Albuquerque D.A. files complaint against Facebook for release of information on N.M. 'Civil Guard'

Second Judicial District Attorney Raúl Torrez is taking on Facebook in his battle against the New Mexico Civil Guard, which he says is breaking the law by acting as a self-appointed military force in the state. The Albuquerque-based prosecutor filed a petition Monday asking a California Superior Court judge to force the social media behemoth to comply with a subpoena from his office that seeks information regarding accounts set up by the right-wing militia group and its members.
Torrez said militia members used Facebook to recruit, organize and direct members in addition to telling them where to meet and how to prepare themselves ahead of protests.

The prosecutor said at a news conference Monday the company took down pages associated with the Civil Guard because the accounts violated Facebook’s own polices regarding dangerous individuals and organizations. But he added Facebook has refused to provide information he seeks about who set up and controlled the accounts.

“Facebook is asking Congress and the American people to trust it to regulate extremist content on its platform and yet refuses to turn over basic account information about an identified extremist group that used that same platform to recruit, organize and direct its members to engage in unlawful activity,” he wrote in a news statement.

He filed the civil action after members of the New Mexico Civil Guard — which he estimates has 150 to 200 members statewide — appeared armed and dressed in military gear at a June 2020 protest in Albuquerque regarding the statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate, where a man was shot and wounded. “Numerous members of the [New Mexico Civil Guard] attended the protest as a private vigilante or paramilitary unit wearing matching camouflage attire and sporting assault rifles and other military-style gear,” Torrez said in his complaint.

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/albuquerque-district-attorney-files-complaint-against-facebook-for-release-of-information-on-new-mexico-civil/article_28dcfae2-463e-11ec-8ba5-d30e2875f9f9.html