Steven Porter

sporter@jconline.com

Another man ranting on Facebook against Tippecanoe County law enforcement has caught the attention of local investigators.

West Lafayette police Detective Sgt. Matt Coddington said he's keeping an eye on an anarchist social networking group calling itself the "765 movement." It was created by 25-year-old Anthony "Ant" Gonzales of Lafayette.

Coddington said statements posted thus far by Gonzales appear to fall within the bounds of constitutionally protected speech.

"It's not illegal to dislike police," he said.

If rhetoric on the site erupts into threats of violence, however, police will have no choice but to "ramp up efforts" to protect those threatened, as they did in response to another recent threat, Coddington said.

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BANGERT: Threats v. satire in social media age

Gonzales' group, which has nearly 100 members, was created less than a week after Samuel Bradbury, 22, of Pine Village allegedly made death threats on Facebook against two judges and two police officers.

Bradbury was arrested after he claimed to lead an armed group called "765 Anarchists" with more than 50 members "willing to die" in attacks on Greater Lafayette law enforcement personnel and property. He said Lafayette natives Jerad and Amanda Miller, who killed two police officers and a civilian in Las Vegas on June 8, took their orders from his group.

Bradbury identified a "buddy and comrade" by the nickname "Ant" in the post, claiming the two are "part of a much larger plot that we've been forming for years to kill cops in the local area."

Coddington said Gonzales is "Ant" and that he hasn't been arrested in connection with the posts.

Gonzales wrote June 23 that Bradbury "was just playing" when he "made a fake sincere death threat" against area police.

"He almost got me in trouble," Gonzales wrote, noting that he immediately instructed Bradbury to remove his name from the post.

A day later, Gonzales launched his group, expressing anti-law enforcement ideas of his own.

"I just want to throw this out there," he posted early Monday morning. "i hate the f---ing cops."

FACEBOOK: The '765' Movement

Proclaiming himself "sheriff" of the movement, Gonzales added racist ideas to the mix the day he created the Facebook group.

Gonzales did not respond Monday to a request for comment.

Mark Potok, senior fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said law enforcement personnel are increasingly being targeted for terrorist violence by homegrown anti-government extremists.

"That's pretty clear," he said.

What's less clear, he said, is whether the ideas expressed by Gonzales, threats allegedly made by Bradbury and acts of violence carried out by the Millers fit neatly into an easily identifiable political ideology. Though some see this crowd as part of a shifting Sovereign Citizen movement, Potok said the subjects in these cases espouse right- and left-wing ideas.

That's one reason why, Potok said, SPLC has been pushing the government to "reconstitute" its domestic non-Islamic terrorism unit.

Timeline

June 8: Lafayette natives Jerad and Amanda Miller kill two Las Vegas police officers and a civilian.

June 19: Samuel Bradbury, 22, of Pine Village claims affiliation with the Millers and comrade "Ant" through a local, armed group called "765 Anarchists."

June 21: Bradbury is arrested for allegedly making death threats.

June 24: Anthony Gonzales, 25, of Lafayette creates a group on Facebook called "765 movement," expressing anti-law enforcement and racist ideas.