SHOWDOWN

Facebook Accused of Thwarting Case Against Violent Militia

A New Mexico prosecutor has asked a judge to intervene after the social media giant said it could not retrieve crucial data required to limit the activities of the group.

A New Mexico prosecutor has accused Facebook of impeding a civil injunction against a heavily armed militia group and asked a judge to step in and settle the matter. District Attorney Raul Torrez filed a petition in a California court asking a judge to enforce a New Mexico subpoena against the social media giant that would “compel” it to hand over data on members of the New Mexico Civil Guard group, a self-described militia accused of inciting violence at protests in Albuquerque. Torrez alleges that Facebook has refused to provide data on the group that is crucial to prohibit it from acting as a paramilitary organization at any demonstrations in the future. But “Facebook has resisted our attempts to secure this vital information, which will help us prove our case here in New Mexico,” Torrez said at a Monday news conference. Facebook has said it deleted records on the militia’s members during an August 2020 purge of extremist content. But Torrez has questioned that claim, saying the platform refused to provide a sworn affidavit asserting that it cannot retrieve the data. A hearing on the matter is now expected in early 2022, Torrez said.