A Virginia concrete contractor says a couple of conversations with a new Instagram follower eventually brought some unexpected visitors to his front door: the U.S. Secret Service.
Austin Connell, who lives in Carrollton, Virginia, told WAVY’s 10 On Your Side that he frequently posts about politics and government on social media. Earlier this year, a follower from Florida began messaging him. The two discussed politics, exchanged phone numbers, and talked about possibly getting together.
Connell said he only spoke with the Florida man twice and did not remember him saying anything he considered extreme. Then the man contacted him with a warning: Secret Service agents had spoken with him and brought up Connell’s name.
In early August, Connell’s doorbell camera recorded Secret Service personnel, accompanied by local law enforcement, showing up at his Carrollton home.
The Secret Service Was Interested in Someone Else
The encounter was not presented as an investigation of Connell. Instead, the agents wanted to know more about the Florida man who had been communicating with him.
“Here’s the situation,” one officer can be heard telling Connell in the doorbell-camera footage aired by WAVY. “So the gentleman that you were going back and forth with online, obviously he brings a lot of concerns for us.”
Connell stayed inside and spoke to the officers through his doorbell camera. He told WAVY that he did not trust them enough to come outside.
The conversation soon turned to the nature of his relationship with the Florida man. According to Connell, there wasn’t much of one.
“I’m simply going to say that I don’t know him,” Connell told the officers. “He’s simply an Instagram follower.”
The officers asked whether Connell knew any of the man’s other followers and what he knew about him. One officer noted that the Florida man had spoken as though he knew Connell personally.
Connell said their actual contact was limited. He recalled the follower discussing a rally or protest and sharing political opinions. At another point, Connell said, the man suggested they hang out, shoot guns, and have a beer.
The officers also asked Connell whether he believed in the Second Amendment.
Why Was the Secret Service Asking Questions?
The doorbell-camera conversation offers a clue.
According to WAVY, the officers discussed something the Florida man had posted concerning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while Netanyahu was visiting the United States.
The U.S. Secret Service confirms that its protective responsibilities extend beyond American presidents and vice presidents. The agency protects visiting foreign heads of state and heads of government while they are in the United States.
A Secret Service annual report provides some idea of the scale of that job. In fiscal year 2023, the agency reported protecting 343 foreign visits, including security operations involving foreign leaders attending major diplomatic events in the United States.
That helps explain why a social-media post involving Netanyahu could draw the agency’s attention. However, neither the available reporting nor the doorbell-camera footage establishes exactly what the Florida man posted, and we do not know what specifically caused investigators to become concerned about him.
The officers repeatedly told Connell that he was not their target.
“I’m not worried about you,” one told him. “You’re not under arrest. I’m gonna walk away from this place.”
The officer explained that he simply wanted to talk about the other man.
Then Connell Noticed the Screenshots
One part of the encounter left Connell with another question.
He said the officers appeared to have screenshots of direct messages he had exchanged with the Florida man on Instagram.
How those screenshots reached investigators remains unknown.
Meta’s guidelines for law enforcement provide some useful context. The company says different types of Instagram information require different legal processes. A subpoena can compel certain basic subscriber records, while a court order can be used for some additional account information that does not include the contents of communications.
Stored account contents are treated differently. Meta says a search warrant based on probable cause is required to compel disclosure of stored content, which can include messages, photos, comments, and location information.
Meta also provides an emergency-request process when law enforcement is dealing with an imminent threat of death or serious physical injury.
None of that tells us how the Secret Service obtained the screenshots seen by Connell. They could have been voluntarily provided by the Florida man or someone else, obtained through legal process, or acquired through another investigative avenue. There is currently no public evidence establishing which occurred.
WAVY reported that Connell said the Florida man’s Instagram account was later deactivated. The station contacted Meta for comment but said the company did not respond.
There is no indication in the available reporting that Connell was arrested, charged, or accused of threatening anyone. The officers themselves can be heard on the recording telling him that they were interested in gathering information about the other Instagram user.
For Connell, an online conversation with someone he barely knew had unexpectedly crossed over into the real world. What he described as a new follower, a couple of conversations, and an exchange of phone numbers was enough of a connection for federal agents to knock on his door when that follower came under scrutiny.