In a Twitter conversation just days before he was arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack against a Muslim community near the Catskill Mountains, Vincent Vetromile lamented that Americans seem unwilling to take up arms to protect their Second Amendment rights.

Responding to a commenter who noted that only about 20 percent of colonists took an active role in fighting the British during the American Revolution, Vetromile said the problem is “finding the spark” that will spur people to action.

“These days people are too comfortable in their daily lives to be troubled with saving a nation,” Vetromile said, posting on Jan. 15 as @xXRebel1Xx. “If only there was a way to get that 20% up and ready. Maybe some day…”

Events that unfolded over the next 72 hours show 19-year-old Vetromile may have hoped to be that spark.

He, along with Brian Colaneri, 20, of Gates and Andrew Crysel, 18, of East Rochester were all arrested Jan. 18 by Greece police and charged with criminal possession of a weapon and conspiracy. Police say the trio — along with a 16-year-old boy the Democrat and Chronicle is not naming at this time because of his age — had amassed an arsenal of 23 firearms and three explosive devices they intended to use in an onslaught against the 200-resident hamlet of Islamberg, a religious community in Tompkins, Delaware County.

How were the Islamberg attack plotters connected?

Greece Police Chief Pat Phelan said during a press conference on Tuesday that the group had planned the attack over the course of about a month and had done so in part through social media channels, including the popular and largely private chat platform Discord. That 150-million-member platform has been a popular digital gathering space for members of the "alt-right," white supremacist and neo-Nazi communities. Discord was used to organize the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which culminated in the killing of 32-year-old counter-protester Heather Heyer.

Phelan did not provide many details on how the plotters knew each other or had come together to formulate their plan, other than to say that three had been in Boy Scouts together and that two had attained the rank of Eagle Scout.

A Seneca Waterways Council newsletter from Spring 2018 shows that Crysel and Vetromile both achieved Eagle Scout status in 2017. They were also both members of Greece-based Boy Scouts of America Troop 240. A Facebook page and website for Troop 240 have been disabled.

The 16-year-old is a student in the Greece Central School District. In fact, an offhand remark he made during lunchtime on Jan. 18 at Greece Odyssey Academy spurred the police investigation that uncovered the Islamberg conspiracy.

Colaneri had been a student in the Gates Chili Central School District. While Crysel and Vetromile previously attended schools in the Greece district, neither graduated from there. Vetromile, Crysel and Colaneri all had attended Monroe Community College but are not currently enrolled, a spokesman there confirmed.

Relatives of the alleged conspirators have so far spoken little to the media. Colaneri’s mother told WHEC (Channel 10) on Tuesday that her son has Asperger’s Syndrome — a “high-functioning” type of autism spectrum disorder — and had graduated from a BOCES program. She said he may have thought the plot was part of a role-playing game. Wayne Crysel, grandfather to Andrew Crysel, told Spectrum News on Wednesday that he believed his grandson — who also has Asperger’s Syndrome — was “set up” and had no bias against the Muslim community.

People with Asperger's Syndrome typically have average or above-average intelligence but struggle with social skills and nonverbal communication. Often they can have an all-absorbing interest in specific topics.

Family members did not respond to phone calls, home visits or letters seeking comment from the Democrat and Chronicle.

Self-radicalization?

The clearest window into some of the thinking that may undergird the plot comes from Vetromile’s social media presence, particularly his Twitter account. A YouTube channel named “Rebel Crysel” that he ran with Crysel under the nom de guerre “Robert Brutman” shows the pair shooting, unboxing and reviewing an array of rifles, airsoft, pellet and Nerf guns.

Many of the videos are shot against an apparent basement backdrop that features Confederate, Gadsden and “Thin Blue Line” flags, but the overall content of the videos is not especially alarming.

Vetromile’s Twitter account is another story. It's a veritable encyclopedia of "alt-right" conspiracy theories interspersed with well-articulated anti-government, pro-Confederate, anti-immigrant and anti-gun-control rants. He says the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School were faked and that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. He also peppers discussion of immigration with the hashtag #rapeugees. Of particular concern to him is the possibility that the U.S. government intends to seize firearms from its citizens and the apparent laziness of others who do not share his alarm over infringement of Constitutional rights.

Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, said there seem to be striking parallels between the content of Vetromile's Twitter account and the social media presence of other recent "alt-right" terrorists. She noted social media use by accused Pennsylvania synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, alleged mail bomber Cesar Sayoc, accused Toronto van attacker Alek Minassian and Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof.

"Domestic terrorists used to learn all that stuff from being involved in actual organizations," she said. "But nowadays it's much easier to find that stuff online in two minutes and people are basically self-radicalizing through online searches."

Largely, Vetromile's tweets do not indicate he's the member of any particular organization or specific group that espouses white nationalism, white supremacy or other "alt-right" gospel. He likes to engage in debate about the "evils" of socialism and liberalism and rail against left-wing anti-fascists. The only inkling of an association with any questionable group comes in a tweet depicting a baseball cap emblazoned with the logo of the Three Percenters militia organization on a table at Chick-fil-A next to what looks like a vanilla milkshake. The text of the tweet reads "Another beautiful evening in conservative America."

A Facebook page for the Three Percenters New York chapter says the organization's members identify with the colonists who took up arms against the British "because they were true patriots fighting for the freedoms the nation we love and honor was founded on." The group is a loose offshoot of the Oath Keepers militia, which SPLC calls one of the largest radical anti-government groups in the U.S. today, and says is "based on a set of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy the liberties of Americans."

Beirich said the proliferation of misinformation, conspiracy theories and deliberate propaganda online has created a "problem space that's getting young men hooked up with these ideas that can turn deadly."

On December 12, Vetromile responded to a post by user Mike Allen (@AMike4671), who shared a 2015 Fox News story about the supposed spread of “Muslim enclaves,” Islamic terrorist training, “no-go” zones throughout the United States.

He said a map provided with the story was imprecise.

“If there were specific locations like ‘north of X street in the town of Y, in the state of Z’ we could go there and do something about it. But this video just says ‘upstate NY and California” and that’s too big of an area to search for terrorists,” Vetromile wrote.

What is Islamberg?

Police did not say what they believe motivated Vetromile, Crysel, Colaneri and the teen to specifically target Islamberg, but the community is no stranger to threats.

It is frequently mentioned on the white supremacist, neo-Nazi internet site Stormfront and falsely identified on other anti-Muslim sites as a jihadi terrorist training ground.

The 200-resident Muslim community in Delaware County, near the Catskill Mountains, is operated by The Muslims of America, an organization "dedicated to establishing and maintaining Islamic principles to be practiced in both letter and spirit while fulfilling and embracing obligations as American citizens."

The FBI investigated claims of connections between foreign terrorist organizations and The Muslims of America and cleared the group of any wrongdoing in 2001.

A June 2015 story by Reuters said the community follows the teachings of Pakistani Sufi cleric Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, who during the 1980s urged his mostly African-American acolytes to leave metropolitan areas and establish rural communities centered on religious life.

On Wednesday, leaders of the group spoke out about the alleged plot.

"We must begin to hold these Islamophobes accountable for provoking others by spreading lies, baseless accusations and misinformation about American Muslims," Hussein Adams, chief executive officer of the Muslims of America, said at a news conference at a Binghamton hotel.

Adams said that the "misuse of social media" has allowed lies and a false narrative about the residents of Islamberg to spread, adding that police have told the group there is reason to believe there are more suspects.

He called the incident an act of terrorism, centered on "hatred toward Islam," and said his community will not be cowed in the face of threats.

"But our living quietly and minding our own business should not be taken as a weakness," Adams added. "We are neither weak, nor are we cowards. We are afraid of nothing, because we believe that the one almighty Creator is sufficient to help us through any situation. …We will stand against oppressors like a rock."

Phelan said the threat posed by the alleged conspirators was serious.

"If they had carried out this plot, and we have every indication that was what they were going to do, people would have died," said Phelan. "The kid who said something saved people's lives. Everything worked and as a result, nobody's dead and that's a good story."

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has directed New York State Police to increase patrolling in the Islamberg area and to assist in the investigation.

A Tennessee man, Robert Doggart, was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison in 2017 for recruiting 10 men to plan an attack on the same community.

Doggart had conversations with a confidential police informant in March 2015, saying "Those guys (have) to be killed," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

What's next?

During his Tuesday press conference, Phelan said it is possible other alleged conspirators could be nabbed in coming days, and that additional state or federal charges could be lodged against Vetromile, Crysel, Colaneri and the teen.

Numerous electronic devices seized from the four suspects are being examined for forensic and digital evidence, and three homemade bombs recovered from the teen's Milford Street home have been sent for examination by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Police described the devices as large- and medium-sized cylinders and a mason jar-shaped object wrapped in duct tape and filled with black powder and nails.

Crysel was released on bail from the Monroe County Jail sometime Tuesday or early Wednesday. Vetromile and Colaneri remained in jail on Friday in lieu of $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond. The teen was remanded to custody in lieu of $1,000,000 bail.

All face three counts of first-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of fourth-degree conspiracy.

Under the state's new Raise the Age laws, the teen will be adjudicated as an adolescent offender. However, he could still serve state prison time if convicted of felony charges.

The teen is expected back in court on Jan. 30, and the three men are scheduled to appear in Greece Town Court on Feb. 5.

MCDERMOT@Gannett.com

COMPLETE ISLAMBERG ATTACK PLOT COVERAGE

► Alleged plot to bomb Muslim community tied to Greece Odyssey investigation

► Islamberg attack plot and Greece police investigation: Here's what we know now

► Cuomo announces stepped-up State Police patrols near Islamberg

► Islamberg residents say alleged attack plot is about 'hatred toward Islam'

► Andrew Crysel, accused in Islamberg attack plot, released from jail on bond

► Youtube videos, social media offer window into thinking of Islamberg terror plotters

► Greece 16-year-old accused of bombing plot tests state's new 'Raise the Age' laws