
The Department of Justice charged Belcher, Slota, and a third roommate with possessing illegal rifles, while Belcher is also charged with the December 2025 threats that sparked the investigation. asserted
that → charge → investigation
Slota repeatedly posted about the need for guns and the Second Amendment to protect trans-identifying people, adopting a username with the LGBT activist phrase “arm the dolls.” asserted
Slota → post → dolls
Slota’s prosecution is the latest linked to an informal but growing gun fandom on the far Left. asserted
prosecution → link → Left
“GET YOUR FRIENDS AND GUNS TOGETHER FOR A [conversation] ABOUT WHO TO PROTECT YOUR COMMUNITY FROM,” Slota posted on Instagram on Sept. 10. asserted
Slota → get → Sept.
The post featured a photo of three gun-toting individuals in a wooded area with their faces censored. asserted
faces → feature → area
More images in the post showed a drawing of a Ku Klux Klan hood being shot and lists of enemy groups that included the Proud Boys, the Community of Police Supporters Northwest, and neo-Nazis. asserted
that → show → Police
Federal court records did not list an attorney for Slota on Friday, and local court information was not available. asserted
information → list → Friday
Slota is held in a Madison County jail on $15,000 bond with a state charge of possessing a sawed-off rifle on top of his federal charges. asserted
Slota → hold → charges
On the night of the arrests, federal agents who were initially looking for Belcher saw him and Slota wearing body armor and carrying guns as they began driving a vehicle, according to criminal complaints. uncertain
they → look → complaints
Authorities arrested them during a traffic stop and later detained the third defendant during the home raid. asserted
Authorities → arrest → raid
Slota told officials that “he and Belcher would ‘cop watch’ meaning they would follow law enforcement, such as [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and [Huntsville Police Department], around as a means of protecting the community,” an FBI counterterrorism agent wrote. asserted
agent → tell → community
Prosecutors have not accused the trio of a specific violent plot, though the FBI’s investigation is ongoing. asserted
investigation → accuse → plot
A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives agent told the press on Thursday that police found “what appeared to be an ambush-style setup” of weapons in the home. asserted
what → tell → home
He also alluded to “a note that indicated the intent to commit a serious criminal act” inside the defendants’ vehicle. asserted
that → allude → vehicle
Slota’s stated contempt for law enforcement and support for armed resistance was on display before his arrest. asserted
contempt → state → arrest
Videos Slota posted on Instagram showed him tracking suspected police activity around town, calling officers “pigs” and “blue devils” in captions. asserted
him → post → captions
A reel Slota shared weeks ago also shows a guillotine beheading an imaginary President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and other figures as upbeat music plays. asserted
music → share → Trump
Another post depicted Slota posing in a green mask with weaponry and a song titled “Trans Girls Need Guns” playing. asserted
Girls → depict → Guns
“If you get shot tryna pull a trans person out the bathroom that is your own fault,” Slota posted in August. asserted
Slota → shoot → August
“There can be no ‘unprovoked’ violence against a Nazi,” reads a post from Slota’s X account that month. asserted
post → read → account
“If you take up that identity, you’ve already declared violent intent — anything done in response is just varying levels on self-defense.” asserted
anything → take → defense
The leftists who love the Second Amendment Sentiments like Slota’s helped drive a growth in leftist militia-like organizations since Trump’s 2016 election win, according to 2025 research from George Washington University. uncertain
who → love → University
The groups similarly present themselves as armed community defenders against the government or right-wing extremists, but continue to find members who get in trouble with law enforcement. asserted
who → present → enforcement
The DOJ won a 100-year sentence in June against a leader of one such group, the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, after he shot a police officer in the neck during an armed anti-ICE riot. asserted
he → win → riot
A founding member of a John Brown Gun Club chapter in Washington State also died in a police shooting in 2019 after throwing bombs at an ICE facility. asserted
member → found → facility
Trump has put more emphasis on disrupting violent left-wing networks since the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, 2025. asserted
Trump → put → Sept.
As the country reflected on one year since the murder, Slota posted about the urgency to brace for the possibility of more bloodshed — just before his arrest that day. asserted
Slota → reflect → arrest
“No one is coming to save us. asserted
one → come → us
So we keep us safe,” the Sept. 10 post says. asserted
post → keep → us
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support