How Michael Flynn Goes Local to Spread Christian Nationalism

This is chilling. And why we must get out and vote and stand up in every way possible to the poisonous spread of Christian nationalism and growing rise of fascism. — Molly

By MICHELLE R. SMITH

 VENICE, Fla. (AP) — It was less than three weeks before the Sarasota County, Florida, school board election when the former White House national security adviser weighed in on the local political race.

“These ‘woke’ members need to be defeated in detail this upcoming election,” Michael Flynn posted on Telegram on Aug. 6. “Our children’s lives and futures are at risk when our school boards here in Florida and around the nation shove (critical race theory) and transgender nonsense down their throats.”

A few days later, the retired three-star Army general who spent decades enmeshed in international conflict weighed in again on the local election: “‘WOKE’ SOBs operating in many counties and on many school boards across the country” have to be voted out or censured “and some just need to be arrested.” 

A sign for The Hollow, in the shape of a U.S. flag. (Richard Rowley/Frontline via AP)

Later that month, Flynn’s chosen candidates — who were also backed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis — defeated three school board candidates backed by Democrats. 

Flynn, who just eight years ago under President Barack Obama led the U.S. military’s intelligence agency, now is at the center of a far-right Christian nationalist movement that has a growing influence in the Republican Party. In speeches across the U.S., he urges his supporters to get involved in local politics as a way to change the country from the bottom up.

“Local action equals national impact,” Flynn says at nearly every stop.

In Sarasota County, Flynn and his allies have created a kind of laboratory for his approach, energizing local conservative activists through social media and public appearances, and gatherings at a venue called The Hollow that has become a meeting place for the far right. He questions American democratic institutions, repeats lies about the 2020 election, attacks the news media and embraces conspiracy theories about COVID-19. One of the groups he’s welcomed into the fold is the violent extremist group the Proud Boys.

The political marriage between a man who once sat at the right hand of President Donald Trump and local extremists in Sarasota County starts in some ways on Jan. 6, 2021, and with their failed attempts to thwart the democratic process and keep Trump in power.

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It was insurrection day and Flynn, American flag hat atop his head, sat in the VIP section of the rally as Trump urged his supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol and stop Congress from confirming that he had lost the election.

Less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away, James Hoel, decked out in tactical gear, a walkie-talkie on his chest, advanced past the Capitol barricades with fellow members of the Proud Boys, at the vanguard of the deadly riot.

There’s no evidence the two men knew each other on that day. But in the 21 months since Trump’s fight to stay in office came to an end, their paths and interests have crossed again and again.

The Associated Press and the PBS series “Frontline” reported last month that Flynn’s movement envisions Christianity as the basis of American life and institutions; where the right to bear arms is paramount; where abortion is illegal; where concepts such as systemic racism and gay or transgender rights have no place in the schools; and where people who disagree are called “Marxists,” or perverts, and are excluded from American civic life.

Flynn has drawn together election deniers, mask and vaccine opponents, insurrectionists and leaders in state and local Republican parties who are continuing the attack on American democracy and institutions that came to a head on Jan. 6.

This image posted by the DC Metropolitan Police shows James Hoel at the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (DC Metropolitan Police via AP)

After the failed insurrection, Flynn moved to Sarasota County and set out to build a political community of like-minded people. He found an operating base of sorts at a place known as The Hollow in rural Venice. It’s a 10-acre site that’s at times a children’s playland, wedding venue, organizing space and weapons training ground.          

The Hollow’s owner, Victor Mellor Sr., is a former Marine who posted on Facebook that he “Just knocked on front doors” of the Capitol on Jan. 6. Mellor told “Frontline” that he was proud he was there that day and once suggested on social media that he would have a “J6 reunion at the Hollow.”

Flynn first visited the site in May 2021, and the next day, Mellor posted on Facebook that there was a “war going on” and pledged “all our resources to the Flynns in this battle.” Since then the Hollow has turned into a center of activity for Sarasota County’s far right.

The Hollow, a 10-acre site in Venice, Fla. (Richard Rowley/Frontline via AP)

Last fall, the Hollow drew thousands to events with Flynn in attendance where doctors distributed mask and vaccine waivers for school children. The site hosts political groups and candidates, offers free playdates — with water slides, zip lines and a bouncy house — has advertised classes on “Biblical citizenship,” food storage and wound and trauma care, and provides access to a neighboring, unpermitted gun range to ex-military and law enforcement. The gun range has hosted groups as large as 40 and has offered free shooting lessons to children as young as 6.

 

Last fall, the Hollow drew thousands to events with Flynn in attendance where doctors distributed mask and vaccine waivers for school children. The site hosts political groups and candidates, offers free playdates — with water slides, zip lines and a bouncy house — has advertised classes on “Biblical citizenship,” food storage and wound and trauma care, and provides access to a neighboring, unpermitted gun range to ex-military and law enforcement. The gun range has hosted groups as large as 40 and has offered free shooting lessons to children as young as 6.

 

Visitors enter through a bunker-like windowless hallway, painted black and filled with quotes, many of which push the idea that violent revolution is part of the nation’s history and possibly its future. “To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them,” reads one. A Thomas Jefferson line reads: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

 

In a meeting space inside, a banner promises “any attempt of violence towards our children will be met with overwhelming deadly force.” On another wall hangs a “soldier’s prayer,” signed by Flynn, that reads in part: “Let Your truth be my shield and buckler/Against the fiery darts — the lies — of the enemy.”

 

The bunker then opens onto an expansive outdoor space decorated with American flags and bunting and landscaped with palm trees, pathways and pergolas. One winding path connects to an adjacent property that includes the gun range. Mellor said he added a 10-foot cross at Flynn’s suggestion.

 

Reporters for AP and “Frontline” visited the outskirts of the Hollow in February. Later, Mellor invited a “Frontline” crew inside for a tightly controlled visit and sat down for an interview. Mellor said he was not a right-wing extremist and expressed concern the Hollow would be portrayed as “a militia camp.” He added: “But it is absolutely the opposite spectrum of that.”

 

Flynn has been visiting the Hollow regularly for over a year, and supporting it financially. After Hurricane Ian swamped the site with several feet of water, Flynn and Mellor visited it together by boat, Mellor told AP. He shared a photo of the two of them, surrounded by floodwaters, folding an American flag.     

 

In a Facebook post by The Hollow, a child participates in a free shooting class at the unpermitted gun range adjacent to The Hollow in Venice, Fla. (AP Photo)

 

It was at The Hollow where Flynn was seen mixing with Proud Boys, including Hoel.

 

Photos and video posted on Facebook and a public Telegram chat show Flynn at The Hollow with men wearing the Proud Boys’ signature yellow and black shirts or other gear with the group’s logo. Sarasota lawyer Ron Filipkowski, who tracks far-right figures online, circulated a photo posted on Facebook in September 2021 that showed a man wearing a Proud Boys hat, yellow shirt and bandanna standing with Mellor and Flynn.

 

The Proud Boys played an important role in the insurrection. One of its members, Jeremy Bertino, pleaded guilty this month to seditious conspiracy for his role in the attack.

 

Samantha Kutner, an extremism researcher who is an expert on the Proud Boys and runs the consultancy Glitterpill LLC, said grievance is a driving factor in the group: they paint themselves as victims of a progressive society that wants to emasculate them.

 

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