A transgender firearm connoisseur is in Alabama custody on gun charges stemming from a terrorism investigation into his roommate.
Anthony Slota, referred to as “Violet” on social media and in court records, was arrested on Sept. 10 with fellow defendant Levi Belcher after online threats to kill immigration agents put authorities on their trail. Slota’s online footprint shows a history of endorsing violence against political enemies, training with firearms, and inviting other leftists to prepare for possible armed conflict before his arrest, a Washington Examiner review found.
Police found numerous weapons and anti-government materials in the defendants’ vehicle and Huntsville apartment, according to court documents. The Department of Justice charged Belcher, Slota, and a third roommate with possessing illegal rifles, while Belcher is also charged with the December 2025 threats that sparked the investigation.
Slota repeatedly posted about the need for guns and the Second Amendment to protect trans-identifying people, adopting a username with the LGBT activist phrase “arm the dolls.” Slota’s prosecution is the latest linked to an informal but growing gun fandom on the far Left.
Anthony Slota poses for a mugshot in local jail after his Sept. 10, 2026, arrest in Madison County, Alabama. (Image credit: Madison County Sheriff’s Office)
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Anthony Slota poses for a mugshot in local jail after his Sept. 10, 2026, arrest in Madison County, Alabama. (Image credit: Madison County Sheriff’s Office)
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Anthony Slota poses for a mugshot in local jail after his Sept. 10, 2026, arrest in Madison County, Alabama. (Image credit: Madison County Sheriff’s Office)
“GET YOUR FRIENDS AND GUNS TOGETHER FOR A [conversation] ABOUT WHO TO PROTECT YOUR COMMUNITY FROM,” Slota posted on Instagram on Sept. 10. The post featured a photo of three gun-toting individuals in a wooded area with their faces censored. More images in the post showed a drawing of a Ku Klux Klan hood being shot and lists of enemy groups that included the Proud Boys, the Community of Police Supporters Northwest, and neo-Nazis.
Federal court records did not list an attorney for Slota on Friday, and local court information was not available. Slota is held in a Madison County jail on $15,000 bond with a state charge of possessing a sawed-off rifle on top of his federal charges.
‘Ambush-style setup’
On the night of the arrests, federal agents who were initially looking for Belcher saw him and Slota wearing body armor and carrying guns as they began driving a vehicle, according to criminal complaints. Authorities arrested them during a traffic stop and later detained the third defendant during the home raid.
Slota told officials that “he and Belcher would ‘cop watch’ meaning they would follow law enforcement, such as [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and [Huntsville Police Department], around as a means of protecting the community,” an FBI counterterrorism agent wrote.
Prosecutors have not accused the trio of a specific violent plot, though the FBI’s investigation is ongoing. A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives agent told the press on Thursday that police found “what appeared to be an ambush-style setup” of weapons in the home. He also alluded to “a note that indicated the intent to commit a serious criminal act” inside the defendants’ vehicle.
Slota’s stated contempt for law enforcement and support for armed resistance was on display before his arrest. Videos Slota posted on Instagram showed him tracking suspected police activity around town, calling officers “pigs” and “blue devils” in captions. A reel Slota shared weeks ago also shows a guillotine beheading an imaginary President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and other figures as upbeat music plays.
Another post depicted Slota posing in a green mask with weaponry and a song titled “Trans Girls Need Guns” playing. “If you get shot tryna pull a trans person out the bathroom that is your own fault,” Slota posted in August.
“There can be no ‘unprovoked’ violence against a Nazi,” reads a post from Slota’s X account that month. “If you take up that identity, you’ve already declared violent intent — anything done in response is just varying levels on self-defense.”
The leftists who love the Second Amendment
Sentiments like Slota’s helped drive a growth in leftist militia-like organizations since Trump’s 2016 election win, according to 2025 research from George Washington University. The groups similarly present themselves as armed community defenders against the government or right-wing extremists, but continue to find members who get in trouble with law enforcement.
The DOJ won a 100-year sentence in June against a leader of one such group, the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, after he shot a police officer in the neck during an armed anti-ICE riot. A founding member of a John Brown Gun Club chapter in Washington State also died in a police shooting in 2019 after throwing bombs at an ICE facility.
POLICE FIND WEAPONS AND ANTI-GOVERNMENT SYMBOLS IN ALABAMA HOME AFTER THREATS TO ICE
Trump has put more emphasis on disrupting violent left-wing networks since the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, 2025. As the country reflected on one year since the murder, Slota posted about the urgency to brace for the possibility of more bloodshed — just before his arrest that day.
“No one is coming to save us. So we keep us safe,” the Sept. 10 post says.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
