SALT LAKE CITY After an investigation into allegations that Matthias Cicotte, former Alaska assistant attorney general, ran a prominent #DezNat Twitter account, the Alaska Department of Law stated Tuesday that Cicotte is no longer employed by the agency, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Last Wednesday, the Guardian released an investigative piece that identified Cicotte as the person behind Twitter handle @JReubenClark, an anonymous account that has been accused of repeatedly tweeting violent, offensive material targeting and harassing marginalized groups, often using the hashtag #DezNat.
DezNat, short for Deseret Nation or Nationalism, refers to a group of online, self-appointed defenders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes to the point of extremism, harassment and even advocating violence. The hashtag was first used in 2018, advocating for the idea of creating an exclusive Latter-day Saint country in the western United States.