Latest news with #StephenFarrea

Boston Globe

R.I. neo-Nazi member, out on bail on child porn charge, is arrested after being recognized on TikTok, Discord

However, someone using TikTok and Discord recently recognized Farrea from live videos and online chat groups and contacted the Portsmouth police. The witness told police that Farrea started appeared on the social media platforms earlier this year, with user names 'thebearman07,' 'flyingkites101,' and 'otherg4079,' according to court records. Advertisement A witness took screenshots of Stephen Farrea, 35, a member of the Nationalist Social Club-131, and alerted police when she encountered him online. He was arrested for allegedly violating his bail on a child pornography charge. RI Judiciary The witness said that Farrea was involved in various discussion groups, including one with a racial slur, and appeared in videos and live chats, according to court records. Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up The witness said that Farrea told her his real name and that he'd had 'legal trouble' in Rhode Island, according to court records. After Googling Farrea's name and seeing his mugshot from his arrest on child pornography, the witness took screenshots of Farrea and called the Portsmouth police, according to court records. Farrea, who'd moved to Jamestown, R.I., was arrested Tuesday on a warrant of violating his bail. Newport County Superior Court Judge Stephen Nugent ordered Farrea held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions pending a violation hearing on Aug. 22. Advertisement Stefanie Murphy, Farrea's lawyer, said Friday that she was hopeful they would be able to resolve the case. 'We were very close to resolving this case, until this happened,' she said. The Nationalist Social Club-131, also known as NSC-131, has been classified as a neo-Nazi group by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center. The men wear masks and khaki pants, and get attention by harassing people during 'drag queen story hours,' painting graffiti, spreading leaflets, hanging banners praising white nationalism, and shouting slurs and waving Nazi flags during demonstrations. Farrea has been seen at several NSC-131 events. A Rhode Island native, Farrea became involved with hate groups around the same time that he was a corporal in the Selected Marine Corps Reserve, assigned to Fort Devens, in Massachusetts, according to military records obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request. At the time, Farrea posted on Discord, an online chat platform, with fellow members of the Identity Evropa hate group, about his love for the 'identitarian community' and how he planned to raise his infant daughter in the philosophy. His Marine service ended in 2019, after his posts and others by Identity Evropa were Farrea wrote that he was eager 'to drop its okay to be white flyers in Rhode Island.' He was arrested in June 2022 for refusing to identify himself to East Providence police as he and other NSC-131 stapled flyers and trespassed at a private school. He and another member, Austin Conti of Warwick, R.I., later Advertisement After Farrea was charged with possession of child pornography last year, his wife filed for divorce, according to court records. Amanda Milkovits can be reached at