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How Michael Flynn goes local to spread Christian nationalism

In this photo posted by The Hollow on Facebook in June 2022, a child participates in a free shooting class at the unpermitted gun range adjacent to The Hollow in Venice, Fla. The gun range has hosted groups as large as 40 and has offered free shooting lessons to children as young as six. (AP Photo) A cross stands near a pond at The Hollow, a 10-acre site in rural Venice, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2022. (Richard Rowley/Frontline via AP) A woman wearing a Donald Trump shirt holds a turkey during a visit to a petting zoo at The Hollow in Venice, Fla., on July 31, 2022. The 10-acre site is at times a children’s playland, wedding venue, far-right organizing space and weapons training ground. (Richard Rowley/Frontline via AP) Owner Victor Mellor, Sr., pauses during an interview at The Hollow in Venice, Fla., on Aug. 1, 2022. Mellor says he is not a right-wing extremist and expressed concern the Hollow would be portrayed as “a militia camp.” “But it is absolutely the opposite spectrum of that,” he says. (Richard Rowley/Frontline via AP) This image from the Twitter account of Sarasota, Fla., lawyer Ron Filipkowski, who tracks far-right figures online, shows a photo originally posted on Facebook on Sept. 26, 2021, of Michael Flynn, center, eating a hot dog with Victor Mellor Sr., owner of The Hollow, left, and an unidentified man in a Proud Boys shirt, at Mellor's venue in Venice, Fla. (AP Photo) A quote from Michael Flynn, a retired three-star general who served as Donald Trump's national security advisor, is displayed in an entrance hallway at The Hollow in Venice, Fla., on July 31, 2022. (Richard Rowley/Frontline via AP) Owner Victor Mellor, Sr., walks through an entrance hallway at The Hollow in Venice, Fla., on Aug. 1, 2022. Mellor said members of the violent extremist group the Proud Boys had volunteered at the Hollow before he knew they were members of the group, but said they were welcome, calling them “just dads and husbands.” (Richard Rowley/Frontline via AP) A cross stands near a pond at The Hollow, a 10-acre site in rural Venice, Fla., on July 31, 2022. Michael Flynn has been soliciting money for the venue through a crowdfunding campaign for The America Project, a group he started last year and that AP and Frontline previously reported has been spending millions on efforts to advance its agenda. (Richard Rowley/Frontline via AP) In this photo provided by former Sarasota County School Board Chair Shirley Brown, Proud Boy member James Hoel and others gather outside her home for an anti-mask protest on Oct. 4, 2021. "We see you in there, Shirley. We want you to come out for a redress of grievances," Hoel said through a megaphone. (Shirley Brown via AP) This image posted by the DC Metropolitan Police shows James Hoel at the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, wanted as a person of interest in unrest-related offenses, before the case was taken over by the FBI. Hoel, decked out in tactical gear, a walkie-talkie on his chest, advanced up the Capitol steps with fellow members of the Proud Boys, at the vanguard of the deadly riot. Hoel has not been charged. (DC Metropolitan Police via AP) This photo posted on Telegram on Nov. 14, 2021 shows James Hoel, left, with Michael Flynn holding a Proud Boys insignia at The Hollow in Venice, Fla. The Proud Boys are a violent extremist group that has been designated a terrorist organization by the governments of Canada and New Zealand and labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy group. (AP Photo) A sign for The Hollow, in the shape of a U.S. flag, stands in a parking lot at the venue in Venice, Fla., on July 31, 2022. After the failed Jan. 6, insurrection, retired three-star general Michael Flynn moved to Sarasota and set out to build a political community of like-minded people. He found an operating base of sorts at The Hollow, a 10-acre site that’s at times a children’s playland, wedding venue, organizing space and weapons training ground. (Richard Rowley/Frontline via AP) The Hollow, a 10-acre site in Venice, Fla., is seen on Feb. 26, 2022. Michael Flynn has been visiting the site regularly for over a year and supporting it financially. After Hurricane Ian swamped the site with several feet of water, Flynn and owner Vic Mellor visited it together by boat, Mellor told AP. (Richard Rowley/Frontline via AP) This image from video posted on Rumble on Feb. 23, 2022 shows Michael Flynn speaking at The Hollow in Venice, Fla. Flynn, who once led the U.S. military's intelligence agency, now is at the center of a far-right Christian nationalist movement that has a growing influence in the Republican Party. (AP Photo)