ADL Unmasks Person Behind ‘U.S. Bio Labs in Ukraine’ Conspiracy Theory
The Anti-Defamation League “unmasked” the person behind one of the more controversial conspiracy theories to be pushed on right-wing media since Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
A social media user, tweeting with the handle @WarClandestine fueled the conspiracy theory that Russian airstrikes were targeting “U.S. Biolabs” in Ukraine. Twitter suspended the account, but the theory was already out of the bottle and was quickly echoed by Tucker Carlson, Steven Bannon, and Russian state propaganda.
The ADL Center on Extremism published the findings of its investigation into who was behind the theory on Tuesday and declared ”with a high degree of confidence” that a “self-described former restaurant manager and Army National Guard veteran living in rural Virginia” named Jacob Creech was behind “WarClandestine.”
NBC’s Ben Collins explained how @WarClandestine helped to fuel the theory’s growth online, attributing it to a viral thread on the account.
“WarClandestine’s “biolabs” thread spread like wildfire across the right on Rumble and the QAnon forum TheGreatAwakening,” Collins wrote on March 14th. “It got a massive push by TheDonald, now called PatriotsDotWin. You might remember TheDonald because its users posted literal battle plans before January 6th.”
WarClandestine’s “biolabs” thread spread like wildfire across the right on Rumble and the QAnon forum TheGreatAwakening.
It got a massive push by TheDonald, now called PatriotsDotWin.
You might remember TheDonald because its users posted literal battle plans before January 6th. pic.twitter.com/QTFVYrr7hr
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) March 14, 2022
After the ADL published its report, Creech appeared on Alex Jones’ InfoWars where he both confirmed his identity and his part in helping promote the bio lab conspiracy theory. The ADL report details that Creech “has repeatedly invoked ‘Q’ over the years,” although he has more recently distanced himself from the QAnon conspiracy, but has “also allegedly called for various public officials to be executed.”
“The discovery highlights how a fringe QAnon figure, harnessing the power of social media, sparked a viral conspiracy theory that – in just a few weeks – made its way from QAnon to the world stage, amplified by Tucker Carlson, white supremacists Nick Fuentes and Vincent James, members of the Proud Boys, and Steve Bannon – and even the Kremlin,” wrote the ADL.
The bio lab conspiracy theory, which has been roundly debunked, became another tool of Russian propaganda to justify the deadly invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia’s false bio lab claims quickly raised concerns that it was laying the groundwork for a future attack against Ukraine using biological weapons,” explains the ADL, noting that intelligence experts have feared the conspiracy theory would be used by Russia as a pretext for using chemical weapons against Ukrainians.
