If All Else Fails

When we set out to look at far-right extremism in Upstate New York, we had a few basic questions. What do people believe in? What groups and militias have been active? We found that all kinds of extremist groups have tried to recruit people here.

There’s a far-right group that teaches sheriffs around the country that they don’t have to enforce laws they think are unconstitutional. Some sheriffs in rural Upstate New York have embraced that idea, including Mike Carpinelli, who also has ties to the Oath Keepers militia.

A few years ago, another sheriff in rural New York was invited to a far-right group. Sheriff Rich Giardino says he didn’t know how extreme the group was and joined because he was recruited by someone he knew. Now Giardino says he’s rethinking his membership.

James Bonet went through a political transformation over the last few years, from leaning left to diving deep into the far right. He went down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, including about the 2020 presidential election, eventually landing him in federal prison.

A conversation with our editor, David Sommerstein, about how we got into this story, what we found, and what’s next.

New York State is seeing an "incredible rise" in hate-filled violence and intimidation. That's according to Jackie Bray, the commissioner of New York's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. In this interview, Bray talks about the nature of far-right extremism in New York, which groups are active in the state, and the role New Yorkers have in preventing the spread of violent extremism.

In 2022 a sheriff posted a photo online that revealed his ties to the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia. That photo led to a months-long investigation into the broader landscape of far-right extremism in Upstate New York.