Conservative voices are sounding the alarm over a radical Salt Lake City group that deleted all of its social media accounts just days after Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
Armed Queers, a self-described revolutionary LGBT organization, promotes Marxist ideology, armed activism and solidarity with communist Cuba.
Authorities have not confirmed any direct link to Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspect in Kirk’s murder, but the FBI is reviewing social media accounts—including Armed Queers’ accounts—for potential prior knowledge of the attack.
Conservatives warn that the group’s radical rhetoric and timing of its account deletions raise serious questions.
Founded in 2020, Armed Queers positions itself as a defender of “oppressed people’s movements,” advocating “trans” liberation, the end of capitalist exploitation and the abolition of prisons and police.
Archived posts reviewed by Just the News show members undergoing firearms training, attending self-defense sessions and providing armed security at drag shows and campus events.
In March 2023, the group tweeted about defending an all-ages drag show against right-wing protesters, a theme repeated during “Trans” Awareness Week later that year.
Social media activity prior to the account deletions reflected a highly visible online presence, amplifying concern when it disappeared on the day of Kirk’s murder.
Leader Ermyia Fanaeian, a trans-identifying activist from Iran, has a long history of political organizing.
Fleeing a country where LGBT people face severe persecution, Fanaeian said attending the University of Utah has been “incredibly liberating.”
He has worked on multiple political campaigns, including Congressman Ben McAdams’ (D) 2018 run and co-founded March for Our Lives Utah, a nonprofit focused on gun violence prevention.
Fanaeian’s leadership is central to the group’s mix of armed activism and radical politics, which critics say could influence younger members in Utah.
The organization has international ties through Cuba’s May Day Brigade.
Fanaeian and a man known only as “Connor” traveled to Havana in May, describing the visit in a now-deleted video.
Connor said it instilled “a real feeling of inspiration, a feeling that we have a world to win, and a feeling that revolution will come.”
Fanaeian said Cuban officials expected activists to “go home and make your own revolution,” signaling the group’s aim to import foreign revolutionary tactics to one of America’s most conservative states.
Armed Queers is a member of the National Network on Cuba (NNOC), which advocates ending U.S. sanctions on Havana and includes organizations such as the Communist Party USA and Democratic Socialists of America.
Its recommended reading list features Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Che Guevara and radical American figures like Angela Davis.
Locally, the group collaborates with the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán (MEChA) and Arab activist groups, engaging in anti-Israel activism and demonstrations at the Sundance Film Festival.
The group has also partnered with Stonewall Self-Defense, a radical martial arts collective that hosted events with convicted felon Eric King, who attempted to firebomb a congressional office.
After his release in 2023, King was promoted as a “former political prisoner.”
Critics say such associations highlight the group’s militant leanings, despite its claims of protecting LGBT people.
The sudden deletion of Armed Queers’ social media accounts around the time of Kirk’s assassination has intensified conservative concerns and drawn FBI attention.
While no direct link has been established, the combination of radical ideology, armed training and international alliances has made the group a focal point in national debates over domestic extremism, particularly in states long considered safe from such activism.
