Three brothers have been identified as the masterminds of several pro-gun activist Facebook groups organizing protests against the government for the continued coronavirus lockdowns across several states.

A report from the Washington Post identified the brothers as Ben Dorr, Christopher Dorr, and Aaron Dorr. The three siblings were reportedly behind the creation of several state-specific Facebook pages that publicly called for lockdown protests.

 A separate report confirmed that the three men were listed as administrators on the Facebook groups. Apart from the groups that called for protests, the three brothers reportedly also managed several gun-rights groups, including the Minnesota Gun Right Facebook group.

The Post reported that one of the brothers had created the group Wisconsinites Against Excessive Quarantine on Wednesday last week. By the weekend, the group had more than 99,000 members. On Sunday, the brothers created a new group called New Yorkers Against Excessive Quarantine, which has since amassed more than 24,000 members.

During the same day, the brothers created several other Facebook groups, including the Pennsylvanians Against Excessive Quarantine and the Ohioans Against Excessive Quarantine. Some of the groups had scheduled various events, inviting members to congregate in protest of the ongoing lockdown measures.

Investigators were able to link the different Facebook groups as the brothers had used similar wording on all of them. Former Iowa state legislator, Clel Baudler, stated that the brothers had intentionally fueled the flames of the controversial issue, likely to make a quick buck.

A representative from Facebook revealed that they have not removed the groups because the types of online activity on the pages were not illegal in the states where the groups were based.