Ricin plot, Trump boosts QAnon, Telegram arrest fallout: Week in extremism

A former federal employee, ex-Marine and militia member from Virginia pleaded guilty last week to possessing ricin, a deadly toxin, which he had manufactured himself. Meanwhile, the arrest of the CEO and founder of the communications app Telegram has the U.S. far-right fretting about losing their favorite platform. And former president Donald Trump shares QAnon memes and amplifies a follower who has called for the death of his political opponents.
It’s the week in extremism, from USA TODAY.
Russell Richardson Vane IV, a 42-year-old from Vienna, VA. pleaded guilty last week to possession of the toxin ricin, a test tube of which he had manufactured himself from castor beans. Ricin has been used in several plots to poison political opponents over the last few decades.
The arrest of Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, sent waves of concern through the ecosystem of American extremists that has flocked to the platform in recent years, as USA TODAY reported Thursday.
As yet, there’s no indication Telegram will be compromised by the arrest of its CEO. “Telegram almost certainly will stay up,” Adam Hadley, founder and executive director of the London-based nonprofit Tech Against Terrorism, told USA TODAY. 
Former President Donald Trump, who has long courted supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory, posted QAnon slogans to his Truth Social account at least three times this week. The former president, who has been posting non-stop on the platform he launched after he was kicked off Twitter, also re-posted content from a profile that has called for Trump’s opponents to be killed, according to an analysis from liberal watchdog group Media Matters.
That’s how many North Carolinans polled by Elon University believe that violence will break out after the November Presidential election. Both Republicans and Democrats are pessimistic about political violence, the poll shows.