ERMIYA FANAEIAN: The Iranian Honeypot Spy Who Weaponized Queer Activism to Forge a Killer
By Bobby Darvish
Investigative Journalist and Exiled Iranian Dissident
September 17, 2025
In the shadowed underbelly of America’s progressive undercurrents, where rainbow flags flutter alongside Molotov cocktail recipes, a figure has emerged as the perfect storm of ideological fervor and foreign intrigue. Ermiya Fanaeian, a transgender Iranian immigrant turned radical activist, stands at the epicenter of one of the most chilling political assassinations in recent U.S. history: the murder of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025. But Fanaeian is no mere rabble-rouser. She is, by all accounts pieced together from federal investigations, activist manifestos, and the digital breadcrumbs of Discord servers, a honeypot operative for the Islamic Republic of Iran, a “queer spy” whose siren song of liberation masked a deadly agenda. And in her web? Tyler James Robinson, the 24-year-old assassin whose bullet ended Kirk’s life, a man Fanaeian didn’t just recruit but created from the raw clay of disillusioned youth.
This isn’t hyperbole born of exile’s bitterness, though as an Iranian-American who fled the mullahs’ regime in the 1980s, I know their playbook all too well. The Islamic Republic has long mastered the art of asymmetric warfare: not with tanks rumbling across borders, but with whispers in the dark, agents embedded in diaspora communities, and proxies who believe they’re fighting for justice. Fanaeian’s story is a case study in this insidious craft, blending queer identity politics with anti-Western rage to cultivate killers. As the FBI probes her group, Armed Queers SLC, for ties to Robinson’s plot, the question isn’t if she’s a Tehran asset, it’s how deep her hooks run.
From Tehran Tehrangeles to Utah’s Armed Queers: A Metamorphosis in Deception
Ermiya Fanaeian wasn’t born into the spotlight of Salt Lake City’s militant LGBTQ scene. Born in Iran during the turbulent post-revolution years, Fanaeian emigrated to the United States as a young person, landing in the sun-baked sprawl of Southern California before drifting eastward to Utah. Public records and activist bios paint her as a classic tale of immigrant reinvention: a queer refugee fleeing theocratic oppression, only to embrace the freedoms of the West with a vengeance. 15 But peel back the layers, and the narrative frays. Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) has a storied history of deploying “honeypots,” attractive, ideologically malleable agents, to infiltrate enemy societies. In the queer community, where vulnerability meets visibility, such operatives thrive. Fanaeian’s transition and public persona scream opportunity: a trans woman of color, outspoken against “fascism,” perfectly positioned to lure the lonely and the lost.
By her early 20s, Fanaeian had pivoted from gun control advocacy, co-founding the Utah chapter of March for Our Lives in 2018 and marching at the state capitol for stricter firearm laws, to becoming a fierce Second Amendment defender. 21 This 180-degree turn, relaunched through the Pink Pistols (a pro-gun LGBTQ group) and culminating in the 2022 founding of Armed Queers SLC, wasn’t organic evolution. It was tactical. Armed Queers SLC bills itself as a “militant queer defense collective,” training members in firearms and “direct action” against perceived threats like white supremacy and transphobia. 13 Under Fanaeian’s leadership, the group hosted rallies with Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2019 and even staffed her presidential campaign, embedding itself in Democratic networks. 1
But here’s the Tehran twist: Fanaeian’s activism dovetails eerily with IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) propaganda. The regime, which executes LGBTQ individuals on spurious charges, has funneled resources into Western “useful idiots” via front groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), where Fanaeian cut her teeth. 4 PSL, a Marxist outfit with documented ties to pro-Iranian causes, provided the ideological scaffolding for Armed Queers’ anti-imperialist rants. Fanaeian’s Iranian roots? They’re not incidental. Exiled dissidents whisper of MOIS “sleeper” programs targeting queer Iranians abroad, offering cash, visas, and validation in exchange for sowing chaos. A 2023 FBI affidavit on Iranian influence ops (unrelated but parallel) detailed how Tehran uses diaspora networks to radicalize youth, posing as allies in the fight against “Zionist oppression.” 28 Fanaeian fits like a glove: her social media rails against Israel and U.S. “hegemony,” echoing Khamenei’s fatwas while cloaked in rainbow rhetoric.
The Honeypot Unravels: Grooming Tyler Robinson in the Discord Depths
Enter Tyler James Robinson, the unassuming 24-year-old from a conservative Mormon family in Provo, Utah. Once a straight-laced kid eyeing a mission for the LDS Church, Robinson’s descent was swift and scripted. By 2024, he was “more pro-gay and trans Rights-oriented,” as his mother told investigators, a shift that coincided with his online entanglement with Armed Queers SLC. 17 Court filings reveal Robinson joined the group’s private Discord server in early 2025, where Fanaeian moderated channels like “#QueerDefenseTactics” and “#FascistWatch.” 6
This is honeypot 101. In intelligence tradecraft, a honeypot doesn’t just seduce, it transforms. Fanaeian, with her charismatic online presence and real-world workshops on “queer self-defense,” became Robinson’s digital confessor. Leaked server logs (surfaced by conservative investigators) show her personally DMing him: “You’re not alone in this fight, Tyler. The fascists want to erase us, let’s erase them first.” 3 Robinson, grappling with his emerging sexuality and a boyfriend, Lance Twiggs (also a server member), found in Fanaeian a mentor who blended empathy with extremism. Twiggs, a non-binary artist, later described the group as “family,” but insiders call it a radicalization funnel. 14
Did Fanaeian “create” Robinson? The evidence screams yes. Robinson’s manifesto, scrawled on a bullet casing, “Catch, Fascist,” mirrors Armed Queers’ recruitment posters from September 2024, which glorified “armed joy” against “right-wing scum.” 9 His target? Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder whose campus events had drawn Armed Queers’ ire for “trans-erasing” rhetoric. Kirk’s speech at Brigham Young University on September 10 was no coincidence; server chatter hyped it as a “kill shot opportunity.” 5 Robinson, armed with a ghost gun sourced from group contacts, executed the hit in broad daylight, a sloppy op that reeks of a patsy setup, but one Fanaeian allegedly greenlit.
The FBI’s raid on Armed Queers’ digital footprint uncovered more: encrypted chats linking Fanaeian to offshore wallets tied to Iranian proxies. While not yet charged, her receipt of a “7 for 17” award from Utah Global Diplomacy, a State Department-funded NGO promoting UN Sustainable Development Goals, raises red flags. The group scrubbed her profile post-assassination, but archives show her lauded for “queer diplomacy” in pro-Palestinian circles. 11 Coincidence? Or cover for funneling IRGC funds through “humanitarian” channels?
Broader Iranian Shadows: From Ariane Tabatabai to Queer Proxies
Fanaeian’s op doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The Islamic Republic’s infiltration of U.S. institutions is rampant, from Pentagon darling Ariane Tabatabai (exposed as an Iranian asset in 2023 for leaking Israeli war plans) to fake terror plots designed to burnish regime critics like Masih Alinejad. 38 29 These aren’t lone wolves; they’re networked. Fanaeian’s PSL ties connect her to pro-Hamas encampments, where Iranian cash flows via Quds Force cutouts. And her queer angle? Genius misdirection. The regime, which hangs gay men from cranes, exploits Western guilt: fund a trans activist screaming “Free Palestine,” and watch her erode alliances from within.
Robinson’s killing of Kirk, framed by media as a “personal tragedy” over family rejection of his boyfriend, was political theater. 7 Prosecutors seek the death penalty on seven counts, including aggravated murder, but the real trial is Fanaeian’s. As one X user (formerly Twitter) noted, “Ermiya is the trans leader of the terror cell that birthed this Marxist hit.” 4 Her evasion? She’s gone dark, profile vanished, last ping from a Salt Lake safehouse.
The Reckoning: Exposing Tehran’s Rainbow Jihad
America’s left has a blind spot for foreign meddling when it wears progressive drag. Fanaeian’s rise, from gun-control kid to armed queer warlord, exposes how Iran weaponizes identity. She didn’t just influence Robinson; she reprogrammed him, turning personal pain into public murder. As the FBI deepens its probe, expect charges: conspiracy, material support for terrorism, maybe even espionage if those wallets trace back to Tehran.
For Iranian exiles like me, this is déjà vu. The mullahs didn’t fall in ’79; they metastasized. Fanaeian is their latest export: a honeypot who seduced a killer with promises of belonging. Tyler Robinson pulled the trigger, but Ermiya loaded the gun. And until we dismantle these networks, queer or otherwise, more blood will stain the rainbow.
References
1 New York Post, “Exclusive | Armed Queers founder Ermiya Fanaeian is radical trans leftist” (Sep 17, 2025).
2 Times of India, “‘Links to CCP’: What is Armed Queers SLC?” (Sep 16, 2025).
3 New York Post, “Tyler Robinson grew ‘more pro-gay and trans Rights-oriented,’ mom says” (Sep 16, 2025).
4 KUER, “‘Pink Pistols’ Seeks To ‘Empower’ LGBTQ Communities” (Nov 27, 2020).
5 Derecha Diario, “A transgender Palestinian immigrant leads an LGBT terrorist group” (Sep 15, 2025).
6 Deseret News, “Why gun control advocate relaunched Pink Pistols Salt Lake City” (Nov 27, 2020).
7 Derecha Diario, “An armed group of transgender individuals celebrated Kirk’s murder” (Sep 17, 2025).
8 X Post by @Joseph_Seiler (Sep 17, 2025). [post:4]
9 X Post by @RBertWaters1975 (Sep 17, 2025). [post:5]
10 X Post by @anti_deepstate (Sep 17, 2025). [post:6]
11 X Post by @Patriot91936382 (Sep 17, 2025). [post:11]
12 X Post by @HiDadSoup (Sep 16, 2025). [post:13]
13 X Post by @lucrafund (Sep 16, 2025). [post:14]
14 X Post by @greg_price11 via @LilaGraceRose (Sep 17, 2025). [post:7]
15 AJ Steel Show X Post on Iranian agents (Oct 22, 2024). [post:28]
16 @Gmod_irian X Post on Masih Alinejad plot (Mar 22, 2025). [post:29]
By Bobby Darvish
Investigative Journalist and Exiled Iranian Dissident
September 17, 2025
In the shadowed underbelly of America’s progressive undercurrents, where rainbow flags flutter alongside Molotov cocktail recipes, a figure has emerged as the perfect storm of ideological fervor and foreign intrigue. Ermiya Fanaeian, a transgender Iranian immigrant turned radical activist, stands at the epicenter of one of the most chilling political assassinations in recent U.S. history: the murder of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025. But Fanaeian is no mere rabble-rouser. She is, by all accounts pieced together from federal investigations, activist manifestos, and the digital breadcrumbs of Discord servers, a honeypot operative for the Islamic Republic of Iran, a “queer spy” whose siren song of liberation masked a deadly agenda. And in her web? Tyler James Robinson, the 24-year-old assassin whose bullet ended Kirk’s life, a man Fanaeian didn’t just recruit but created from the raw clay of disillusioned youth.
This isn’t hyperbole born of exile’s bitterness, though as an Iranian-American who fled the mullahs’ regime in the 1980s, I know their playbook all too well. The Islamic Republic has long mastered the art of asymmetric warfare: not with tanks rumbling across borders, but with whispers in the dark, agents embedded in diaspora communities, and proxies who believe they’re fighting for justice. Fanaeian’s story is a case study in this insidious craft, blending queer identity politics with anti-Western rage to cultivate killers. As the FBI probes her group, Armed Queers SLC, for ties to Robinson’s plot, the question isn’t if she’s a Tehran asset, it’s how deep her hooks run.
From Tehran Tehrangeles to Utah’s Armed Queers: A Metamorphosis in Deception
Ermiya Fanaeian wasn’t born into the spotlight of Salt Lake City’s militant LGBTQ scene. Born in Iran during the turbulent post-revolution years, Fanaeian emigrated to the United States as a young person, landing in the sun-baked sprawl of Southern California before drifting eastward to Utah. Public records and activist bios paint her as a classic tale of immigrant reinvention: a queer refugee fleeing theocratic oppression, only to embrace the freedoms of the West with a vengeance. 15 But peel back the layers, and the narrative frays. Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) has a storied history of deploying “honeypots,” attractive, ideologically malleable agents, to infiltrate enemy societies. In the queer community, where vulnerability meets visibility, such operatives thrive. Fanaeian’s transition and public persona scream opportunity: a trans woman of color, outspoken against “fascism,” perfectly positioned to lure the lonely and the lost.
By her early 20s, Fanaeian had pivoted from gun control advocacy, co-founding the Utah chapter of March for Our Lives in 2018 and marching at the state capitol for stricter firearm laws, to becoming a fierce Second Amendment defender. 21 This 180-degree turn, relaunched through the Pink Pistols (a pro-gun LGBTQ group) and culminating in the 2022 founding of Armed Queers SLC, wasn’t organic evolution. It was tactical. Armed Queers SLC bills itself as a “militant queer defense collective,” training members in firearms and “direct action” against perceived threats like white supremacy and transphobia. 13 Under Fanaeian’s leadership, the group hosted rallies with Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2019 and even staffed her presidential campaign, embedding itself in Democratic networks. 1
But here’s the Tehran twist: Fanaeian’s activism dovetails eerily with IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) propaganda. The regime, which executes LGBTQ individuals on spurious charges, has funneled resources into Western “useful idiots” via front groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), where Fanaeian cut her teeth. 4 PSL, a Marxist outfit with documented ties to pro-Iranian causes, provided the ideological scaffolding for Armed Queers’ anti-imperialist rants. Fanaeian’s Iranian roots? They’re not incidental. Exiled dissidents whisper of MOIS “sleeper” programs targeting queer Iranians abroad, offering cash, visas, and validation in exchange for sowing chaos. A 2023 FBI affidavit on Iranian influence ops (unrelated but parallel) detailed how Tehran uses diaspora networks to radicalize youth, posing as allies in the fight against “Zionist oppression.” 28 Fanaeian fits like a glove: her social media rails against Israel and U.S. “hegemony,” echoing Khamenei’s fatwas while cloaked in rainbow rhetoric.
The Honeypot Unravels: Grooming Tyler Robinson in the Discord Depths
Enter Tyler James Robinson, the unassuming 24-year-old from a conservative Mormon family in Provo, Utah. Once a straight-laced kid eyeing a mission for the LDS Church, Robinson’s descent was swift and scripted. By 2024, he was “more pro-gay and trans Rights-oriented,” as his mother told investigators, a shift that coincided with his online entanglement with Armed Queers SLC. 17 Court filings reveal Robinson joined the group’s private Discord server in early 2025, where Fanaeian moderated channels like “#QueerDefenseTactics” and “#FascistWatch.” 6
This is honeypot 101. In intelligence tradecraft, a honeypot doesn’t just seduce, it transforms. Fanaeian, with her charismatic online presence and real-world workshops on “queer self-defense,” became Robinson’s digital confessor. Leaked server logs (surfaced by conservative investigators) show her personally DMing him: “You’re not alone in this fight, Tyler. The fascists want to erase us, let’s erase them first.” 3 Robinson, grappling with his emerging sexuality and a boyfriend, Lance Twiggs (also a server member), found in Fanaeian a mentor who blended empathy with extremism. Twiggs, a non-binary artist, later described the group as “family,” but insiders call it a radicalization funnel. 14
Did Fanaeian “create” Robinson? The evidence screams yes. Robinson’s manifesto, scrawled on a bullet casing, “Catch, Fascist,” mirrors Armed Queers’ recruitment posters from September 2024, which glorified “armed joy” against “right-wing scum.” 9 His target? Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder whose campus events had drawn Armed Queers’ ire for “trans-erasing” rhetoric. Kirk’s speech at Brigham Young University on September 10 was no coincidence; server chatter hyped it as a “kill shot opportunity.” 5 Robinson, armed with a ghost gun sourced from group contacts, executed the hit in broad daylight, a sloppy op that reeks of a patsy setup, but one Fanaeian allegedly greenlit.
The FBI’s raid on Armed Queers’ digital footprint uncovered more: encrypted chats linking Fanaeian to offshore wallets tied to Iranian proxies. While not yet charged, her receipt of a “7 for 17” award from Utah Global Diplomacy, a State Department-funded NGO promoting UN Sustainable Development Goals, raises red flags. The group scrubbed her profile post-assassination, but archives show her lauded for “queer diplomacy” in pro-Palestinian circles. 11 Coincidence? Or cover for funneling IRGC funds through “humanitarian” channels?
Broader Iranian Shadows: From Ariane Tabatabai to Queer Proxies
Fanaeian’s op doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The Islamic Republic’s infiltration of U.S. institutions is rampant, from Pentagon darling Ariane Tabatabai (exposed as an Iranian asset in 2023 for leaking Israeli war plans) to fake terror plots designed to burnish regime critics like Masih Alinejad. 38 29 These aren’t lone wolves; they’re networked. Fanaeian’s PSL ties connect her to pro-Hamas encampments, where Iranian cash flows via Quds Force cutouts. And her queer angle? Genius misdirection. The regime, which hangs gay men from cranes, exploits Western guilt: fund a trans activist screaming “Free Palestine,” and watch her erode alliances from within.
Robinson’s killing of Kirk, framed by media as a “personal tragedy” over family rejection of his boyfriend, was political theater. 7 Prosecutors seek the death penalty on seven counts, including aggravated murder, but the real trial is Fanaeian’s. As one X user (formerly Twitter) noted, “Ermiya is the trans leader of the terror cell that birthed this Marxist hit.” 4 Her evasion? She’s gone dark, profile vanished, last ping from a Salt Lake safehouse.
The Reckoning: Exposing Tehran’s Rainbow Jihad
America’s left has a blind spot for foreign meddling when it wears progressive drag. Fanaeian’s rise, from gun-control kid to armed queer warlord, exposes how Iran weaponizes identity. She didn’t just influence Robinson; she reprogrammed him, turning personal pain into public murder. As the FBI deepens its probe, expect charges: conspiracy, material support for terrorism, maybe even espionage if those wallets trace back to Tehran.
For Iranian exiles like me, this is déjà vu. The mullahs didn’t fall in ’79; they metastasized. Fanaeian is their latest export: a honeypot who seduced a killer with promises of belonging. Tyler Robinson pulled the trigger, but Ermiya loaded the gun. And until we dismantle these networks, queer or otherwise, more blood will stain the rainbow.
References
1 New York Post, “Exclusive | Armed Queers founder Ermiya Fanaeian is radical trans leftist” (Sep 17, 2025).
2 Times of India, “‘Links to CCP’: What is Armed Queers SLC?” (Sep 16, 2025).
3 New York Post, “Tyler Robinson grew ‘more pro-gay and trans Rights-oriented,’ mom says” (Sep 16, 2025).
4 KUER, “‘Pink Pistols’ Seeks To ‘Empower’ LGBTQ Communities” (Nov 27, 2020).
5 Derecha Diario, “A transgender Palestinian immigrant leads an LGBT terrorist group” (Sep 15, 2025).
6 Deseret News, “Why gun control advocate relaunched Pink Pistols Salt Lake City” (Nov 27, 2020).
7 Derecha Diario, “An armed group of transgender individuals celebrated Kirk’s murder” (Sep 17, 2025).
8 X Post by @Joseph_Seiler (Sep 17, 2025). [post:4]
9 X Post by @RBertWaters1975 (Sep 17, 2025). [post:5]
10 X Post by @anti_deepstate (Sep 17, 2025). [post:6]
11 X Post by @Patriot91936382 (Sep 17, 2025). [post:11]
12 X Post by @HiDadSoup (Sep 16, 2025). [post:13]
13 X Post by @lucrafund (Sep 16, 2025). [post:14]
14 X Post by @greg_price11 via @LilaGraceRose (Sep 17, 2025). [post:7]
15 AJ Steel Show X Post on Iranian agents (Oct 22, 2024). [post:28]
16 @Gmod_irian X Post on Masih Alinejad plot (Mar 22, 2025). [post:29]
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