CT Insider/Hearst: Report finds 16 Connecticut legislators have joined ‘far-right’ Facebook groups
CT Insider/Hearst: Report finds 16 Connecticut legislators have joined ‘far-right’ Facebook groups
Sixteen members of the Connecticut General Assembly are listed among hundreds of state lawmakers from around the country who are members of extremist or conservative-leaning social media groups, according to a new national report.
The report by the progressive Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights (IREHR) found that nearly 900 state legislators in all 50 states have joined at least one of 789 far-right Facebook groups, particularly in western and southern states, where many are still in denial over the 2020 presidential election.
The Facebook goups, identified by IREHR, are separated into categories that include those that are COVID deniers, those that descended from the Tea Party, constitutionally-constructed nationalists and those that emphasize the 2nd Amendment, among others. Others are directly tied to QAnon and government conspiracy theories. …
While Connecticut conservatives haven’t been so bold as elected officials in red states, their enrollment in the Facebook groups indicates the need for more public vigilance, said Cheri Quickmire, executive director of the election watchdog Common Cause in Connecticut.
“Extremism isn’t only in certain states like Florida and Arkansas, but it’s alive in Connecticut,” Quickmire said Friday while reviewing the report. “I find this disturbing.” She recalled the controversy last year over the teaching of American history in Guilford schools that resulted in a coalition of Democrats and unaffiliated voters winning seats on the local Board of Education.