Veterans on Patrol (VOP) is an antigovernment militia located in Pima County, Arizona. The founder, Michael “Lewis Arthur” Meyer, is a Christian nationalist who rallies hard-right extremists and conspiracy theorists around the issue of immigration and encourages vigilantism.
As an organization, Veterans on Patrol advances initiatives that are founded on common antigovernment and anti-immigrant ideas. The group has also pushed anti-Indigenous, antisemitic, anti-Catholic and anti-Mormon falsehoods. VOP activists have incorporated QAnon conspiracy theories into their activities as well, including previous operation of two camps in Arizona — one in Three Points and one in Sasabe — under the premise that they are rescuing children from satanic pedophiles who are trafficking them for sex, human sacrifice and organ harvesting. Even after having their conspiracy theories debunked by law enforcement and media, Meyer and VOP continue diverting attention away from legitimate organizations and law enforcement agencies combating human trafficking. According to VOP statements, group members believe their activities are sanctioned by God, and they therefore don’t have to comply with state or federal laws.
In Their Own Words
“These criminals we are standing against are far worse than the Cartel … They wear Sheriff Deputy Uniforms, Police Uniforms, Military Uniforms, and now Undercover Uniforms.” — VOP Telegram, Nov. 5, 2023
“We are encouraged by the fact that we have the hardened criminals, the very elements of society who will stand up and fight back. We’re blessed to have them by our side.” — Michael “Lewis Arthur” Meyer, VOP Telegram, Nov. 4, 2023
“Of course the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints instruct their Members to inject themselves with a Bioweapon created with Aborted Fetal Matter with the technology to alter the Image that God imprinted on us … HIS Image. 80 million in Pfizer assets provide the Satanic Leaders incentive. Following the money of ALL Religions these days shows their investment in Globalists, who are compromised of Satanic Pedovores [sic] devouring innocent Children for sacrificial purposes and their ‘Fountain of Youth’ known better as Adrenochrome. God sees an overwhelming majority of the Mormon Church Members as Lost Sheep following their False Prophets. Satan provides this Cult plenty of wealth and power, and their Members do not question the Blasphemy taught by their Founder Joseph Smith, who was a Free Mason known for ‘Tall Tales.’” — VOP Telegram, March 20, 2022
“Not only do we continue permitting the slaughter of our own Children in Abortion Sacrificial Centers…
Not only do we permit altering our Children’s DNA with Globalist Vaccinations that kill and sterilize…
Not only do we permit Government Agencies like CPS to abduct Children from their Parents…
Not only do we permit the Captivity, Rape, and Abuse of Migrant Children being trafficked by Catholic Charity Services…
We now permit Afghan Pedophiles to bring their Child Rape Victims for further Abuse on our own Soil…
Americans will reap horrible consequences for continuing to allow God’s Children to be defiled and abused.
I ask everyone to Pray for the Children… and I ask my Father to destroy this Nation for perpetuating evil equal to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Americans will not fight for these Children… May our Father in Heaven bring His Righteous Judgement upon this Satanic Nation claiming to be under Him
PREPARE YOUR FAMILIES.” — VOP Telegram, Sept. 15, 2021
“Our nation refused to repent, and his judgment is already upon us, yet the Sheeple continue to play the fiddle while America burns. Those who will NOT accept the vaccines, social distancing, masks, mandates or the incoming global currency & mark to seal it all are being asked to immediately cast off the world and join us in preparation.” — VOP Telegram, Aug. 18, 2021
“Border Patrol they have their hands tied. They give these individuals fourth amendment rights for all purposes when they cross. Well, when we intercept them and we find their phones, they’ll throw their phones, they’ll hide their phones, we’ll get their phones. We don’t have to get a warrant to open their phones, we’re not law enforcement, we’re private citizens and we take that intel, sift through it and try to give whatever border patrol needs to get a handle on the situation and most of the time they know what we’re reporting.” — Michael “Lewis Arthur” Meyer, in an interview with Women Fighting for America posted to Facebook, Aug. 9, 2021
“We also know that the Biden administration is ten steps ahead of the conservatives because Biden’s been flying them in. Now what they’ve done is they’ve totally played America. Biden right now is rescuing child victims, they’re being abused, they’re having their organs harvested, being sexually abused, being recycled, now Americans and conservatives are screaming about the illegal problem; Biden is going to be able to show the world all the child victims and all the rape victims that they are trying to save and get out of the cartel’s hands, even though this government worked with this whole operation and this invasion to take place.” — Michael “Lewis Arthur” Meyer, in an interview with Women Fighting for America posted to Facebook, Aug. 9, 2021
“Global currency will accompany the Mark and the world will see WEALTH being created instead of spiritual health being destroyed. Nearly all those who wore a mask or conceded to taking anti-fertility vaccinations with DNA altering nano technology created from unborn murdered babies in the womb will take the Mark. Americans crave wealth, power, and personal gain… The numbers of socialists, Marxists, and communist people needed to ensure Christians are overwhelmed and eventually separated from persecution have already poured across our border and continue to do so.” — VOP Telegram, May 20, 2021
“There are unknown number of stash houses across the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation where humans, weapons, drugs, and money are transported continuously across border lines. Several locations by our reporting. Child trafficking layups and rape trees are concentrated mostly on the reservation or on routes originating from the reservation.” — VOP Telegram, Jan. 23, 2021
Background
Veterans on Patrol (VOP) is an antigovernment militia organization based in Pima County, Arizona. Over the years, the group’s QAnon and related conspiracy theories have driven members to engage in what many see as clear harassment of migrants and humanitarian workers in purported search of Mexican cartels, pedophiles, human traffickers and child sex rings.
As an organization, VOP is designated a militia by the SPLC for its internal hierarchical structure, past firearm field-training exercises, and paramilitary-style activities its members believe are enforcing national security measures. Throughout the years, members have also been spotted carrying firearms while they patrol the desert for cartel hideout spots and for migrants crossing through the region. The group also engages in coordinated harassment campaigns against humanitarian and immigrants’ rights groups.
The organization is staunchly opposed to both state and federal law enforcement agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the FBI, the Pima County Attorney’s Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Child Protective Services (CPS). The hostility toward such agencies stems from VOP’s belief in conspiracy theories alleging that children are disappearing while being processed through government agencies. Particular animus is directed at such groups as USFWS, the FBI and the Pima County Attorney’s Office, agencies that have questioned the legitimacy of VOP’s beliefs that elected representatives and government agencies are helping traffic children. On social media, VOP founder Michael “Lewis Arthur” Meyer argues his group’s activities don’t have to adhere to state or federal laws because VOP’s antics are sanctioned by God.
Meyer is a Christian nationalist with extreme views on the role of Christianity in society. On Telegram, Meyer’s belief that government agents are trafficking, sexually abusing and kidnapping children has led him to call for God to “destroy this nation perpetuating evil.” The false narratives that drive Meyer and the rest of VOP have led to posts on social media calling the U.S. a “Satanic Nation.” On the surface, Meyer appears to be obsessed with several issues, including violent sex crimes against children, drug trafficking, immigration and pushing back against government agencies such as CBP and CPS. Underneath his obsession is the belief that satanic forces are at work corrupting the nation from within.
Not to be confused with everyday Christianity, Meyer’s Christian nationalist beliefs push hateful falsehoods about immigrants, Native Americans, the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and government officialdom. Christian nationalism is best characterized as a cultural framework where a very specific type of Christianity and American identity merge, leading to the belief that the U.S. is a Christian nation founded on a divinely inspired Constitution.
Meyer’s worldview has also led him to make baseless accusations about the Tohono O’odham Nation Reservation in Southern Arizona. In line with other Indigenous reservations throughout the U.S., the Tohono O’odham reservation limits access to some non-tribal members, such as Meyer and other VOP members. As a result, VOP’s Telegram channel has continually claimed the reservation is a hotspot for human and drug trafficking. The hostility appears to stem from the fact that the group can’t freely encroach on tribal land.
Likewise, VOP has also targeted the LDS. Meyer’s adherence to Christian nationalist beliefs has led VOP to coin the term “Mormon Mafia” to describe the LDS. In addition to allegations of kidnapping, Meyer has referred to LDS followers as “lost sheep following their false prophets,” and he likes to describe the religious group as a “cult.” Conspiracy theories are intertwined with antigovernment rhetoric. In some cases, VOP falsely claims the LDS instructed its followers to take COVID-19 vaccines while receiving an incentive from Pfizer, a vaccine manufacturer. Meyer and VOP have labeled Pfizer a “globalist” organization, arguing it secretly engages in child-sacrifice rituals in search of the fountain of youth.
VOP started out in 2015 as an initiative to draw attention to the number of veteran suicides each year, but it has slowly evolved into a group of far-right vigilantes vandalizing lifesaving hydration stations for migrants traversing the desert. The membership of VOP has gradually snowballed into a conspiracy-driven group of extremists who brazenly detain migrants and track minors crossing into Arizona. Their activities include vandalism, doxing campaigns and online propaganda that has attracted other far-right extremist groups and individuals including white nationalists, Proud Boys, anti-vaccine individuals and Jan. 6 insurrectionists.
Origins
Veterans on Patrol founder Michael “Lewis Arthur” Meyer is an antigovernment prepper turned militia leader. Antigovernment preppers are individuals who engage in stockpiling food, weapons and other resources in preparation for a cataclysmic event.
Meyer slowly morphed from prepper to leading the militant VOP. Known in antigovernment circles as “Screwy Louie,” Meyer is a conspiracy theorist and a self-proclaimed pastor/minister who manages a network of far-right extremists who intercept migrants and claim to be saving children from pedophiles on the Southern border. The group, established in Pima County, Arizona, was initially formed as a branch of the Walking for the Forgotten Ministry (WFTF Ministry). The WFTF Ministry is not actually a church; rather, it is the name given to a stunt Meyer concocted to walk around Pima County with an American flag to bring attention to the number of veterans who commit suicide after returning from war. Meyer has a track record of trying to sell his organization’s missions as being centered on veteran affairs, although Meyer himself isn’t a veteran.
Through the WFTF project, Meyer connected with veterans experiencing homelessness in Tucson, Arizona. The relationships Meyer built sparked an idea that resulted in him establishing encampments that were meant to serve as havens for homeless vets in Southern Arizona. Early on, Meyer claimed his camps were a safe place for people down on their luck, including undocumented immigrants. In recent years, this sentiment appears to have changed with the manifestation of the more militant Veterans on Patrol organization.
In a December 2015 online interview, Meyer recounted the creation of VOP in October of the same year. Meyer accused Indigenous kids of the Navajo Nation and Black kids of the Black Lives Matter movement of theft and gang activity, naming them as his justification for creating the more militant VOP to serve as a vigilante safety patrol for his camp sites.
Around that period, WFTF was managing at least three campsites. Two camps were in the Tucson area: Camp Bravo in Santa Rita and Camp Pulaski in Picture Rocks. The last, Alpha Camp, was in Phoenix. By 2017, all camps had been shut down due to security and sanitation concerns. Although the camps might have been a failure, they did allow Meyer to develop skills he would later use in his VOP efforts targeting migrants and humanitarian workers in the region. For starters, he admits the walkathons and camp sites, created to bring awareness to veteran suicides, allowed him to connect directly with homeless veterans who sometimes felt lost after returning from war.
In a 2017 interview with WHYY, an NPR and PBS affiliate, Meyer told the network that soldiers would sometimes come back without a sense of purpose and struggle to assimilate back into society. Although at the time Meyer had not yet formed the VOP, the facade of being a veteran-focused organization was being used to attract veterans, a practice that falls in line with other extremist organizations. Meyer’s VOP has never been a registered 501(c)(3) and has never offered veterans professional services of any kind.
These early years also gave Meyer a glimpse into the impact that bombastic allegations and carefully crafted messages could have on an organization reliant on donations. His narratives that VOP and WFTF were serving the community received an exuberant reception from many community leaders. The response brought attention, donated goods, and in some cases free services such as water and electricity for the WFTF campsites.
At VOP’s core are Meyer’s beliefs that government agencies are inadequate to carry out their duties as defined by Meyer, whether it be CBP processing migrants or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) providing services to homeless veterans. The WFTF initiative was born out of Meyer’s frustration with the VA and his belief that the agency was incapable of properly addressing the problem of homelessness among vets in Pima County. The core mission of WFTF eventually spurred the creation of VOP, the militant arm of WFTF that has argued CBP, CPS, the Biden administration and the county sheriff’s department are part of a criminal syndicate helping facilitate human trafficking.
The Birth of ‘Screwy Louie’
Meyer has a history of opposing government authority. In 2014, he reportedly traveled to Bunkerville, Nevada, to support the Cliven Bundy family in a standoff between antigovernment extremists and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In 2016, Meyer once again made an appearance alongside members of the Bundy family when Cliven’s two sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, led a group of armed antigovernment militants into the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge opposing the government’s management of public lands. The refuge, located in Oregon, was occupied for 41 days and received a slew of national attention that attracted antigovernment extremists from around the country, including Meyer and his followers.
As the Phoenix New Times reported in January 2016, Meyer’s arrival to Malheur was met with hostility from the pro-Bundy extremists. Accounts vary as to which faction among the antigovernment extremists initiated the violence, but a scuffle ensued between the Malheur camp of occupiers and Meyer’s Arizona group. Meyer told the Phoenix New Times that his goal in traveling to Oregon was to remove Ryan Payne, a Bundyite, from the compound. Meyer claimed Payne was desperate to become a martyr. Additionally, Meyer made the journey north operating on the idea he would be rescuing women and children he believed were being held at the compound, a baseless allegation that was never corroborated by authorities.
Members of Payne’s camp accused Meyer of traveling to Oregon in search of fame. According to Bundyites, upon Meyer’s arrival to the occupation, two consecutive physical altercations broke out after Meyer became combative and antagonistic. Meyer’s reportedly combative behavior and unhinged rants, which included railing against other extremists in the antigovernment circle, caused VOP to be ostracized and earned Meyer the nickname “Screwy Louie.”
The Cemex Conspiracy
Having been shunned from the Malheur occupation, Meyer continued pursuing his obsession to identify and locate human trafficking networks. The 2018 “Operation Backyard Brawl” brought waves of support for Meyer after he duped local media into believing his group had uncovered the remnants of a “child sex camp” at a location belonging to Cemex, a Mexican cement company operating out of Arizona.
Articles began appearing detailing the allegations Meyer made that his group had discovered irrefutable evidence that a child sex camp had been operating in Tucson. To skeptics, the campsite resembled the remains of a homeless camp, but to Meyer every detail represented a twisted scene that confirmed his belief that children were being sexually abused and held against their will. Using Facebook, Meyer livestreamed what he called a prison cell that he speculated had been used to hold children, as well as what he referred to as a “rape tree,” which can only be described as a tree with makeshift straps on the branches. The small detail prompted Meyer to assert that the straps must have been used to bind children while they were being physically abused.
Meyer’s allegations garnered enough attention that Tucson police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded by investigating the site. Both agencies found no evidence that could back up the sex-camp narrative. Adding to the hysteria, VOP members also claimed to have discovered the skeletal remains of a child, saying they had come across a child’s skull. That claim was also debunked, this time by the Pima County medical examiner, who concluded the remains belonged to an adult and had been discovered in a different area. As High Country News reported in 2018, Meyer’s fabrications spread like wildfire, leading his supporters to peddle misinformation, at one point even claiming they had also discovered additional skeletal remains, which were later confirmed to be animal remains.
On July 22, 2018, Meyer was arrested for trespassing when he tried to occupy the Cemex property, adhering to his narrative that children had been trafficked at that site. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence from experts debunking the outlandish narratives drawn up around the Cemex incident, to this day Meyer and the rest of VOP stand by the idea that they discovered the remains of a child sex ring in the Arizona desert.
On Telegram, Meyer has credited the Cemex incident as the “catalyst” for VOP’s shift in priorities, from “rescuing teenagers, homeless veterans, and drug addicts from the streets of Tucson to the child trafficking routes on the Arizona border.”
Meyer’s conspiracy theories have resulted in VOP using dehumanizing language when referring to migrants. On online spaces including Facebook and Telegram, such phrases as “shitbags,” “rapists,” “pedophiles,” “terrorists” and “thugs” are commonly used to describe people crossing the border. As VOP shifted its attention to identifying child trafficking routes, and by extension child traffickers, voiceless migrants became an easy target. By portraying all migrants as criminals, Meyer and VOP helped drive the nativist belief that an “invasion” is currently taking place at the Southern border.
Operation Water Bait
Unfazed by the facts surrounding the Cemex allegations, VOP continued operating in Pima County, conducting searches in the desert in hopes of uncovering human trafficking networks. The group slowly adopted QAnon conspiracy theories, and in online spaces they began tagging posts with hashtags such as #WWG1WGA, a message that translates to “Where we go one, we go all,” a unity slogan for QAnon followers. They also adopted beliefs that the “deep state” was secretly running human trafficking rings throughout the U.S., with the border serving as the entry point where children were being brought into the country by members of the Democratic Party and Hollywood elites. According to VOP, the purpose of this activity is to exploit women and children, harvest their organs and use them as sacrifices for satanic rituals.
Having been labeled a fringe conspiracy theorist even within the antigovernment movement, Meyer eventually found his new calling in 2020 when he launched a new venture titled #OperationStopitAll and #OperationWaterBait.
As VOP’s missions evolved, so did its narratives about the leaders orchestrating the supposed human trafficking rings. Operation Stop It All became its plan to start getting involved in border vigilante work to detain migrants. Operation Water Bait launched around the same period and had Meyer and his accomplice, Paul Flores, a UFO hunter and videographer for VOP, mischaracterize and harass faith-based humanitarian groups.
Hatewatch reported on VOP’s history of targeting and vandalizing water tanks belonging to the nonprofit Humane Borders. The organization manages a network of water stations in the Sonoran Desert that provide clean drinking water to stranded migrants. The initiative launched in 2000 and was still in effect in 2022, when migrant deaths hit record-high numbers, according to U.S. Border Patrol statistics.
Operation Water Bait consisted of Meyer and Flores setting up fake humanitarian water stations that resembled the stations managed by Humane Borders. The duo even copied the blue water flag and blue water barrels that have become synonymous with the Humane Borders name. The goal was for the two men to wait at the campsites and detain migrants who stopped for water, while simultaneously calling Border Patrol to pick up the detainees. Images shared on Telegram appear to show these detainments.
For years, Humane Borders has been on the receiving end of harassment campaigns by border vigilantes. A near-constant stream of vandalism-related acts has left its water tanks emptied out, shot and damaged. Meyer has been a perpetrator of this activity, uploading videos of himself emptying out water tanks and threatening humanitarian workers. On Telegram, he has threatened to dox humanitarian workers, and he has shared images of volunteers along with their license plates, accusing them of helping traffic drugs and children into the country.
Historically, Meyer and the rest of VOP have tried to circumvent criticism by arguing their organization is “press,” claiming they are a “ministry,” and more recently, rebranding as a “humanitarian organization.” Underneath the labels, it is clear the group is a vigilante organization. While group members have said they would “rarely” use force on migrants, they have been documented stopping, chasing and, at times, physically detaining migrants in online videos. The group has been allowed to operate freely in the face of officers with U.S Customs and Border Protection and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
The lack of oversight from both state and federal authorities has led VOP to launch additional operations that appear to violate the rights of migrants. Another VOP scheme has focused on the collection of cellphones and the analysis of personal content by Meyer and others on his team. Their goal is to identify traffickers, and in many cases, private contents from these cellphones are shared on Telegram, from phone contacts to personal images and videos. Meyer is convinced the digital lives of these migrants are proof of an international market for children and drugs in Arizona.
The ‘Border Coalition’
At the start of 2021, Meyer helped form what he called the “Border Coalition,” a network of three far-right organizations that came together to repel what they called the “invasion” of migrants passing through Pima County. This network of extremists was made up of Veterans on Patrol, AZ Desert Guardians, and the United People of America.
The group AZ Desert Guardians had historically engaged in missions to find child trafficking sites and had an on-and-off relationship with VOP. The United People of America (UPA) was a white nationalist group that attempted to recruit on the white nationalist site Stormfront. The group’s leader, Tyler Wentzel, has shared videos where he can be seen dropping antisemitic flyers around the Catalina Foothills community in Tucson. Wentzel and fellow UPA programmer Sean Gugerty have posted a steady stream of pro-Nazi propaganda online. The group claims to be looking out for the interests of citizens while simultaneously railing against Jewish people, immigrants and LGBTQ+ people. An online post from VOP echoes the same ideas: “Without any form of voting or consulting with the American people. The Jews have used their political puppets to alter the constitution and create new laws that allow mass-immigration, same-sex marriage, unregulated market, bribing of politicians, funding of Israel, and many more destructive policies.”
On Telegram, Meyer uploaded media with the help of his coalition, showing what appeared to be migrant apprehensions, pictures of ammunition, videos of shooting exercises and images of interactions with Border Patrol agents. In summer 2021, Hatewatch detailed at least one meeting between a CBP agent and Meyer at a border patrol checkpoint. In the video, Meyer can be seen engaging in friendly banter with the agent before handing over an SD card and parting ways. This interaction illustrates a common dynamic of the antigovernment movement. Its adherents will often claim to like and support law enforcement when officers or agencies work with them (or at least don’t get in their way). However, the minute law enforcement doesn’t do what an antigovernment group wants, it becomes an enemy. A striking example of this was on Jan. 6, when some rioters used the “Blue Lives Matter” flags they brought to the insurrection to assault Capitol Police officers.
The following month, the Southern Poverty Law Center sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security alerting it to the presence of Meyer’s coalition at the border.
By fall 2021, the makeup of the border coalition began to change. Both AZ Desert Guardians and UPA took a hiatus, but that didn’t stop VOP from working with other extremist organizations. This included at least one Proud Boy, the organization Women Fighting for America (WFFA), the online conspiracy group calling itself Dragon’s Den, Christopher Key aka “Vaccine Police,” and the Idaho antigovernment group the Panhandle Patriots Motorcycle Club. Several members from these extremist organizations were also found to have traveled to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol insurrection.
A common theme among border vigilantes is their belief in VOP’s message that they are carrying out God’s mission to rescue children from pedophiles. VOP members and volunteers peddle the notion that they do not have to adhere to federal or state laws while encouraging others online to do the same.
“We do not serve any government, nor recognize any perceived authority any government entities believe they have over our most high God, whom we serve. Not being subjected to the synagogue of Satan or its governments, we do not participate in selecting masters, serving in their wars, nor will we finance those who choose to serve in this Global One World Order. We serve The Most High God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Only his orders are acknowledged and obeyed,” read a statement released by the “ministry” and signed by Meyer in 2022. The conspiracies Meyer and VOP peddle are common falsehoods repeated in antigovernment circles.
At the start of 2022, Meyer and VOP began to aggressively push the idea that the group was a “humanitarian” organization and a “ministry,” co-opting rhetoric of legitimate faith-based humanitarian organizations. In 2023, multiple leaders of the group including Meyer listed themselves as pastors on the group’s social media.
Meyer runs from the law
In December 2021, Meyer faced vandalism charges stemming from 2019 when he destroyed water stations owned by Humane Borders. According to Tucson.com, Meyer was “convicted of four counts of criminal damage and one count of trespassing — all misdemeanors. When it came time for sentencing in January, he didn’t show up to court.”
Meyer quickly took to Telegram to update his followers, saying he would not turn himself in. One post read: “Ever heard of ‘where’s Waldo?’ Now it is ‘where’s Lewis Arthur.’ Get to border NOW and shut down these Pima County smuggling routes.” Not long after a warrant was issued for his arrest, Meyer announced he was going into hiding, choosing to run while leaving behind his operations to Shawna Martin, a VOP volunteer with ties to the extremist biker group Panhandle Patriots. Martin filmed herself in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, but it doesn’t appear that she went inside the Capitol.
Even though he removed himself from the day-to-day activities of VOP, Meyer continued to post on the group’s Telegram channel. As the rebranding of VOP continued into 2022, the group began taking on new campaigns, this time encouraging their followers to go after Child Protective Services (CPS). By February 2022, Meyer began inserting himself in the child custody case of Lee Jennings, a Seattle resident who was fighting to get custody of his son River Jennings. It’s unclear how the biological mother, Sarah Stanley, became acquainted with VOP, but after Jennings was granted increased visitation rights in late 2021, Stanley took the child and fled to Idaho.
Online, Meyer and VOP supporters began spreading disinformation about Jennings, peddling some of the same narratives they use to describe migrants. Uncorroborated allegations began circulating on Telegram accusing Jennings of being a “domestic violence perpetrator, con-artist and abuser.” In some instances, flyers were also being shared that targeted Jennings, his legal team and court officials, accusing them of being child traffickers, child predators and kidnappers.
Meyer’s and VOP’s attempts to get involved in the River Jennings case ended when the child was located in Alabama in April 2022. On Telegram, Meyer and Martin voiced their frustration with the government agencies that they accused of kidnapping River, and they continued to peddle the concept of instituting “safe houses” that VOP could use to hide children from pedophiles and government agencies.
Targeting children: Operation Heaven’s Snare
By March 2022, VOP was preoccupied with two main missions. The first was to continue intercepting migrants near the U.S. border while emphasizing the task of collecting the personal details of unaccompanied children. The second mission was to create a network of what Meyer calls “safe houses,” where he hopes to harbor children he thinks he is rescuing from CBP and CPS.
The first mission, which started in 2021, is dubbed Operation Heaven’s Snare. The goal of the group is to collect personal details of unaccompanied children, usually consisting of any details about their U.S.-based family or friends, with the intent to later track and follow the children. As Hatewatch has previously reported, in at least one instance, a group calling itself Dragon’s Den worked to track down and question the U.S. sponsor of a child who had previously been stopped by VOP.
Meyer and VOP are so committed to collecting the information of unaccompanied minors that they drafted a Spanish questionnaire to hand out to children. A copy of the questionnaire was shared online depicting a cheerful image of Dora the Explorer, a bilingual children’s cartoon character, asking for the child’s name, age and the name and phone number of their sponsor.
On several occasions, VOP members have shared images of migrant children filling out these forms or providing the details while being recorded. The content is used to create propaganda montages that are then used as recruitment videos online. It’s unclear how many unaccompanied children VOP has intercepted and deceived into handing over personal details.
In late March 2022, Melissa del Bosque of The Border Chronicle visited the VOP Sasabe camp. Del Bosque said she spent time with VOP’s Shawna Martin, who expressed her desire to save children from satanic child traffickers. Martin confirmed VOP members have engaged in the collection of the presumed phone numbers of U.S.-based sponsors from the unaccompanied minors. Martin also used the opportunity to reiterate fringe QAnon conspiracy theories, including the idea that child trafficking near the border could be traced back to the “deep state,” Democrats, Catholic Charities and “globalists.”
When Martin returned to Washington state in April 2022, she announced VOP volunteers “Jason,” “Rob” and “Adam” had picked up where VOP left off intercepting migrant children. The ringleader of this new group of border vigilantes appears to be Trump devotee and QAnon adherent Jason Frank. Frank, who was profiled by The New York Times, appears to have followed in the footsteps of VOP leadership, intercepting children under the guise of saving them from human traffickers.
A Cristian utopia
While Martin continued calling for volunteers to join VOP border operations in Arizona, Meyer took it upon himself to handle VOP’s second priority, dubbed Operation Promised Land. According to the VOP Telegram channel, Operation Promised Land is the “expansion of, and establishment of, off-grid properties where Christians and endangered children are provided sanctuary under the shadow of our almighty god.”
In April 2022, Meyer shared an open letter addressed to “the United States Federal Government, all State, Local, County Governments, all Agencies and Law Enforcement Entities, including courts and Federal Agencies and all political parties or participants,” announcing the creation of the “New American Movement.” The letter consolidated VOP’s beliefs into a plan that aimed to create a new nation separate from the United States and what the letter refers to as “the Synagogue of Satan’s Globalist Government.” The sentiment and language expressed in the announcement is in line with the antigovernment sovereign citizen ideology.
Details of how this new VOP movement would go about creating this new nation are limited, with the declaration stating only that private land throughout the U.S. and private property owners will form the basis for this new initiative. The letter goes on to claim this new nation will be shelter for children that are “extracted” by VOP. At the bottom of the proclamation, the statement reads, “Signed, We the People Liberated by God and walking now from the Devil.”
Operation Pegasus Down
In October 2023, VOP became preoccupied with chemtrails and blaming the U.S. Air Force for their presence. Meyer recruited volunteers, some of whom were from the homeless community in and around Yuba County, California, where he was living, and he eventually established a “Command Center.” He crafted Operation Pegasus Down under the VOP mantle as “a mission to eliminate the stratosphere of aerosol injections” and target the entities he considered responsible. Members of the operation were “occupying the community surrounding Beale Air Force Base,” according to a VOP livestream. Meyer later shared with the base that he would be “sticking around for 3 months, setting up a Media booth, collecting intelligence, searching for Chemtrail Pilots, and providing Bibles to those coming on and off Base.”
VOP activities included standing on the Highway 70 bridge with signs which read, “Reward for: Chemtrail Pilots,” and “Wanted Alive: Chemtrail Pilots”; holding a “chemtrail pilot checkpoint” at a Yuba County intersection; recruiting volunteers; and sending communiques to the Air Force.
Meyer posted the following to social media in early November 2023: “I gave my word that if the Sheriffs and Local PD targeted those fighting for blue skies that I would launch Operations against them.” By the middle of the month, Meyer shared the following message: “I explained clearly to everyone I will go as far as necessary for our children’s sake.”
In January 2024, VOP planned to expand its operations to McChord Air Force Base in Washington. The group called it the second round of its efforts against “the psychotic and genocidal US Military Industrial Complex.” The group would add Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona to their list later in the week.
However, Meyer remained focused on Beale AFB, which was closest to his residence. In late November 2023, he filmed a video wearing black “war paint.” He said he was pointing his camera and tripod, which he modified and called his “assault camera,” at drivers on the highway until the California Highway Patrol forced him to stop.
On Dec. 1, 2023, Meyer was detained and held at a local health facility for mental evaluation and then transferred to the country jail to await a hearing on his activities. Meyer’s case was dismissed, and he was freed from custody.
What’s Next
Veterans on Patrol has adopted several far-right extremist ideologies since its founding in 2015, and it continued to peddle conspiracy theories in its search for child trafficking networks in 2024.
The organization has also been attempting to expand its base of operations. This includes Meyer temporarily relocating to Northern California in 2023 and a new chapter forming in Washington state in January 2024.
VOP initially sought to build its base of operations in the small town of Washtucna, Washington. The group was met with local opposition after it announced at a Washtucna City Council meeting that it planned to build a “beautiful compound” there for its work. Eventually, the owner of the property VOP was considering rescinded the offer. Sheriff Dale Wagner wrote on a local Washtucna Facebook page, “The landowner has expressed their sincere apology for any inconvience [sic] or disrutuption [sic] caused.”
Shortly after leaving Washtucna, VOP and Meyer announced their arrival in Spokane in mid-March 2024, stating, “Child SAR Operations in and around Spokane, Washington, launch this week.” Shortly after arriving, Meyer claimed to have set up a coalition to assist his anti-trafficking operations, allegedly including members of the Proud Boys, One Percenters, and Three Percenters. Actions included passing out flyers about VOP’s operations and patrolling suspected high-trafficking areas of Spokane. From March to August 2024, Meyer claimed the city council and a municipal judge were complicit in human trafficking operations, in addition to Meyer staking out the residence of a private citizen. By mid-August, VOP and Meyer had left Washington. Meyer headed east.
In October 2024, VOP was one of multiple militias touting their efforts mobilizing around Hurricane Helene. While they emphasized providing aid to victims, they actually spent most of the time spreading conspiracies that helped create a hostile environment for federal agencies. Meyer showed up in Rutherford County, North Carolina, with no supplies, but he made big promises of having a God-given plan to help the area bounce back over the next three years. He set up a place where people could donate goods and supplies in a parking lot. However, VOP and Meyer also came with antigovernment conspiracy theories.
On social media, VOP claimed, “Hurricane Helene was an act of war perpetuated by the United States Military” and said it was a “land grab” responsible for “murdering hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans.” The militia claimed it had come to replace the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which it claimed was “pulling a dirty trick on good people,” and protecting community members from the federal government. The conspiracies and misinformation spewed by VOP and others got in the way of federal relief workers, causing new security practices that slowed relief to be implemented. Locals finally got wise to the game VOP and Meyer were playing and successfully encouraged them to leave town.
VOP has also been successful at rebranding itself from an organization that was once centered on providing services to veterans experiencing homelessness to a QAnon-esque, Christian nationalist group of vigilantes detaining migrant children and harassing government agencies and individuals who, based on conspiracy theories, they consider perpetrators. The group, which shares some cult-like characteristics, operates on the notion that satanic forces have taken over the government and form online and real-world campaigns against anyone who speaks out against their activities.