tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51078794628989665392024-03-18T21:31:17.084-07:00Left Coast Right WatchLeft Coast Right Watch is a Bay Area, California-based news site dedicated to covering politics and extremism. EIC is Abner Hauge.Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-59397483776157489182020-04-29T22:10:00.000-07:002020-05-04T07:46:04.043-07:00ANTIFASCISTS ALLEGE THEY WERE CHASED BY PROUD BOYS WITH A KNIFE AFTER QANON RALLY<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">PORTLAND: "Q anon is currently at the bike bridge off of failing and Missouri and is currently doing a banner drop"<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DefendPDX?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DefendPDX</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">— PNW Youth Liberation Front (@PNWYLF) <a href="https://twitter.com/PNWYLF/status/1255598986704105472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2020</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPDATE May 4, 2020: <i>This article has been updated to include a brief description from witnesses of the the signs the QAnon ralliers were holding</i> <i>and an explanation of the QAnon beleif in a "Great Awakening."</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Q anon is currently at the bike bridge off of failing and
Missouri and is currently doing a banner drop,” the Pacific Northwest Youth
Liberation Front (PNWYLF) tweeted Wednesday at 1:45PM.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“One of the fash displaying the Qanon banners from the
bridge was wearing a Proudboy [sic] hat and drove a white Kia,” they added. (‘Fash’
is short for ‘fascist.’)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Two antifascists were present at the rally. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“They were just passing by when they saw the banners on the
foot bridge, and then went to keep an eye on them,” the PNWYLF told LCRW.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to text messages reviewed by LCRW, a man wearing a
Proud Boys baseball cap started chasing after the antifascists with a knife
along with another person, also believed to be a Proud Boy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Youth Liberation Front are “an autonomous network of
youth + student collectives dedicated to direct action towards the liberation
of all.” They have chapters across the country including in Wisconsin,
Illinois, Maryland and the Bay Area. Members are often as young as 14 or 15. They’ve
often been at the <a href="https://itsgoingdown.org/community-profile-ylf/">forefront</a>
of physical confrontations with far-right agitators, but also participate in
events like last year’s Climate Strike and Fare Strike protests. Most of their
recent work focuses on mutual aid in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because their activism risks violence and surveillance from
police and far-right groups, members of the YLF spoke to LCRW on the condition
of anonymity. LCRW was not given the survivors of the attack’s names.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Members of the Pacific Northwest and Seattle chapters of the
YLF were in close contact with the survivors. They provided LCRW with logs of
text chats between one of the two survivors and a YLF member. The survivors
themselves were not members of the YLF, but a YLF representative also gave LCRW
a separate written account of the incident. When LCRW asked if the YLF
representative witnessed the incident firsthand, the YLF representative said “[w]e
can't answer that.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“There were multiple fash there,” PNWYLF’s statement said. They
said that the survivors weren’t able to recognize any of the attendees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The one with the knife was wearing a Proud Boys baseball
cap, and they displayed multiple QAnon banners from the footbridge for a while," they continued. The banners included an American flag with the letter Q on it and a sign that said "The Great Awakening"–a common QAnon slogan. Witnesses said they took their banners with them when they left.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">QAnon is a conspiracy theory that worships Donald Trump. Believers
follow “Q,” an anonymous poster on 4chan and 8chan. Q claims to be a high-level
government official leaking secret information about Trump and the military’s
heroic battle against the “deep state.” Q prophesies a coming “storm” of mass
arrests, military tribunals and executions of all of Trump’s enemies. QAnon
believers think media, government and corporate leaders are part of a shadowy,
Satanic cabal that ritualistically molests and sacrifices children. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once
their enemies are purged, QAnon believers think society will enter a golden age
they call "The Great Awakening" where they'll be vindicated about their
beliefs and secret government technology like cancer cures and free
energy will be available to the public. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Aside from
these central tenets, QAnon often incorporate subjects like aliens, evangelical
Christianity, and anti-vaccine hokum into their beliefs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">QAnon has motivated multiple acts of murder and terror. One
QAnon believer<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/proud-boy-member-accused-of-murdering-his-brother-with-a-sword-4">
murdered his brother</a> last year with a sword because he believed his brother
was a lizard-person. Another<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/anthony-camello-accused-of-killing-gambino-boss-frank-cali-might-be-crazy-about-qanon">
killed a mob boss</a>. Yet another had a<a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/courts/suspect-in-hoover-dam-standoff-writes-trump-cites-conspiracy-in-letters/">
standoff with law enforcement on the Hoover Dam</a> after he blocked the road
with an armored vehicle. One prominent QAnon follower, actor Isaac Kappie,<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/actor-isaac-kappy-dies-suicide-age-42-n1005986">
died by suicide</a> and mentioned failing the “Q” movement in his suicide note.
Last year, the FBI’s Phoenix field office <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/fbi-documents-conspiracy-theories-terrorism-160000507.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=tw">released
a memo</a> stating conspiracy-driven extremism is a new front for domestic
terror threats.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The QAnon rallygoers in Portland turned violent on the two
antifascists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Proud Boys chasing me on foot need help,” one of them
texted. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The YLF member who shared the texts with LCRW asked how they
could help. The antifascist asked if they could send a car to pick them up. The
YLF member asked if they were okay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Hiding,” the antifascist replied. “There’s two of us.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to the texts, an hour passed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Ok, someone stopped. We got in. Thanks.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Oh thank god,” the YLF member replied.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Dude pulled a knife,” the antifascist recounted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A Seattle YLF spokesperson later confirmed to LCRW that both
survivors had escaped safely.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another local antifascist contacted LCRW and claims to have
seen man in the Proud Boys hat driving his white Kia. The local antifascist
said the man was in a parking lot off Russel Street with a sign that said “Portland
Service Unit Albina Yard.” The man’s Kia had Washington plates. For about 10 to
12 minutes, the local antifascist watched.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8wIkq7oueRdUmVGJp0e5FOo5Xke8rByrFaGkSNgdm3XnfGkYO461R2Fz2BkylouKRy9N50yhg6J4KtjhfCOolo83-HTcPwKUTggsyM2WsNaKyKTnWzeZdvxN8ajSWZgmEREFMa8J2yI/s1600/SfFtHr9p.png+small.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="582" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8wIkq7oueRdUmVGJp0e5FOo5Xke8rByrFaGkSNgdm3XnfGkYO461R2Fz2BkylouKRy9N50yhg6J4KtjhfCOolo83-HTcPwKUTggsyM2WsNaKyKTnWzeZdvxN8ajSWZgmEREFMa8J2yI/s320/SfFtHr9p.png+small.png" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Google Maps view of the location of the parking lot and the QAnon rally locaiton.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“[I] sat for a few in front of him then a big black chevy,
an SUV and a grey Toyota came ripping out from under the Fremont [Bridge] each
full of dudes,” the local antifascist said. They said they saw the men in the
back of the truck wearing “a few ballcaps and a tan beanie.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“After they came out from under the bridge and he took off I
drove down and was met by a security guard within minutes,” the local antifascist
recounted. They said the fact that security blocked him while allowing the man
in the Kia and the other vehicles to park “makes me feel like they have allies
at one of those facilities or at the railroad.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LCRW cannot confirm at this time whether these were the same
people from the QAnon rally. According to Google Maps, it’s about a twenty minute, 1.1-mile walk from the bike bridge the rally occurred at to the parking lot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The incident Wednesday has a dangerous precedent. Last year,
a <a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2019/02/when-portland-trans-woman-was-attacked.html">series
of attacks against LGBTQ+</a> people terrorized Portland. A Patriot Prayer
affiliate, Matthew “Deme” Cooper, admitted he was involved in one of the
attacks but was never charged. Some survivors of the attacks last year said some
of the attacks were by men who drove around in trucks and either jumped out to
beat people or threw things at them while shouting queerphobic slurs. Those who
spoke up about it faced a torrent of online harassment afterwards. Very few
people came forward because of this. The chilling effect was exacerbated when
the New York Post gave Portland-based far-right provocateur Andy Ngo a platform
to say the attacks were what he calls a “hate crime hoax.” Ngo’s evidence was
that nobody would talk to him about them. The perpetrators remain unidentified
and at large.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LCRW does not currently know if the perpetrators of the
attack on Wednesday were affiliated with Patriot Prayer, the Proud Boys or any
other known local extremist group. Far-right and white supremacist groups in
the Pacific Northwest have a long history and are often deeply interconnected
with each other. The link, however, cannot be assumed. It is entirely possible
the attackers have no connections with local groups. The man in the Proud Boys
hat may not even be a Proud Boy. LCRW <a href="https://www.blogger.com/LCRW%20does%20not%20currently%20know%20if%20the%20perpetrators%20of%20the%20attack%20were%20affiliated%20with%20Patriot%20Prayer%20or%20the%20Proud%20Boys%20or%20any%20other%20known%20local%20extremist%20group.%20Far-right%20and%20white%20supremacist%20groups%20in%20the%20Pacific%20Northwest%20have%20a%20long%20history%20and%20are%20often%20deeply%20interconnected%20with%20each%20other,%20but%20linking%20these%20protesters%20to%20established%20groups%20in%20the%20area%20is%20not%20possible%20at%20this%20time.%20There%20is%20a%20prominent%20associate%20of%20Patriot%20Prayer%20in%20Portland,%20Lilith%20Saer,%20who%E2%80%99s%20often%20pictured%20at%20rallies%20with%20a%20%E2%80%9CQ%E2%80%9D%20flag.%20There%20is%20Portland%20chapter%20of%20the%20Proud%20Boys.%20Neither%20appear%20to%20have%20mentioned%20this%20incident%20on%20their%20social%20media%20as%20of%20this%20writing.%20LRCW%20has%20yet%20to%20find%20any%20local%20far-right%20actors%20posting%20about%20the%20QAnon%20rally.%20We%20will%20continue%20to%20monitor%20the%20situation.">covered
an incident</a> in 2018 where a band was kicked out of 924 Gilman because their
frontman was wearing a Proud Boys hoodie. The frontman was not a member of the
Proud Boys–just a huge fan of their founder, Gavin McInnes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There is a prominent associate of Patriot Prayer in Portland,
Lilith Saer, <a href="https://twitter.com/shane_burley1/status/1162911582872952832?lang=en">who’s
often pictured at rallies with a “Q” flag</a>. There is Portland chapter of the
Proud Boys. Neither appear to have mentioned this incident on their social
media as of this writing. LRCW has yet to find any local far-right actors
posting about the QAnon rally on social media. We will continue to monitor the
situation and update when appropriate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Please send any news tips to <a href="mailto:leftcoastrightwatch@protonmail.com">leftcoastrightwatch@protonmail.com</a>
or DM @lcrwnews on Twitter.</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-44445547597555314612020-04-26T23:02:00.000-07:002020-04-27T21:54:54.900-07:00WASHINGTON QANON CANDIDATE REPORTS PORTLAND MUTUAL AID ORGANIZATION TO FBI FOR GIVING AWAY FLOUR<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_XVxVBdiY3GsUe0lwn2UYd9vuz9LS3TigIS9YJo-ndaedrd52D1axZ87KxVYfyoNSv6KSQjszPUq3CYIIJLoK7K1eBZvwMmd33jkYYXhs1ptUccO3MA5qNeL3m859-Wah3dTdyFmcLFs/s1600/qdipshit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_XVxVBdiY3GsUe0lwn2UYd9vuz9LS3TigIS9YJo-ndaedrd52D1axZ87KxVYfyoNSv6KSQjszPUq3CYIIJLoK7K1eBZvwMmd33jkYYXhs1ptUccO3MA5qNeL3m859-Wah3dTdyFmcLFs/s400/qdipshit.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">4/27/20 7:12 AM: <i>A quote attributed to </i></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/patriot-front">Patriot
Front</a></span> founder Thomas Rousseau was removed because of doubts as to the authenticity of the Twitter account it came from.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">4/27/20 9:54pm: <i>This article was updated to include a statement from Symbiosis PDX and more information on Amber Krabach's participation in a far-right rally in January this year. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Hey <a href="https://archive.is/o/2HAmD/https:/twitter.com/TheJusticeDept" target="_blank">@TheJusticeDept</a>, my grocery store has been out of flour for
a month...are people hoarding it?? Why are antifa/communist groups giving away
3k pounds of it suddenly? <a href="https://archive.is/o/2HAmD/https:/twitter.com/FBI" target="_blank">@FBI</a>
<a href="https://archive.is/o/2HAmD/https:/twitter.com/FBIPortland" target="_blank">@FBIPortland</a>,” Amber Krabach <a href="http://archive.is/2HAmD">wrote on Twitter</a> Sunday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Krabach was quote-tweeting Symbiosis PDX, a Portland-based mutual
aid organization. Instead of just seeking donations and doing charity work,
mutual aid groups seek to build networks in their communities that support each
other independent of government and corporate power. They often use the slogan “Solidarity,
not charity.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Symbiosis claimed they received 3,000 pounds of flour and
other grains from Milwaukie, Oregon-based Bob’s Red Mills. Milwaukie’s just
south of Portland on the east side of the Willamette. Since the COVID-19 crisis
began, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays Symbiosis has been taking in and
distributing supplies at their mutual aid hub in the Social Justice Action
Center in Portland. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But Krabach, who lives just east of Seattle in Washington’s
45<sup>th</sup> district where she’s <a href="http://archive.is/KUsGN">running
for State Representative</a>, <a href="http://archive.is/2HAmD">spent the next several
tweets</a> drafting a conspiracy for her followers about Symbiosis.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Report is that Bob’s Red Mill is nearby and supplying the
flour. I would love it if <a href="https://archive.is/o/2HAmD/https:/twitter.com/BobsRedMill" target="_blank">@BobsRedMill</a>
could comment on this. Would be great to have their side of the story. Perhaps
they could explain why grocery stores are completely out of flour, but they
have 3k pounds to donate,” she tweeted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Grocery store shelves aren’t out of flour because of actual food
shortages. Instead, a combination of panic-buying and closures of schools, restaurants
and retail stores because of COVID-19 mean <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/g5x7w3/why-grocery-store-shelves-look-bare-even-though-theres-no-food-shortage">distribution
systems are disrupted</a>. In Symbiosis PDX’s case, they cut out the middleman
and went straight to the miller to get flour for their community. But Krabach saw
it as something sinister and conspiratorial. That’s because she believes in
QAnon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">QAnon is a conspiracy theory premised on pseudo-messianic
worship of Donald Trump. QAnon believers follow “Q,” an anonymous poster on
online message boards 4chan and 8chan, who claims to be a high-level government
official leaking secret information about Trump and the military’s heroic
battle against the “deep state.” Q prophesies a coming “storm” of mass arrests,
military tribunals and executions of all of Trump’s enemies. QAnon believers think
media, government and corporate leaders are part of a shadowy, Satanic cabal
that ritualistically molests and sacrifices children. Aside from these central
tenets, QAnon often incorporate subjects like aliens, evangelical Christianity,
and anti-vaccine beliefs into their beliefs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">QAnon has motivated acts of murder and terror. One QAnon
believer<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/proud-boy-member-accused-of-murdering-his-brother-with-a-sword-4">
murdered his brother</a> last year with a sword because he believed he was a
lizard-person. Another<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/anthony-camello-accused-of-killing-gambino-boss-frank-cali-might-be-crazy-about-qanon">
killed a mob boss</a>. Yet another had a<a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/courts/suspect-in-hoover-dam-standoff-writes-trump-cites-conspiracy-in-letters/">
standoff with law enforcement on the Hoover Dam</a> after he blocked the road
with an armored vehicle. One prominent QAnon follower, actor Isaac Kappie,<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/actor-isaac-kappy-dies-suicide-age-42-n1005986">
died by suicide</a> and mentioned failing the “Q” movement in his suicide note.
Last year, the FBI’s Phoenix field office <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/fbi-documents-conspiracy-theories-terrorism-160000507.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=tw">released
a memo</a> stating conspiracy-driven extremism is a new front for domestic
terror threats.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Krabach ran for Representative in Washington’s 45<sup>th</sup>
district and lost against Larry Springer (D) in 2018. She<a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Amber_Krabach"> got a little under a third of the
vote</a>. It’s unclear when she became a QAnon follower. Her earliest post
about it was last December. LCRW counted 17 tweets promoting QAnon by Krabach, most
recently on April 16<sup>th</sup>. A <a href="http://www.tweetstats.com/graphs/ak4wa">tweetstats.com</a> analysis of her
account shows she’s used #QAnon five times, #wwg1wga–short for the QAnon slogan
“Where we go one, we go all,” four times.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Qanon is just an anonymous entity that shares information
to help the public connect important dots concerning current issues the MSM
refuses to research/cover,” she<a href="http://archive.is/IEciY"> tweeted</a>
in February.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“QAnon followers are convinced they have access to secret
knowledge about how the world really works,” said Travis View, a host of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">QAnon Anonymous</i> podcast which dissects
and analyzes the sprawling conspiracy theory.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because of this, View told LCRW, “in QAnon world, the most
innocent actions by an ideological enemy are seen as secretly nefarious.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Admitting that the flour donation is benign wouldn't fit
well with their dark, conspiratorial fantasies,” he said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1nYmBeEZZwDarRbHEhXRKdZeBoKJwpIZBSsMBxxD_-fB-4RCOFYJq0_Ka4R6cxccRXgo_8uVS-3GyUWa1k1hIu40HgQKXHGBLBlQBcvH0FER1W68v-OuQ41GhaAzY-_Otmb9JjSTcu4/s1600/dhFvg4U_.jpg+medium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1136" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1nYmBeEZZwDarRbHEhXRKdZeBoKJwpIZBSsMBxxD_-fB-4RCOFYJq0_Ka4R6cxccRXgo_8uVS-3GyUWa1k1hIu40HgQKXHGBLBlQBcvH0FER1W68v-OuQ41GhaAzY-_Otmb9JjSTcu4/s320/dhFvg4U_.jpg+medium.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Amber Krabach at the MLK Day "MAGA March Against Racism and Bigotry." Photo courtesy of University of Puget Sound Antifa</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">QAnon isn't the only right-wing extremist group Krabach engages with. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, she was one of the few attendees at a Seattle "MAGA March Against Racism and Bigotry." The rally was organized by "Patriots of Washington," a group of far-right activists with ties to <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/15/patriot-prayer-again-brings-violence-portland-flash-march-downtown-rounding-out-weekend-far">Patriot Prayer</a> and the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys">Proud Boys</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">People on Twitter let Krabach have it and she backpedaled, <a href="http://archive.is/URpmW">claiming</a> she wasn’t targeting antifa–she
just wanted answers about supply chain issues from Bob’s Red Mill. As of this writing,
the company hasn’t responded to her tweet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“You’re mad at antifa for distributing four when your system
crumbled,” an antifascist told Krabach on Twitter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Nope. I’m concerned that flour isn’t getting into our
grocery stores when it’s obviously available through the right suppliers. This
isn’t a charity problem, it’s a broken supply chain problem,” Krabach replied.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Damn, if only there was group giving away flour for free,”
another antifascist said. Krabach blocked them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Incidentally, Krabach’s Twitter bio says “This is my
personal Twitter, so yes, I CAN legally block you.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Symbiosis, meanwhile, successfully distributed the flour and
other supplies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Wow the flour
and grains went fast today! We're all out now but we are so grateful for the
opportunity to provide this to our community!” Symbiosis said of the giveaway <a href="https://twitter.com/Symbiosis_PDX/status/1254549254124630020?s=20">on
their Twitter account</a>. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">And we, uh, do
not think providing flour to our neighbors which would otherwise have been
discarded is a sinister act...despite certain insinuations from right wing
politicians in an entirely different state,” they <a href="https://twitter.com/Symbiosis_PDX/status/1254549256167239685?s=20">added</a>,
ending the tweet with a ‘shrug’ emoji.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-28242443867870645562020-04-25T18:55:00.005-07:002020-04-25T18:55:54.639-07:00CALIFORNIAN ANTI-QUARANTINE PROTESTORS USE LITTLE-KNOWN APP TO ORGANIZE RALLIES AFTER PARTIAL FACEBOOK SHUTDOWN<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVLLP4DQXlqiJrv6R4X3K3r47LvD3BGUjPm1yHneBiWtNWFiiFbZaRKZ8OhKkeiZgmsEa4JZ5aYpmj0ROHLaqh9xBVoK1RuwqyEDaSM6cc20x0S2k29zdj1W83IteIBY44Tv4zXu7rm4/s1600/IMG_777DD7349A85-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="934" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVLLP4DQXlqiJrv6R4X3K3r47LvD3BGUjPm1yHneBiWtNWFiiFbZaRKZ8OhKkeiZgmsEa4JZ5aYpmj0ROHLaqh9xBVoK1RuwqyEDaSM6cc20x0S2k29zdj1W83IteIBY44Tv4zXu7rm4/s400/IMG_777DD7349A85-1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sharpened metal rods disguised as Sharpie brand pens advertised in a private MeWe group for anti-quarantine protestors.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the streets this week, they held signs calling for
businesses to opened back up–public health be damned. But behind closed virtual
doors, they’re talking about getting armed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Time to form a militia!” Matthew Hinrichs wrote on a closed
Facebook group planning the “ReOpen California” protests across the state on
May 1<sup>st</sup>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LCRW received a small trove of messages from a private group
called “Reopen California” on <a href="http://archive.is/fAjah">Facebook</a> with
98,200 members and a linked private group on the lesser-known social network <a href="https://www.macobserver.com/news/mewe-4-million-milestone/">MeWe</a> with 732
members. MeWe, founded in 2012, touts itself as a privacy-oriented alternative to Facebook and claims it has over 4 million users.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In their chats, anti-quarantine protestors shared an event organized by apparent III% militia movement
members, traded conspiracy theories about politicians molesting children and advertised
concealed weapons for sale. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgID80r9TxLyyx-B44j_zpLlaaMAyzwOXEjqqGRBixE9V1Jelb6M955qR-iTNjyLE7tJrdC-IWoajNDPMGDRXV0Vo4yXjLhBBs0jR9Brwe9aYhcwcsW9w7Eukn-vuhFcL4adIDsNh6Kz80/s1600/IMG_5D71B4B66224-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1150" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgID80r9TxLyyx-B44j_zpLlaaMAyzwOXEjqqGRBixE9V1Jelb6M955qR-iTNjyLE7tJrdC-IWoajNDPMGDRXV0Vo4yXjLhBBs0jR9Brwe9aYhcwcsW9w7Eukn-vuhFcL4adIDsNh6Kz80/s400/IMG_5D71B4B66224-1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eventbrite page for Long Beach rally wil III% logo for banner.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One demonstration shared in the private groups is the “<a href="http://archive.is/OOivp">Liberate Long Beach</a>” event. It has a banner
with the III% militia movement logo on it. The III% movement formed largely as
a reaction to Obama’s presidency. Though not explicitly white supremacist, ‘threepers’
have repeatedly targeted Muslims for attack including <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/blog/hate-report-get-to-know-the-three-percenters/">firebombing
a mosque</a>. III% groups also stood with white supremacists at Unite the Right,
<a href="https://twitter.com/jjmacnab/status/896927138397405185?s=20">only
disavowing them afterwards</a>. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Minor conservative media figure Jesus Cisneros,
who ran for Long Beach City Council in March and goes by “The Right Latino” on Instagram,
<a href="http://archive.is/SbtFE">is promoting the event</a> in Long Beach and
plans to be there. It’s unclear who’s actually putting the rally on. Long Beach’s
mayor asked people to <a href="https://lbtribune.com/2020/04/19/liberate-long-beach-may-1st-protest-being-organized/">stay
home</a> but the city government doesn’t seem to be getting in their way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Louren Khanty, who apparently was a campaign worker for former
State Assemblyman Travis Allen, was part of the MeWe group. LCRW has previously
<a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1099559099652497413?s=20">photographed</a>
Travis Allen with members of the Proud Boys. In 2017 he appeared on a panel
with Kyle Chapman, aka ‘Based Stickman,’ the founder of the Proud Boys’ now-defunct
paramilitary arm, the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The social media groups planning these events are deeply
conspiratorial. One MeWe post sent to LCRW showed California Governor Gavin
Newsom’s Twitter profile, which the poster claimed had a “pedophile symbol” on
it. Right-wing conspiracy theories like <a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a51268/what-is-pizzagate/">PizzaGate</a>
and the cultish <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/30/qanon-4chan-rightwing-conspiracy-theory-explained-trump">QAnon</a>
movement are premised on the world being run by a shadowy cabal whose leaders,
including top politicians and media figures, ritualistically abuse children.
These conspiracies have lead believers to commit <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-pleads-guilty-terrorism-charge-blocking-bridge-armored/story?id=68955385">multiple</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/us/pizzagate-attack-sentence.html">acts</a>
of <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/accused-pizzagate-arsonist-pleads-guilty-to-setting-fire-at-dc-pizzeria">violence</a>
including at least one <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/anthony-comello-gambino-mob-boss-shooting-suspect-radicalized-by-qanon-far-right-sites-even-trump-lawyer-says">murder</a>.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHaJwcmEH29jq57GPd0On703bs_B3WH2WvvIlpOmgyN7z0UyJEv8ZCH9V58rhiI_R_eUXgIvkI7YwCX0HQRIHVCIsQQkQA723BspNZzTxpsKB-AKUAiJL4jWEcVafV84yeg0BGeiWMM7w/s1600/IMG_48B3AF3F6AB7-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="905" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHaJwcmEH29jq57GPd0On703bs_B3WH2WvvIlpOmgyN7z0UyJEv8ZCH9V58rhiI_R_eUXgIvkI7YwCX0HQRIHVCIsQQkQA723BspNZzTxpsKB-AKUAiJL4jWEcVafV84yeg0BGeiWMM7w/s320/IMG_48B3AF3F6AB7-1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The protests in California have been <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-24/anti-vaccine-activists-latch-onto-coronavirus-to-bolster-their-movement">heavily
attended</a> by <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/article242129761.html">antivaxxers</a>,
some of whom were in the closed group as well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I wish they would stop this flu shot crap. I will NEvER
[sic] submit to a shot,” Cheryl Hanhart-Beck wrote. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One poster shared a meme on MeWe comparing people being
urged to stay at home to slow the spread of COVID-19 to being loaded on the
trains to concentration camps. It got six likes, one bullseye emoji and an angry
face reaction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzUcR9q-62F9Y138RuM2TWWZecDvT62z4pTJVEm06tpL1FMmvrAr8xi1wkxrf0BLG-K4-1G_1I5CFvo0VrUEo1rC5lGm8DdaLLOsUb18A_P1RzJftEXRTzDXQkoEqYFrqU8krOyhaHn0/s1600/IMG_6E5DB6892F1E-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="606" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzUcR9q-62F9Y138RuM2TWWZecDvT62z4pTJVEm06tpL1FMmvrAr8xi1wkxrf0BLG-K4-1G_1I5CFvo0VrUEo1rC5lGm8DdaLLOsUb18A_P1RzJftEXRTzDXQkoEqYFrqU8krOyhaHn0/s320/IMG_6E5DB6892F1E-1.jpeg" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some on the MeWe group asked if antifascists had infiltrated
the Facebook group. They talked about the thinly-veiled anti-Semitic conspiracy
that Jewish billionaire George Soros is paying antifascists to protest against
them.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCl0fe6gFOj7kA5NzOdgXPdnv3dU_o3Qz-Fca9zd7gjahS_9ynr1dhshTi6hsEtmYlV8c_UaNUG0DsQrWVIUhgE-2BIIJAP7fNw8sHLk9fgE56zRLneX2TF3ymf7WpzZVpH2dmvJrRD3E/s1600/IMG_91AE10050A80-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="938" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCl0fe6gFOj7kA5NzOdgXPdnv3dU_o3Qz-Fca9zd7gjahS_9ynr1dhshTi6hsEtmYlV8c_UaNUG0DsQrWVIUhgE-2BIIJAP7fNw8sHLk9fgE56zRLneX2TF3ymf7WpzZVpH2dmvJrRD3E/s400/IMG_91AE10050A80-1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“If ANTIFA comes out during these times, these face covering
pussies are going to get their collective asses kicked by a bunch of pissed off
citizens that are tired of this bullshit,” Kelly Antrim wrote.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgzqf5UewEtq6fWaMWnXLpmY7bTOimbrTQWAB7wTEeffNDVFtrtSb-24c6jiteDkMrEVNQL98Yw_NeoHVGzEUzZKp5m9a_lRnpD5iilwZRcr0mp_Vu7gcG77pOaMjJiPpAT_5gJDHouM/s1600/IMG_A55989B13CED-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="929" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgzqf5UewEtq6fWaMWnXLpmY7bTOimbrTQWAB7wTEeffNDVFtrtSb-24c6jiteDkMrEVNQL98Yw_NeoHVGzEUzZKp5m9a_lRnpD5iilwZRcr0mp_Vu7gcG77pOaMjJiPpAT_5gJDHouM/s320/IMG_A55989B13CED-1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Others wondered if "ANTIFA" would be out in force because of May Day–historically an <a href="https://archive.iww.org/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday/">important day for leftist mobilization</a>. It's unclear whether any events will overlap with various leftist groups' calls for a general strike and rent strike on May 1st.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One poster on the MeWe community is a company called Patriot
Shit Outfitters. One example of “Patriot Shit” they advertised to rallygoers
and organizers was a “Cold Rolled steal [sic] spike” hidden in a Sharpie on
their page. It’s available for $12.99 on their website. Other “Patriot Shit” on
the website includes one that <a href="http://archive.is/dNJW4">combines the
U.S. flag, the III% logo and the confederate flag</a>. <a href="http://archive.is/9kmPW">It also comes in camo</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Users of the “ReOpen California” group adopted MeWe largely
because they anticipated Facebook shutting them down. Facebook has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-facebook/facebook-removes-anti-quarantine-protest-events-in-some-us-states-idUSKBN2222QK">removed</a>
some, though not all, anti-quarantine events. Facebook has a long history of allowing
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/21/facebook-white-nationalists-ban-vdare-red-ice">white
supremacists</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-misinformation-spreads-on-facebook-watchdog-says-11587436159">conspiracy
theorists</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/13/majority-antivaxx-vaccine-ads-facebook-funded-by-two-organizations-study">antivaxxers</a>
to proliferate on their platform. As of this writing, the “Reopen California”
group is still up on Facebook, though members claim some <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of their posts have been removed by moderators
for “spreading disinformation.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many of the anti-quarantine protests are being <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1250890517006610432?s=20">attended by
extremist groups like the Proud Boys</a>. Some of these protests were <a href="https://twitter.com/jason_a_w/status/1251541936361443329?s=20">funded by
dark money groups</a> including one linked to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/17/far-right-coronavirus-protests-restrictions?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other#maincontent">Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos</a>. They’re also being <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/trump-s-liberate-tweets-extremists-see-call-arms-n1186561">cheered
on</a> by President Trump. The Huffington
Post <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/extremists-anti-shutdown-protests_n_5ea057f6c5b6b2e5b83b55cd?ncid=other_twitter_cooo9wqtham&utm_campaign=share_twitter&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvLzREc0NQdTJUcGM_YW1wPTE&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMORSnaS4yFHQVJ19S78R_tDEDcbpsNqHgDuATP0N3-Utt2Vy4hpbed-696kP_ieELt9P9PaIIt199v1tfZFpsa3kmFTAAkwAdNQDNTgfaXa9fp1ExfDa9KyPjzpIprRxAILEm9JzbRlMjOlcZ1F3SZeqOiVinXrycKOk3_-eq3W">found</a>
that many of the protests <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“have been
organized or attended by white nationalists, conspiracy theorists,
anti-government militias, members of a neo-fascist street gang, and other
assorted extremists and scam artists.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“[A]nti-lockdown rallies are basically Trump rallies w/out
Trump,” Huffington Post reporter Ben Collins <a href="https://twitter.com/letsgomathias/status/1253013021095575552?s=20">said
on Twitter</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In addition, much of the online activity around these
protests is being amplified and driven by botnets. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trolls-bots-flooding-social-media-with-anti-quarantine-disinformation-2020-4">According
to Business Insider</a>, “An analysis from Bot Sentinel, a bot tracking
platform, found that bots and trolls have been stoking sentiments online that
have fueled the protests, using hashtags like #ReopenAmericaNow and
#StopTheMadness.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Brooke Binkowski, managing editor at Truth or Fiction and
former managing editor at Snopes, told Business Insider the protests are “completely
inauthentic and coordinated” and said foreign state actors are likely stoking
the flames of the movement. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Empowering violent extremists is a very old method
for collapsing unstable states,” she said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After reviewing livestreams of anti-quarantine events this week, LCRW has found that many of those publicizing the protests on the West Coast
are part of a highly active and organized network of right-wing
extremist media figures that have been promoting right-wing rallies for years. Examples include Christian supremacist AM radio host Ben Bergquam
and Washington III% leader Matt Marshall. In other words, the same people who
always help promote and bring the far-right out into the public are the ones showing
up now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As of this writing, the MeWe “Reopen California” group is involved
in planning at least eleven anti-quarantine protests across the state, mostly in coastal Southern California. Five of
them are scheduled for Friday, May 1<sup>st</sup> in L.A., Sacramento, San
Bernardino and Orange Counties and in San Diego. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtl73KU_hWIM1Fw6_8wRB5VOXCviUj6usXFLrDRwZoG9eoWzkC8ZuK075jW4aJ_29Vok_vgnb_C6ta-swQZjiANB19cVxSnc6qtNn6ksM-hNSTWdeMysZx2Om4MsTT22TwUBPaRMpOOg0/s1600/IMG_67477FE84AAE-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="913" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtl73KU_hWIM1Fw6_8wRB5VOXCviUj6usXFLrDRwZoG9eoWzkC8ZuK075jW4aJ_29Vok_vgnb_C6ta-swQZjiANB19cVxSnc6qtNn6ksM-hNSTWdeMysZx2Om4MsTT22TwUBPaRMpOOg0/s320/IMG_67477FE84AAE-1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURAERvc_YtlvI3Wv65SH8rG2BFjLcC8KFpyw_C9ntmEbcfZD8JhmWHo29nCWZPucyTjh9uRhV8xZ3JE456kWcoSOoGboDNb32f-y8_wgz2-ZBhhT3I5DWezc3VB0TmsIyw_lJKZgeJVY/s1600/IMG_8F7783512D77-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="921" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURAERvc_YtlvI3Wv65SH8rG2BFjLcC8KFpyw_C9ntmEbcfZD8JhmWHo29nCWZPucyTjh9uRhV8xZ3JE456kWcoSOoGboDNb32f-y8_wgz2-ZBhhT3I5DWezc3VB0TmsIyw_lJKZgeJVY/s320/IMG_8F7783512D77-1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="goog_120466657"></span><span id="goog_120466658"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It’s going to have to be simultaneous OPERATION GRIDLOCKS at
numerous locations to dilute their ability to respond,” Tracy Burns wrote in
the MeWe group.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh843Ph3Gane-IQASTsXdjFaW97RlUtjp_UXRHtxo2FsH2NYKWhDCUPriDXnzgQvpnlYHArCaZsN33YjT3G825lA43ugAaVVN4n7ZoZ8lsygL5voItISCKjqf926wUqHkrcc09sr4A89y4/s1600/IMG_FEECA3997DB7-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="943" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh843Ph3Gane-IQASTsXdjFaW97RlUtjp_UXRHtxo2FsH2NYKWhDCUPriDXnzgQvpnlYHArCaZsN33YjT3G825lA43ugAaVVN4n7ZoZ8lsygL5voItISCKjqf926wUqHkrcc09sr4A89y4/s320/IMG_FEECA3997DB7-1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The consequences of this wave of protests may already be
showing. <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/493707-kentucky-sees-highest-spike-in-coronavirus-cases">Kentucky
saw a spike in COVID-19 cases after the rallies hit the state</a>. But right-wingers
have been told constantly for months that the virus is either a <a href="https://t.co/n1Sga0Y64C?amp=1">complete hoax</a> or that it's <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/pro-trump-pundits-embrace-ever-shifting-narrative-goalposts-pandemic">drastically
exaggerated</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1250890486652362752?s=20">make Trump
look bad</a>. Even when they acknowledge the danger, their rhetoric often puts
restarting the economy above <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article242182796.html">their
own and collective safety</a>. There has been at least one major incident of violence at an anti-quarantine protest, when <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus/article242167221.html">a man pulled a knife on a reporter</a> in Huntington Beach on the 17th.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Take, for example, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Joey Gibson, leader of the
violent, cultish protest group <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/15/patriot-prayer-again-brings-violence-portland-flash-march-downtown-rounding-out-weekend-far">Patriot Prayer</a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, said to a crowd of about 80 in Boise, Idaho yesterday.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Liberty or death, right?” Gibson <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1253795538123685889?s=20">asked the
crowd</a>, continuing, “If you’re willing to sacrifice everything for freedom,
that means you’re willing to do everything before that. And it’s gonna take
some real sacrifices, guys.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gibson didn't make clear what those "real sacrifices" might be, but he and other extremists are making clear that for them and their followers, nothing is off the table. </span></div>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-65560266444135107992020-04-18T15:32:00.001-07:002020-04-18T15:32:16.065-07:00TAX DAY RALLY IN SONORA, CALIFORNIA GIVES SNAPSHOT OF THE STAY-AT-HOME-ORDER PROTESTS<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXq128vJN78f-vrPJin-wFfyyzUwp-s_xQROxY-fNV-2E-sDCnCyr1PF8hcqrS-RPre46klEc4FOIyJOm-WcGCzMGU471Tvtj7MFBHI3OPiQvYC7Gc8Cbapl_EVP84QyIDfSqDXDIsPk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-04-18+at+3.16.59+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1600" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXq128vJN78f-vrPJin-wFfyyzUwp-s_xQROxY-fNV-2E-sDCnCyr1PF8hcqrS-RPre46klEc4FOIyJOm-WcGCzMGU471Tvtj7MFBHI3OPiQvYC7Gc8Cbapl_EVP84QyIDfSqDXDIsPk/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-04-18+at+3.16.59+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Screenshot from a video by Kelly Campagna of the protest in Sonora, CA on Wednesday.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nearly <a href="https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/1043295/protesters-in-sonora-upset-about-covid-19-regulations.html">100
protestors</a>, mostly small business-owners and church-goers, gathered in Courthouse
Park in Sonora Wednesday to protest the stay-at-home order to slow the spread
of COVID-19. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One man held a sign that said “Give me liberty or give me
death!” with his Twitter handle, @libertylover61, on the bottom.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I’m here to support the small business community,”
@libertylover61 <a href="https://youtu.be/yx30-L_u-rE?t=66">said</a>. He described
measures against COVID-19 like shuttering non-essential business and restricting
public gatherings as an “overreaction.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As of this writing, Tuolumne county has of today has only <a href="https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/06109.html">two confirmed
cases</a> of COVID-19. However, as of today there are <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/coronavirus-pandemic-covid-19-latest-news-2020-04-17/">700,000
case</a>s in the U.S. with the <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map">confirmed death toll at over 31,000</a>.
Thursday saw <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/u-coronavirus-death-toll-hits-122327807.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS91cmw_c2E9dCZyY3Q9aiZxPSZlc3JjPXMmc291cmNlPW5ld3NzZWFyY2gmY2Q9MTMmdmVkPTBhaFVLRXdqUzFvbUk2dkxvQWhVRlFhd0tIUWxXRHM4UXhmUUJDSFF3REEmdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGbmV3cy55YWhvby5jb20lMkZ1LWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWRlYXRoLXRvbGwtaGl0cy0xMjIzMjc4MDcuaHRtbCZ1c2c9QU92VmF3MEhCcVdFYkozaVB2NkgzaF9YQkRObw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAME7mUQMo6JwKz0xOLdvgaDNFk22OwMFq3WV_4gqafUuD7J05CS3YlGmF8PKamTy_-YzNgqY7kuDkhrayBVJhiIvwpjozLicQF6G9bJSLaeqGxPVvLlPbxLltzOZw2DfEofcqe-TuEDqg9D5f5Yjh5nkxoVrhfzm2tyc3dtsOc1">the
highest single-day death rate</a> in the country at 4,591.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The event in Sonora is part of a wave of right-wing protests
against COVID-19 restrictions, many of which were a<a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1250890517006610432?s=20">ttended by
extremist groups like the Proud Boys</a>. Some of these protests were <a href="https://twitter.com/jason_a_w/status/1251541936361443329?s=20">funded by
dark money groups</a> including one linked to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/17/far-right-coronavirus-protests-restrictions?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other#maincontent">Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos</a>. Ongoing protests are being <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/trump-s-liberate-tweets-extremists-see-call-arms-n1186561">cheered on</a> by President Trump, giving encouragement to extremist groups.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While the group who organized and attended the protest paid a lot lip service to <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-social-distancing-and-self-quarantine">social
distancing</a>, Sonora’s police chief <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiA-hMsSJfc&feature=youtu.be">had to tell
organizer Cindy Zelinsky</a> to make sure people were keeping far enough apart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Zelinsky had a sign that said “Those who give up essential
liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor
safety.” It’s a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2015/03/02/390245038/ben-franklins-famous-liberty-safety-quote-lost-its-context-in-21st-century">Benjamin
Franklin quote</a>. Zelinsky owns a restaurant and a bed and breakfast in town. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Technically we are able to exercise — go for a walk — so that is what we are
doing,” she <a href="https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/1041756/peaceful-protest-planned-over-covid-19-restrictions.html">said
sarcastically to MyMotherLode.com</a> before the rally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kelly Campagna, a conservative internet commentator with <a href="https://twitter.com/warriorwoman91">88 thousand Twitter followers</a>,
livestreamed the event.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Californians are fighting back against the COVID-19 restrictions that are destroying small businesses.<br /><br />Here's what happens when they take to the streets to protest!<br /><br />WATCH HERE ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/gdHM3HVzcA">https://t.co/gdHM3HVzcA</a> <a href="https://t.co/gY9jX2Xt0x">pic.twitter.com/gY9jX2Xt0x</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">— Kelly Campagna (@warriorwoman91) <a href="https://twitter.com/warriorwoman91/status/1251586293995167745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2020</a></span></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I hope Gavin Newsom sees this,” she said on her <a href="https://youtu.be/yx30-L_u-rE">video</a>. As she spoke, clusters of people
across the street stood close together and held up signs and cheered as trucks
went by and honked at them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another attendee was <a href="http://archive.is/A0SN2">Bob
Wilson</a>. On his Facebook page Wilson recently <a href="http://archive.is/P1VUu">posted</a> a video by <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/tucker-carlson-fox-news-daily-stormers-favorite-pundit">white
nationalist-favored</a> pundit Tucker Carlson insinuating that COVID-19 was cooked
up in a lab in China and a <a href="http://archive.is/sbcsa">fake news
article</a> about Bill Gates’ desire to “microchip” people. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/technology/bill-gates-virus-conspiracy-theories.html">Both of these</a> are <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/trump-aides-flirt-china-lab-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-200417094336525.html">popular conspiracy theories</a> on the right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wilson <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bob.wilson.1441/videos/10213608777374183">live-streamed</a>
the event on his Facebook page and got almost 6 thousand views and 860
comments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“You are NOT maintaining 6 ft between you and other people
on the sidewalk. Hell the sidewalk is only 6 ft wide. You should be arrested,”
one commenter said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We need to begin to move forward,” Wilson replied.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The biggest concern I have is taking away our right to
corporate worship,” Wilson said in his live-stream. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">‘Corporate worship’ essentially means gathering together and
worshipping with others. Many on the religious right from Church pastors to Ammon
Bundy have defied stay-at-home orders in order to prove a point about religious
freedom. This <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/us/sacramento-county-church-covid-19-outbreak/index.html">often</a>
<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51695649">has</a> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nearly-3-dozen-who-attended-arkansas-church-event-test-positive-n1169471">disastrous</a>
<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/member-of-tony-spells-life-tabernacle-church-in-baton-rouge-dies-from-coronavirus-another-member-in-icu">results</a>,
especially for the many churchgoers who tend to be older and more vulnerable to
the respiratory problems associated with COVID-19.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I can’t get together with my brothers and sisters and it’s
frustrating,” Wilson told Campagna at the protest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In addition to being a devout churchgoer, Wilson is a respiratory therapist at Sonora Regional
Medical Center.</span>
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div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-70274206462298958902020-04-07T12:11:00.000-07:002020-04-07T12:11:22.178-07:00FASCIST YOUTH MOVEMENT GAINS FOOTHOLD ON CAMPUSES ACROSS COUNTRY AS COLLEGE REPUBLICAN GROUPS CALL TO BAN ALL IMMIGRATION<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixu_tPDLYGt2X5HNsb7WwfWF7it6DhyphenhyphenzxbrbW7ORUDmOEzClCja02gPxqs1donpG_V_zdDaPub2twHudrEj2NpRQB8b43QA8bQ66nqGrT5DwWPGGNgJWwxwNZZ78HXJbkU_7labO4Io8s/s1600/groyper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixu_tPDLYGt2X5HNsb7WwfWF7it6DhyphenhyphenzxbrbW7ORUDmOEzClCja02gPxqs1donpG_V_zdDaPub2twHudrEj2NpRQB8b43QA8bQ66nqGrT5DwWPGGNgJWwxwNZZ78HXJbkU_7labO4Io8s/s400/groyper.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">By
ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Young
fascists from the University of Maine to San Diego State signed a resolution at
the end of March calling for President Trump to “pass an indefinite moratorium
on all immigration to the United States.” Seven college Republican groups from
Maine, Arizona, and California initially signed on.</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
statement, viewable in full at the bottom of the story, was originally </span><a href="http://archive.is/sm8QU"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">drafted by</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> the
University of Maine Real College Republicans. It cites the “Wuhan Virus,” known
by non-racists as the disease COVID-19<b> </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or the novel Coronavirus, as their latest excuse
for wanting draconian immigration policy. Specific groups they want expelled
are foreign students, tech industry workers with H1-B visas and DACA recipients
who by definition have lived in the United States for most of their lives. They
also call for a punitive tax on money that “alien workers” send abroad. And, of
course, they want the border wall finished.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
demands aren’t really about practical containment of the virus. They’re the
same demands fascists in the United States have made for decades. For example,
the neo-Nazi<b> </b>National Socialist Movement’s “25 points” included a demand
that “[a]ll non-White immigration must be prevented” and that all non-Whites
must be expelled. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But
college Republicans are more likely influenced by the side of white nationalism
that wears a suit and tie and pretends at academic and political legitimacy. The
San Diego State <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">College Republicans</span>
and the Berkeley College Republicans (BCR) follow VDARE on Twitter, as does BCR
</span><a href="https://twitter.com/safetyberkeley/status/1221277973740867585?s=20"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">president
Matt Ronnau</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">,
</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/peter-brimelow"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Peter
Brimelow</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">,
the founder of the white nationalist </span><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/vdare"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">VDARE</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> magazine hob-knobs
with conservative outlets like </span><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/05/29/daily-caller-exposed-publishing-prolific-antisemite-still-employs-editor-white-nationalist"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Daily Caller</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, publishes </span><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/12/21/ann-coulter-attends-vdare-christmas-party-%E2%80%93-her-second-white-nationalist-event-three-months"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ann Coulter</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, and had a
close rapport with White House advisor </span><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/11/12/stephen-millers-affinity-white-nationalism-revealed-leaked-emails"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Steven Miller</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. Brimelow
and VDARE writers </span><a href="http://archive.is/eQO9M"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">often
advocate</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
for an </span><a href="http://archive.is/HjpwR"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">immigration moratorium</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. The SPLC writes that VDARE “has produced a deluge of propaganda
related to the pandemic,” most of it urging Trump to further restrict
immigration. The racism in the articles is blatant. </span><a href="http://archive.is/SrTh4"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One article</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> from February is titled “Do You Know All Coronavirus Victims
Appear To Be Chinese? Thought Not!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But
VDARE isn’t the main engine of this insurgent college fascist movement–Nick
Fuentes and his “America First”/”Groyper” movement is. Fuentes, a </span><a href="https://www.metro.us/right-wing-bu-teen-wont-return-to-boston-after-attending-charlottesville-rally/"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Unite the
Right</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
attendee and <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">H</span>olocaust denier,
is the main figure behind the coalition that’s succeeded the alt-right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To
understand the Groypers, LCRW spoke to Devin Burghart of the Institute for
Research and Education on Human Rights (IREHR,) which released a report in
February called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.irehr.org/reports/alt-right-to-groyper/">From Alt-Right to
Groyper: White Nationalists Rebrand for 2020 and Beyond</a>.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">"[W]e
looked at the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘Groypers’</span> as a
political force, and as a marketing and organizing strategy,” Burghart told
LCRW. “</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Like the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘alt-right’</span> before it, the Groyper
mobilization is not a new social movement, but rather a flashpoint in the
latest mainstreaming strategy deployed by white nationalists.”</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
“America First”/ “Groyper” crowd’s ideological leaders are indeed mostly white
nationalists. They include Patrick Casey, head of the neo-Nazi group Identity
Evropa (now rebranded as American Identity Movement,) Vincent James of the white
nationalist propaganda outlet “The Red Elephants,” and Scott Greer, a former <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daily Caller</i> editor who </span><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/a-daily-caller-editor-wrote-for-an-alt-right-website-using-a-pseudonym/569335/"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">pseudonymously
wrote</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
for <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Richard Spencer’s white nationalist
journal <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radix.</i></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But
their most famous supporter is Michelle Malkin, a <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">one-time</span> darling of the more mainstream and corporate-friendly
conservative movement who </span><a href="https://angrywhitemen.org/2019/11/29/sorry-conservatives-michelle-malkin-has-always-been-terrible/"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">authored a
book-length defense of interning Japanese-Americans</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. [<b>Jesus
Christ lol</b>] Malkin </span><a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/media/470974-conservative-group-cuts-ties-with-michelle-malkin"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">lost her gig</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">a <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Young
Americans For Freedom </span></b>speaker after </span><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/conservative-group-yaf-fires-michelle-malkin-over-support-for-holocaust-denier"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">publicly
backing Fuentes</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> and his “Groyper Army.” She’s since doubled down. Incidentally,
Malkin was supposed to speak at the University of Maine College Republicans’ invitation
in January but the </span><a href="https://bangordailynews.com/2020/01/17/news/bangor/controversial-speakers-cancellation-shows-umaine-gop-clubs-growing-tension-with-university/"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">venue
cancelled</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Malkin
was thrilled with the resolution.</span></div>
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AMEN AMEN AMEN: New alliance of nationalist College Republicans calls for immediate immigration moratorium to protect safety, security & economic well-being of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AmericaFirst?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AmericaFirst</a>! Do <a href="https://twitter.com/yaf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@yaf</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/TPUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TPUSA</a> (and their donors) support or oppose this common-sense resolution? <a href="https://t.co/JdVaG9Bawq">https://t.co/JdVaG9Bawq</a></div>
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/michellemalkin/status/1242910252837683200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“AMEN
AMEN AMEN: New alliance of nationalist College Republicans calls for immediate
immigration moratorium to protect safety, security & economic well-being of
</span><a href="https://archive.is/o/k8a1v/https:/twitter.com/hashtag/AmericaFirst?src=hash" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">#AmericaFirst</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">! Do </span><a href="https://archive.is/o/k8a1v/https:/twitter.com/yaf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">@yaf</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> & </span><a href="https://archive.is/o/k8a1v/https:/twitter.com/TPUSA" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">@TPUSA</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> (and their
donors) support or oppose this common-sense resolution?” she said in a </span><a href="http://archive.is/k8a1v"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">post</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> sharing the resolution on Twitter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“We
will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of
globalism,” the Arizona State University College Republicans said on </span><a href="http://archive.is/Nlqhb"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, referencing the </span><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-how-did-the-term-globalist-became-an-anti-semitic-slur-blame-bannon-1.5895925"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">anti-Semitic
dogwhistle.</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“The
immigration moratorium resolution is the clearest manifestation of the
Groypers’ strategy to date,” Burghart wrote to LCRW, continuing, “<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">N</span>ativism and xenophobia are central to
the Groyper’s white nationalist rebranding efforts.”</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Burghart and IREHR</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> found <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">that<b> </b></span>Fuentes’s
crowd is employing two main strategies. The first is “driving a wedge between
the Trump camp” and billionaire-funded conservative campus groups like Turning
Point USA and Young Americans for Freedom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“If
the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘alt-right’</span> strategy most
associated with Richard Spencer sought to pull disaffected reactionaries and
misogynists outside the Republican Party into the white nationalist fold,”
Burghart said, “the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘Groyper War’</span>
is aimed at pressing Donald Trump and Trump-backing conservatives to adopt the
core issues and political framings of white nationalists in the lead-up to the
2020 election and beyond.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fuentes
first sent his Groypers out to billionaire and foundation-backed conservative
speaking events last </span><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/racist-groypers-step-up-attacks-on-campus-conservative-groups"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fall Semester</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. Fuentes’
goal was to challenge “Conservative Inc” talking heads like Charlie Kirk and
Ben Shapiro on the issues that really matter: Anti-semitic dogwhistle gotcha
questions about the Israeli military’s sinking of the </span><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-trump-israel-anti-semitism-alt-right-white-nationalism-1.8168636"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">U.S.S. Liberty
in 1967</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
and calls for endorsing bigoted policy like exclusionary immigration laws.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
Groypers managed to disrupt events with Donald Trump<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Jr</span>., Charlie Kirk and Fox News commentator Kimberly Guilfoyle
and, as LCRW </span><a href="https://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2019/11/groypers-in-golden-state-ben-shapiro.html"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">covered in
detail</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">,
Shapiro spent virtually all of <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">a speech
at Stanford </span>trying to differentiate his own bigotry from the alt-right’s/the
Groypers’ and thereby disavow them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
IREHR identified the Groypers’ second strategy as entryism, which, Burghart
explains, is “gaining a place in more mainstream organizations by moderating
one’s appearance and expressed values in order to further movement goals.”
While college Republican clubs are nothing new, Fuentes and the Groypers latched
on to a population of ambitious young right-wingers across the country and his
movement is trying to establish itself on campuses. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Four
of the college Republican clubs who sponsored the resolution and whose names
appear <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">on</span> its masthead, </span><a href="http://archive.is/2CFJy"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">UCLA</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, </span><a href="http://archive.is/FwDsU"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Arizona State</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, </span><a href="http://archive.is/H4VPn"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">San Diego State</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> and University of Maine explicitly brand themselves as “America
First.” An apparently separate “America First Bruins” club signed on to the
resolution alongside UCLA’s college Republicans. Kansas State University also
has an America First student group. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“This
marks the emergence of a network of groups willing to push Groyper themes on
campus, attacking both <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘SJWs’</span>
and other college Republicans who disagree about nativism,” Burghart told LCRW.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One
of the most influential groups to join the Groypers are the Berkeley College
Republicans (BCR.) BCR don’t explicitly brand themselves as “America First” but
have a long history of aligning with Fuentes’s peers and predecessors. BCR has
well-documented connections with fascists. Current president </span><a href="https://twitter.com/berkeleyantifa/status/1064216929357959170?s=20"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Matt Ronnau</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> and former
Vice-President Naweed Tahmas were interviewed by Identity Evropa founder Nathan
Damigo for the white nationalist outlet Red Ice TV on inauguration day 2017.
Then-president Troy Worden invited Milo Yiannopoulos, the Gamergate harassment
king-turned Breitbart editor <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">who </span></span><a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/heres-how-breitbart-and-milo-smuggled-white-nationalism"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">wrote admiringly</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> about the alt-right</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> to present
on campus a month later. Antifascists staged a violent shutdown of
Yiannopoulos’s event, breaking windows at UC Berkeley’s Amazon store, punching
and pepper-spraying people who wanted to attend Yiannopoulos’s speech. I
remember watching them set a police generator on fire. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
response, the far-right began a year of staging rallies in Berkeley, one of
which was used by Damigo and other white nationalists as a testing-ground for
what would become the deadly Unite the Right rally that August. During Fall
semester that year, Tahmas and other BCR members coordinated with local
far-right activists including the Proud Boys for Yiannopoulos’s fizzled return
to Berkeley. BCR members even passed out t-shirts that said “Nuke Mecca” and
“Lesbians aren’t real.” Worden, Tahmas and other BCR members </span><a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/28/bitter-feud-divides-berkeley-college-republicans-as-the-clubs-future-hangs-in-the-balance/"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">posed</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> with Martin
Sellner, founder of the neo-Nazi group </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Génération
Identitaire</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">,
which </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/16/christchurch-shooters-links-to-austrian-far-right-more-extensive-than-thought"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">received
money</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
from the Christchurch shooter. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">They
also palled around with</span> Kyle Chapman, founder of the now-defunct militia
arm of the Proud Boys, the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights. Worden also </span><a href="http://archive.is/Otjxx"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">gushed about</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Génération Identitaire at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Liberty Conservative, </i>a far-right <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">website</span>
he was a </span><a href="http://archive.is/vw4QR"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">contributor</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
at.</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Coincidentally,
neo-Nazi </span><a href="http://archive.is/Z4Zfk"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">James Allsup</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, who used to
host a podcast with Nick Fuentes, was also a contributor at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Liberty
Conservative</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
February last year, most college Republican organizations in California broke
off from the statewide California College Republicans (CCR) organization and </span><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/01/17/college-republicans-crnc-trump-republican-party-gop-turning-point-usa/4476649002/"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">formed</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> the
California Federation of College Republicans (CFCR.) The CFCR was recognized by
the College Republican National Committee and with 32 chapters is now the
dominant organization in the state. Ronnau told USA Today that the split was
initially ideological–the old CCR represented the “traditional Conservative”
wing of the movement while the new CFCR organization represents the more
pro-Trump wing. Many college Republicans I spoke to in 2017 who went with the
pro-Trump CFCR themselves as “Nationalists.” They associated <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>themselves more with former Trump advisor
Steve Bannon than Trump himself. The “Nationalists” viewed their enemies within
the Republican Party as the “NeoCons” wing associated with the Bush
administration. These “NeoCons” apparently went with the old CCR.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“There
is good reason to believe that the Groypers are attempting to take advantage of
the space afforded by Donald Trump’s framing of his own presidency and
administration, dating back to his 2016 electoral campaign,” Burghart said.
Trump ran an explicitly nativist campaign, famously calling for a massive
border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and repeatedly </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/05/trump-mexico-caravan-voter-claims-speech-west-virginia"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">claimed</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Mexico was
sending rapists and murderers across the border. He also </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/07/donald-trump-calls-for-total-and-complete-shutdown-of-muslims-entering-the-united-states/"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">called for</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> a “total and
complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Nativism
and xenophobia are issues that have a) already reached the mainstream,
particularly thanks to Trump and b) where their white nationalist positions
find the most support,” Burghart said. “They don't have to go through all sorts
of ideological contortions to make their message fit the moment.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Burghart
said that “The Groyper message of <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘Non-white
immigrants bad. Expel them. Keep them all out. Protect the core white identity
of the nation’<b> </b></span>is in lock-step with” the broader pro-Trump crowd.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Groypers
have gone well beyond being just “pro-Trump.” Matt Ronnau of the Berkeley
College Republicans is the CFCR’s president presumably until he graduates at
the end of this semester. Ronnau himself followed VDARE on Twitter until some time
after an antifascist group called Berkeley Collective Safety </span><a href="https://twitter.com/safetyberkeley/status/1221277973740867585?s=20"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">called him
out</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
for it in January. Ronnau retweets Groyper thought leaders like Malkin and
Scott Greer regularly and invited VDARE columnist Ann Coulter to speak on
campus last November. If Ronnau is not personally a white nationalist, he is at
least someone who spent years as part of a group of BCR members that
fraternized with right-wing extremists and white nationalists and openly
sympathizes with their goals. And he’s ending his last semester at Berkeley as
the head of the premiere college Republican organization in the most populous
state in the country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But
Ronnau is far from the only college right-winger with direct links to white
nationalism. Christian Secor, president of UCLA’s America First Bruins </span><a href="http://archive.is/wTX4C"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">attended</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> AFPAC, Nick Fuentes’s counter-conference to the annual
Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) gathering. He apparently </span><a href="https://twitter.com/mattainable/status/1245159315901743105?s=20"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">interned</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> for Michelle
Malkin. Secor’s Twitter bio also says he’s a “/k/ brand ambassador.” /k/ is the
weapons board on 4chan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jaden
McNeil is not only the president of Kansas State University’s America First
Students but is a minor thought leader in the Groyper movement. </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">From
Alt-Right to Groyper </span></i><a href="https://www.irehr.org/2020/02/27/an-affinity-for-bigotry-jaden-mcneil-of-america-first-students/"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">notes that</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> “Though
McNeil lacks the same lengthy paper-trail of explicit white nationalism as that
of Fuentes or Casey, he has already signaled his affinity with such ideas.” The
report also notes that McNeil involved himself with four Unite the Right
attendees: Fuentes, Tim Gionet aka Baked Alaska, white nationalist propagandist
Faith Goldy and Patrick Casey of Identity Evropa. Identity Evropa’s telegram
channel even listed McNeil’s telegram channel as a resource for a time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But
the point of being a college Republican is to network and move on to a career
in right wing politics. On this end, the “America First” crowd have already
produced a Senate candidate: </span><a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Lauren_Witzke"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lauren Witzke</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> in Delaware.</span><br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AmericaFirst?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AmericaFirst</a> College Students are fighting for a chance at a better future. Great work, guys. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ImmigrationMoratorium?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ImmigrationMoratorium</a> <a href="https://t.co/Qeu4dXsbZJ">https://t.co/Qeu4dXsbZJ</a></div>
— Lauren Witzke for US Senate (@WitzkeforDE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WitzkeforDE/status/1242983867176419328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“</span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AmericaFirst?src=hashtag_click"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">#AmericaFirst</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> College
Students are fighting for a chance at a better future. Great work, guys.” Witzke
</span><a href="http://archive.is/rv4cz"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">tweeted</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> in response to the resolution.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Immigration
has been and will continue to be, a defining issue for the ‘Zoomer’ generation.
The issue is less about the particulars of policy, but more about defining who
we are as a nation in the 21st century,” Burghart told LCRW.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Groypers
are definitely gaining ground in the college Republican scene. They’ve made
those gains by relentlessly attacking <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘establishment’<b>
</b></span>conservatives (what they call <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘Conservative Inc.’</span>), and recruiting amongst the disenchanted
ranks of establishment conservative groups like Turning Point USA,” he said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“In 2020, the Groypers also reached a
significant milestone when they moved from online army to building a real-life
network,” Burghart said, concluding, “The Groypers represent a growing threat,
and it will require creative new approaches to defeat them.”</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrIPIxbKayfE_4l1hS5x18WLbOkdAXSOiQlg3swZmLvkdoCwDNtkhQQtescGH59GQA1unt33sds_IhQL7BZ_Plh6mMHss0za3yM9agjCd8IqEaUUDwOUC2pn_DNwkY6Ss6uyI8vY3kng/s1600/91250193_2607648626010370_4918502156882935808_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrIPIxbKayfE_4l1hS5x18WLbOkdAXSOiQlg3swZmLvkdoCwDNtkhQQtescGH59GQA1unt33sds_IhQL7BZ_Plh6mMHss0za3yM9agjCd8IqEaUUDwOUC2pn_DNwkY6Ss6uyI8vY3kng/s640/91250193_2607648626010370_4918502156882935808_o.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-23505711841106139172020-01-30T14:11:00.000-08:002020-01-31T10:50:55.715-08:00KLAN LEADER ANNOUNCES MULTNOMAH COURTHOUSE RALLY ON FEBRUARY 8TH<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbZM5sF2anQCJnwRNFPuUnpdZM05zeFE8J5rt9wQBsqjWdxQtyw3wzaSQJZAAMbAkoNtlGQ2viHSYHfDa6vRnUhWFeMT8x1nYtOzBoc27rClY8VMncaqNhLQaw2A5S21E0qjUBbDXrTg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-01-30+at+12.04.00+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1322" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbZM5sF2anQCJnwRNFPuUnpdZM05zeFE8J5rt9wQBsqjWdxQtyw3wzaSQJZAAMbAkoNtlGQ2viHSYHfDa6vRnUhWFeMT8x1nYtOzBoc27rClY8VMncaqNhLQaw2A5S21E0qjUBbDXrTg/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-01-30+at+12.04.00+PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Steven Howard, former Imperial Wizard in the Northern Mississippi White Knights of the KKK, announces a rally in front of Multnomah County Courthouse on February 8th.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>1/13, 10:40am: This article has been updated to include information on a planned antifascist counter-protest.</i></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There’s a Klansman looking to rally in Portland on February
8th. Afterwards, he’ll burns a cross up the way in Vancouver, Washington.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Steven Howard <a href="http://archive.is/6F9xR">announced on
Facebook</a> January 9<sup>th</sup> he plans to rally in front of the Multnomah
County Courthouse. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Howard <a href="http://underscore.news/2020/01/30/band-of-others-the-new-face-of-nativist-bigotry/">told Sergio Olmos</a> of <a href="http://underscore.news/">Underscore.news</a> that the Klan rally will be followed by a “cross-burning
ceremony” in Vancouver, Washington.</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The rally is scheduled for February 8<sup>th</sup> from 11
in the morning until Noon. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LCRW spoke on Thursday to antifascists in the area who say they
are now organizing a response. The Direct Action Alliance (DAA) set up a <a href="https://t.co/CXasjy0GWF?amp=1">Facebook event</a> to announce a counter-protest some time Thursday night.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We shut this chump down in Lake Oswego and ran him out of town, this wont be any different, join us!" DAA <a href="http://archive.is/E7S4X">wrote</a> on the event page.</span><br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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People ask” is the klan really coming? If they do I’ll bet it’s only a hand full” I say if even one shows up he should face hundreds - that even one should be run off- even one is viewed as the threat they are. Not one is welcomed here</div>
— leftist (@luistheleftist) <a href="https://twitter.com/luistheleftist/status/1223011562450907136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">"People ask” is the klan really coming? If they do I’ll bet it’s only a hand full” I say if even one shows up he should face hundreds - that even one should be run off- even one is viewed as the threat they are. Not one is welcomed here," Luis Marquez, a prominent Portland-area antifascist activist, wrote on Twitter.</span></span><br />
</div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Howard is a <a href="https://rosecityantifa.org/article/2017-03-15-unpacking-the-march4trump/">hardcore,
old-school white nationalist</a>. He belonged to the National Socialist
Movement and was an Imperial Wizard in the Northern Mississippi White Knights
of the KKK. In addition, Howard is a believer in Christian Identity, the white
supremacist religious movement that holds that Jewish people are the spawn of
Eve and Satan and only white people have souls. Christian Identity is a deadly
movement. Among the murderous groups tied to them is <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-lane">The
Order</a>, a white supremacist gang that committed armed robberies and an assassination of a Jewish radio host
in the 80s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Steven Howard <a href="https://www.nate-thayer.com/ku-klux-klan-media-star-admits-lying-iraqi-war-veteran-media-whore/">has
a long history of media appearances</a>, often paid. He admitted to “stealing
valor” or lying about his military record in order to raise his public profile.
Howard claimed he was instructed to lie about his record by many of the outlets
who interviewed him, which outlets like Vice and the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation have denied. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By 2016, Howard had dissolved the Northern Mississippi White
Knights. But that year, the <a href="https://www.nate-thayer.com/ku-klux-klan-media-star-admits-lying-iraqi-war-veteran-media-whore/">A&E
network paid Howard at least $21,150</a> to start the Klan group up again and manufacture rallies and demonstrations for their series <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Generation Hate.</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Howard relocated around 2016 to the Portland metropolitan
area. He <a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/2017/03/14/a-klansman-surfaces-in-the-portland-area-where-neo-nazi-activity-is-already-bubbling/">attended</a>
a pro-Trump rally in Lake Oswego, OR on March 4<sup>th</sup>, 2017.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“On March 4, Howard was in Lake Oswego, where he harassed
several counter-protesters, and then stood guarded by the III%ers “security
team,” who seemed more than happy to let this KKK member do as he liked in
their midst,” Rose City Antifa <a href="https://rosecityantifa.org/article/2017-03-15-unpacking-the-march4trump/">reported</a>.
The march that day was organized by the III% of Oregon militia.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The announcement for Howard’s rally in Portland was met with
little notice until the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Colombian</i> <a href="https://www.columbian.com/news/2020/jan/30/patriot-prayer-the-new-face-of-nativist-bigotry/">published
a longform piece</a> by Sergio Olmos on the fascist street gang Patriot Prayer Thursday. Joey
Gibson, Patriot Prayer’s leader, often claims he and his group are not racist
despite the <a href="https://itsgoingdown.org/patriot-prayers-anti-immigrant-hate-rally-brings-fascists-droves/">racist
themes</a> in their rallies, Patriot Prayer’s <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1205223350936539138?s=20">constant
Islamophobia</a> and numerous
well-documented ties between his group and other racist organizations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I know Joey Gibson,” Howard told Olmos in the piece. “I’ve seen white supremacists at his events.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gibson asked Howard not to attend his events, Howard claims, not because Gibson disagrees with him, but because it looks bad.<br /><br />“[Gibson]told me, ‘It’s better for me if you don’t come to my events,’” Howard told Olmos. “The only reason he doesn’t want guys like me coming around is because it hurts his image.” </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Indeed, the “themes” of Howard’s rally are virtually
the same as Patriot Prayer's: “illegal immigration, sex
offenders and putting prayers back in schools.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">More coverage to come. </span>
</span><br />
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div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}</span></style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-58577590825832762462019-11-29T16:16:00.002-08:002019-11-29T16:16:58.766-08:00TACOMA REPUBLICAN CLUB HOSTS ANTI-TRANS SPEAKER, PUSHED OUT OF TWO VENUES<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<div dir="ltr" lang="eu">
🚨 ALERTA 🚨 <a href="https://t.co/ANSzFJGj1s">pic.twitter.com/ANSzFJGj1s</a></div>
— UPSantifa (@UPSantifa) <a href="https://twitter.com/UPSantifa/status/1198803919519940609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On Monday this week, The 27<sup>th</sup> District Virginia
Taylor Club, a Tacoma-area Republican Party org, hosted an anti-trans speaker
who previously harassed a children’s event along with armed militia members.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The <a href="https://twitter.com/deadass_p/status/1198694774003261441?s=20">talk</a>,
titled “<a href="https://twitter.com/deadass_p/status/1198738212375556096?s=20">Transgenderism
and Our Children</a>,” was part of their regular monthly <a href="https://piercegop.org/events/27th-district-s-virginia-taylor-club-4/">social
hour</a> at Knapp’s Restaurant. The speaker, Lynn Meagher, is a member of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/search?search=DQ:/massresistance&redirect_source=/stories-and-interests/massresistance">Mass
Resistance</a>, an <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/08/16/california-chapter-anti-lgbt-hate-group-massresistance-gets-white-nationalist-member">SPLC-designated
anti-LGBT hate group</a>. She calls being trans a “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20191129214539/https:/www.christianpost.com/news/ive-lost-two-kids-trans-cult-i-want-them-back-anguished-mom-shares-her-journey.html">cult</a>”
and helped found an anti-trans-youth group called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ASK-Moms-338818380343357/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARBNsEnCxJ9Kx2TZwKefqj_2xAk9s_22C_mWZh5xTRw96Ez1olO-Ydpc2tk8iYMLFY5W3DbHJvR9Vlbb">A.S.K.
Moms</a>. </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We don’t think it’s hateful to have a discussion about
whether life altering medical treatments should be offered to children,” Martin
Merterns, president of the Republican club, told the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article237849939.html#storylink=cpy">Tacoma
News Tribune</a></i>.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Meagher <a href="https://twitter.com/AlyciaRamirez3/status/1150115716558757888?s=20">previously
showed up</a> to a trans youth event in Renton on June 23rd. At that event, she
and another Mass Resistance member were escorted out of the event by police
after refusing to leave. They took pictures of the <a href="https://twitter.com/AlyciaRamirez3/status/1144515550178971648?s=20">sign-up
sheets</a> and refused to give the officers’ their names. Other Mass Resistance
members who were not escorted out <a href="https://twitter.com/AlyciaRamirez3/status/1150115754403958784?s=20">filmed
inside a bathroom</a>. </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A week later, Meagher <a href="https://twitter.com/AlyciaRamirez3/status/1150115801711558656?s=20">joined
the ranks</a> of armed III% militia members and Proud Boys in protesting a <a href="http://www.issaquahreporter.com/news/opposition-and-supporters-of-drag-queen-story-hour-make-showing-in-issaquah/">Drag
Queen Story Hour</a> event in a Des Moines, WA library. The Proud Boys and III%
members were apparently recruited by Mass Resistance as security. Counter-protestors
who showed up to oppose Mass Resistance and their affiliates later told me they
received death threats from militia members during the event. One of the Proud
Boys in <a href="https://twitter.com/AlyciaRamirez3/status/1179484878997356544?s=20">attendance</a>,
<a href="https://twitter.com/PugetSoundJBGC/status/1179466525289279488?s=20">Sean-Michael
David Scott</a>, openly endorses James Mason’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seige</i>, the neo-Nazi book advocating for lone wolf acts of
terrorism.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Antifascist and local LGBTQ+ activists acted with a day’s
notice to have the event shut down.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We felt that this speaker was an active threat to our
community and believe it was necessary to try to get them de-platformed,” the
University of Puget Sound (UPS) Antifa collective said in a report-back <a href="https://itsgoingdown.org/tacoma-wa-shutting-down-and-confronting-transphobic-speaker-lynn-meagher-and-the-27th-district-republicans/">published</a>
on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s Going Down.</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPS Antifa started a call-in campaign and <a href="https://twitter.com/UPSantifa/status/1199064204927479812?s=20">flyered</a>
the area around Knapp’s the night before.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“This is an excuse to promote hatred and normalize violence
against trans people. This is a mockery of real activism and I hope you will do
the right thing and cancel this event,” part of the suggested script for the
UPS Antifa’s call-in campaign read. “If this event is not canceled we will be
forced to boycott your restaurant and show up in protest of this event.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Knapp’s management told the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">News Tribune</i> it doesn’t monitor what the Republican club does with
the event space, as they had regularly rented it from the restaurant for
several years.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The fallout online led to people making threats against the
restaurant, which is kind of terrifying,” Stephanie Anderson, the restaurant
coordinator for Knapp’s parent company told the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">News Tribune</i>. She claimed there were arson threats.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Meagher went to Knapp’s to make her case for continuing the event
on Monday. Local LGBTQ+ activist Leah Smillie, planning to meet with the
restaurant’s staff herself, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/1370820677/posts/10221111038630192?d=n&sfns=mo">happened
to walk in during the meeting</a> (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20191129231739/https:/www.facebook.com/1370820677/posts/10221111038630192?d=n&sfns=mo">archived</a>).
</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The actual staff seemed devastated and distraught that this
was even potentially in their place of employment to begin with,” Smillie said
in her Facebook post about the event. “Corporate would not let any employees be
recorded due to fears for their safety and retribution from those who might be
angry at the cancellation.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Knapp’s asked the Republican club to cancel the event. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/439179196746694/">They did</a>. The
restaurant then made a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/120842857927589/posts/3532231086788732?d=n&sfns=mo">public
apology</a>. UPS Antifa thought that was the end of it and cancelled their
protest.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then, a couple of hours later, they found out the event was
<a href="https://twitter.com/UPSantifa/status/1199134119432572928?s=20">moved to a Round Table Pizza</a>. “With an hour to spare,” UPS Antifa said, they
had activists call in and show up in person to protest.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“When several members of our collective and around 5 other
non-affiliated activists got to the restaurant at 6:15, there was no sign of
the 27th District Republicans. We thought that we had lost them, until one
activist went into the pizza place to ask around,” UPS Antifa wrote in their
report-back. One of the Republican club members, not knowing who the activist
was, tipped him off that the was meeting at a restaurant called Joseppi’s.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Republican club member also told the activist to be
careful because there’s “leftists afoot.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We didn’t know this was what was going on until they were eating
and protesters showed up,” Mary Bertrand, Joesippi’s general manager told a
commenter who complained about the anti-trans meeting in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/torchytoo/posts/10157091326914830">review</a> on
the restaurant’s Facebook.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“But they let them stay and have their meeting even after
they knew what was going on. They stated they reserve the right to refuse
service to anyone; once they found out what was happening, why didn't they ask
them to leave?” the commenter said. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bertrand replied that the Republican club was asked to leave
“when they were done eating.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPS Antifa and other activists said they talked to one of
the owners, not specifying who, but couldn’t convince him to kick the
Republican club out. So they protested outside. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The 27th District Republicans and anti-trans “activists”
could see us through the window, waving trans flags and signs, and singing
copyrighted music so that any recordings of their event would be taken down if
they were posted online,” UPS Antifa wrote.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPS Antifa said “one of the owners” called the cops on them
initially, but later came out to apologize to them. They said after he’d heard “what
Lynn Meagher was saying, the owner came around to some degree.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The owner also told them that one of the Republican club
attendees offered to call in “private armed security.” UPS Antifa suspects this
was an “alt-right militia.” As previously stated, Meagher’s group Mass
Resistance has used Proud Boys and III% members as armed security.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mertens told the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">News
Tribune</i> his group felt intimidated by the protesters.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stortini later told the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">News
Tribune</i> the protesters were peaceful and “stayed outside the whole time.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“There was no conflicts between the groups,” Stortini
recalled.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But there were.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We continued to play copyrighted music and wave trans pride
flags and signs around until they finished. Then we moved to the entrance and
proceeded to shame the people for attending the talk,” UPS Antifa’s report-back
said. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Two walked out looking like they wanted a fight,” they
continued, “and when one of them was questioned about the event, he proceeded
to shout and push two activists out of his way,” </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPS Antifa members and other activists continued to argue
outside the restaurant with the Republican club attendees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Sometime in the middle of the debates, a woman got into her
car and backed up very fast in an attempt to intimidate us,” UPS Antifa wrote. “Getting
no reaction, she drove swiftly away.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPS Antifa claims 20 activists in total showed up to protest
over the course of the night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The next day, Joesippi’s issued an apology for the event. It’s
since been deleted from their Facebook page for unknown reasons, but it was <a href="https://twitter.com/UPSantifa/status/1199443260839616513?s=20">copied</a>
in part on UPS Antifa’s twitter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We believe that LGBTQ community should live openly without
discrimination and enjoy equal rights, personal autonomy, and freedom of
expression and association. Joeseppi’s reserves the right to refuse service to
any organizations or groups who demonstrate hate,” the statement read in part.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/leah.smillie/posts/10221136300341719">According
to Smillie</a>, Knapp’s, the Round Table Pizza and Joesippi’s are all receiving
backlash for, in Smillie’s words, “choosing their WHOLE community over those
who use their platform to hurt parts of it.”
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to Anderson, Knapp’s will no longer be hosting the
Republican club.</span></div>
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</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-35128850163949619892019-11-28T15:55:00.000-08:002019-11-29T12:54:27.192-08:00INTERVIEW WITH ‘SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT DENNY’S’ DIRECTOR XAVIER ROTNOFSKY<iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/374624311" width="100%"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/374624311">Sunday Afternoon at Denny's</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user61179252">Xavier Rotnofsky</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On September 22<sup>nd</sup>, Harim Uzziel, a minor figure
in the Trump/far-right protest scene in Southern California, held a <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1175063560629538816?s=20">meetup</a>
at a Culver City Denny’s. It seemed like it’d be a boring event where a dozen
or so Trump supporters ordered chicken tenders, heard speeches and learned how to
register voters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But it wasn’t.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A group including John Turano, a.k.a Based/Cucked Spartan
and Charles Brandon Recor, both far-right figures who regularly go to protests to
brawl with people, and Antonio Foreman, a Unite the Right attendee with ties to
the white nationalist media outlet The Red Elephants, stood outside the Denny’s
to confront Uzziel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Uzziel isn’t just some local Republican booster. He attended
the April 15<sup>th</sup>, 2017 rally in Berkeley that turned into a massive
brawl between militiamen, open white nationalists, Proud Boys and antifascists.
He’s mingled for years with the extended West Coast right-wing protest scene
that includes Proud Boys, conspiracy vloggers, militias and open white
nationalists. He’s gone on conspiratorial rants against the Illuminati and was <a href="https://t.co/3JJhOnu27X?amp=1">kicked off a flight</a> after an unhinged
rant. He later expressed in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9xTnm39CDo&feature=youtu.be">since-deleted
livestream</a> that he was trying to distance himself from the openly white
nationalist strain in the pro-Trump activist scene.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The conflict between Uzziel and his former colleagues is the
subject of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunday Afternoon at Denny’s,</i>
a short documentary by Xavier Rotnofsky. The film’s been well-received. Patton
Oswalt called it ‘<a href="https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/1197941054806183936?s=20">Amazing</a>’
and it became a <a href="https://twitter.com/xrotnofsky/status/1198330554225020928?s=20">Vimeo
Staff Pick</a>. LCRW reached out to Rotnofsky this week to talk about the film
and the art of documentary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>Give us
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I wouldn’t say I have a career in filmmaking
yet, but I write and produce as much as I can with friends. I’ve always been
interested in documentary, and I hope to do more of it. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>What about
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There’s so much drama in real life, so I
love documentaries that explore that. I love weird, unscripted moments people
post online like on Worldstar and Twitter.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>Any
directors you’d cite as influences?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m a big fan of Adam Curtis but he’s not
really a slice-of-life director.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>How did you
find Harim Uzziel and this story?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My friend sent me a screenshot of Harim’s
Facebook event. My roommate and I decided to go to Denny’s for lunch and just
see what would happen. We didn’t expect what went down.</i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>What
initially drew you to it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The venue. It’s such a strange and surreal
setting for a MAGA meeting. The infighting between the MAGA groups made it even
more surreal.</i></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>What were
your impressions of the MAGA crowd going in to filming?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everyone just seemed so sad, desperate, and
empty. Even the people outside.</i></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>What kind
of story did you initially think you’d be doing when you went to film Harim’s
meeting that day? What did you expect would happen?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There weren’t really any expectations. We
figured it would just be a MAGA meeting held in a Denny’s. We didn't know there
would be so much conflict.</i></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>Did you
expect the people who showed up outside to be there?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lol no.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>What was
shooting that conflict like for you?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It felt a bit risky, but ultimately both
groups were so concentrated on bothering each other, we were the least of their
worries.</i></span></div>
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that confronted Harim included Antonio Foreman who was at Unite the Right in
Charlottesville and others who have incited violence and brawled with people at
protests. Did you know anything about those people beforehand? What’s your
reaction to learning more about who they are and what they’ve done now?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I knew about Antonio beforehand. He once
came out in <a href="https://twitter.com/funnyordie/status/913450987989303296">one
of my videos</a> from a few years ago. So I’ve had experience with him.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>What’s the
reception to the film been like? Do you find people like antifascist activists
who were familiar with the characters in your film beforehand reacted
differently than the people who didn’t know who they are?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The reception has been wild. I did not
expect such a positive reaction. I don’t think the reaction has been different
between people who are familiar and people who aren’t. Though, antifascist
activists understand more of the backstories.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCRW: </b>What’s next
for you? Do you plan to explore right wing extremists further in your work?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m not sure what’s next. I have to figure
that out. Yes, I would like to explore them further in my work.</i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div>
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any major lessons or messages or broader awareness you hope the audience takes
away from your film?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ROTNOFSKY: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I hope you get the vibe of what it felt like
to be at Denny’s that day.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rotnofsky’s work can be found <a href="https://vimeo.com/user61179252">here on his Vimeo page</a>. Check out his
film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wipe</i> <a href="https://t.co/nkmDErLWuG?amp=1">here</a>. You can follow him on Twitter at
<a href="https://twitter.com/xrotnofsky">@xrotnofsky</a>.</span></div>
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</span></style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-55894341285708730832019-11-18T18:31:00.003-08:002019-11-18T18:31:52.871-08:00GROYPERS IN THE GOLDEN STATE: BEN SHAPIRO SPENDS MOST OF STANFORD SPEECH TRYING TO DIFFERENTIATE HIMSELF FROM ALT-RIGHT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LhYbs7KR8qAHvnYX2T3a7Zl4YYHJlNVCnPCn6B8irg3f2in62VHvU9MkJ0aX5nFFRDBjm_uom7WlcaZB8_WhnD1gMEi1RtkJCP4rvAVfzh71rsAtoQajnCe9GANgpBS4FTtQ_HFNbkc/s1600/EI0Ws_EVAAAwuCG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LhYbs7KR8qAHvnYX2T3a7Zl4YYHJlNVCnPCn6B8irg3f2in62VHvU9MkJ0aX5nFFRDBjm_uom7WlcaZB8_WhnD1gMEi1RtkJCP4rvAVfzh71rsAtoQajnCe9GANgpBS4FTtQ_HFNbkc/s400/EI0Ws_EVAAAwuCG.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</b><br /><br />If you’ve only ever been to Stanford’s campus in the dark, it’s a hell of a maze to try to navigate. Luckily, I found the auditorium quickly because of the chanting.<br /><br />“Say it loud! Say it clear! Ben Shapiro’s not welcome here!” I could hear protestors shouting before I reached the place. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here was some of the chanting outside. <a href="https://t.co/Zhs1aYUNYA">pic.twitter.com/Zhs1aYUNYA</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— Left Coast Right Watch (@LCRWnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1192635252268601344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2019</a></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When I turned the corner, there were hundreds of people in line, maybe a tenth of them in MAGA hats. A metal barricade divided the attendees and about 200 protestors–mostly students and a few local activists. Most had signs. One sign read “BEN SHAPIRO AIN’T SHIT.” One just said “Shanda”–a Yiddish word meaning “shame” or “disgrace.” Another read “No more <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-arabs-bomb-crap-and-live-open-sewage">Islamophobic</a> speakers.”</span><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Black and white text-only flyers by protestors advertised a “Silent Rally” that had started at 6pm. I counted six different attendees sneering and saying something about the protest not being silent anymore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“We are tired of Stanford Administration’s complicity in putting Black, Brown, Trans, Queer and Muslim students at risk by allowing SCR to bring Ben Shapiro to campus,” the flyer said. “We do not protest because we are too sensitive to hear opinions we don’t like. We protest because we are strong enough to defend ourselves.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One young conservative type in front of me walked out of the line for a second to look at the flyer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“I guess they got rid of the anti-Semitic flyers,” he said. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Someone had circulated flyers with pictures of Shapiro’s face on a can of bug spray with the same text as the flyer quoted above. The event’s organizers wrote on their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StanfordGOP/photos/a.876933599055797/2544903085592165/?type=3&theater">Facebook</a> page that “leftist activists at Stanford” were “showing their true colors” as anti-Semites by putting the flyer up. The flyers were apparently put up by Students for the Liberation of All People (SLAP,) a student activist group on the Stanford campus that also created a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2631826510206784/">Facebook event</a> to protest Shapiro.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ABOUT OUR BOY BEN</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ben Shapiro <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/outspoken-conservative-ben-shapiro-free-speech-place-college/story?id=50610394">gained fame initially</a> as a conservative pundit wunderkind with a nationally syndicated column by age 17 and two books by age 21. He was an editor at Breitbart from 2012-2016. Breitbart is the alt-right adjacent daily rag with a “black crime” section and article titles like “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In 2014, Shapiro became a fellow at the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-horowitz">David Horowitz Freedom Center</a> (DHFC,) an SPLC-designated anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim hate group. “Colleges and universities have been one of the main targets for Horowitz,” the SPLC page on him says. According to the SPLC, Horowitz’s center “is known for compiling McCarthyite lists of students, professors, and administrators and plastering campuses with posters accusing them of being subversive.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shapiro left Breitbart in 2016, a year after he founded another right-wing rag called The Daily Wire where he’s still editor in chief. In March 2019, his Ben Shapiro Show was the second-most popular podcast in the United States according to <a href="http://www.insideradio.com/free/a-bounce-for-ben-shapiro-in-march-says-podtrac/article_7fbca710-66d3-11e9-8954-734748203ec0.html">Westwood One</a>. As of <a href="http://analytics.podtrac.com/industry-rankings">September</a> it was ranked 5th.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shapiro’s other main public engagement is through speaking mostly at colleges at the invitation of conservative campus groups. In 2016, Shapiro was supposed to give a talk called “When Diversity Becomes a Problem” at CSULA. Shapiro’s talk was essentially repeating the alt-right thesis that minorities are suppressing free speech, implicitly white free speech, by bringing up everyday bigotry (sometimes called ‘microaggressions,’) pointing out structural racism (sometimes framed under ‘white privilege’ discourse,) and trying to make space for themselves in the form of LGBTQ+ centers, etc. (what right wing media often calls ‘safe spaces.’) CSULA officials <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/online/university-president-shuts-down-conservative-journalists-speech-citing-free-exchange-of-ideas/">cancelled</a> the talk, claiming they would reschedule it to include a broader range of speakers on the subject. They later reversed the decision and let it go on as planned. The event saw massive protest and Shapiro was <a href="https://abc7.com/news/ben-shapiro-escorted-from-csula-due-to-angry-protesters/1219358/">escorted out by police</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In September 2017, Shapiro spoke at UC Berkeley. This was in the aftermath of <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/heres-how-breitbart-and-milo-smuggled-white-nationalism">fellow former Breitbart editor</a> Milo Yiannopolous’s planned speech at UC Berkeley being shut down by antifascist protestors, some of whom broke windows, shot fireworks at police, set a police generator on fire and pepper sprayed would-be attendees. Yiannopoulos, infamous for getting <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/07/21/what-it-takes-to-get-banned-from-twitter/">banned from Twitter for directing a massive harassment campaign against actress Leslie Jones</a>, had previously announced he was <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/social-justice/2017/01/31/milo-horowitz-start-campaign-sanctuary-campuses/">partnering with the DHFC</a> on an effort to target “Sanctuary Campuses” where policies are undertaken to protect undocumented students from deportation. There was a rumor Yiannopoulos was planning to out undocumented students at the talk that night. Many antifascists I spoke to at the time cited Yiannopoulos<a href="https://www.thecut.com/2016/12/milo-yiannopoulos-harassed-a-trans-student-at-uw-milwaukee.html"> targeting a trans student </a>at UW Milwaukee during a speech there three months prior as a precedent for this. However, the rumor was never confirmed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shapiro’s speech that year cost the University and City of Berkeley $600,000 in militarized police protection. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-berkeley-protest-shapiro-20170914-htmlstory.html">There were nine arrests</a>. The speech was attended by dozens of members of the Proud Boys and Kyle Chapman, aka Based Stickman, who was in a leadership role with the group at the time. Chapman gained viral internet fame in March 2017 for breaking a stick over an antifascist’s head at a protest in response to Milo’s shutdown. That fame gained him leadership of the now-defunct paramilitary wing of the Proud Boys, the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights (FOAK.) Current Chairman of the Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio attended Unite the Right as part of FOAK. During the Q&A, Chapman told Shapiro that the Proud Boys “have your back.” Shapiro looked visibly uncomfortable with the group’s endorsement. The Proud Boys’ opinion of Shapiro would later sour as they continued to ally with other far-right extremist groups and movements outside of mainstream conservatism.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shapiro spoke at length at UC Berkeley about how black people aren’t victims of racism anymore; they’re just lazy. Shapiro cites economist Thomas Sowell as a major influence. Sowell has long lent credence to white nationalists’ anti-black rhetoric because Sowell himself is black and blames black poverty on welfare and what he calls black peoples’ “laziness, promiscuity, violence, bad English.” Nathan Damigo, founder of Identity Evropa, lists Sowell as a major influence on his becoming a white nationalist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shapiro denies ties to white supremacy, but his racist rhetoric has influenced at least two acts of white supremacist terror. Alexandre Bisonette, who murdered six people in a Quebec mosque in 2017, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/04/18/quebec-city-mosque-shooter-scoured-twitter-for-trump-right-wing-figures-before-attack/">checked Shapiro’s twitter 93 times</a> in the month before his murder spree–more than any other account Bisonette visited. Another editor at the Daily Wire, John Nolte, <a href="https://twitter.com/andyriga/status/985939322263228417/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E985939322263228417&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmontrealgazette.com%2Fnews%2Flocal-news%2Fquebec-mosque-shooter-alexandre-bissonnette-traw">came in second</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This year, the lawyer for a man who burned the yard of a synagogue in Indiana and spray-painted iron crosses and a Nazi flag on it <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/05/27/nazi-sympathizer-pleaded-guilty-defacing-synagogue-his-lawyer-says-conservatives-helped-radicalize-him/">claimed</a> he was radicalized in part by conservative media. Nolan Brewer, according to a memo by his lawyer Samuel Ansell, was radicalized by his wife Kiyomi, who was 17 at the time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“According to Nolan, she [Kiyomi Brewer] began with rightwing yet mainstream views such as those presented on Fox News,” Ansell’s memo reads. “She then moved on to writings by Ben Shapiro and articles on Breitbart News which bridged the gap to the notorious white supremacist and anti-Semitic propaganda site Stormfront.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shapiro <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1132779296764731392">responded</a> by saying that his Orthodox Judaism discounted him from any responsibility for the couple’s radicalization into neo-Nazism. Ansell’s description of Kiyomi and Nolan Brewer’s radicalization is fairly common, however. One famous case is former white supremacist Caleb Cain, who <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/08/technology/youtube-radical.html">described</a> being radicalized on Youtube by videos that started with mainstream right-wing arguments and became increasingly tilted towards more and more extreme beliefs. Given Shapiro’s history of racist rhetoric and associations with outlets like Breitbart, his place in the white supremacist radicalization pipeline shouldn’t come as a surprise.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">THE STANFORD COLLEGE REPUBLICANS</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The event had run out of tickets and I was on the waitlist. I wasn’t worried about getting in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“You should 100% plan on attending the event next week because the chances of getting in are very very high. According to Stanford policy, we had to set the number of tickets to be way lower than necessary,” an email from the organizers I got a week before the event read.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fred R. Allen and the Young America’s Foundation (YAF) fronted the bill for Shapiro’s Stanford speech–as they had two years prior in Berkeley. YAF was founded by National Review helmsman and prominent <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/12/apartheids-useful-idiots/282114/">apartheid supporter</a> William F. Buckley. It’s not exactly clear who Fred Allen actually is. In a <a href="https://legacy.tyt.com/2018/07/31/ben-shapiro-owns-the-libs-but-who-owns-him/">2018 investigation by The Young Turks </a>into who funds Ben Shapiro, YAF didn’t respond to inquiries about Allen’s identity. That same investigation found YAF is funded by “a fleet of billionaire GOP donors from powerful conservative families.” These include the family foundation of Education Secretary Betsy Devos, the Mercers and Charles Koch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">While in line I walked past someone holding a tiny sign that said “Fuck SCR.” SCR stands for the Stanford College Republicans–the campus club that invited Shapiro. Inviting him was the latest in a string of provocative stunts from the group this year, perhaps the most shocking of which was <a href="https://twitter.com/Jacobkupp/status/1124369400604151808?s=20">reprinting anti-Semitic cartoons</a> from the Nazi paper <i>Der Stürmer</i> in order to label Jewish cartoonist Eli Valley an anti-Semite.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In May, Valley was invited to speak by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), an organization SCR has repeatedly called anti-Semitic. Valley often uses anti-Semitic tropes to <a href="https://www.elivalley.com/comics/israel-man-and-diaspora-boy">illuminate and critique</a> Jewish right-wing figures and their often exclusionary definitions of Jewish culture and identity. Flyers featuring some of Valley’s artwork were met with complaints of anti-Semitism and SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP,) another co-sponsor of Valley’s talk, removed them. Both groups apologized in an<a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2019/05/06/op-ed-stanford-jewish-voice-for-peaces-statement-on-eli-valley-art-exhibition/"> op-ed</a> for not making sure the full context of Valley’s work was represented in the flyers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The organizations also pointed in the op-ed to what they felt was a disproportionate response to their flyers:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“<i>[W]e also hope that people take these events as an opportunity to critically examine the ways that certain speech and people are surveilled, censored, and punished, while others are empowered and prioritized. After all, while some at Stanford exploited this intra-community disagreement to hang up Nazi art around campus and condemn us online, others — particularly those of us who have already been doxxed by our fellow students and put on blacklisting surveillance websites like Canary Mission — will be made continually vulnerable to threats, harassment, and violence. These are the very political realities Eli Valley’s art is commenting on.</i>” (ed. Note: more on Canary Mission <a href="https://forward.com/news/407127/a-new-wave-of-hardline-anti-bds-tactics-are-targeting-students-and-no-one/">here</a>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By contrast, SCR members flyered residence halls with an actual Nazi caricature of the ‘International Jew’ side by side with an arguably tame cartoon by Valley. SCR members’ flyers implored viewers to “spot the difference” between the Nazi caricature and Valley’s stylized but not exaggerated portraits of Theodore Herzl and other prominent Jewish historical figures. The Valley cartoon in question was not one of those featured on the SJP/JVP posters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole and Dean for Religious Life Tiffany Steinwert wrote on a <a href="https://quadblog.stanford.edu/2019/05/05/our-hope-for-meaningful-dialogue/">blog post</a> that “Some of the posters invoked anti-Semitic stereotypes and tropes and undermined values we seek to foster at Stanford University.” They did not specify which images were anti-Semitic, nor did they mention the SCR members’ flyers. Indeed, most of the publicized reaction to the whole controversy seems to have been focused on Valley’s images, not SCR members’ use of Nazi propaganda.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Valley himself <a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2019/05/13/eli-valley-condemns-scr-zionist-support-of-white-supremacists/">didn’t let SCR off as easily</a>, however.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“People who leap immediately to Der Stürmer looking at my art have such a vast stupidity about comic art and Jewish art specifically that they have no right to be talking about culture at all,” Valley said in his talk at Stanford.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“[SCR] is an alt-right group it seems to me,” Valley added. “It’s an anti-Semitic hate group it seems to me. They should not have been able to do what they did without serious repercussions.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Stanford Daily reported that SCR leadership claimed their member who posted the flyer “did not consult SCR leadership beforehand.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Valley has since been a vocal critic of SCR’s public actions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“Stanford College Republicans—a hate group that in the past year has brought a Holocaust Revisionist and a Jew for Jesus to campus—is now hosting hatemonger Ben Shapiro,” Valley <a href="https://twitter.com/elivalley/status/1183136242055163905?s=20">wrote on Twitter</a> about month before Shapiro was set to speak at Stanford.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">LCRW reached out to Valley to clarify what he meant by the statement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In late February, right-wing pundit Dinesh D’Souza <a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2019/03/01/following-months-of-controversy-dinesh-dsouza-spoke-to-packed-auditorium/">spoke on campus</a> at SCR’s invitation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">D'Souza was <a href="http://D'Souza was convicted of a felony for illegal campaign contributions & pardoned by Trump. He has a long history as a hatemonger. This article covers a lot more than I will in this thread, but since we're talking college, I want to talk D'Souza at">convicted of a felony for illegal campaign contributions & pardoned by Trump</a>. He has a long history as a hatemonger. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">While in charge of the Dartmouth Review, D'Souza <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1982/6/7/crying-out-in-ignorance-pbwhat-did/">published</a> a "light-hearted interview with a former Klan leader" with a cover photo depicting a staged hanging of a black man on Dartmouth's campus. He also published an anti-affirmative action op-ed written in a racist caricature of African-American Vernacular English. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">D’Souza also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/13/us/conservative-paper-stirs-dartmouth.html">outed gay students</a> in the paper. The New York Times reported at the time that “[o]ne student named, according to his friends, became severely depressed and talked repeatedly of suicide. The grandfather of another who had not found the courage to tell his family of his homosexuality learned about his grandson when he got his copy of The Review in the mail.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">D’Souza also wrote a book called “The Enemy at Home” in 2007 naming virtually the same enemies the alt-right did a decade later and blaming them for 9/11. In the book he wrote “The cultural left and its allies in Congress, the media, Hollywood, the nonprofit sector, and the universities are the primary cause of the volcano of anger toward America that is erupting from the Islamic world.” D’Souza made a list of 22 people in the “cultural left” in the book. 10 of them are Jewish. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">D’Souza <a href="https://forward.com/fast-forward/402155/4-times-dinesh-dsouza-should-have-kept-quiet-about-the-jews/">also spreads conspiracy theories </a>about billionaire Democratic Party funder George Soros, who’s widely understood as a modern stand-in for the old trope of the ‘International Jew’ in <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/jewish-groups-blast-fox-news-for-joe-digenovas-anti-semitic-soros-conspiracy-theory">right-wing conspiracies</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">D'Souza's grift for the last few years is making propaganda films that clumsily rewrite history to misdirect all the evils of the world onto the current Republican Party's current enemies. In his 2017 propaganda film, "Death of a Nation", D'Souza <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/08/gay-nazi-myth-why-dinesh-dsouzas-misuse-of-history-is-so-galling.html">claimed that Hitler was pro-LGBTQ+ just like the modern Democrats</a> and <a href="https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/aug/03/donald-trump-jr/did-nazi-platform-echo-democratic-platform-donald-/">claimed the DNC’s platform echoed the Nazis' platform</a>. It is these literal historical revisionist claims that Valley cites when he called D’Souza a “Holocaust Revisionist.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“I should clarify that I was using Holocaust Revisionist in the broadest meaning of altering the facts of Nazi German history, not that D'Souza has denied the Holocaust. I realize afterwards that the term "revisionist" is used by deniers to normalize their denial as just another form of historical review. So maybe a different term would be better to describe his views,” Valley told LCRW in a Twitter DM conversation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Valley said that the ‘Jew for Jesus’ SCR invited was <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/daily-wire/daily-wire-cesspool-hatred-and-bigotry">Andrew Klavan</a>, one of the writers at Shapiro’s Daily Wire. Klavan repeatedly espouses male supremacist views, including saying “the future is always male” and saying “demonizing men causes mass shootings.” He’s also espoused Christian supremacist and white supremacist views, saying on his podcast that “we should thank Christian white men for creating our civilization” and that the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/death-toll-christchurch-mosque-attacks-grows-51-after-turkish-man-n1001476">Christchurch murderer</a>’s manifesto doesn’t “necessarily condemn anything that he was trying to represent.” He’s also denied that trans women are women.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The ‘Jews for Jesus’ website<a href="https://jewsforjesus.org/about/"> says</a> they are “are Jewish followers of the Messiah – 100 percent Jewish and 100 percent Christian.” Many Jews consider ‘Jews for Jesus’ a cult. One Jewish organization dedicated to countering them, ‘Jews for Judaism,’ <a href="https://jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/cult-or-cult-like/">writes</a> that “[Jews for Jesus’s] theology is basically fundamentalist Christianity” and that they practice widely-recognized patterns of destructive cults such as deceptive recruitment, authoritarian behavior inside the group and “hostility to the outside world.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">‘Jews for Jesus’ has faced some national controversy. Current VP and Christian supremacist Mike Pence <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/us/mike-pence-rabbi-jacobs.html">appeared with someone</a> from Jews for Jesus after the neo-Nazi mass murder at the Tree of Life Synagogue. The attack killed eleven people and was the deadliest act of violence against Jewish people in the history of the United States.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rabbi Jason Miller of B’nai Israel in Toledo <a href="https://twitter.com/RabbiJason/status/1057111457001865216">said on Twitter</a> that “There are over 60 rabbis in Michigan & yet the only rabbi the Michigan RNC could find to offer a prayer for the 11 Jewish victims in Pittsburgh at the Mike Pence rally was a local Jews for Jesus rabbi? That's pathetic!”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“I find it pretty shocking that Ben Shapiro works with Klavan, given Judaism's united opposition to Jews for Jesus,” Valley told LCRW. “I know there's a lot about Shapiro that's hypocritical, but this cuts to the core of Jewish attitudes towards missionaries and cults,” he continued. “Every Jewish denomination considers Jews for Jesus an insidious effort to convert Jews in an era when forced conversions are no longer acceptable. It's amazing Shapiro hasn't received pushback for it, as far as I can tell.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The line to get in was poorly organized. SCR members in suits scanned some peoples’ Eventbrite tickets while another forgot what he was doing and wandered off halfway through guiding me to another line for the waitlisted attendees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAJJ8r2tyAQVAwcl6sWdAkqrIcKH0F0tJLxER69M_cDDK6yfruHw4yB4hxlvnmXJGH0VS1LRZQm6oJI8MhxWWubyqbJjGVvyimqUrZUxrUwappjXp1eaFZbeXPlmf9LIeykqUfjiVzgE/s1600/EI0X5ByU8AMp9Rj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAJJ8r2tyAQVAwcl6sWdAkqrIcKH0F0tJLxER69M_cDDK6yfruHw4yB4hxlvnmXJGH0VS1LRZQm6oJI8MhxWWubyqbJjGVvyimqUrZUxrUwappjXp1eaFZbeXPlmf9LIeykqUfjiVzgE/s400/EI0X5ByU8AMp9Rj.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />“I think we can just go in,” my friend Andy said. <br /><br />So we bum-rushed it. Nobody seemed to give a shit. As I walked into the building, a young woman in an evening gown welcomed us kindly and pointed us to the auditorium entrance. As we looked around for seats, an SCR member in a MAGA hat and dark blue suit asked me to “please fill up the seating in the front before trying to choose a seat in the back.” There were easily over a thousand people there. SCR later claimed 900 students and 800 others attended.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the way in, Andy spotted Karissa Healy, who we filmed indiscriminately pepper-spraying people and whipping out a taser at the 3/4/17 so-called “Battle of Berkeley.” Other regulars at Bay Area far-right gatherings, it turns out, were also present that night.<br /><br />We sat down halfway down stage left. There was a vocal group of SCR members in the row in front of us.<br /><br />“Are you a neocon? Do you believe in regime change for Bashir Al-Assad?” one kid in front of me said to his friend as they joked around with each other and chatted.<br /><br />“Fuck yeah! We’re based zoomers!” A kid in a MAGA hat and a full suit shouted.<br /><br />“You know the good thing about them protesting outside is they’re not protesting in here,” one attendee next to me told his friend.<br /><br />The event started with an SCR President Stephen Sills recounting how student activists tried to prevent them from publicizing the event. Activists tore down a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StanfordGOP/photos/a.876933599055797/2540543006028173/?type=3&theater">spraypainted bedsheet</a> SCR put up to advertise the event, replacing it with an admittedly more well-produced hand-drawn <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StanfordGOP/photos/a.876933599055797/2540543156028158/?type=3&theater">meme banner</a> with SCR and Stanford Provost Persis Drell agreeing to “Be tolerant/Accept racism.” Some students <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StanfordGOP/photos/a.876933599055797/2521272094621931/?type=3&theater">tore down</a> flyers for the event, one stabbing the image of Shapiro’s eyes with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StanfordGOP/photos/a.876933599055797/2521271861288621/?type=3&theater">thumb tacks</a> and writing “my sexuality doesn’t care about your feelings” on it and another drawing a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StanfordGOP/photos/a.876933599055797/2521271784621962/?type=3&theater">penis</a> over his face with the text “Oops, my hand slipped.” Sills called these protesters and those outside the event “fascists.”<br /><br />Sills <a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2019/11/08/conservative-commentator-ben-shapiro-blasts-alt-right-radical-left-identity-politics-in-memaud-lecture/">didn't mention</a> that SCR was accused of targeting a Casa Zapata, a Latinx-themed dorm on campus, after staff refused to let them put up posters for the event. One resident of the dorm told the Daily SCR was “trying to antagonize residents.” SCR <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StanfordGOP/posts/2525655817516892?__tn__=-R">posted</a> that when they tried to put up flyers in the dorm, “an aggressive mob of students heckled our members and spewed obscenities such as "s*ck my d***", following our members to keep them from entering other campus dorms.” <br /><br />After hosting a discussion in the dorm, Provost Drell and Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole sent an email hours before the event saying that “some of the behaviors that have accompanied these practices have crossed a line of respectful treatment.” <br /><br />Sills told the Stanford Daily in an email that “The idea that we harassed the dorm residents by attempting to film them is false,” and that “We simply returned with a larger group to speak with an RF, after being harassed by a mob of over 10 aggressive and profane students two nights prior.”<br /><br /><b>THE QUESTIONS, THE GROYPERS, THE ANSWERS</b><br /><br />At these kind of events, a speaker usually goes on for half an hour or so. Most people in my experience are on their phones or looking for a disruption or some particularly inflammatory slogan they can cheer about during the speech part of the show.<br /><br />One major disruption did occur for a few minutes. People on the second floor of the auditorium got up in the middle of Shapiro’s speech and chanted “Hey Hey/Ho Ho/Ben Shapiro’s got to go!” Shapiro called them immature or something. His mic seemed quieter to me during the incident. The protesters were taken outside, the Stanford Daily <a href="https://www.stanforddaily.com/2019/11/08/conservative-commentator-ben-shapiro-blasts-alt-right-radical-left-identity-politics-in-memaud-lecture/">reports</a>, by the school’s Department of Public Safety. The college Republicans in front of me gleefully filmed the whole thing and eventually started chanting “USA! USA!” The speech resumed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ben got interrupted. I cut before someone shouted “You’re not very smart.” <a href="https://t.co/gfb00O8wML">pic.twitter.com/gfb00O8wML</a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">— Left Coast Right Watch (@LCRWnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1192648681691860992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2019</a></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> Shapiro was supposed to give a talk called “No, leftist idiots don’t get to raise my kids.” He managed to keep a few lines from it in the talk he actually delivered. The most notable was him saying “Drag Queen Story Hour borders on child abuse.” This summer saw a <a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2019/06/anti-lgbtq-groups-target-libraries-in.html">slew of protests</a> at Drag Queen Story Hour events, sometimes by armed extremists.<br /><br />But Shapiro decided to change tack and rewrite his speech because of the Groypers.<br /><br />Right-wing figures like Shapiro and Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk who make the rounds at college campuses have of late been targeted by a coordinated campaign lead by white nationalist and Unite the Right attendee <a href="https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/charlie-kirk-white-nationalist-nick-fuentes-turning-point-usa/">Nick Fuentes</a> along with current president of Identity Evropa Patrick Casey and Vincent James of the white nationalist outlet ‘The Red Elephants.’ Fuentes is the latest ‘<a href="https://www.politicalresearch.org/2019/06/20/all-you-have-to-do-is-show-up-how-white-nationalists-are-infiltrating-the-gop">entryist</a>’ white nationalist to coordinate a nationwide culture-jamming campaign aimed at pushing white nationalist and anti-Semitic talking points into the mainstream. The whole thing is being heavily cheered on by Milo Yiannopoulos, the Proud Boys and far-right figures associated with them. <br /><br />Fuentes’s followers call themselves “<a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/groyper">Groypers</a>” after the far-right meme mascot of the same name. The mascot is kind of a bloated <a href="https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/charlie-kirk-white-nationalist-nick-fuentes-turning-point-usa/">Pepe the Frog</a> 2.0 with a smug look on his face. Groypers have been lining up at the Q&A sections of events around the country to ask questions Fuentes and his associates tailored to provoke billionaire-backed “Conservative, Inc.” speakers like Shapiro. Groypers question “Conservative Inc.” speakers’ loyalty to Trump, how hardline they are about immigration, and otherwise undermine their credibility. The goal is twofold–establish themselves and their views as the legitimate heirs to conservatism to the GOP’s base and, as always, push their white nationalist platform into the mainstream.<br /><br />At these events, Shapiro and other speakers usually hope for questions from some first-semester liberal-minded student who can’t articulate their points very well and isn’t versed in debate team tactics. If you search for Shapiro once, YouTube is likely to recommend you watch dozens of videos of him bowling over unprepared students with rapid-fire talking points and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beDyZfLIYk4">often dubious logic</a>. “BEN SHAPIRO DESTROYS [fill in the blank]” has become a meme in and of itself in the last few years.<br /><br />“Shapiro is quick and he will engage directly,” Fuentes told his Telegram followers the night before the Stanford event. “It will be very easy if you are not experienced with public speaking or prepared (mentally or otherwise) for him to frazzle you. He will talk fast and will be prepared for probably anything you throw at him.”<br /><br />“Charlie Kirk is one thing, but Ben has been doing this his whole life. He’s got a Jew tongue. Be ready,” a Groyper accoun<a href="https://twitter.com/Roboito/status/1192194819541610497?s=20">t tweeted </a>two days earlier.<br /><br />Shapiro spent most of his speech trying to get ahead of the Groypers’ narrative by drawing facile, ahistorical parallels between the alt-right and what Shapiro calls “radical leftists,” who he apparently defines as anyone who advocates against structural racism, for LGBTQ+ rights or any other such causes. Shapiro’s argument was essentially that a group of bigots and a group of anti-bigots are alike because they both focus on “identity.” He and ‘true’ conservatives, he argued, have moved beyond talking about race and other identity issues.<br /><br />Shapiro attempted to address of some of the specific questions Fuentes and his colleagues suggested for the Groypers. One specific question Fuentes suggested fielding on his Telegram was about why Shapiro “originally came out against the Covington kids.” Shapiro responded by claiming he was he was on the phone “every night” with the Covington kids guiding them on how they should handle the media and said he hadn’t revealed that information publicly before. <br /><br />“A note about the Ben Shapiro event tomorrow: Shapiro will be anticipating questions about Israel and he will be prepared to field them,” Fuentes wrote on his Telegram channel the night before the event. <br /><br />Fuentes, an anti-Semite himself, said it’s “bad optics” to ask questions critical of Israel. <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-donald-trump-jr-landed-smack-in-the-middle-of-a-right-wing-civil-war">For another event at UCLA with Donald Trump Jr. and Kirk</a>, Fuentes said “hitting Kirk on foreign aid or “the boat” will only make us look bad in front of Don and push Kirk and him closer together.”<br /><br />“The boat” refers to an old hobby-horse for anti-Semites–the USS Liberty, a navy research ship which was <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/06/fifty-years-later-nsa-keeps-details-of-israels-uss-liberty-attack-secret/">sunk by Israel</a> during the Six Day War in 1967. Israel’s motives for doing so are still unclear but were easily absorbed into anti-Semitic narratives about Jews tricking the United States into supporting Israel.<br /><br />On the question of “the boat,” Shapiro said “It happened 50 years ago. Get over it.”<br /><br />Our seats ended up being a good spot to view the Q&A. It was mostly a letdown–liberal students who said they earnestly listen to Shapiro’s show trying to find a rational argument to trick Shapiro into agreeing with a less reactionary position and conservative fans kissing his ass. <br /><br />The most eventful thing was when the crowd, Shapiro included, erupted into laughter and cheering when local pro-Trump activist <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1186828830402465794?s=20">Max Gugliemelli</a> went up to the microphone and said “Epstein didn’t kill himself.” The phrase is a meme referring to wealthy child rapist Jeffrey Epstein who died recently under suspicious circumstances while jailed and awaiting trial in New York for trafficking children to powerful people.<br /><br />“That will never stop being funny,” Shapiro said.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here’s everyone including Shapiro cheering when a guy says “Epstein didn’t kill himself.” The guy then asks Shapiro for his thoughts on the Stone trial. Shapiro says he isn’t paying attention because he’s too focused on the impeachment. <a href="https://t.co/dSCg3VaAhK">pic.twitter.com/dSCg3VaAhK</a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">— Left Coast Right Watch (@LCRWnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1192826458177069056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2019</a></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <br />Gugliemelli <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1192826458177069056?s=20">also asked</a> Shapiro if he’d been following the trial of Roger Stone, the former Trump campaign advisor and prominent supporter of the Proud Boys. Shapiro said he wasn’t following the trial because he was too focused on Trump’s impeachment hearings.<br /><br />Shapiro’s last question was essentially “Why is America the best country in the world?” People, right-wingers included, started leaving before he even answered it. The last thing I noted down Shapiro saying was “America is the least racist country on earth.”<br /><br />Fuentes and those cheerleading him took it as a win that Shapiro had even acknowledged and repeated their talking points.<br /><br />“What a mistake they made,” Fuentes said on his Telegram channel that night, “I honestly was just up all night yesterday thinking how to propel the Groyper Wars after the next week when the TPUSA tour ends.”<br /><br />“Ben fucking Shapiro dedicating a 45 minutes talk to explicitly denounce me and read my old facebook posts??? Lmfao thanks retard,” Fuentes continued. “America First just hit the big time.”<br /><br />“Did Anyone Else Notice That Ben Shapiro Pulled A [sic] 8 Mile at His Stanford Speech?” Mike of the Proud Boys-aligned Weaponized Opinions podcast said on his Telegram,” continuing, “Meaning He Tried To Take The Groypers Power Away By Saying And Trying To Refute All Of Their Questions Before They Asked Them.”<br /><br />“Like When Eminem Made Fun Of Himself,” Mike concluded.<br /><br /><b>THE STORY OUTSIDE</b><br /><br />But there was another aspect to the Groypers that didn’t receive any attention in the following day’s coverage. Student activists I spoke to said they were intimidated and called slurs by attendees.<br /><br />“We got there a little bit late, around 7:20,” a student protester who went by the alias ‘Lizard’ told me. Lizard says about ten minutes after they arrived, “most of the counter-protests had dispersed. What remained were largely the fascists who were not inside of the Ben Shapiro event.”<br /><br />“We think that a lot of the Groypers who were coming to ask Ben Shapiro questions were actually outside,” Lizard said. <br /><br />One of the SCR members, Lizard said, was talking to a group of 20-30 Groypers about Shapiro. The SCR member talked to them for an hour and Lizard thinks he was apologizing to the group because they couldn’t get in. Online at the time, Fuentes and his followers were complaining that the guests had been vetted.<br /><br />Lizard recalled men in body armor standing outside all night heckling protesters and chatting with each other. Another activist I spoke to who went by the alias ‘Mustard’ said one person was wearing an armored vest with the logo for the videogame League of Legends on it. This person and two others with him stayed outside the event all night.<br /><br />“They were also engaging and they looked like they came prepared,” Mustard said.<br /><br />Lizard recalls two of the right-wingers who stood out to them.<br /><br />“One of them had a white helmet with insignias on it, a military-style back pack and a chest piece,” Lizard says. <br /><br />Mustard said this person “seemed to be a flat-Earther” from his comments and talked about how he “disapproves of Abrahamic religions” and instead prescribes to “the oldest religion–the Aryan religion.” <br /><br />“He was talking about the USS Liberty and he was saying ‘The Israelis have a wall. Why can’t we have a wall?’” Mustard recounted.<br /><br />“I heard him talking about Jews for at least half an hour very openly with five people next to him” Lizard said. “Police were also there and listening and almost nodding their heads, even when he was saying things that were explicitly violent towards Jews and his wishes to separate Jews.”<br /><br />Lizard says a legal observer with the National Lawyers’ Guild (NLG) was assaulted by someone dressed as the retired Pepsi mascot “Pepsi Man.” The person in the Pepsi Man costume and another person came up to the NLG observer before counter-protests had dispersed and called him a “dirty commie” and “threw hands at him and pushed him around.”<br /><br />“Later, [the person dressed as Pepsi Man] said that it was the NLG observer who pushed him first, which was not true,” Lizard recounted.<br /><br />“Before counter-protests had dispersed, several of my comrades, as well as students who were not affiliated with the protests, just walking by, some of whom were black students, were harassed and verbally assaulted by some of the people participating on the Ben Shapiro/fascist side,” Lizard said<br /><br />“They were called the n-word, had flashing lights put into their faces and lots of different live-streamers from different groups. [There was] some pushing and shoving,” Lizard recounted. “Our marshals also said there was one physical altercation, but we weren’t there at the time but don’t know what happened there.”<br /><br />The other person who stood out to Lizard was Jeffrey Perrine, a former Proud Boy and far-right organizer in the Sacramento area. Perrine is <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnSmithReads/status/1126298384329920512?s=20">on camera assaulting</a> a man laying in the street with a group of other Proud Boys in an infamous <a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/2018/06/30/portland-police-declare-a-riot-after-right-wing-marchers-begin-beating-antifascists-with-flag-poles/">June 2018 protest</a> that turned into a riot. <br /><br />At the same rally, Perrine was on a megaphone <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnSmithReads/status/1130582293829935109?s=20">calling for violence against undocumented immigrants</a>.<br /><br />“All the illegals trying to jump over our border, we should be smashing their heads into the concrete, handling business, separating them from their kids, making sure they’re not with pedophiles and child molesters–people like the left,” he said into the megaphone.<br /><br />Perrine told me that night the comment “wasn’t racist” because he wasn’t talking about a specific race of people–he was talking about “illegal immigrants.” He also said that it was “taken out of context” because out of frame, he claimed, antifascists were beating someone on the ground. Perrine told me “I was just saying we should do to illegals what they’re doing to him.”<br /><br />Perrine also appeared on former Proud Boy and <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jovi-val-goes-1488/">actual Nazi Jovi Val</a>’s podcast “<a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1108612889571581952?s=20">The Goy Fellas</a>.” Perrine <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1140352811961503744?s=20">claimed</a> to me that he didn’t know what it was before going on air and claims he denounced Val’s anti-Semitism. On the night of the Shapiro talk, however, Perrine went on a long, racist tirade while talking to me, at one point remarking that he didn’t like how Orthodox Jewish Rabbis suck the tips of babies’ foreskins during circumcision rites. This antiquated practice, Metzitzah B'Peh, does exist but only a few Haredi sects still practice it. Perrine called it “pedophilic.” <br /><br />My friend Andy called it “blood libel” and got into a shouting match with Perrine before the latter left.<br /><br />Before I ran into him, Mustard told me “there was talking that almost escalated to an altercation” between Perrine and one of their friends. “[Perrine] was yelling at them and they were joking around and I think they later shared a cigarette.”<br /><br />“But later on, when we were sitting at a bench, he walked back around and then said that we thought they (Perrine and his friends) were Nazis and we should ‘come to his backyard and fight,’” Mustard recounted. Mustard says there was a “police officer” in between Perrine and “another one of his buddies.” <br /><br />Lizard says some people came out of the event and went up to the police, first thanking them and then “almost got into an altercation with the cops.”<br /><br />“[They] asked why they didn’t just shut the protesters down, why they didn’t just arrest them for trespassing, why didn’t they just shove them around, give them a taste of what force feels like,” Lizard said. The police apparently calmed the event attendees down.<br /><br /><b>ANN COULTER AND THE GROYPERS AT BERKELEY</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here is Charlie Kirk getting chased off scene by Trump supporters after trying to convince his audience that neo-Nazi Nicholas Fuentes is a bad guy <a href="https://t.co/FDlClt9iSJ">pic.twitter.com/FDlClt9iSJ</a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">— Wild Geerters (@classiclib3ral) <a href="https://twitter.com/classiclib3ral/status/1195159724901183488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2019</a></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <br />Fuentes and the Groypers are considering their campaign highly successful. Currently, his banner on Twitter says “Groyper War Total Victory!” and his <a href="http://archive.is/AR5Vd">pinned tweet</a> lists the dates of the stunts he’s claiming were wins.<br /><br />The last major speaking event of the year for the Groypers may be Ann Coulter’s appearance at UC Berkeley on Wednesday at the invitation of the Berkeley College Republicans (BCR.) <br /><br />Coulter will speak at 9pm on Wednesday. BCR’s Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/425981194956625/">event page</a> says there’s currently 73 people going. It’s unclear how many tickets were sold at this point. The Wheeler Hall Auditorium where the speech will take place seats 750 people. There’s a <a href="https://twitter.com/safetyberkeley/status/1195553305532891136?s=20">call to protest</a> the event at 7:15pm at the Campanile.<br /><br />Protest organizers who wish to remain anonymous told LCRW many students are traumatized by the events two years ago. Throughout 2017, the university was overrun with violent provocateurs that had protection from a massive police force as they <a href="https://www.dailycal.org/2017/09/21/uc-berkeley-students-harassed-after-milo-yiannopoulos-publicly-identifies-them/">harassed</a>, assaulted and threatened students and the surrounding community.<br /><br />“UC Berkeley has pledged to commit tens of thousands of our tuition dollars to militarize campus police next week, ACCEPTING the fact that violence will occur, and yet allow this event to happen anyway,” the protest organizers <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2569354220018032/?active_tab=about">said on their event page</a>.</span></span><br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/UCBerkeley?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UCBerkeley</a> WANTS TO TURN CAMPUS INTO A NAZI RALLY AGAINST IMMIGRANTS.<br /><br />Cal has already spent 1000s on PD presence on 11/20, meaning they EXPECT & ACCEPT violence.<br /><br />Why do you value ticket sales over our safety? Why do you continue to allow students to be endangered? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AnnCoulter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AnnCoulter</a> <a href="https://t.co/TAYgHbdvjb">pic.twitter.com/TAYgHbdvjb</a></div>
— UC Berkeley Collective Safety (@safetyberkeley) <a href="https://twitter.com/safetyberkeley/status/1195550416064278528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Coulter has a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ann-coulter">long</a> <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/11/29/ann-coulter-spoke-white-nationalist-writers-workshop-event-washington-dc">history</a> of racist rhetoric and <a href="https://vdare.com/writers/ann-coulter">writes</a> for the white nationalist publication <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/12/21/ann-coulter-attends-vdare-christmas-party-%E2%80%93-her-second-white-nationalist-event-three-months">VDARE</a>. The last time she was supposed to speak at UC Berkeley in 2017, she pulled out, unhappy with the time place and manner restrictions the University imposed on her talk. UC Berkeley eventually <a href="https://www.dailycal.org/2018/12/03/uc-berkeley-to-settle-free-speech-lawsuit-with-conservative-groups/">settled</a> with BCR and YAF over the matter after the latter claimed they were discriminated against by the university. Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes gave her speech in her stead, reading it in the same park that saw the ‘Battles of Berkeley.’ The event attracted Nathan Damigo of Identity Evropa, infamous Patriot Prayer brawler Tusitala ‘Tiny’ Toese and many others in the broader right wing extremist scene.<br /><br />“We're told as if it's good news immigrants use welfare at only 15 percent above native-born rate, it's like saying only 15 percent of the food has rat feces in it," McInnes said, reading from Coulter’s speech. <br /><br />BCR has a well-documented history of associations with extremist figures. Former president Troy Worden once told me how excited he was that he <a href="https://twitter.com/IGD_News/status/912864752019189760?s=20">got to meet</a> Martin Sellner of Generation Identity, the largest neo-Nazi group in Europe who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/16/christchurch-shooters-links-to-austrian-far-right-more-extensive-than-thought">received over a thousand euros from the Christchurch murderer.</a> Worden’s also the one who got Milo to come to campus originally. Current president Matt Ronnau was in a <a href="https://nocara.blackblogs.org/2017/11/28/berkeley-college-republicans-and-the-fascist-creep-at-uc-berkeley/">Red Ice TV livestream</a> with Nathan Damigo on the day of Trump’s inauguration. The club for a time in 2017 regularly let white nationalist media outlet The Red Elephants livestream their meetings. Ronnau seems to be sympathetic with the Groypers–recently retweeting a post by <a href="https://twitter.com/ColumbiaBugle/status/1186894812353462272?s=20">The Columbia Bugle</a>, a blog aligned with Fuentes, where the Bugle complained about Kirk not being "America First" enough.<br /><br />Fuentes and his colleagues view Coulter as one of them.<br /><br />“I legitimately told Ann Coulter that she should call Charlie Kirk out on immigration,” Red Elephants’ Vincent James said on his Telegram in October under a photo of him with Coulter. “She gave me a tight-lipped smile and a long slow nod…she knows.”<br /><br />“Come on, Coulter, we need you!” Fuentes wrote on his Telegram, continuing, “She’s been boosting our stuff but she should fight alongside us–what does she have to lose??? Now’s the time!”<br /><br />BCR <a href="https://twitter.com/BerkeleyCRs/status/1194749851348525056?s=20">stated</a> there will be a Q&A.</span></span>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-78283594554214512242019-10-08T16:54:00.000-07:002020-01-11T16:53:10.717-08:00ARTICLE REMOVED AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR, SEE ED. NOTE BELOW<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ed. Note: <i>This article by Jordan Jackson was reprinted on 10/8/19 by LCRW. It has been removed at the author's request. An archive can be found here:</i> http://archive.is/QmtzD</span>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-68261092101185614782019-08-10T21:27:00.001-07:002019-08-10T22:18:56.848-07:00NEO-NAZI NETWORK “THE BASE” PLANS SPOKANE-AREA MILITARY TRAINING CAMP AND MEETUP<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl2TsKZwDaI8RQk0KrM8U_WgZ7HFDz3ulSjc5cIRWuokrZVyDEMsEgcg2kUvLQMmOzx7Aqci80WNIUKzsXpBaBSvjE6JQJ4aRCTR26jB_C68mRLn1pLWZEXNM52UwYwMHnLEAkW7W3FxE/s1600/EBbV-2nUwAA_xqE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="934" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl2TsKZwDaI8RQk0KrM8U_WgZ7HFDz3ulSjc5cIRWuokrZVyDEMsEgcg2kUvLQMmOzx7Aqci80WNIUKzsXpBaBSvjE6JQJ4aRCTR26jB_C68mRLn1pLWZEXNM52UwYwMHnLEAkW7W3FxE/s320/EBbV-2nUwAA_xqE.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Members of 'The Base' posing with a flag with the group's logo. Photo courtesy of <a href="https://twitter.com/161EUG/status/1159349313073549312?s=20">Eugene Antifa</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH<br /><br />They translated “Al Qaeda” into English and called themselves “The Base.” They’re a network of neo-Nazis with a doomsday prepper streak. They have cells in South Africa, Canada, Australia, and of course, the Good Ol’ U.S. of A. And if you’re in the area of Spokane, Washington, <a href="https://twitter.com/161EUG/status/1158240547724677120?s=20">as antifascist activists warned last week</a>, you might be able to hear them “<a href="https://twitter.com/161EUG/status/1159345971756785664?s=20">practice shooting high powered firearms.</a>”<br /><br />According to Eugene Antifa, members of The Base are flying out some time this month to Spokane to train with weapons, “share survival skills & terrorist ideas, outline plans to establish their (whites-only) ethnostate, & grow their network.” They previously conducted a meetup somewhere in California on <a href="https://twitter.com/AntiFashGordon/status/1070004994445840390?s=20">January 11th</a>. They’re calling this gathering a “hate camp.” It’s not known exactly when they plan to be in the area.<br /><br />Some local groups were initially planning to counter-protest the event, but Eugene Antifa, the antifascist collective that broke the news of the camp, clarified in a series of tweets less than a day after breaking the story that The Base’s activities would be covert and at some undisclosed location, not rallying in public.<br /><br />Law enforcement from local police to the FBI told the <a href="https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/aug/10/spokane-police-investigating-rumors-of-neo-nazi-ha/">Spokane Spokesman-Review</a> they’re aware of The Base coming to town. <br /><br />Officer John O’Brien told the Spokesman-Review that “some members of that group may be flying into the Spokane airport. The event is not being held in the city limits or the county of Spokane. It is not known how they will get from the airport to their venue. (If they show up.)”<br /><br />FBI spokesperson Katherine Zackel told the Spokesman-Review they’re aware of the group’s activities. <br /><br />“We work with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to identify any possible threats of force or violence to our communities and to protect all individuals’ rights to First Amendment protected activity,” she said.<br /><br />The Base’s leader, “Norman Spear,” is a neo-Nazi with a big following online. He claims to be an Iraq and Afghan War veteran. <a href="https://twitter.com/161EUG/status/1158240562048143360?s=20">Eugene Antifa said</a> that he “has recently purchased land in Central Washington near Chewelah or Colville.” Other members of the group have set about purchasing compounds to live off the grid and online chats talk about establishing ‘safehouses’ for the group. Ben Makuch and Mack Lamoreux, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/a3mexp/neo-nazis-are-organizing-secretive-paramilitary-training-across-america">writing for Vice</a>, said their goal is to “unify online fascists and link that vast coalition of individuals into a network training new soldiers for a so-called forthcoming “race war.””<br /><br />A neo-Nazi network with similar beliefs and goals called <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/atomwaffen-division-inside-white-hate-group">Atomwaffen Division</a> has planned acts of terror in the past–and attempted to carry them out. The group has five confirmed murders to its name, several foiled terror plots including bombings and mass shootings, and is not only still active, but spawning splinter groups. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-arrests-las-vegas-man-who-allegedly-wanted-shoot-jews-n1041031">A man who was arrested Friday</a> after plotting to target synagogues and LGBTQ+ night clubs for firebombing had been in contact with one such Atomwaffen splinter group online. As Atomwaffen faces its own <a href="https://www.nate-thayer.com/u-s-soldiers-uncovered-in-atomwaffen-division-satanic-nazi-death-cult-terror-group/">internal upheavals</a>, some former members have migrated to the group.<br /><br />“Their membership now consists of numerous former Atomwaffen Division members, and their approach is even more aggressive and blatantly neo-Nazi in nature. Their membership has grown and spread to more locations,” a Eugene Antifa representative told LCRW. <br /><br />Even former leadership of Atomwaffen are endorsing the group.<br /><br />“I am not a member, but I fully support what [The Base] is out to accomplish,” Grayson Patrick Denton, a prominent former Atomwaffen member, wrote on Twitter in September last year. The Base’s official Twitter replied, “HELL YEAH! Thank you Comrade.” Both groups’ presence on Twitter have since been removed.<br /><br />The Base are ‘balk-right,’ a branch of neo-Nazism focused on ‘balkanizing’ the United States, or splitting it up into smaller territories, then claiming one or many as a whites-only ‘ethnostates.’ The term ‘Balk-right’ was coined by <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/billy-roper">Billy Roper</a> of the Arkansas-based neo-Nazi group <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/06/27/white-nationalist-shieldwall-network-member-arrested-alleged-anti-lgbtq-attack-invokes">Shieldwall Network.</a> Roper described the ‘balk-right’ philosophy on his blog:<br /><br />“…the United States of America is headed for collapse and civil war, and that ethnostates, including at least one for [white nationalists], will rise in that vacuum. Balkanization, the breakup of a multiracial state into more homogeneous nations, is coming,” he wrote.<br /><br />It’s unknown whether members of The Base have carried out any attacks yet. <br /><br />LCRW reviewed chat logs from The Base which span from about October to November 2018. In those logs, such attacks are called “direct action.” <br /><br />Norman Spear in one log says in the “current phase,” where The Base is networking and recruiting, such acts of terror “should be attributable to a specific org or group is if it's only intended for recruiting purposes.”<br /><br />“Anything else should be non-attributable,” Spear continued. “The message should speak for itself.”<br /><br />“Direct action” is a term lifted from environmental activism. In the original context it meant actions like people chaining themselves to trees and construction equipment to prevent pipelines from being built. ‘Direct action’ for The Base means attacking, be it targeting minorities for terror or infrastructure like bridges and power plants to destabilize the government. <br /><br />The tactic can be traced back to The Turner Diaries, a novel written by white nationalist William Luther Pierce that helped inspire the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh. In The Turner Diaries, a white nationalist terror organization wages guerilla warfare and blows up buildings and infrastructure, destabilizing the U.S. government until it caves and surrenders to the white nationalists. McVeigh targeted a federal building in Oklahoma City hoping to spark a similar chain of events to those Pierce outlined in the book.<br /><br />But for The Base, “direct action” isn’t just limited to waging war against the U.S. Government. It’s also about targeting minorities, particularly black and Jewish people. Here they are talking about Robert Bowers, the murderer of eleven worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh:<br /><br />“[If] 10 more people snapped like Bowers, it'd cause utter chaos. 100, now things would get interesting,” one person in their chat logs posted. <br /><br />“Yeah that why follow up ops are important to build & keep momentum,” Norman Spear replied.<br /><br />Spear’s comments reflect neo-Nazi ideologue <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/james-mason">James Mason’</a>s thesis in Seige, his 1980s magazine-turned-bible for white nationalist terrorists. <br /><br />“Mason insists that only the full collapse of American democracy and society will bring conditions sufficient to bring order through Nazism,” the SPLC writes. Seige is required reading for Atomwaffen members.<br /><br />Mason’s idea was that people should carry out attacks in small groups or alone that create a spectacle and inspire others to carry out similar such attacks. This chain of increasing attacks and destabilization, Mason said, would until they become so frequent and the public becomes so terrorized that it weakens the state and more organized guerilla warfare can topple it. <br /><br />This has been playing out in real life. Online forums like 4chan and 8chan have received manifestos, declarations and in at least two cases even a link to a livestreamed video from mass murderers intent on sparking a white supremacist revolution. For example, both the <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/americas/2019/04/28/ignore-the-poway-synagogue-shooters-manifesto-pay-attention-to-8chans-pol-board/">Poway</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/08/06/christchurch-endures-extremist-touchstone-investigators-probe-suspected-el-paso-manifesto/">El Paso</a> murderers, who targeted Jewish people and immigrants from Latin America respectively, were inspired by the killer in Christchurch, who murdered 51 people praying at two mosques.<br /><br />The Base choosing the State of Washington for their activities shouldn’t come as a surprise. The region has a long history of white supremacist activity. One plan popularized all the way back in the 1970s called the “<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/portland-murder-suspect-appears-unlinked-northwest-s-racist-groups-n765681">Northwest Territorial Imperative</a>” would have white supremacists carve out Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah as a whites-only ethnostate.<br /><br />“Washington,” a Eugene Antifa representative told LCRW, “is once again a current hotspot for the white ethnostate dream.”<br /><br />“The most urgent thing to know about the Base right now,” the Eugene Antifa representative said, “is that they are absolutely still organizing, but in a largely more underground way.”</span>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-66507497119806425442019-06-21T17:56:00.000-07:002019-06-21T17:56:16.238-07:00ANTI-LGBTQ+ GROUPS TARGET LIBRARIES IN SEATTLE METROPOLITAN AREA<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Patriots of Washington's event to support Mass Resistance's protest of a Drag Queen Story Time event in Renton, WA.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A "Teen Pride" event tomorrow at a public library in Renton,
WA <a href="https://patch.com/washington/kirkland/s/gr8z9/religious-group-targets-teen-gay-pride-event-king-co-library?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_term=politics+%26+government&utm_campaign=autopost&utm_content=kirkland">is
being targeted by anti-LGBTQ+ activists</a>. More demonstrations against a library in the same system are planned for next week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Elizabeth Johnston, a far-right Christian media personality who
brands herself as “The Activist Mommy,” <a href="http://archive.is/sKlp6">went
on a transphobic rant about the event Thursday</a> on her Facebook, calling on
her 600,000 plus followers to bombard the Renton’s library with phone calls
demanding they cancel the event. At around 2pm PST on Thursday, Johnston <a href="http://archive.is/Ojozm">said</a> the phone lines were “jammed” and told
her followers to start emailing the library’s board of trustees instead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Antifascists at Emerald City Antifa <a href="https://twitter.com/wrs_salish/status/1141885373317955584">shared a
message</a> from a Renton library employee who’d received calls yesterday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I can tell you that we’re experiencing a barrage of hateful
phone calls,” the library employee said, adding “It’s been very stressful for
me as a queer person.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Johnston’s post included talking points from <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/08/16/california-chapter-anti-lgbt-hate-group-massresistance-gets-white-nationalist-member">SPLC-designated
anti-LGBT hate group Mass Resistance</a>. Arthur Schaper, one of the group’s
leaders based out of Southern California, <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2018/12/16/drag-performers-read-children-story-hours-library/2332114002/">recently
gained attention</a> for disrupting “Drag Queen Story Time” events at libraries
<a href="https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2019/01/12/colorado-towns-drag-queen-story-hour-draws-protesters-counter-protesters-windsor/2550820002/">around
the country</a>, claiming they were part of <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2011/10-anti-gay-myths-debunked">a
long-running anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theory</a> that says LGBTQ+ members are
trying to indoctrinate and molest young people. A Houston far-right radio host <a href="https://m.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Armed-Houston-area-man-kicked-out-of-Montrose-13582139.php?utm_campaign=CMS+Sharing+Tools+%28Mobile%29&utm_source=m.facebook.com&utm_medium=referral">was
arrested after he brought a gun into a library</a> in February this year,
claiming “We have a bunch of homosexuals who are molesting children.” He had
previously harassed the library because of the Drag Queen Story Time events Mass
Resistance was whipping up controversy over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In response to possible demonstrations against the Teen
Pride event, Plateupians for Peace, a local activist group, is organizing a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1061867000670458/">support demonstration</a>
to shield young attendees of the LGBTQ+ youth event from bigoted protestors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We need your help showing support against these protestors
and creating a safe environment for our LGBTQ+ teens to attend this event. We
need people there from 12:30-1:30 and from 6:30-7:30, when kiddos [are] arriving
and leaving,” the description for the event reads.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At around 2PM today, Johnston <a href="http://archive.is/ohG8v">reposted</a> the call to action, telling people
to keep bombarding the Library’s phones.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But this isn’t the last Renton’s library system will hear
from anti-LGBTQ+ activists this month. Next week on the 27<sup>th</sup>, Mass
Resistance and Patriots of Washington, a group that includes Zachary Staggs and
other members of the Proud Boys, <a href="http://archive.is/UhaTV">will protest</a>
a Drag Queen Story Time event there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Emerald City Antifa activists are organizing counter-efforts
to the demonstration, <a href="https://twitter.com/wrs_salish/status/1142125786175983616">including
offering support and resources</a> to the Drag Queens performing that day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The library employee who messaged Emerald City Antifa said
that “[p]eaceful counterprotestors would be welcome.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Puget Sound Anarchists collective also put out a <a href="https://pugetsoundanarchists.org/call-for-community-defense-of-seattle-trans-pride/">call
to action</a> to defend the Seattle Trans Pride Parade on the weekend of the 28<sup>th</sup>
this month. The Proud Boys and an affiliated far-right livestreaming group
called Operation Cold Front are expected to show up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These protests come amidst escalating demonstrations and
violence against LGBTQ+ people during this year’s Pride Month.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Locally, an art display by Renton’s United Christian Church
was vandalized and then bombed. The display was a series of rainbow-painted doors
bearing the message “God’s doors are open to all.” <a href="https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/police-investigating-possible-arson-explosion-at-renton-church/959585477">The
FBI is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime</a>. The church is
planning a prayer vigil in response tonight at 6:30pm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Seattle earlier this month, <a href="https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2019/06/more-hate-vandalism-on-capitol-hill-city-says-aids-memorial-pathway-installations-torn-down/">an
AIDS memorial installation was torn down</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Monday, <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/news/community/drag-queen-story-hour-draws-mixed-reaction-at-king-county-library/281-76140838-dce3-48e4-b215-e353c4261e4d">there
was a demonstration</a> against a Drag Queen Story Time event on Des Moines, Washington.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As LCRW <a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2019/06/trans-activist-cited-by-police-for-hate.html">previously
reported</a>, a trans activist was cited with a hate crime by California
Highway Patrol after he confronted a hate preacher at the Capitol Building
during Sacramento Pride weekend. During that confrontation, he was threatened
by an attendee with a knife.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other high-profile anti-LGBTQ+ incidents dominated the news
cycle this month across the country. The National Socialist Movement, a direct descendant of George Lincoln Rockwell’s American Nazi Party, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/armed-neo-nazis-marched-police-protection-during-detroit-pride-parade-1443013">disrupted
Detriot’s Motor City Pride Parade earlier this month</a>, flying flags with
swastikas. They had full protection from police officers, who were wearing rainbow flag
badges. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Additionally, Right-wing provocateur Steven Crowder intensified his years-long
homophobic harassment campaign against journalist Carlos Maza, emboldened by <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/evyqnz/youtubes-bungled-pr-announcements-made-carlos-mazas-harassment-worse-steven-crowder">Youtube’s
failure</a> to address the situation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the most viral stories has to do with
Resist Marxism’s plans for a “<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/bostons-straight-pride-parade-is-even-worse-than-you-think">Straight
Pride Parade</a>.” Resist Marxism is a Boston-based neo-Nazi-adjacent protest
group founded by Kyle Chapman, the far-right e-celebrity famously nicknamed
“Based Stickman” after he broke a closet pole over an antifascist brawler’s
head during a riot in Berkeley. The “Straight Pride” event is set to go forward
August 31<sup>st</sup>.</span></div>
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</span></style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-43513277856408923622019-06-11T19:37:00.000-07:002019-06-11T19:37:10.378-07:00TRANS ACTIVIST CITED BY POLICE FOR HATE CRIME FOR PROTESTING ANTI-LGBTQ+ GROUP
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qBpe--6o_Og/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qBpe--6o_Og?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This is an updated
version of a <a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2019/06/anti-lgbtq-demonstrators-shove-threaten.html">story
that ran yesterday</a>. It includes an interview with the activist at the
center of the incident and information from police documents.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The pride festival was over, and initially we were just
trying to walk from it to other local festivities. We hear the religious
protesters,” Marcello recounts, “So Angie asks me if I'm uncomfortable hearing
them and if we should leave or do something.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I stand up and I'm thinking I'm not really bothered,” he continues, “but they shouldn't be allowed to be doing that.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In his friend Angie’s video, Marcello, a queer activist in a
tie-dye shirt, holds a trans pride flag and dances around in front of a bearded
street preacher with a red tie and a suit vest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“It all seemed very innocent to me. I wasn’t thinking it'd
escalate. At one point there were other queer people joining me and dancing
onstage even,” Marcello says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Repent! God will judge you if you do not repent and you
will end up in hell! We love you but God is just!” the preacher booms through a
PA system. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“It wasn't until the guy took my flag when things started to
be more confrontational,” Marcello says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anti-LGBTQ+ protesters push Marcello. A man with a mustache,
white shirt and blue baseball cap shouts in Marcello’s face. He grabs
Marcello’s flag and balls it up in his hands.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“May God have mercy on America! May God have mercy on this
land! May God have mercy on Sacramento,” the preacher continues behind them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Give him his flag back,” Angie shouts at the man in the
blue hat as she continues to film. The man shoves Marcello, who tries to snatch
the flag back. The man pitches the balled-up flag on the ground about fifteen
feet away. Marcello goes to pick it up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Fuck you! Old ugly-ass toothless-ass man!” Angie shouts at
him before the video cuts out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The video, posted to Twitter on Saturday at 8:22PM, has over
10,000 views as of this writing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“After that I admit my memory is a bit hazy,” Marcello says.
He was in shock after the event. For more on how memory of traumatic events
works, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/09/28/652524372/how-trauma-affects-memory-scientists-weigh-in-on-the-kavanaugh-hearing">see
this NPR article</a>. “</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had so many things going on at once, and people screaming
at me, and Angie was telling me the guy pulled a switchblade on me,” he
recounts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Right after the video cuts he pulled out a knife on us,”
Angie said in the description of the video on Twitter. “He only backs away when
I start yelling out “He has a knife!” repeatedly,” she told LCRW. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Angie said none of the others with the anti-LGBTQ+ group did
anything about him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I was shocked and after I picked my flag up, I felt it even
more so my duty to be there and wave it around proudly than before,” Marcello
says. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Then the man with the blue shirt comes up and his friend a
little after,” she recounted. Angie provided a second video to LCRW showing a
confrontation between several men and Marcello and herself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Angie’s second video starts with a man with a buzzcut and
blue t-shirt yelling at Marcello. Marcello says this man was “in my face
screaming at me to get out of his.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“This whole time I never approached these people, they would
come up to me. All I was doing was waving my flag and defending myself,”
Marcello told LCRW.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Someone tries to grab Angie’s phone. Video is shaky. There
seems to be a scuffle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I can have my phone out!” she says. Two other men push the
man with the buzzcut and Marcello away from each other and get in between them.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“After the guy pushed me away from his friend with the buzz
cut was the only time I put my hands on someone, I was obviously angry that I was
the one being gained up on,” Marcello said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“This guy tried to take my phone!” Angie shouts. The video
ends with the camera flipped around on her face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Next thing I know the guy in the video with the buzz cut
was threatening me,” Marcello says. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I remember him saying "this is America so I have a
right to say whatever it is I want, I have a right to be here (as in the
capital grounds) and I was saying back to him "Well, don't come here to
our event, (pointing at the Pride Festival) and say disrespectful things to my
community,” Marcello recounts. “And he then started saying "that's not
okay, what you're doing is not okay. If this was Russia things would be
different"”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LGBTQ+ people <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/02/15/russia-new-wave-anti-lgbt-persecution">face
widespread persecution in Russia</a>, often with state permission.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“He was also saying things like "come to Russia then. Come
to Russia and see what happens," Marcello recounts. He says he took the
man’s statements, as well as “his gestures and tone as a threat.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Angie says the man with the buzz cut told Marcello “if we
were in Russia, he would kill him.” She said that “this man and two others got
in my friend’s face and even shoved him at one point.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Since things were getting violent, we tried to leave the area.
And that’s when we were stopped by Sac PD,” Angie recounted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I was very shocked because I didn't understand what I had
done wrong, I was already flustered and feeling defensive,” Marcello says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Angie said an officer stopped Marcello and herself and
demanded identification. They asked to leave and the officer said no. They
asked if they were being detained. The officer said yes. He wouldn’t tell them
what crime they were being stopped for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I keep repeating that there is a man still at the steps of
the Capitol who has a knife but he doesn’t seem to care. He ignored me and
keeps asking my friend why he was pushing people,” Angie recounted. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The cop that approached me was being unempathetic towards
my side of the story the entire time,” Marcello recounts. “He was asking me why
I was pushing people, was asking me why I approached them.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I felt really attacked, I felt like I was being framed. I
felt like he was trying to guilt me into admitting I did something wrong,”
Marcello says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Eventually, Marcello says, “the officer told me that I was
under suspicion of assault, and told me they were reviewing tapes.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marcello and Angie both say he only pushed one person in
self-defense. Angie’s video shows one instance of a man wearing glasses being
shoved. This man stepped in between Marcello and the man with the buzzcut. It
isn’t clear if Angie, Marcello or someone else was shoving him. While video
shows Marcello made gestures with his hands while shouting, it’s clear in the
video LCRW reviewed that, for the most part, he wasn’t trying to touch the
anti-LGBTQ+ activists. The only other time he makes a motion towards one of
them on camera is when he’s trying to get his flag back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They were separated for questioning after fifteen minutes of
being detained, Angie recounts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“At one point [the officer] was even answering my questions
and statements with "oh really? Okay cool" sarcastically, being
overall very unprofessional and disrespectful. I decided it was best to just stop
speaking all together to him,” Marcello says. “I felt like the police were not
there for me, they didn't take my allegation against these homophobic and actually
violent people seriously.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marcello also said he was misgendered and repeatedly
deadnamed by the police, despite changing the gender marker on his ID at the
start of the year. Deadnaming is refusing to use a person’s chosen name and
instead using the name assigned to them at birth. <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/deadnamed-transgender-black-women-murders-jacksonville-police-investigation">ProPublica</a>
found in 2018 that in 74 of 85 cases they studied of trans people being
murdered, police used the victim’s deadname. Activists ProPublica interviewed said
it was incredibly difficult to get government agencies to acknowledge trans
peoples’ chosen names.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Five or so cops were surrounding me at one point,” Marcello
recounts, continuing, “they could've been trying to find the actual
perpetrators instead of standing there chatting it up with each other, waiting
for some footage, only to find out I never actually put my hands on anyone.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marcello eventually gave his statement to a female officer
who he says treated him with more empathy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“They gave me a ticket with my possible charges and said
that for future reference, I shouldn't be the one going and instigating things
by waving my flag in peoples faces,” Marcello says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Officers cite Marcello for three misdemeanors: demonstrating
without a permit, battery, and a hate crime. He’s set to appear in court in August.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, Angie also had little success getting the
officers to take her side of the story seriously. An officer asks her to point
out the man who threatened them, but she says by that point he'd left. “I tell
[the officer] I have a picture but he just asks for a description which he
repeats back to me wrong, so I show him a photo,” Angie recounts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An hour and 40 minutes pass while they’re detained, Angie says.
Then, four other officers speak to them separately and dismiss them. Angie
sends her footage to one of the officers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“They told us it was the church that called the police on us
for being aggressive and that we aren’t allowed to be that close to counter
protests,” Angie said, adding that police told her “that we should have been on
the sidewalk and that we were in the wrong.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LCRW is filing a PRA for information about the incident and
will update the story when we receive new information.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Neither the man who drew a knife nor the has not yet been
identified. LCRW has not yet identified the anti-LGBTQ+ group at the Capitol
Building.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Literally all the people who were threatening and even
shoving my friend got away because they [the police] were too busy trying to
prove/get my friend to confess he was the aggressor,” Angie <a href="https://twitter.com/_spicy_soup/status/1137881949396037632">wrote on
Twitter</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I just feel wronged. Like I was the wrong person to call
the cops on. The homophobic protesters should've called the police on their own
supporters instead of me. They were the ones being aggressive and violent,”
Marcello says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“This was supposed to be a day where I can be authentically
me, and I was harassed and wrongfully detained for celebrating myself,”
Marcello said. “And to end all that with being charged for possible hate crime,
and assault charges? It just seem extremely unfair and unjust. I feel failed by
the law.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pride Month was marked this year by high-profile
provocations against LGBTQ+ people by right-wing extremists. The National
Socialist Movement, a direct descendent of George Lincoln Rockwell’s American
Nazi Party, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/armed-neo-nazis-marched-police-protection-during-detroit-pride-parade-1443013">disrupted
Detriot’s Motor City Pride Parade last weekend</a>, flying flags with
swastikas. They had full protection from police officers wearing rainbow flag
badges. Right-wing provocateur Steven Crowder is currently intensifying his
years-long homophobic harassment campaign against journalist Carlos Maza,
emboldened by <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/evyqnz/youtubes-bungled-pr-announcements-made-carlos-mazas-harassment-worse-steven-crowder">Youtube’s
failure</a> to address the situation. One of the most viral stories has to do
with Resist Marxism’s plans for a “<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/bostons-straight-pride-parade-is-even-worse-than-you-think">Straight
Pride Parade</a>.” Resist Marxism is a Boston-based neo-Nazi-adjacent protest
group founded by Kyle Chapman, the far-right e-celebrity famously nicknamed
“Based Stickman” after he broke a closet pole over an antifascist brawler’s
head during a riot in Berkeley. The “Straight Pride” event is set to go forward
August 31<sup>st</sup>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The incident over the weekend hearkens back to the rally held
by neo-Nazis from the Traditionalist Workers’ Party and the Golden State
Skinheads in 2016. Neo-Nazis stabbed several antifascists counter-protesting
that ensuing brawl. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/05/antifa-charges-california-activists-stabbing">Police
then chose to go after the antifascists instead of the neo-Nazis</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LCRW is seeking other witnesses’ accounts and any additional
information about this case and will update this story with new information as
it comes in. Please email <a href="mailto:leftcoastrightwatch@protonmail.com">leftcoastrightwatch@protonmail.com</a>
if you have any tips.</span></div>
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</span></style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-76293435257938958232019-06-10T10:58:00.004-07:002019-06-10T10:58:58.794-07:00ANTI-LGBTQ+ DEMONSTRATORS SHOVE, THREATEN QUEER ACTIVISTS AT CALIFORNIA STATE CAPITOL DURING PRIDE WEEKEND<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qBpe--6o_Og/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qBpe--6o_Og?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In Angie’s video, her friend Marcello, a queer activist in a tie-dye
shirt, holds a trans pride flag and dances around in front of a bearded street
preacher with a red tie and a suit vest. Angie said that she and Marcello and went to confront them outside of the Capitol Building and that other activists joined in to counter-protest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Repent! God will judge you if you do not repent and you
will end up in hell! We love you but God is just!” the preacher booms through a
PA system. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anti-LGBTQ+ protesters push Marcello. A man with a mustache, white shirt and blue baseball cap shouts in Marcello’s face. He
grabs Marcello’s flag and balls it up in his hands.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“May God have mercy on America! May God have mercy on this
land! May God have mercy on Sacramento,” the preacher continues behind them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Give him his flag back,” Angie shouts at the man in the
blue hat as she continues to film. The man shoves
Marcello, who tries to snatch the flag back. The man pitches the balled-up flag
on the ground about fifteen feet away. Marcello goes to pick it up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Fuck you! Old ugly-ass toothless-ass man!” Angie shouts at
him before the video cuts out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The video, posted to Twitter on Saturday at 8:22PM, has over
10,000 views as of this writing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Right after the video cuts he pulled out a knife on us,” Angie
said in the description of the video on Twitter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“He only backs away when I start yelling out “he has a
knife!” repeatedly,” Angie told LCRW. She said none of the others with the anti-LGBTQ+
group did anything about him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Angie says one of the men told Marcello “if we were in
Russia, he would kill him.” She said that “this man and two others got in my
friends face and even shoved him at one point.” LGBTQ+ people <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/02/15/russia-new-wave-anti-lgbt-persecution">face
widespread persecution in Russia</a>, often with state permission.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Then the man with the blue shirt comes up and his friend a
little after,” she recounted, providing a second video to LCRW.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Angie’s second video starts with a man with a buzzcut and
blue t-shirt yelling at Marcello. Someone tries to grab Angie’s phone. Video is
shaky. There seems to be a scuffle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I can have my phone out!” she says. Two other men push the
man with the buzzcut and Marcello away from each other and get in between them.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“This guy tried to take my phone!” Angie shouts. The video
ends with the camera flipped around on her face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Since things were getting violent, we tried to leave the
area. And that’s when we were stopped by Sac PD,” Angie recounted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She said an officer stopped Marcello and herself and
demanded identification. They asked to leave and the officer said no. They
asked if they were being detained. The officer said yes. He wouldn’t tell them
what crime they were being stopped for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I keep repeating that there is a man still at the steps of
the Capitol who has a knife but he doesn’t seem to care. He ignored me and
keeps asking my friend why he was pushing people,” Angie recounted. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She said Marcello only pushed one person in self-defense.
Video shows one instance of a man wearing glasses being shoved. This man
stepped in between Marcello and the man with the buzz cut. It isn’t clear if
Angie, Marcello or someone else was shoving him. While video shows Marcello made
gestures with his hands while shouting, it’s clear for the most part he wasn’t trying to touch
the anti-LGBTQ+ activists. The only other time he makes a motion towards one of
them on camera is when he’s trying to get his flag back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I keep trying to bring to his attention that there was a
man with a knife and a man that gave Marcello death threats and that I had both
their faces on video,” Angie recounts, “but he seems more preoccupied in trying
to get Marcello to say he was pushing people.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They were separated for questioning after fifteen minutes of
being detained, Angie recounts. An officer asks her to point out the man who
threatened them, but she says by that point he'd left.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I tell [the officer] I have a picture but he just asks for
a description which he repeats back to me wrong, so I show him a photo,” Angie
recounts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An hour and 40 minutes pass while they’re detained, Angie
says. Then, four other officers speak to them separately and dismiss them.
Angie sends her footage to one of the officers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“They told us it was the church that called the police on us
for being aggressive and that we aren’t allowed to be that close to counter
protests,” Angie said, adding that police told her “that we should have been on
the sidewalk and that we were in the wrong.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Marcello was apparently cited.
LCRW is filing for a copy of the police report for the incident.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The man who drew a knife has not yet been identified. LCRW
has not yet identified the anti-LGBTQ+ group at the Capitol Building.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Literally all the people who were threatening and even
shoving my friend got away because they were too busy trying to prove/get my
friend to confess he was the aggressor,” Angie <a href="https://twitter.com/_spicy_soup/status/1137881949396037632">wrote on
Twitter</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pride Month was marked this year by high-profile
provocations against LGBTQ+ people by right-wing extremists. The National Socialist
Movement, a direct descendent of George Lincoln Rockwell’s American Nazi Party,
<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/armed-neo-nazis-marched-police-protection-during-detroit-pride-parade-1443013">disrupted
Detriot’s Motor City Pride Parade last weekend</a>, flying flags with swastikas.
They had full protection from police officers wearing rainbow flag badges. Right-wing
provocateur Steven Crowder is currently intensifying his years-long homophobic
harassment campaign against journalist Carlos Maza, emboldened by <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/evyqnz/youtubes-bungled-pr-announcements-made-carlos-mazas-harassment-worse-steven-crowder">Youtube’s
failure</a> to address the situation. One of the most viral stories has to do
with Resist Marxism’s plans for a “<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/bostons-straight-pride-parade-is-even-worse-than-you-think">Straight
Pride Parade</a>.” Resist Marxism is a Boston-based neo-Nazi-adjacent protest
group founded by Kyle Chapman, the far-right e-celebrity famously nicknamed “Based
Stickman” after he broke a closet pole over an antifascist brawler’s head
during a riot in Berkeley. The event is set to go forward August 31<sup>st</sup>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The incident over the weekend hearkens back to the rally
held by neo-Nazis from the Traditionalist Workers’ Party and the Golden State
Skinheads in 2016. Neo-Nazis stabbed several antifascists counter-protesting
that ensuing brawl. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/05/antifa-charges-california-activists-stabbing">Police
then chose to go after the antifascists instead of the neo-Nazis</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LCRW is seeking other witnesses’ accounts and any additional
information about this case and will update this story with new information as it comes in.
Please email <a href="mailto:leftcoastrightwatch@protonmail.com">leftcoastrightwatch@protonmail.com</a>
if you have any tips.</span></div>
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</span></style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-44266822810213846732019-05-09T01:38:00.001-07:002019-05-09T01:39:42.225-07:00BOMB THREATS AND ARRESTS: AFTERMATH OF TWO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RALLIES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9K3REEGA7FIWOVONVjY3t_G0pO_pQ2laFh9-cGatEPejntX9z0I8psC-Kl6pjrwocyjFJUkp5sIxiSBNN4cqcnR_HAytnU7O2-ESEqpYP5JGkEC4rUNfHegPspncGQmois5Jj5yHSk0Q/s1600/_DSC0087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9K3REEGA7FIWOVONVjY3t_G0pO_pQ2laFh9-cGatEPejntX9z0I8psC-Kl6pjrwocyjFJUkp5sIxiSBNN4cqcnR_HAytnU7O2-ESEqpYP5JGkEC4rUNfHegPspncGQmois5Jj5yHSk0Q/s400/_DSC0087.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Huntington Beach SWAT officers arresting an antifascist April 27th. Witnesses say the police charged the protesters unprovoked.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="goog_507263159"></span><span id="goog_507263160"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1523183517"></span><span id="goog_1523183518"></span><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Friday night April 26th while I was watching my friend DJ at
someone’s 16<sup>th</sup> birthday, FBI agents arrested an ex-Army Infantryman
named Mark Domingo. Feds spent weeks pretending to plot an attack with him. Beats
thumped, my friend took a break to check on his infant son, and I ate pizza and
stared at my phone. Meanwhile, the FBI persuaded Domingo to carry his attack
out. They gave him a fake bomb. He bought nails for shrapnel. He thought he was
going to plant it at a far-right rally in Long Beach I’d come to report on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was packing up to head back to the East Bay when the news
broke the Monday morning after the rally. Law enforcement didn’t see fit to
tell the rally organizers nor the anti-racist coalition countering them nor the
public in general about it until then.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ABOUT THE RALLIES</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2019/04/counter-protests-organized-for-weekend.html">I
previewed the rallies before I came down for them</a>, so there won’t be as
much space explaining them here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The one in Huntington Beach on the 27<sup>th</sup> was
called “March to END Sanctuary State.” Much of the signage and rhetoric of the
rally were photos of people killed by “illegal aliens” and slogans like “STOP
illegal immigration.” <a href="https://www.cato.org/publications/immigration-research-policy-brief/criminal-immigrants-texas-illegal-immigrant/">Studies</a>
<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-9125.12175">show</a>
statistically undocumented immigrants commit significantly less violent crime
than legal immigrants or natural-born citizens. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the prominent guest speakers at the rally, Arthur
Schaper, harasses Drag Queen Storytime Events because of the same tired <a href="https://www.nglcc.org/blog/lgbt-history-lavender-scare">lavender scare</a>
conspiracies that have been part of the right-wing landscape for decades now.
The SPLC calls Mass Resistance, the organization he works for, an “anti-LGBT
hate group.” Schaper, the SPLC also says, is a “long-time anti-immigrant and
nativist activist.” A member of his group, Kenny Strawn, <a href="https://hopenothate.com/2018/03/09/generation-identity-european-far-right-group-launch-america/">helped
try to start an American chapter of Generation Identity</a>, the European
neo-Nazi group that the Christchurch mass murderer gave money to. Strawn was
present at the event. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The rally in Long Beach on Sunday the 28th had more of a
sense of urgency to it. Huntington Beach, along with the rest of Orange County
and northern San Diego, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/05/far-right-southern-california-history?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">has
long been a hotbed of white nationalist organizing</a>. Long Beach is a pretty
liberal community, though it has a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-rothstein-segregated-housing-20170820-story.html">history
with segregation policies</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">United Patriot National Front (UPNF) decided to hold a rally
there. The group seems to center partially around Antonio Foreman, who bills
himself as a security guard to far-right figures like Laura Loomer, alt-right
e-celebrity Baked Alaska, and InfoWars’ Owen Shroyer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Foreman’s involvement in the group drew a lot of attention. He
and another UPNF member attended Patriot Movement Arizona’s harassment of a
church where refugees sought aid. He bragged on camera about how he “busted
through the door” of the church while armed. UPNF was also part of an
alt-right/alt-lite campaign to harass Chicano Park in San Diego last year. But
most people know Foreman as Baked Alaska’s bodyguard during Charlottesville. He
also recited the white nationalist slogan, the 14 words, on a livestream.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a since-deleted Facebook post on UPNF’s page, Foreman
denied he was a white nationalist, said UPNF “denounces all forms of neo
nazi-ism and racism” and that their event in Long Beach was about “free
speech.” He also said his group wouldn’t be armed. When I met him at the HB
rally, he claimed UPNF chose Long Beach for their rally precisely because it
was a liberal town without much of a history of right-wing activism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The UPNF event was taken down weeks before it was set to go
off, but counter-protest organizers like the Long Beach United Anti-Racist
Neighborhood Front (UARNF) and the local Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)
chapter vowed to show up to send a message that far-right groups should expect
resistance if they chose to rally there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HUNTINGTON BEACH</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The rally was across the street from TK Burger. I was order
#88. For those of you who don’t know, 88 is a code among white nationalists
that means ‘Heil Hitler.’ It didn’t bode well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sitting at the window, I ate fries and watched a few people
across the street in lawn chairs under a black EZ-Up tent with a California
flag and a white flag with a red star on it fluttering in the light breeze. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I initially thought they were with some right-leaning
movement like New California. The tent was actually set up by folks at <a href="https://www.independentca.org/">Independent California</a>, a
left-leaning group that wants California to have more autonomy over how the
it’s governed–even if true independence can’t be achieved. The group was part
of a coalition including Occupy I.C.E. L.A. and Indivisible O.C. At least
thirty people formed a black bloc as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We’re the anti-racist side,” one of them told me when I
walked up. I turned around and saw a few people across PCH with American flags
and a “Build the Wall” sign talking to police officers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE ALTERCATION</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When traffic stopped, I’d walk across the street between the
protests. I was on the right-wing side when a fight broke out and rushed across
the street. The provocateur at the center of it was C. Brandon Recor, the host
of a far-right YouTube channel called “That’s the Point with Brandon.”
Activists later told me Recor was “chest to chest” with counter-protesters as
he went up to them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Recor is a SAG-AFTRA stuntman. His “That’s the Point”
channel started in August 2017. He recently hosted a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/08/02/634749387/what-is-qanon-the-conspiracy-theory-tiptoeing-into-trump-world">QAnon</a>
conspiracy theorist called “AJ” on his show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Trump runs for office and all of a sudden, if you’re a
straight white male you ain’t getting in Hollywood unless you’re gay or
Jewish,” AJ said on Recor’s show. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The rate of me getting hired versus other people getting
hired has dropped so dramatically,” Recor replied. “It’s true–it’s a ridiculous
thing, but it’s a fact.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdQzz0DkRjs">Video
posted to his own channel</a> shows Recor was belligerent from the beginning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Recor started off trying to get a hug from a woman who
clearly didn’t want to be touched. He had no respect for people’s boundaries,
elbowing them, bumping them and getting in their faces. In response, people
started gathering around him to keep him from the main group of
counter-protesters and repeatedly tried to drown him out by shouting and
chanting. When people put their arms up in front of him and blocked him, he
would shout things like “Don’t touch me!” at them. When he failed to get egress
towards the main group of counter-protesters, he started shouting things like
“Let’s go, pussies! I’m ready!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After his first attempt to penetrate the counter-protesters’
ranks, Recor talked to a Huntington Beach police officer. He told the officer
“I’m just trying to do my business, sir. I’m just trying to work.” The officer
responded “I get it. I know.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I’m not trying to touch people,” Recor said, though video
shows he was.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We’re going to walk away, just telling you that,” the
officer replied.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Okay, cool man, so just don’t come after me if I defend
myself,” Recor said.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We’re not after anybody, but you can’t put hands on other
people whether you–” the officer said before Recor interjects. “I haven’t! And
I’ve got it on camera. I’m not stupid,” Recor responds.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A woman who Recor previously bumped into showed up and told
him “you were elbowing me and you were elbowing everyone.” Recor shouted over
her and called her a liar.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Let’s try not to instigate,” the officer said, continuing,
“let’s let everyone have their First Amendment rights be voiced–” </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Am I not allowed to walk up and down the sidewalk?” Recor
interrupts to ask.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“You are–If you’re gonna instigate, you’re gonna instigate.
That’s–” the officer said before Recor cut him off again. I can’t tell what the
officer said as Recor talked over him at the end.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“So walking up and down the sidewalk is instigating?” Recor
asked.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“No. What you were doing there was instigating,” the officer
said.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Interviewing people? Asking them why they’re here?” Recor
replied.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“You were pushing back–” the officer said. The officer’s
full sentence isn’t clear to me. “I’m telling you, I was watching it,” the
officer adds.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“So it’s okay for them to push me though but I can’t stand
in my own spot?” Recor asked.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It sure looked like they were standing,” the officer said.
Recor gave him an annoyed look for a split second. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“You do what you gotta do, man,” the officer said.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Let them do that again,” Recor responded. “Alright, come on
let’s go,” he said to his cameraman.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Recor tried to go back into the crowd and eventually talked
to someone from Independent California for about six or seven minutes.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Recor then went up to some black bloc protesters who were
standing around watching his interview. The Independent California activist pat
him on the chest and told him “Don’t go in there.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Don’t put your hand on me. You put your hand on me again
there’s going to be a problem,” Recor said, taking the activist’s hand off of
him.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“There shouldn’t be a problem. Why? This is America. I
should be able to talk and walk wherever I want, right?” Recor then said. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Black bloc protesters gathered around him to block him from
getting near the other counter-protesters. Some shouted at him. They walked
towards him to push him out. Recor backed into a banner some of them were
holding. A black-clad fist jabbed at Recor. Recor took a hard swing at someone
then stumbled around, repeatedly saying “Let’s go! Let’s go pussies!”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Someone knocked a flagpole against Recor’s head. He punched
them square in the face. He appeared to hit another person off-camera near his
cameraman as he stumbled back. Audio is cut in the last few seconds because the
microphone was knocked off.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Video I took before I ran across the street showed Recor
didn’t retreat. He kept trying to push himself back into the crowd. Counter-protest
organizers then waved at police to intervene as Recor continued to behave
belligerently. Two policemen on horseback blocked him off from the crowd. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Recor wasn’t arrested. He eventually made his way over to
the anti-Sanctuary State side. He had a cut on his forehead.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE ARRESTS</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Things calmed down for a while. The cops on horseback didn’t
go away. I think there were around 200 people counter-protesting at the peak and
maybe 100-150 at the anti-Sanctuary State event. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IEUsyNPWCTFns3lfu82qHA15xWSxWyMKxHMhK6T7btqvfZDAJ3JCHngVpaUbjpH6KeBC22zcxTPdsY8WfzvzdJI07Zi_BznFu5mj0AiL1KGTx8ZutzvmAshiRB7vXUGh4oASIEaNofQ/s1600/20190427_141438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IEUsyNPWCTFns3lfu82qHA15xWSxWyMKxHMhK6T7btqvfZDAJ3JCHngVpaUbjpH6KeBC22zcxTPdsY8WfzvzdJI07Zi_BznFu5mj0AiL1KGTx8ZutzvmAshiRB7vXUGh4oASIEaNofQ/s640/20190427_141438.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Photo by an unnamed videographer. They claim it was taken "less than a minute before they drew the wooden batons (they really shouldn't be called that they were like over 2 ft long) and charged into the group to make the arrests."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Police started blocking traffic. Some of the anti-Sanctuary
State protesters crossed into the middle island of the road and started
shouting at counter-protesters for a while, eventually returning to their side.
Some counter-protesters ripped a “Trump 2020” flag in half. I don’t know where
they got it. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Police continued to bottleneck the road. I remember the
mounted police and SWAT cops in their green jumpsuits started lining up and
blocked the road completely. The next thing I remember was the horse cops
charging the crowd. My back was towards the counter-protesters. I didn't hear
or feel a scuffle or any other commotion that would prompt it. Just without
warning the cops were pushing us back.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9AQGpFfUUxO9xG2NCEDlAByvO6Xl0EoXiRd3llAcFMGwS0LJShltW7DvCOQdSMS9Z9zIuRbaVXU2C61qpP_jYrn5iVS7ndngMI1PpaIjZKciAEEtZG1y1I_N0kmwXEH69Fy-JXUgoaT8/s1600/_DSC0068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9AQGpFfUUxO9xG2NCEDlAByvO6Xl0EoXiRd3llAcFMGwS0LJShltW7DvCOQdSMS9Z9zIuRbaVXU2C61qpP_jYrn5iVS7ndngMI1PpaIjZKciAEEtZG1y1I_N0kmwXEH69Fy-JXUgoaT8/s640/_DSC0068.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">HBPD SWAT officer grabbing an antifascist protester.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Several at the front of the group were knocked over but the
charge continued past them, nearly stepping on many but no one was seriously
injured past cuts and bruises,” an anonymous videographer who captured part of
the arrests told me. “There were even 2 elderly (over 50) who were at the front
and due to the charge fell to the cement.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDuhP1u9O30zhFaiRns-kcPMnc89AIK99ijhXmfCAToDL1kJ2PiM5MVdJmN1sMGzwerLM_H57LNRElf-jVZf5DQ6nU_b8is7aTzpnDaZ7ot64F0BQIWQLWimosG7C7DIvJz6ELFSCQNMg/s1600/_DSC0071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDuhP1u9O30zhFaiRns-kcPMnc89AIK99ijhXmfCAToDL1kJ2PiM5MVdJmN1sMGzwerLM_H57LNRElf-jVZf5DQ6nU_b8is7aTzpnDaZ7ot64F0BQIWQLWimosG7C7DIvJz6ELFSCQNMg/s640/_DSC0071.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Officers violently detaining protesters.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An officer shouted at me to move back, which I did. His
baton was against my stomach. By the time I came out of shock enough to take
pictures, I’d moved to the north side of the tent. An HBPD SWAT officer was
grabbing someone by their neck and backpack while another one stepped in with a
baton to subdue them.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1Ga2pD31Ubtkh4mZMsJ1-bcQ_EXFVR9WHK-IsyrmdTDi252KZsT4jUNgShgTT9WLnrhHnB9LSdaKtsFmCbzTRDvL7_EWIy3EhahZwAeEYIHz9bpJ5V82a0_M5M7RDFJdLjrBlNMibls/s1600/_DSC0075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1Ga2pD31Ubtkh4mZMsJ1-bcQ_EXFVR9WHK-IsyrmdTDi252KZsT4jUNgShgTT9WLnrhHnB9LSdaKtsFmCbzTRDvL7_EWIy3EhahZwAeEYIHz9bpJ5V82a0_M5M7RDFJdLjrBlNMibls/s640/_DSC0075.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Officer Garcia pinning a counter-protester down while Officer Esparza shouts at me to move.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I could feel how hard the police were pushing this person
down into the dirt. Officer Garcia sat with his knees pressed down into a
protester’s back and Officer Esparza pushed his baton into my gut and shouted
for me to get back.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Esparza kept his baton in both hands like he was a living
velvet rope in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwyUq9nayna9t27xvmpGBfrmdMVPIMu8q5DsUD_tqq-txJjXqseODIn1ZEY9bCl3L6vbkdGFCokzNe1Vjw9LTCJdtvRaqLZqqWwzH8gy6Pq5zoxpDjKZRcxUTzp3OGtzpRzEk8rcvzZE/s1600/_DSC0078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwyUq9nayna9t27xvmpGBfrmdMVPIMu8q5DsUD_tqq-txJjXqseODIn1ZEY9bCl3L6vbkdGFCokzNe1Vjw9LTCJdtvRaqLZqqWwzH8gy6Pq5zoxpDjKZRcxUTzp3OGtzpRzEk8rcvzZE/s640/_DSC0078.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Officer Esparza shoving me with his baton.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I moved towards the railing and
saw the arrestee pictured in my photos had sand and dirt all over his face. Once
they’d made their arrests (five in total,) the whole lot of the police
withdrew. I saw officers with badges from Anaheim, Orange, Huntington Beach and
HB SWAT. Might have been other departments.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLim0sfLY_n9wUkdhdhtrUXNtCxVaiCRlKjBOo23NPOmXqW62IaoG9bN5EP5Me9lSDwQq_pFiBn5YkGj2sIjox6VvrqSJO1ZDMVWBDa35-nvdf0uVzz-bh1oaMYpIDBmu3t74XbwtI1xU/s1600/_DSC0089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLim0sfLY_n9wUkdhdhtrUXNtCxVaiCRlKjBOo23NPOmXqW62IaoG9bN5EP5Me9lSDwQq_pFiBn5YkGj2sIjox6VvrqSJO1ZDMVWBDa35-nvdf0uVzz-bh1oaMYpIDBmu3t74XbwtI1xU/s640/_DSC0089.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Officers clearing the counter-protest area while arresting a counter-protester.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“All day police and park rangers with bulletproof vests and
firearms threatened and harassed the counter protest,” the anonymous
videographer told me.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I don't think <i>anyone</i> expected that level of police
repression. Everyone politically on the left was targeted from the get-go, and
that includes other folks I knew there who were not part of the black bloc,”
Rose, an antifascist present in the crowd, said.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBz3cnQ9KzOHz57MI8Y3-SBf23YMGWrZi_D8c3E-kfkKpVHIjm5JZTMiqdFM9n-kQcuxBK_XDsnchXpSJ-Xzll7IAFtwhjF52e662Pc0JR0HkIzAbfBp94YWrf3PIYjvFDdxS_4JHuI7o/s1600/_DSC0092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBz3cnQ9KzOHz57MI8Y3-SBf23YMGWrZi_D8c3E-kfkKpVHIjm5JZTMiqdFM9n-kQcuxBK_XDsnchXpSJ-Xzll7IAFtwhjF52e662Pc0JR0HkIzAbfBp94YWrf3PIYjvFDdxS_4JHuI7o/s640/_DSC0092.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Officers clearing the counter-protest area and arresting people after they rushed it without apparent provocation.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One antifascist who was arrested told me his account. He was
on the southern side of the tent, so I didn’t see him past the policemen on
horses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“They rushed in and started grabbing people,” the antifascist
arrestee told me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I didn’t get grabbed right away. They grabbed one guy right
by me and the cops started freaking out and telling me to back off. But I had
my back to the fence and was surrounded by officers so I couldn’t get out,” he
recounted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I ended up behind a mounted cop,” he continued. “He turned
to me and shouted “That guy is trying to sneak up on an officer!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The antifascist said his hands were raised “from the moment
the cops rushed in.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“None of them had any excuse for seeing me as a threat,” he
said. He was pulled onto the ground and arrested.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The anonymous videographer’s footage shows an officer’s knee
pressed on the arrestee’s back as his face in the dirt. People chant “Cops and
Klan go hand in hand!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As they led the arrestees away towards police cars parked
next to the anti-Sanctuary State protest, the right wingers cheered. “Bye Bye,
Antifa! You don’t do good at the beach!” one of them shouted. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The cops and the fash go hand in hand. The cops were 100%
there to be bodyguards for them and snag us to put us in our place,” the
antifascist arrestee said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The bloc got out of there pretty quickly after the arrests
happened. It was obvious that the police were intent on snatching up and
picking us off,” Rose told me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I didn’t even find out what they charged me with until my
way out of jail,” he recounted. “No Miranda rights or anything.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The antifascist arrestee said police started driving towards
the jail, but doubled back “I think to try and get another arrestee.” Police,
he recounted, “just kinda made me cook in the car a little bit for nothing.” He
recalled they didn’t speak to him at all, just talked to each other in code a
bit. He was in a cell for four hours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The whole time there was no communication about why I was
in there,” the antifascist said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">His citation said “148 (A)(1): resisting arrest/obstructing
a peace officer.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because multiple agencies made arrests, his friends didn’t know
where he was being held.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“By sheer coincidence, a few were at the jail trying to help
out two of the others arrested the moment that I got out,” he recounted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I was a mess when I got out. Everyone was just relieved
that they found me and I was okay,” he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As of this writing, arrestees are still facing court dates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE MARCH</b></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_inrRDcGoYGoWazMGM144yRmsIMsuaoqsqwxyp0lH0ALKbUKjSYuNsw9ZlveYMKKE7E8kJbl6QqrY4z_AIobTNkypmgrKUSDvnNtTo8mJyXLxHiN6zYABVPxC512JqFBfRk5V4q9tWwk/s1600/_DSC0118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_inrRDcGoYGoWazMGM144yRmsIMsuaoqsqwxyp0lH0ALKbUKjSYuNsw9ZlveYMKKE7E8kJbl6QqrY4z_AIobTNkypmgrKUSDvnNtTo8mJyXLxHiN6zYABVPxC512JqFBfRk5V4q9tWwk/s640/_DSC0118.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Officers being cheered and greeted with chants of "Blue lives matter!" at the anti-Sanctuary State protest.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After the arrests, I went back to the other side of the
street. Kim Sorgente, who the <a href="https://ocweekly.com/anti-defamation-league-joins-call-for-hb-finance-commissioners-removal-2/">O.C.
Weekly called</a> “a Huntington Beach resident and Proud Boys reject,” was
chanting “No commies, no pedophiles, no child sacrifice!” Look up the <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/pizzagate-a-slice-of-fake-news-rebroadcast/">Pizzagate conspiracy theory</a> if you want to know what that's about.Joining him was Kenny Strawn, the aforementioned white
nationalist. I didn’t see anyone object to their presence. Other young men were
holding up signs that said “This land is OUR land” and “America for Americans!”</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkOpWcryC1f1F7JtuZJtUoNLSZlyd_SgAZNy1nUWVb8l6gVLKEurHNAPE1zQ2vokNqv3jflNezqzFl62fhR7jCTg26yRJgNpnAXq6URJxhPxUgGRqhKMa0d0adPh51xI6E3g-ESg7XTYk/s1600/_DSC0129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkOpWcryC1f1F7JtuZJtUoNLSZlyd_SgAZNy1nUWVb8l6gVLKEurHNAPE1zQ2vokNqv3jflNezqzFl62fhR7jCTg26yRJgNpnAXq6URJxhPxUgGRqhKMa0d0adPh51xI6E3g-ESg7XTYk/s640/_DSC0129.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Protesters with signs that say "America for Americans," "End Immigration" and "This land is our land."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Antonio Foreman showed up. He told me that UPNF was “pretty
much done.” He said they weren’t coming to the next day’s rally. After what
happened to the <a href="https://www.dailybreeze.com/2019/05/03/remaining-2-rise-above-movement-members-plead-guilty-to-federal-riot-charges/">Rise
Above Movement</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/23/nyregion/gavin-mcinnes-proud-boys-nypd.html">the
group of Proud Boys in New York</a>, he told me, he said it was better to work
as individuals. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglIQK1NqMHEGttkJt4rTRnTi7FJcdjJp4Qz44QZeaO7679t9b9AUtuUVJ8xWdLM5NkrzM47nbhCt0OGjUc1__QC4VpEkAF5_Y64T-UzbhulnioUC5eIit-jMB0ArZpqHA4hurUgBhmAj0/s1600/_DSC0193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglIQK1NqMHEGttkJt4rTRnTi7FJcdjJp4Qz44QZeaO7679t9b9AUtuUVJ8xWdLM5NkrzM47nbhCt0OGjUc1__QC4VpEkAF5_Y64T-UzbhulnioUC5eIit-jMB0ArZpqHA4hurUgBhmAj0/s640/_DSC0193.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Antonio Foreman, who marched as Baked Alaska's bodyguard in Charlottesville, at the rally.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The group started marching. Police escorted them the whole
time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's good to have the cops on our side," one
anti-Sanctuary activist told me. "Most of them probably voted for
Trump!"</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMp9HD90tffcEJXbqahe3iShhnXDBwHXbhgwOyT5XVLdobDxPA0qMKWYcafzjW3BIIwkpKhR4nFxJHQuhymqyLTYOsbkDYR4LQaIYAxFNh8lMgeLi1wwpJJtbxa3u7jM2v0npxrkgDRYU/s1600/_DSC0134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMp9HD90tffcEJXbqahe3iShhnXDBwHXbhgwOyT5XVLdobDxPA0qMKWYcafzjW3BIIwkpKhR4nFxJHQuhymqyLTYOsbkDYR4LQaIYAxFNh8lMgeLi1wwpJJtbxa3u7jM2v0npxrkgDRYU/s640/_DSC0134.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Man with an ecumenical Christian flag and and another with a sign that says "Build that fucking wall" with the 'u' in 'fucking' replaced by Nancy Pelosi's face.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They crossed at Huntington St. and started coming up the
same side as the counter-protest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We’re coming your way!” one of them said. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdKyYJ-2XENZEClivK2cbxWyxmr82oVTBp8PB92HvkaNxsxWNuAJ-8TWvlorS6Isr8aNmeX4WL04NTlIeyVqrrzDoaM_IaYn0H4FLtqTDAVLa7e7Fi54EOFe8V2GpkUB9RZe8jN1Z9G4/s1600/_DSC0170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdKyYJ-2XENZEClivK2cbxWyxmr82oVTBp8PB92HvkaNxsxWNuAJ-8TWvlorS6Isr8aNmeX4WL04NTlIeyVqrrzDoaM_IaYn0H4FLtqTDAVLa7e7Fi54EOFe8V2GpkUB9RZe8jN1Z9G4/s640/_DSC0170.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The man in the black shirt shouted "We took this land before, we'll take it again!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The counter-protest was nowhere to be found. Only one person
who said he was an anarchist started shouting at them and arguing with them. I
asked him later where the other counter-protesters went and he didn’t know–he’d
just showed up around when I encountered him. As I quoted from Rose earlier,
they cleared out once it was clear to them the police were after them. Most
went to figure out where the arrestees were and how to help them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The anarchist followed the march back across at Main in
front of the pier. At one point, he mentioned the theft of native land the
United States is founded on as he argued with the marchers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"We took this land before, we'll take it again!" a
man in a black shirt that said “save America” on it responded.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some kids at the pier shouted “Fuck Trump!” at the marchers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Go back to Mexico!” a marcher responded.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizXQfxO_ioQ2m1dWA1d2N8J-Ld53HpSr1Iqfkh27I69agBacJCqNjLXjciI4jsrOS9Ed9bqwCtgSu2d-CPRYy6nIAd1eWJ7nANrkWSyKAbCvkMDvYaqmEwFezBTiagj3vGr42J0QosEw4/s1600/_DSC0260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizXQfxO_ioQ2m1dWA1d2N8J-Ld53HpSr1Iqfkh27I69agBacJCqNjLXjciI4jsrOS9Ed9bqwCtgSu2d-CPRYy6nIAd1eWJ7nANrkWSyKAbCvkMDvYaqmEwFezBTiagj3vGr42J0QosEw4/s640/_DSC0260.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Right-wing e-Celeb 'The Adorable Deplorable' at the rally.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They eventually reached their original rally spot with only
the self-identified anarchist still counter-protesting them. Organizers had
planned to begin the speeches. The rally attendees and journalists were mostly
more interested in the anarchist. Cameras surrounded him. Recor, the YouTuber
who incited a brawl with counter-protesters earlier, argued with him. An older
man from the Bikers for Trump organization tried to moderate and keep people
from shouting over both of them. Organizers begged for people to ignore him and
pay attention to them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Don’t give him (the counter-protester) any more attention,”
an organizer said over a megaphone. “He’s probably illegal anyways.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Police told people to start dispersing. The anarchist
started dancing with the older Bikers for Trump guy. It seemed he’d managed to
distract everyone and then de-escalate the situation.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLf1DCDAO29nUUxT0ud3gGTle2WposxkAKXz9PtHrWCbjLRZI4m4QRNML2VNO3_XiFF1Q0nWtn79EjhP7J_a44PxRHxhh4lrXwDJtz0npHVO7En9QYtpyHmaC3Ji0_aq3ZLMvajFpyH8/s1600/_DSC0272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLf1DCDAO29nUUxT0ud3gGTle2WposxkAKXz9PtHrWCbjLRZI4m4QRNML2VNO3_XiFF1Q0nWtn79EjhP7J_a44PxRHxhh4lrXwDJtz0npHVO7En9QYtpyHmaC3Ji0_aq3ZLMvajFpyH8/s640/_DSC0272.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Grace K flipping off HBPD SWAT officers as she interrupted the Anti-Sanctuary State protest.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Around that time, I noticed Grace K, a local artist and
vocalist for L.A.’s Graveyard Junkies. She had a shirt with “Fuck Trump”
written on the back. She started dancing and poking fun at the right wingers
still standing around.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I made sure they were mocked and that they knew there were
people who weren’t afraid of them and don’t stand for their shit,” Grace told
me.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The right-wing crowd responded with sexist vitriol.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Antifa ho for auction!” one man shouted.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“People said things like ‘whore,’ ‘cunt’–I got that a couple
times. ‘A woman should not be carrying herself this way.’ ‘She has no
self-respect.’ ‘She should be ashamed,’” Grace recounted. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I think that’s just blatant sexism, slut-shaming, all that
kind of stuff,” she remarked.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I heard, obviously, ‘Get out of this country.’ I mean I’m
born here, too, but fuck borders, to be honest,” Grace recalled. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She said there was a pretty clear gender divide in the insults
she got.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“From the women I got stuff like I should bring myself up,
go to God,” Grace said, “but the other ones that are just pure degrading–which,
both are degrading, but the just blatant insults were from the men.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I’m not surprised at all because that’s how they view us
anyway,” she continued. “Everything that they believe on a day-to-day basis
they’re spewing now because only now is when it’s justified–because I’m a
counter-protester.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgF3OLhK9s-jsRkOl-lTo8DKOuqdzRMySRf0r8efbztSvVzL5Mwau74ex6JyFaOEQ9A-Lh0XHdU24Xvqm8_ZjI4gJjI-AyDx-Symoymw69sOD-KaVI9LR73War27pxz6z_efKhumBHH-E/s1600/_DSC0263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgF3OLhK9s-jsRkOl-lTo8DKOuqdzRMySRf0r8efbztSvVzL5Mwau74ex6JyFaOEQ9A-Lh0XHdU24Xvqm8_ZjI4gJjI-AyDx-Symoymw69sOD-KaVI9LR73War27pxz6z_efKhumBHH-E/s640/_DSC0263.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A "Biker for Trump" following Grace around making lewd motions at her as she danced and trolled the anti-Sanctuary Protest.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Grace kept dancing. Organizers begged people to go home. The
older man from Bikers for Trump got close to her and started putting his arms
out like he was at a strip club and she was giving a lap dance.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“You know how viral you’re going to go? Cause your video
isn’t going to go viral. Ours are!” Foreman said.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It’s always effective, regardless if there were cameras,
regardless if this [interview] was happening right now,” Grace said, “I put
myself in terrible situations just like this to pave the way for other queer
PoC in the future to live unapologetically and safely.” </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I’m not going to let them be at this rally comfortably. I’m
not going to let them think ‘Wow! That was a good rally!’ We have to let them
know we exist,” she concluded.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Grace wasn’t aware of rally organizer and participants’
specific white nationalism and anti-LGBTQ+ hate connections until I told her. When
I explained, she gasped.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Oh my god, I didn’t know it was to that extent at all. I
thought these were just like crazy fucking Trump supporters,” she said. “That’s
so scary. It’s very depressing. It’s a little perspective changing.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I don’t want to say if I heard this before, I wouldn’t have
done what I did,” Grace said. “I think I would have been more cautious though.
The legitimate ties to murderers changes things. My heart sunk hearing this. My
stomach totally flipped right now.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Grace told me it wasn’t going to stop her from future
actions.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“If anyone else hears this, it’s not like I have all this
bravery and courage. People were walking by saying ‘you’re so brave.’ Not
really. I just feel like I’m doing the bare minimum. I feel like this should be
normalized,” she said. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimu5V__yv_jsvA06c5tc_sy8gHv-NPnxzfk7ATPXZB-QDTnhMviUYojuaIwIX46BrJF7oLp68UpKoggqQeuw-3Uh8YXjG9M8HV3NVYnC1vspODqhDL0LOKQAe01j0gnvNLpQSt5bxdI6M/s1600/_DSC0269.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimu5V__yv_jsvA06c5tc_sy8gHv-NPnxzfk7ATPXZB-QDTnhMviUYojuaIwIX46BrJF7oLp68UpKoggqQeuw-3Uh8YXjG9M8HV3NVYnC1vspODqhDL0LOKQAe01j0gnvNLpQSt5bxdI6M/s640/_DSC0269.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Grace again flipping the cops off.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Sometimes I question if I’m being a genuine activist, am I
trying to do this for any stupid shallow reason,” Grace told me. “But we can
all do it. You’re not alone. I understand doing it feels isolating and scary,
but if there’s more of us I won’t be the only one and you won’t be the only
one.” </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Others who went to the Huntington Beach rally echoed similar
sentiments. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I came out to oppose the fash because I can’t stand their
shit. They push these ideologies that are about making life worse for anyone
who’s not a cis white male,” the antifascist arrestee told me.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It's all about the community moving forward. Folks are
ready to stand up against fascism, against racism, so let's get ourselves
organized and really tackle these issues across the board,” Rose said. “If
things are going to change in Huntington Beach, it's gotta start with the
community.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I got back to my car, I found out about the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-san-diego-synagogue-shooter-camera-explainer-john-earnest-20190502-story.html">8chan
neo-Nazi murderer in Chabad of Poway Synagogue</a> a bit south by San Diego. He
managed to kill Lori Kaye, age 60. Three others were injured, including the
Rabbi and an eight-year-old girl. The murderer would have killed more people,
but his gun supposedly jammed. He apparently would have broadcast the murder
spree on Facebook like the Christchurch shooter before him, <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2019-04-27/reports-of-several-people-shot-at-poway-synagogue">but
couldn’t get it to work</a>. The attack was on my mind going into the next
day’s rally.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LONG BEACH</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuOCYg_6QuI-a5Ipv-IZPhWpM0VqD7ePJur-9LoZrUzd9m0GJjzVgwChHmLreJ_xl8YcazAzqg3eU-SLkl3qEbUvJVXUCdGiD25JlIiHE8la25zdEbWEjxdOBZED0qwxfp6DX5p1glkf0/s1600/_DSC0286.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuOCYg_6QuI-a5Ipv-IZPhWpM0VqD7ePJur-9LoZrUzd9m0GJjzVgwChHmLreJ_xl8YcazAzqg3eU-SLkl3qEbUvJVXUCdGiD25JlIiHE8la25zdEbWEjxdOBZED0qwxfp6DX5p1glkf0/s640/_DSC0286.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Protesters in Long Beach on Sunday April 28th. Their signs say "We are on stolen land" and "None of that nazi shit here allowed!!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Long Beach seemed peaceful by and large. Police in
helicopters, on bicycles and on the beach on ATVs monitored. There was a
separate counter-rally by the Party for Social Liberation (PSL) just north of
where I was at the DSA and United Anti-Racist Neighborhood Front rally. I was
told later police presence and surveillance was more prominent over there, but didn’t
check their rally out.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Folks were out there because they were really concerned
about the threats presented by white nationalists and, more generally, racists,”
Rose, an antifascist who was there and had been to the Huntington Beach rally
the day before, said. “There were lots of different groups and a whole range of
left politics (and even folks that probably wouldn't consider themselves
political) represented.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We were born and raised here. White nationalism has no
place in Long Beach,” some protesters told me. One of their signs said ‘racists
belong in cages, not children.’ The other said ‘stop trying to make white
nationalism happen. It’s not going to happen.’</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I think it’s good we tell them hell no, bring your racism to
another city.” Hollis Stewart from DSA Long Beach told me. His sign said “L
Beach is democratic No Nazis, fascistas, racists!”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We ended up doing a victory lap of sorts and marching part
of the length of the park,” Rose recounted.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At one point during the march they chanted “From Palestine
to Mexico/All the walls have got to go!”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMheG61ssbP_EAOm-VMf4pmh9GuNP_hZhhVqtXVlSFWTQDKbBjE_97gGWVtp2er7vZOQ2QRsLEVL-t44sSissbO-q5d5yqhUCOXYYIbBvhhJeLnvg0Ux5kpn6EOvEI82WVY3IZXf22LY/s1600/_DSC0281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMheG61ssbP_EAOm-VMf4pmh9GuNP_hZhhVqtXVlSFWTQDKbBjE_97gGWVtp2er7vZOQ2QRsLEVL-t44sSissbO-q5d5yqhUCOXYYIbBvhhJeLnvg0Ux5kpn6EOvEI82WVY3IZXf22LY/s640/_DSC0281.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A man with a long jacket green jacket that says "Hey Melania, it's called empathy. (It's a liberal thing, I guess.) It's referencing Melania Trump wearing a similar jacket with "I don't care" written on it after news broke of immigration authorities separating children from their families.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Someone from the Revolutionary Internationalist Organization
talked about the August 28<sup>th</sup> rally Patriot Prayer tried to have in
Berkeley. Local unions like the Longshoremen organized a counter-protest that I
remember turned out more than 3,000 people. He said organized labor is the only
way to defeat fascism. I remember Joey Gibson didn’t turn many people out that
day. “They turned tail,” the speaker said.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivePHVmfPA7Ud8W-fUDas4doAAA9MKMgTwx0D7dGbfc6U601Tx7HT5wUEdU52KWBybfeO6PvLnNfTvpnYmKyTPs-7d_EeDalRbU9LZiwrbMSjFGa0IgYaDrGdl5rkvKVtS6XEm5vv0EaU/s1600/_DSC0299.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivePHVmfPA7Ud8W-fUDas4doAAA9MKMgTwx0D7dGbfc6U601Tx7HT5wUEdU52KWBybfeO6PvLnNfTvpnYmKyTPs-7d_EeDalRbU9LZiwrbMSjFGa0IgYaDrGdl5rkvKVtS6XEm5vv0EaU/s640/_DSC0299.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Giant banner at the head of the march that says "Trump-Pence must go!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Things started to wind up quickly and peacefully, but it
wasn’t without disturbances.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I later heard from some activists that there were suspicious
people coming into the crowd a few at a time taking pictures. I saw men who
might have been undercover cops walking back and forth on the bike path below.
Activists told me they had been walking back and forth all morning. Another
person was apparently across the street by the police at one point taking
photos.</span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A photography student named Jose and a few other cameramen
told me two kids went around the block on an electric scooter shouting at
people.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One activist on Twitter said they “looked like stupid little
high school wannabe neo nazis.” </span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Hoping they’ll get their heads on straight before it’s too
late,” they added.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jose said they called him a homophobic slur, said “Fuck you
Commies!” and Seig Heiled. He said cops on bicycles chased them down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Nothing like drive-by racism” Jose said.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An activist also witnessed someone in a white truck drive by
that “yelled out white power slogans.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Foreman, to my knowledge, didn’t show up in Long Beach on
the 28<sup>th</sup>. UPNF later claimed they had people undercover at the
rally.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5HS9jGjt_-lOmdo4iBALwx5SFmW8aI5yKa83aWZwDe8DKJ-R0g5NHggYF-SDsnHt3K2zjBZVUtDysyopEc3AdUlqkF2wA6NSSpn2hs3D0IZ8BFbb0n2Sal2SsCXXiregbmkyIjweZSKo/s1600/D5Ta-9aU4AArZVu.jpg+large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1125" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5HS9jGjt_-lOmdo4iBALwx5SFmW8aI5yKa83aWZwDe8DKJ-R0g5NHggYF-SDsnHt3K2zjBZVUtDysyopEc3AdUlqkF2wA6NSSpn2hs3D0IZ8BFbb0n2Sal2SsCXXiregbmkyIjweZSKo/s400/D5Ta-9aU4AArZVu.jpg+large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Statement by UPNF after the rally. Their page was deleted shortly afterwards.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Got all the intel we need on which groups organize in that
part of town. Cops got what they needed,” the post read. “Doxxing campaigns to
come folks. 2020 gonna be lit. No safe space for communists.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPNF’s page has since disappeared from Facebook. Their
closed “vetting group” was still there when I checked yesterday, but the only
member was Foreman’s girlfriend.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">OVER</b></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I thought that was it on Monday morning. My friend and his
infant son laughed in their living room while I loaded some photos I took of
them together on his computer. I got a notification on Twitter.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Holy shit,” an activist I’d been talking to texted me. I
told them I’d felt like something bad was going to happen.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Domingo, the would-be mass murderer, was enraged by the
killing of 50 worshippers at Mosques in Christchurch a month and a half before.
It was, in his mind, retaliation against white supremacist violence. But I kept
thinking about how the FBI pushed him to carry out the attack this weekend. I
thought about shrapnel.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“To hear about that after such a successful, empowering, and
ultimately peaceful rally was a real shock,” Rose told me later. “If anything
had happened, it's comforting to know that I would have been surrounded by
folks standing up for something good. People turned out to the park because
they care.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“In the end,” Rose concluded, “those are the folks who give
me strength and help me get through the day-to-day.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
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</span></span><style><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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</span></style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-10225627286285418412019-04-24T11:52:00.000-07:002019-04-24T11:52:45.252-07:00COUNTER-PROTESTS ORGANIZED FOR WEEKEND FAR-RIGHT RALLIES IN LONG BEACH AND O.C.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUl7K7DAGPUP1tbfl54QXGDlBaSIyo-BMDqMUXR3VUFGywCS9j2gj_bFHvdZBwpznQ0D0HiYCWO_ZIQF20ddgSwkgwzxTCtB_BTjs7BwHw9TklV20-nz3UsX4YeSrXMYF27LUuZ1sglh0/s1600/56976818_324882438093706_3668366867849805824_o.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUl7K7DAGPUP1tbfl54QXGDlBaSIyo-BMDqMUXR3VUFGywCS9j2gj_bFHvdZBwpznQ0D0HiYCWO_ZIQF20ddgSwkgwzxTCtB_BTjs7BwHw9TklV20-nz3UsX4YeSrXMYF27LUuZ1sglh0/s640/56976818_324882438093706_3668366867849805824_o.png" width="494" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Poster for "March to End Sanctuary State"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On April 27<sup>th</sup> and 28<sup>th</sup>, two right wing
extremist rallies are going to be held Southern California.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">April 27<sup>th</sup>’s “<a href="http://www.rallylist.com/march-to-end-sanctuary-state-4-27-19/">March to
END </a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1993491830704515/">Sanctuary</a>
State” in Huntington Beach is organized by a group called “<a href="https://www.whatyoucandonow.com/">What You Can Do Now</a>.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Arthur Schaper of the California chapter of <a href="https://www.massresistance.org/">Mass Resistance</a>, which the SPLC <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/08/16/california-chapter-anti-lgbt-hate-group-massresistance-gets-white-nationalist-member">calls</a>
an “anti-LGBT hate group,” will speak as well as Robin Hvidston of <a href="https://theremembranceproject.org/">The Remembrance Project</a>, which
describes itself as “a voice for victims killed by illegal aliens.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SB-54 is the rally’s legislative target. Under existing law,
<a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB54">a
description of the measure</a> on the California Legislative Information
website says, if law enforcement arrests someone for certain controlled substance
charges and they suspect the arrestee isn’t a U.S. citizen, they have to notify
“the appropriate agency” that’s in “charge of deportation matters.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“This bill would repeal those provisions,” the proposal
reads.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The march’s organizers said SB-54 “puts ALL Californians at
risk,” adding “Our politicians need to stop playing games with our lives and
fully fund border security at our southern border.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Studies by the Koch-backed libertarian <a href="https://www.cato.org/publications/immigration-research-policy-brief/criminal-immigrants-texas-illegal-immigrant">Cato
Institute</a> and by University of Wisconsin’s Michael T. Light and Purdue’s Ty
Miller <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-9125.12175">published
in the journal Criminology</a> indicate that statistically, illegal immigrants
kill people and commit other crimes at much lower rates than native-born people
in the United States.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/401118137337219/">opposing
rally</a> organized by Occupy ICE L.A. is expected to confront them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Racists, white supremacists, and just plain-ignorant haters
are planning a rally to oppose California's Sanctuary State status,” their description
reads, continuing, “Their aim is to fuel more violence against communities of
color by repeating Trump's lies about border emergencies, crime etc.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“A TROLL WITH AN
AMERICAN FLAG AROUND HIS NECK”</b></span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The opposition to the rally has good reason to expect
racists and white supremacists. For one thing, <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/08/16/california-chapter-anti-lgbt-hate-group-massresistance-gets-white-nationalist-member">the
SPLC reported</a> that white nationalist Kenny Strawn joined Schaper’s group in
July last year. Strawn, <a href="https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/2018/03/12/generation-identity-european-far-right-group-launches-america/">according
to UK-based anti-hate group Hope Not Hate</a>, tried to start an American
branch of the European white nationalist organization <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Génération Identitaire </span>last year. Generation Identity <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesterfeder/generation-identity-europe-christchurch-attack">received
over a thousand euros in donations</a> from the Christchurch mass murderer. The
SPLC described Schaper himself as a “longtime anti-immigrant and nativist activist.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I’ve never seen him get violent, but he’s a harasser,” ‘K’,
an activist with <a href="https://uarnflb.writeas.com/">Long Beach United
Anti-Racist Neighborhood Front</a> (UARNF) told LCRW. “When I first encountered
him in 2016, he was going to city council meetings and cutting in and harassing
immigrants and immigrant rights activists. And from there, I think people just
ate up his YouTube channel because he’s always filming all of it.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“He’s just a troll with an American flag around his neck,” K
said, adding, “I should clarify: I think the potential for his group to get
violent is there. I’ve just never personally seen him be violent.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“People like Arthur Schaper, they’re aware of the fact that
they’re a public figure, they’re aware of the fact that the things they’re
doing on Instagram could all become evidence against them,” Emma, another UARNF
activist said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Emma recounted Schaper and <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/05/22/racism-rampant-california-city-council-meetings-sanctuary-policies">others
backed by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)</a> attending a
city council vote in Los Alamitos to withdraw from California’s Sanctuary State
policy. That event turned violent, Emma said, and was a turning point for them to take his activism seriously.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Outside the meeting, an
anti-immigrant activist <a href="https://youtu.be/Gpc5Hfb-O9E">shouted</a> “I
want you out of my country you illegal alien creep, you weirdo!” Inside
the meeting, resident Cathrine Yeh <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2018/04/12/sanctuary-opponents-travel-from-town-to-town-screaming-an-agenda/">told
the OC Register</a>, “There were people sitting behind us saying that the kids
were being brainwashed.” Yeh said the group was “yelling at the kids.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Schaper and MassResistance <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2018/12/16/drag-performers-read-children-story-hours-library/2332114002/">recently
gained attention</a> for disrupting “Drag Queen Story Time” events at libraries
<a href="https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2019/01/12/colorado-towns-drag-queen-story-hour-draws-protesters-counter-protesters-windsor/2550820002/">around
the country</a>, claiming they were part of <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2011/10-anti-gay-myths-debunked">a
long-running anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theory</a> that claims LGBTQ+ members are trying
to indoctrinate and molest young people. A Houston far-right radio host <a href="https://m.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Armed-Houston-area-man-kicked-out-of-Montrose-13582139.php?utm_campaign=CMS+Sharing+Tools+%28Mobile%29&utm_source=m.facebook.com&utm_medium=referral">was
arrested after he brought a gun into a library</a> in February this year,
claiming “We have a bunch of homosexuals who are molesting children.” He had previously harassed the library because of the Drag Queen Story Time events Schaper's group was whipping up controversy over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“For people like Schaper, the goal is to not turn violent,
not to do anything on camera but to get other people to do it,” Emma said. “The
subtext of everything he’s doing is to incite these–whatever the media wants to
call them–these lone wolf attacks or random acts of violence against immigrants
or LGBT folks.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Schaper, incidentally, accused LCRW and the Hate Trackers
organization of “defending pedophiles and sex offenders” on Tuesday while we
discussed a <a href="https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1120707740937150464">recent
Drag Queen Storytime protest by white nationalists with Identity Evropa</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“They probably are targeting children for sexual abuse and
exploitation as we speak. SHAMEFUL!” Schaper <a href="https://twitter.com/ArthurCSchaper/status/1120904852492603392">said</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LCRW’s editor in chief responded by <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1120906636783022087">screencapping
the tweet and captioning it</a> “lol.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A “PATRIOT” GROUP
PLANS A “FREE SPEECH” RALLY IN LONG BEACH</b></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZT55KWpYWKk3ABBCktNGZSkTEX4-m3waONcakQvucTMru9JeSTHMBJhA7WgMPAmwt1e6eLZDjWMQI_1VQ3VdRW4mju-migtRGy0MSpz5QhGq6aoAaMtmZ0Ysv-t1ymz9eZQSlwo1XM8/s1600/UPNFevent.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="996" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZT55KWpYWKk3ABBCktNGZSkTEX4-m3waONcakQvucTMru9JeSTHMBJhA7WgMPAmwt1e6eLZDjWMQI_1VQ3VdRW4mju-migtRGy0MSpz5QhGq6aoAaMtmZ0Ysv-t1ymz9eZQSlwo1XM8/s400/UPNFevent.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since-deleted UPNF Event for the 28th in Bluff Park.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The counter-protest on the 27<sup>th</sup> has an added
sense of urgency because of a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/everythingpatriotandtactical/">group</a> whose
members are tied to Unite the Right and allegedly to alt-right podcast Revenge
of the Cis. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPNF announced a rally in Bluff Park in Long Beach set for the
day after the “March to END Sanctuary State.” The event was called “Freedom’s
Safest Place,” which is also the slogan of the National Rifle Association.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It was kind of comical because they haven’t really done
much research. There’s usually like, yoga that happens in the park that day,” K
said. “It was sort of like, out-of-town people who were coming in.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPNF member Antonio Foreman said the group will “wear street
clothes no body armor or weapons. American flags only. This is a freedom of
speech and censorship event. Not a trump event.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Traditionally in our area, white supremacists/white
nationalists can organize pretty freely down in Orange County in the Huntington
Beach area, but Long Beach is a little bit off-limits for them,” K said,
continuing, “so I think for them this was sort of like ‘We’re going to go to
the heart of whatever and have this rally.’”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We caught wind of it and started letting the neighborhood
know. That was sort of our goal, just flyering a little bit and talking to
people in the neighborhood.,” K said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UARNF and the Long Beach chapter of the Democratic
Socialists of America (DSA) organized a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/963361243866986/">counter-demonstration</a>.
Local antifascist crews like Long Beach Antifascist Action spread the word. The
campaign <a href="https://www.presstelegram.com/2019/04/17/long-beach-community-groups-warn-of-a-potential-white-nationalist-rally-coming-to-bluff-park/">gained</a>
<a href="https://abc7.com/society/possible-right-wing-rally-in-long-beach-sparks-concern-for-residents/5254295/">local</a>
<a href="https://lbpost.com/news/bluff-park-white-nationalist-rally/">attention</a>.
</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0q1xeFuChlRELdBjDltsq_FMJbWFYSZSu_TUtl8paf7FPP1i6SKBDaR95Q5T6kmA-bf1MZNMOLaclH_H0uHv3ej79M-ytIxdcwCUGMxztGtG7K78eV9UfYnrOByTc_U_Qna7IgZ0tGog/s1600/FCBA1A90-432E-45D6-94C1-83219F594AC1+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1352" data-original-width="1448" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0q1xeFuChlRELdBjDltsq_FMJbWFYSZSu_TUtl8paf7FPP1i6SKBDaR95Q5T6kmA-bf1MZNMOLaclH_H0uHv3ej79M-ytIxdcwCUGMxztGtG7K78eV9UfYnrOByTc_U_Qna7IgZ0tGog/s400/FCBA1A90-432E-45D6-94C1-83219F594AC1+2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since-deleted post by Drake Willian Nighswonger.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“See you fucks in April,” UPNF President Drake Nighswonger
said on Facebook on March 18<sup>th</sup> in a post that’s since been deleted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It didn’t take long for them to take their page down. How
quickly did it go down?” K said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It was like a couple weeks,” Emma replied, continuing “They
took their page down and the event down and rebranded as “Everything Patriot
and Tactical.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Emma and K laughed after saying the name.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“While we were monitoring it, I think it had like, four or
five people going,” K said. “It never really gained traction and I think some
of that is just the demographics of Long Beach. They picked a terrible
neighborhood for their cause. It’s a pretty liberal neighborhood.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPNF has since stopped posting about activism and just
shared the same kind of memes and outrage-of-the-day posts as many other right
wing groups. Their profile picture still says UPNF on it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, UARNF was well aware that so-called “free speech”
events by right wing extremist groups often target liberal and leftist spaces
and obfuscate what they’re doing publicly. Such was the case in Berkeley,
Portland, and Charlottesville. Weeks before the first so-called “Battle of
Berkeley” on March 4<sup>th</sup>, 2017 were filled with confusing and
contradictory statements from organizers, wildly different numbers of people
showing up and claiming the event wasn’t even happening. At least 80 people
showed up on the right-wing side of that rally and it turned into a bloody
brawl. UARNF activists told LCRW they’re reaching out to people to act as
medics on the ground, just in case.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We’re preparing for the worst-case scenario,” Emma said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We’ll get people out and send a really clear message if
they do show up, absolutely,” K said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“For me, personally, a bigger concern is that LBPD has done
a great/terrible job at making sure to show up any place where we’re organizing
and we definitely know they’re going to be there that day,” K said. “Definitely
there’s a concern for people there of being monitored and surveilled.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LBPD told multiple outlets they were “aware of the event and
at this time it’s too early to say if we will have additional patrols in the
area,” adding, “The Department always encourages our community to express their
1<sup>st</sup> amendment right in a peaceful manner.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We haven’t been able to officially confirm their rally is
not happening, however from what it looks online, they’ve sort of just merged
with the Huntington Beach rally that’s happening,” K said. “So everybody’s just
organizing themselves in their traditional locales.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I don’t feel like there’s going to be a ton of resistance,”
Emma said, guessing that “95% chance there’s not going to be a lot of
resistance, 50/50 they don’t show up at all.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Before they took the event page down, there was a lot of
discussion about the Huntington Beach rally and ‘why are we doing an event
that’s so close to that event?’” Emma recounted. “So we know that going to that
event was on their radar.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UARNF and other groups will still show up in Bluff Park and
demonstrate in case any extremist groups try to stage a demonstration–and to
send a message to the organizers of the anti-Sanctuary State rally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We oppose the recruitment of vulnerable, disillusioned
young white men in our community and will stand up to protect people of color,
LGBTQ+ people, and all others who suffer from violence promoted by far-right
and white nationalist groups,” their <a href="https://upload.disroot.org/r/R5hqF8LI#l0cJSOmuVD9rLNYxsc29yCcHzhsOQwXyGiDdXxrtSQQ=">press
release</a> reads.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFMggTct2u1qdcWbCfghMy5sNuC-BaXWhM4M-N6WqfAsCm6EoctqHdDwwy84AOnDACmSSK7CS3EphQDIOlS-D-b5ihV5MXi-qOP-BeZJXIpk6mjCibno2BQ6E_gfMGtIKvwJM89p3M04/s1600/57319832_394352541145389_3713872780790333440_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="809" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFMggTct2u1qdcWbCfghMy5sNuC-BaXWhM4M-N6WqfAsCm6EoctqHdDwwy84AOnDACmSSK7CS3EphQDIOlS-D-b5ihV5MXi-qOP-BeZJXIpk6mjCibno2BQ6E_gfMGtIKvwJM89p3M04/s400/57319832_394352541145389_3713872780790333440_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Press release by UARNF</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“So far, our event has gotten pretty broad support from the
neighborhood. We expect a lot of people–at least a lot of liberals–to show up,”
K said. The counter-rally at Bluff Park is scheduled for 10am on Sunday the 28<sup>th</sup>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ARE UPNF REALLY WHITE
NATIONALISTS?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">United Patriot National Front (UPNF) doesn’t have a website
or much of a description on its Facebook page, but the slogan on their logo is
“Defendere Gentem,” or “Defend the Nation” in English. They were founded, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web20190422063033/http:/www.facebook.com/pg/everythingpatriotandtactical/about/?ref=page_internal">according
to their Facebook page</a>, on November 4<sup>th</sup>, 2017. The date has some
significance because the <a href="https://mic.com/articles/185680/the-far-right-thinks-a-violent-antifa-overthrow-is-coming-nov-4-but-the-truth-is-far-stranger#.sMjvuO6hD">Revolutionary
Communist Party front group Refuse Fascism picked it for a national rally</a>
and right wing conspiracy theorists pumped it up as a day of mass chaos
targeting white people. By most accounts, that rally was a flop and serious antifascists didn't organize around it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Al Jazeera <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/hold-anti-day-rallies-seattle-la-180430104241796.html">called
UPNF</a> “a far-right coalition of white supremacists and ultra-nationalists.”
The group itself insists it isn’t. It’s Going Down and Al Jazeera reported
Antonio Foreman was the head of the group at the time, but other sources indicate
Drake William Nighswonger is the group’s current president.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJAMJ-BI2Gpi34Qp36sgOU4TaUQNWETJVOCAO_Z5AgrNj9i9oRZX8WW-XsB3_OEsUCOZBvKtcKbOXRm65DtsbWe3qrOResaWKd2ZA-QFhLYrU7_evmAwLYT9hDZLRPDyaIXVl2tnOW2Y/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-24+at+2.46.57+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1039" data-original-width="1600" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJAMJ-BI2Gpi34Qp36sgOU4TaUQNWETJVOCAO_Z5AgrNj9i9oRZX8WW-XsB3_OEsUCOZBvKtcKbOXRm65DtsbWe3qrOResaWKd2ZA-QFhLYrU7_evmAwLYT9hDZLRPDyaIXVl2tnOW2Y/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-04-24+at+2.46.57+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nighswonger (second from the right), Foreman (second from the left) with the rest of their security team and Infowars' Owen Shroyer (center) in Berkeley.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Foreman, who sells himself as a bodyguard to right wing
extremists, is a prominent member of UPNF. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Foreman was at Unite the Right as alt-right/white
nationalist internet celebrity Baked Alaska’s bodyguard. He and Nighswonger <a href="http://archive.is/yOjac">acted as security</a> for far-right YouTube
channel “Slightly Offensive” at a <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/06/30/thousands-to-hit-downtown-la-streets-for-immigration-protest/">protest</a>
against Trump Administration child separation policies in June 2018. He’s also
worked security for perennial L.A. area Republican candidate Omar Navarro, who
called him a <a href="https://twitter.com/RealOmarNavarro/status/877031519230935041">friend</a>.
Last August, he was at Amber Cummings’ “No to Marxism 2” rally in Berkeley,
where he and his “security team” guarded Infowars’ Owen Shroyer, sometimes
shoving counter-protesters during the march. This year, he was working security
for Laura Loomer as she trespassed on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Napa mansion
and <a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2019/01/laura-loomer-dresses-up-as-racist.html">then
the Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento with anti-LGBT and racist Fresno-based
radio host Ben Bergquam</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Specializing in working with anti-Semites like Baked Alaska,
career Islamophobes like Laura Loomer and transphobes like Bergquam doesn’t
necessarily make you a bigot or even shape your ideas. Foreman could simply
have found a niche market for his work. In response to criticism of his
involvement in the event, Foreman took to UPNF’s Facebook.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Upnf denounces all forms of neo nazi-ism and racism,”
Foreman wrote. “We are a freedom loving group and do not intend to bring any
violence to any of our events.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“My participation in unite the right was that of a bodyguard
and never start out with violence only self defense,” he added.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOVbXYGDSKap3nsTHPPG62ebqs7F1hvsmB2SYQs95BdYr_io14BtnVKDT27KFj-siQILkL-pcy1-1oPTXA3N4hY_uy19MjLcRcqwalppp-NXtPTwYw-MoEMPAgycU2r929j0XNc73-tE/s1600/foreman.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="590" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOVbXYGDSKap3nsTHPPG62ebqs7F1hvsmB2SYQs95BdYr_io14BtnVKDT27KFj-siQILkL-pcy1-1oPTXA3N4hY_uy19MjLcRcqwalppp-NXtPTwYw-MoEMPAgycU2r929j0XNc73-tE/s400/foreman.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since-deleted statement by Antonio Foreman on UPNF's Facebook page.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But this isn’t the case. Foreman has a history of going on
livestreams with groups like the Red Elephants, a white nationalist media
outlet poorly masked as a conservative one that promoted neo-Nazi fight club
the Rise Above Movement and makes videos about white genocide conspiracies. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A month after Unite the Right, Foreman was in Berkeley
during racist commentator Milo Yiannopoulos’s failed “Free Speech Week.” In
Berkeley, he was front and center with at least fifty others blocking the door
of a Revolutionary Communist Party-associated bookstore in Berkeley, shouting
taunts at its trapped employees. In another incident at the same bookstore,
Foreman was pushed out by employees after shouting and harassing them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Because we keep attacking this bookstore, they keep coming
out,” Foreman <a href="https://twitter.com/PNWAWC/status/912544321231974400">said</a>
in a Red Elephants livestream. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We’re not attacking–we gotta be careful with our words,
man,” Red Elephants’ Rick Write told him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He and Baked Alaska also recited the neo-Nazi “<a href="https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/14-words">14 words</a>”
slogan on a <a href="https://twitter.com/berkeleyantifa/status/1026616986128801793">livestream</a>
and then discussed their plans to use coded language to acclimate their
“normie” viewers to more extreme political positions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“1476, that’s what I like to say,” Foreman said in the video.
1488 is a common Nazi code, combining the 14 words and 88, a code that means
‘Heil Hitler.’ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It’s the 14 words and a new revolution in America,” Foreman
continued.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Against cultural Marxism,” Baked Alaska interjected.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Against cultural Marxism, against feminism, all this
bullshit,” Foreman added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I think the other one (1488) is fun in private,” Foreman
said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“And it’s a little heavy for people,” Alaska replied.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Yeah, and it’s outdated,” Foreman said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It’s scary,” Alaska replied. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Okay, how about this, guys,” Alaska told his livestream
viewers, “It’s 1476 on the streets and it’s 1488 in the sheets, baby!” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“For people, for normies that can’t really get to the other
part, ‘76’ stands for a new revolution against cultural Marxism in our
country,”Alaska continued. “So if you guys can get people on to 1476, you’re
getting people real close to, um, some good info there.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“So that’s something Tony (Foreman) came up with–an idea on
how to redpill normies,” Alaska concluded. “So I love it. I love it. Let’s try
it out.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Foreman and another UPNF member, Jesse Macias, showed up to
harass a bus full of asylum seekers at a church with Patriot Movement Arizona
(PMAZ) in January, as PMAZ has done multiple times at least since last year. According
to the SPLC, PMAZ are an “<a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/01/02/patriot-movement-az-founder-yes-im-pretty-hateful">anti-Muslim
and anti-immigrant hate group</a>.” Foreman <a href="https://twitter.com/nickmartin/status/1081702212450037760">said</a> he
“busted right through the door” of the church during the incident. He was
armed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In addition to being at the deadly Unite the Right rally,
Foreman was at the bloody “Second Battle of Berkeley” on April 15<sup>th</sup>,
2017 where white nationalists, militia members, and alt-lite groups brawled
side-by-side against m80-throwing antifascists. Foreman posed for a photo wearing Oath Keepers
militia paraphernalia. The Oath Keepers infamously <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33867245">carried rifles and
stood on the rooftops</a> to protect businesses in Ferguson, Missouri after the
police killing of black teenager Michael Brown sparked prolonged protests and
clashes with law enforcement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Our impression is he’s kind of muscle, right?” Emma from
UARNF said of Foreman. “If he shows up, there’s a big potential for them to
incite violence, which is one of their goals.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I definitely feel like down here, some of these people just
kind of bounce around and get involved with whatever groups doing whatever
thing,” K from UARNF said. “Obviously, Foreman’s a racist, white nationalist,
whatever he wants to call himself, but it seems like he’s just looking to
bounce around with whatever group is doing a thing, getting involved and
starting shit.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UPNF attended at least one other racist event in the past.
In February 2018, the group was <a href="https://itsgoingdown.org/san-diego-far-right-trolls-outnumbered-chicano-park-fight-among/">part
of a rally at Chicano Park outnumbered by counter-protestors</a>. The event was
part of a sustained harassment campaign by alt-right and alt-lite groups against
<a href="http://chicano-park.com/cpscwhatisthe.html">Chicano Park</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">,</span> a historical Chicanx/Latinx space. UPNF, Foreman
included, attended, as did <a href="https://forward.com/fast-forward/407707/patrick-littles-name-the-jew-tour-spreading-anti-semitism-nationwide/">Patrick
Little</a>, the neo-Nazi ex-Marine who ran for Senate in California in 2018 on
an explicitly anti-Jewish platform.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Far-right e-celeb Mike Tokes, Vincent James of the Red
Elephants, MASS Resistance members Arthur Schaper and Kenny Strawn, Proud Boy
and <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1114773294945787904">American
Blackshirts Party supporter</a> Carl Nieves, and <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/neo-volkisch">Asatru
Folk Assembly</a> adherent and self-described “ethno-nationalist” Michael E
Johnston are all listed in the public ‘likes’ of UPNF’s page. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If that weren’t enough, Frank “L.A. Werewolf” Espinoza is allegedly
a member of UPNF. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Espinoza is an anti-Semite. He’s associated with the
alt-right shock jock podcast Revenge of the Cis (ROTC.) <a href="http://archive.is/NJIjv">He called someone a “Jew lover”</a> on one of
his Facebook pages in March and frequently <a href="http://archive.is/j4dE0">posts
other</a> <a href="http://archive.is/QPVSu">anti-Semitic </a><a href="http://archive.is/nJ7TB">statements</a>. Espinoza is a friend of
Foreman’s, at least on Facebook. He wasn’t listed on UPNF’s public ‘likes’ page
after their rebranding, however. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Espinoza <a href="http://archive.is/vvJjx">mocked</a> the
It’s Going Down article naming him as a possible attendee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Please scroll down to the part of my parody photoshop
gun/skull mask with a rainbow background. Allegedly I'm Atom Waffen Division.
LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL,” he wrote, referring to <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/atomwaffen-division-inside-white-hate-group">Attomwaffen</a>,
a network of neo-Nazi terror cells with five known murders to its name whose
members often wear skull masks like Espinoza’s in the photo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Bro you host ROTC....nice!,” Revenge of the Cis co-host
Royce Lopez commented.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I think they think you're Frank. Cuz all Hispanic dudes
look alike, right?” Dan Rice replied to Lopez.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I'll be contacting my lawyer Dr.shekelsteinberg to collect
my portion of the revenue. I also want half the discord,” Espinoza said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It’s not clear whether Espinoza works directly for Revenge
of the Cis, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190422073247/https:/revengeofthecis.com/about-us/">which
is hosted by Lopez and Mike “Mersh” Schiele</a>. He does <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190422072158/https:/revengeofthecis.com/2018/08/02/mike-cernovich-and-right-wing-watch-working-together/">work
with them</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">,</span> is a frequent guest on their
show, and he’s on their “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190422073404/https:/revengeofthecis.com/friends/">Friends
of ROTC</a>” page, along with The Red Elephants. Espinoza did have his own
“L.A. Werewolf” channel with over 2,000 subscribers. It <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJnlCSMNHgI">appears</a> YouTube removed
his content, however. ROTC posted on a February 20<sup>th</sup> 2018 YouTube
video that Espinoza believes “cucked Antifa tattletales” at It’s Going Down
mass-reported him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UARNF members also said David Feiner might show up at the
Huntington Beach and Bluff Park events. David Feiner is a <a href="https://ocweekly.com/how-lake-forests-alt-right-media-collective-the-red-elephants-twists-truth-to-make-fake-news-8382380/">reporter
for The Red Elephants</a> and a <a href="https://www.presstelegram.com/2018/10/23/police-separate-protesters-counter-protesters-during-conservative-groups-talk-at-cal-state-long-beach/">member
of Cal State Long Beach’s Turning Point USA Chapter</a>. Feiner <a href="http://archive.is/KcYig">is also friends with Samaria Salazar</a>, who
helped run pagan <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/08/15/holocaust-denier-augustus-invictus-announces-another-campaign-us-senate">Holocaust
denier</a> Augustus Invictus’s senate campaign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“With some of these groups, it almost looks to me like the
actual person who we should be concerned about is usually, like, the vice
president or some lower-level something,” K said, “because when we started looking
into David, he was involved with all kinds of people and has been everywhere.” </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“With the exception of [David Feiner,]” K added, “none of
these people live here.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We all live here. This is the city we live in.” they said.
“They’re L.A. people, they’re Inland Empire people, they’re Orange County
people, they’re not from here. I was glad to see how many people in Long Beach
cared about that.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE WHITE POWER YOU
DON’T SEE</b></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkorPp4jKyKykWilDpGBYLJh_oKQ0qzMZscAUlFdqScJFvoYifIcPeBwL6aG8vfl6axs5GwweynA7kwYK-qOSOEBS9EebDG_CqdUknnFjsXGiNOAjldabEznWReap0ZF4jR4klPK2nqDA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-24+at+3.06.44+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1288" data-original-width="1260" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkorPp4jKyKykWilDpGBYLJh_oKQ0qzMZscAUlFdqScJFvoYifIcPeBwL6aG8vfl6axs5GwweynA7kwYK-qOSOEBS9EebDG_CqdUknnFjsXGiNOAjldabEznWReap0ZF4jR4klPK2nqDA/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-04-24+at+3.06.44+AM.png" width="391" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">American Identity Movement (AKA Identity Evropa) stickers and flyers at UCLA.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In terms of white nationalist and right-wing extremist
organizing in their area, however, Emma said they’re most concerned about
Identity Evropa (IE), now rebranded as the American Identity Movement. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">IE’s founder used the “Second Battle of Berkeley” as a “<a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11611600/californian-who-helped-organize-charlottesville-protests-used-berkeley-as-a-test-run">test
run</a>” for Unite the Right. In its aftermath, the group rebranded, tried to
distance itself from street violence and doubled down on trying to appear
clean-cut and moderate. Some more overt white nationalists call them “optics
cucks”–people who won’t publicly “name the Jew” or wear swastikas and instead
try to appeal to respectability. IE’s activism, usually flyering and
stickering, minimizes public appearances and they try to keep membership in the
group anonymous secret beyond their public-facing, media-savvy leaders.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We literally have not seen any actual person. They’re very
underground. We see them putting their flyers up,” Emma said, adding, “their
organizing is set up towards anonymity which we know is set up towards
violence.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“A lot of the Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement
activists can be people from L.A. but go down to Orange County and organize with
people who can be more open down there,” K said.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Identity Evropa also creeps in to more official right-wing
channels of power. They <a href="https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/far-right-white-supremacist-group-identity-evropa-worked-the-phones-to-keep-steve-king-in-office/">phonebanked
for white nationalist and Iowa congressman Steven King</a> and <a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/8xybkv/leaked-chats-show-white-nationalist-groups-plot-to-infiltrate-turning-point-usa">planned
to use Turning Point USA</a>, a nationwide right-wing campus organization, as
grounds to recruit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE OTHER WHITE POWER
YOU DON’T SEE</b></span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The problems in Long Beach are more with the fact that a
lot of these people are invested in businesses and stuff like
that–gentrification, to use a buzzword, which can impact people of color,
working people,” Emma said.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Even though we’re focused on opposing this rally, just
fighting white nationalism and open displays is not enough to combat racism.
There’s other fronts,” Emma continued. “When there’s a ballot measure on the
line, the older white population will come out to defend their interests, which
are not the interests of people of color in Long Beach.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">K said that traditionally, most white power organizing
happens in coastal Orange County–Newport Beach and Huntington Beach. They
haven’t heard of something this organized happening in Long Beach before. While
it’s historically been pretty liberal, the adjacent city of Lakewood to the
north has a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-rothstein-segregated-housing-20170820-story.html">long
history</a> of segregated housing policies. “It flew under the radar as a super
racist city for years and years and years,” they said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I grew up here and I’ve never seen anything here that was
really organized,” K said, “which is why personally I feel really strongly
about doing this kind of work here.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We don’t see a lot of Blue Lives Matter flags here,” Emma
added, “but if you go to Orange County, you see them everywhere–it's a big tip-off to where people stand and where the culture is.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We know these people are there and they’re kind of under
their rock. Every once in a while you might drive through Lakewood and see a
Confederate flag or something like that, but I’ve never seen people try to
organize here,” K said.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Which is why I think that it’s critical that even if they
don’t show up that we just show up with as many people as possible to just send
the strongest message we can–that anybody that tries this is going to be met
with a huge amount of resistance.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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</span><style><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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</span></style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-33378083216203603772019-04-18T02:23:00.000-07:002019-04-26T14:51:02.843-07:00HELL FOR HORNA: ANTIFASCISTS CAMPAIGN AGAINST BLACK METAL BAND’S U.S. TOUR AFTER NAZI LINKS COME TO LIGHT<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2M2uNDuXWy6dz7HC-5mIFpHvfpV934JEy3JCYhbumf3Cn0nxzn7o9Ncvm0jNOyafhKfVFBJT6zapmWDxjmScNItSvM3gLgiX496Cbd1Fts0j4QeA17-vehjJbSSSKhXidqAxfyEZrw0/s320/4F01265D-CAC3-49B1-8063-8152E6ED4ED9.jpeg" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Attomwaffen leader John Cameron Denton and unknown man seig heiling at protestors at Hellcat Cafe's 4/3 Horna show. Photo by Houston United Front Against Fascism activist "Cole."</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span id="goog_354120095"></span><span id="goog_354120096"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(<i>Correction 5:59pm, 4/18/19: Horna was previously reported as opening for All That Remains. They actually just had a show at the same venue on a different stage.</i>) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ABNER
HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In Finnish,
“Horna” means ‘abyss’ or ‘hell.’</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna is a Finnish black metal band with
extensive ties to national socialist black metal (NSBM.) What is NSBM? Well, most
people know “national socialists” better as Nazis. </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna
attempted to play 14 shows across the United States between March 28<sup>th</sup>
and April 10th. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">11 shows were cancelled.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3 shows kept the original venues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">5 shows had to change venues in the same city.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">4 shows had to be moved to different cities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2 shows didn’t find new venues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3 shows had to change venues twice or more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Antifascist activists and concerned music
fans staged a massive call-in campaign for every venue that Horna was set to
play. <a href="https://twitter.com/heresysquad">Heresy
Labs</a>, which describes itself as an “autonomous
media project” that “monitor[s] fascist presence within cultural spaces,” lead
the charge online through <a href="https://twitter.com/heresysquad/status/1109256880310771712">a massive Twitter thread</a> that updated
activists on where Horna was playing–and attempting to play. Heresy Labs
provided venues’ publicly available phone numbers and locations and put
promoters, Horna fans who threatened action against protestors, and even a <a href="https://twitter.com/heresysquad/status/1111416797268307969">Food Truck that catered for a show</a> on blast. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Danger followed the shutdown campaign. Some
promoters claimed call-ins included threats of arson and murder. Horna fans
threatened retaliation against an antifascist metal band. Some activists LCRW
spoke to had their phone numbers leaked through a venue’s caller ID system–one
source saying they received a threatening call from a venue’s official phone
number. Others said when they went to protest a show, they had sand thrown in
their faces by fans. Businesses in downtown L.A. <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/horna-chaos-antifa-and-proud-boys-clash-over-black-metal-band-with-alleged-nazi-ties">received warnings</a> that
protestors at Horna’s show there would be met outside by the Proud Boys.
Members of fascist fight club Operation Werewolf apparently attended the Denver
show. The leader of <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/atomwaffen-division-inside-white-hate-group">Attomwaffen Division</a>, a Neo-Nazi
terrorist network linked to at least five murders, <a href="https://twitter.com/heresysquad/status/1113678836577660929">was spotted at a show in Houston</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BLACK METAL FLY IN A WEB OF WHITE POWER
CONNECTIONS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna formed in Finland in 1993. They were
originally called Shadowed, but changed their name a year after they started
playing. Like many bands, they’ve gone through multiple lineups. Their sole
original member and guitarist is Ville Pystynen, who goes by the stage name
Shatraug. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pystynen said in an interview with the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190404062903/http:/www.canadianassault.com/hornainterviewnew.htm">Canadian Assault Zine in 2006</a>
that he was discharged from military service in Finland in 2000 after
assaulting a commanding officer. Finland has compulsory military service for
men.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I
was into it but at the same time I couldn’t take all the tossing around and obedience.
Got a bit over-heated, used my fists against a commanding officer, out I went.
Not the best end for it but at least I avoided jail which was good,</span>”
Pystynen told Canadian Assault’s Dale Roy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pystynen’s
personal ties to NSBM are significant. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In addition to Horna, he played guitar for <a href="https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Blutschrei/The_Voice_of_Forbidden_Pride/117424">Blutschrei</a>. Their lyrics from songs like
“Battle for Survival” off their sole album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Voice of Forbidden Pride”</i> include “Let us take the course of time and turn
our heads toward the rising of a better Reich.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pystynen also ran a now-defunct label called <a href="https://www.metal-archives.com/labels/Grievantee_Productions/330">Grievantee Productions</a> which <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090415072008/http:/www.grievantee.com/releases.php">signed</a> NSBM bands like Kristallnacht, Raven Dark and
Hammer. Raven Dark is a member of the <a href="https://www.metal-archives.com/labels/BlazeBirth_Hall/3260">Blazebirth Hall</a>–a group of associated Pagan NSBM bands.
Kristallnacht’s songs includes lyrics like “Resistance to the Z.O.G., unholy
war we wage.” Z.O.G. is a common term in anti-Semitic conspiracies. It means
“Zionist-Occupied Government.” <a href="https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/5/6/7/35678_logo.jpg">Hammer’s logo has a swastika</a>, their 2008 album “Shoax” appears to be
a combination of the Hebrew word “Shoah,” which means Holocaust, and the
English word “hoax” and one song on their album is titled “Nuclear War Against
Israel.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A 2017 article in the Austrian paper of
record, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Weiner Zeitung</i>, said that
Pystynen had ties to Nazi bands including Aryan Art, Aryan Blood, and Final
Solution. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190404095217/https:/www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/377721.html?c=on">Archived screenshots on a 2007 antifascist blog</a> appear to show that Grievantee Productions sold <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110113204419/http:/i10.tinypic.com/307mh51.jpg">Aryan Blood and Aryan Art</a> CDs and
tapes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a 2003 interview
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190404073529/https:/books.google.com/books?id=pU0UAQAAIAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=shatraug">that appears</a> in the German-language book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unholy Alliances: Black Metal between
Satanism, Paganism and Neo-Nazism </i>by Christian Dornbusch and Hans P.
Killguss, Pystynen openly embraced National Socialism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“In my opinion
National Socialism means to be proud of one’s own heritage and one’s own country,
to believe in one’s brothers in arms and to those values which exclude any
foreign influence or religion,” Pystynen said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna’s Nazi
connections go well past its longest-serving member, however. Current and
former members have their own ties to NSBM. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lauri Penttilä, who’s
gone by the stage names Werwolf and Nazgul von Armageddon, served as Horna’s
vocalist from 1996-2001. Penttilä was also the sole member of Satanic Warmaster
and had a <a href="https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Satanic_Warmaster/Aryan_Blood_-_Satanic_Warmaster/142790">split EP</a> with Nazi band Aryan Blood. Satanic
Warmaster’s songs include “Legion Werwolf” with the lyric “The fist of the
conqueror, the hammer of our supremacy.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Corvus/8359">Tapsa Kuusela, aka Corvus</a>, Horna’s singer from 2002-2009, is
currently in Korgonthurus, a band that’s been signed to NSBM labels like <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Korgonthurus-Bloodhammer-Korgonthurus-Bloodhammer/master/520867">World Terror Committee</a> and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Korgonthurus-Root-Of-Evil/release/3054065">Blood and Soil Productions</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Spellgoth/2154">Tuomas Rytkönen, aka Spellgoth</a>, the current singer in Horna, recently
joined Peste Noire, sometimes called Kommandos Peste Noire, another band with
significant white nationalist ties and long-running friendships with members of
Horna.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Peste Noire appears
on NSBM labels like <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150116122416/http:/www.discogs.com:80/label/251457-La-Mesnie-Herlequin">La Mesnie Herlequin</a> and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/label/1040891-MIlitantZone">Militant Zone</a>. The band’s first release was called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aryan Supremacy</i>. Some of their promotional
artwork shows a man in blackface with a noose around his neck held by another
man in a Klan robe. Peste Noire’s logo is an <a href="http://www.metalsucks.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/peste-noire-white-aryan-resistance.jpg">almost identical copy</a> of the logo of White Aryan Resistance–a
neo-Nazi organization tied to the murderers of Mulugeta Seraw in 1988.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Peste Noire was a
favorite band of members of Discord servers leaked by Unicorn Riot. One such
server was the <a href="https://discordleaks.unicornriot.ninja/discord/view/1093299?q=peste+noire">Bowl Patrol</a> chatroom, an online meeting place for
fans of bowl cut-sporting white nationalist mass murderer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/us/dylann-roof-trial-charleston.html">Dylan Roof</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a February 2018
discussion about their favorite bands, one user told another “Glad you
Pestepilled me.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another wrote he
wanted to attend an <a href="https://toiletovhell.com/too-scared-to-attend-unite-the-right-try-asgardsrei-2018/">NSBM festival in Ukraine called Asgardsrei</a>, which Peste Noire was slated to play.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a thread about
music at the <a href="https://discordleaks.unicornriot.ninja/discord/view/342016?q=Peste+noire">TradWorkers server</a> for Matthew Heimbach’s now-debunked
Traditionalist Worker’s Party, a user called “dd✳555” recommended Peste Noire, saying
they’re “Really wonderful music based on French Nationalism.”</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8kIk-c_kTrD5dLmXrFzS-PTIBBUGWdBHr5kcM-w6aT5P0bzLIkbHMFDRe4i5L6Sir4SNV8H3IGttISsQtvly6yU0pSbxLO-k11dZh8cGa85tDLLXzeqtsFzHr1YVWjf0ZMof911bTb0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-17+at+5.19.56+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="1600" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8kIk-c_kTrD5dLmXrFzS-PTIBBUGWdBHr5kcM-w6aT5P0bzLIkbHMFDRe4i5L6Sir4SNV8H3IGttISsQtvly6yU0pSbxLO-k11dZh8cGa85tDLLXzeqtsFzHr1YVWjf0ZMof911bTb0/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-04-17+at+5.19.56+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Screenshots of comments on a thread about music in the #TradWorkers Discord server.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“NSBM is redpilled
and white and brings a lot of guys in the movement, and a ton of NSBM guys are
very ideological and put out great articles,” another user, “Kombat-Unit,”
wrote in the thread.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I think the
problem is--really good musicians don't want to get labeled as NS. It narrows their
ability to play and record,” dd✳555 responded.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">““It’s just
Satanism,”” Kombat-Unit replied with apparent sarcasm, the whole sentence in quotation
marks.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim58XtBsLaeyku3JxYIv8pYXxxTNIZikFMij5u48q2UU7TAhnBKKWnG90oHHkOvP0CAI7yh2wpERrrH4N6KbJMz1g9oz8cJ2iWMNm0UvNoPq6TIoNAloeKQ3TiwVE50YBraWqRDH8gSjE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-17+at+5.20.19+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="636" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim58XtBsLaeyku3JxYIv8pYXxxTNIZikFMij5u48q2UU7TAhnBKKWnG90oHHkOvP0CAI7yh2wpERrrH4N6KbJMz1g9oz8cJ2iWMNm0UvNoPq6TIoNAloeKQ3TiwVE50YBraWqRDH8gSjE/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-17+at+5.20.19+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Comment on a thread about NSBM music on the #TradWorkers Discord server.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a 2017 interview
with NSBM label Militant Zone, Peste Noire’s frontman, Ludovic von Alst, aka
Famine, said “I am a racialist, an ethno-pluralist, absolutely against race
mixing, but not a supremacist.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the same
interview, von Alst admitted to supporting the Azov Battalion–<a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/neo-nazis-give-kiev-a-last-line-of-defence-in-the-east-0csqncjv3hd">a neo-Nazi paramilitary</a> that was <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160124064419/https:/www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-azov-idUSKBN0ML0XJ20150325">officially incorporated</a> into the Ukranian National Guard in 2014. In 2016, The
UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_13th_HRMMU_Report_3March2016.pdf">reported</a>
that Azov forces engaged in “[m]ass looting of civilian homes” and “targeting
of civilian areas between September 2014 and February 2015." In 2015, the
OHCHR <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_14th_HRMMU_Report.pdf">reported</a>
they allegedly tortured and raped a mentally disabled person and electrocuted and
water-boarded a Donetsk Republic supporter. These are all war crimes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Azov does <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/02/15/defend-the-white-race-american-extremists-being-co-opted-by-ukraines-far-right/">international outreach</a> to <a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/qvy7vx/heavyweights-from-the-white-nationalist-world-will-be-bonding-in-finland-this-weekend-heres-what-they-want">other white nationalist organizations</a> through their political wing. They recruit <a href="https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/research/state-of-hate-2018/violence/recruiting-for-ukraine/">foreign volunteer fighters</a>, organized <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/robert-rundo-denis-nikitin-hooligans-europe-hate-group">MMA matches</a>
with the likes of Berkeley and Charlottesville brawlers Rise Above Movement, <a href="https://twitter.com/kooleksiy/status/1070711735189954567">helped</a>
organize Asgardsrei, and a key figure in their political wing is <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190405080901/https:/www.facebook.com/militant.zone/posts/asgardsrei-v-pre-festival-conferencethis-saturday-dec-17-all-guests-of-the-asgar/1851583575077001/">involved</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190405081055/https:/twitter.com/w8tanjugend/status/997541396209860609?lang=en">with</a>
the Militant Zone label.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Other links exist
between Horna, their members and the world of NSBM and neo-Nazism that are
beyond the scope of this article to document. Paramilitary groups like
Misanthropic Division, prominent Russian NSBM band M8L8TH and Counter-Currents
Publishing, which the SPLC describes as the “epicenter of ‘academic’ white
nationalism,” to name a few, enter the picture quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It's just so much
shit. How do I even begin to write a tweet about it?” a Heresy Labs
representative told LCRW. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DOES IT REALLY MEAN THEY’RE A NAZI BAND?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On March 24<sup>th</sup>, when the call-in
campaign against them was just getting underway, Horna made a statement on
their Facebook page denying being a NSBM band.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Regarding recent publicity, HORNA has never
been and never will be anything but Satanic Black Metal. We judge every man and
woman only by their demeanor, not by their race or sexual preferences. We have
zero interest in politics, left or right,” <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190404100928/https:/www.facebook.com/HornaOfficial/posts/2339514716080069?comment_id=2339529562745251&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D">the post read</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Love Horna – Hate Antifa” and “Fuck
metalsucks” were the top two most-liked comments on the post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many of the band’s NSBM connections were
brought to light shortly before the current tour began in <a href="http://www.metalsucks.net/2019/03/22/horna-band-with-nsbm-ties-scheduled-to-begin-u-s-tour-next-week/">an article</a> on MetalSucks.com.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Even if its members argued that their
associations outside of the band don’t affect Horna’s apolitical nature, the
band itself has direct relationships with NSBM.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Weiner Zeitung,</i> the
Austrian paper of record, <a href="https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/archiv/kulturpolitik/1000434_Kritik-an-finnischem-Rechts-Metal-Konzert-in-Wiener-Club.html">wrote</a> in 2018 that Horna was on a bill
with two unnamed neo-Nazi bands in 2017. There were apparently swastikas and a
Celtic cross on the flyer for the show. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna and their side project Sargeist <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190404201503/https:/w-t-c.web-republic.de/store/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=horna&x=0&y=0">have also signed with World Terror Committee</a>–a label run by Sven Zimper, aka Unhold, a member of the
anti-Semitic band Grand Belial’s Key and notorious Nazi band Absurd. The German
state of Thuringen’s domestic security agency, the Landesbehörde für
Verfassungsschutz (LfV,) <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110719093726/http:/www.verfassungsschutz.thueringen.de/vsberichte/1999/vsbericht1999.pdf">classified Absurd</a> as a “right wing
extremist group” in 1999. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While most of their lyrics seem to stick with
standard black metal themes, Horna also has at least one song referencing
exterminating Jewish people. The last line before the final chorus of “<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Noutajan Kutsu” or “Retriever Invitation” off
their 2006 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ääniä yössä </i>translates
to “</span>When our Lord can finally prove/the destruction and death of the Jewish
people.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>SHUTTING
DOWN EXPLICIT FASCISTS MAKES YOU THE REAL FASCIST</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This isn’t
the first time antifascists have clashed with Horna and its affiliates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 2017, Peste Noire and Horna were both
slated to play Blastfest in Norway. Peste Noire–one of the headliners–was
dropped, <a href="https://www.metalinsider.net/festivals/blastfest-cancel-peste-noires-appearance-at-festival-due-to-antifa-pressure">according to Metal Insider</a>,
after French antifascists pressured the festival’s organizers. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190404191611/https:/www.facebook.com/events/1571536123137163/permalink/1661501864140588/">Horna dropped out of the show</a> in
solidarity with Peste Noire, who they said were “good friends of ours.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It is also time more bands should do
something about the fascist "antifa" bullying instead of looking the
other way,” Horna <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190404191911/https:/www.facebook.com/HornaOfficial/posts/1280092658688952?__xts__%5b0%5d=68.ARDPuGUUZ3d2DCqKC54exMCcIlwkkN4WOkozNTOVPSFahtpQD151dYNevnPmNr9sshF6S3Gy5OaXb_C5RFZjcHRFGdWicHsnF_j-ts1eAuT7_j7IafPuxJF29Ok-qzNW">said in a statement on their Facebook page</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“PS,” they added, “Before anyone assumes any
political bullshit - we do not bow left nor right! We bow only before the
Lord...” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Before that, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190404095855/http:/www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=53858">several shows were cancelled</a> on
one of their European tours in 2010 due to their ties with NSBM.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“A big fuck off to Antifa and their fascist
intolerant propaganda!! HORNA has never been a band with NS message. We are
satanist, religious, devil-worshipping, alcohol-consuming occult bastards and
our band has NOTHING to do with NS," a March 11<sup>th</sup>, 2010
statement by the band in response to the shutdown read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LAGUNA NIGUEL–MARCH 28<sup>TH</sup> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 2008, Horna toured the U.S. <a href="http://www.metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=6878">for the first time</a>. They
hadn’t been back to the U.S. in over ten years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna’s first stop was the Karman Bar in
Laguna Niguel, a small Orange County town between the 1 and the 5 just north
and west of San Juan Capistrano. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Karman bar didn’t list the March 28<sup>th</sup>
event on their website or their Facebook page. Instead, their U.S. promoter Hate
War Productions, which ran their previous U.S. tour, had the event <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/268155144135981/?active_tab=about">listed on theirs</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Activists called in, but the Karman Bar let
Horna play. Two of their employees <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1110792927322660869">shared</a> a statement rationalizing the
bar’s decision, saying “[w]e have never discriminated due to “speculations””
and described the activists calling in as “social justice warriors screaming
with no information.”</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1liMoHiDuTQXQ9L1JYMzlXLtHArU1_X8sj0D0SqNvrktyBtv0xGsi3S9Ctu7mVssFn50K8YbLv_zyTsoeuOOrnxaqNEvgiW2M3LCRbhKpWcsYmGu7ffhDE1eB32pff9a1es6j1g6TKII/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-03-26+at+11.21.33+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1liMoHiDuTQXQ9L1JYMzlXLtHArU1_X8sj0D0SqNvrktyBtv0xGsi3S9Ctu7mVssFn50K8YbLv_zyTsoeuOOrnxaqNEvgiW2M3LCRbhKpWcsYmGu7ffhDE1eB32pff9a1es6j1g6TKII/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-03-26+at+11.21.33+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Karman Bar employees' statement on Horna.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna’s ties
to white nationalism, as previously stated, are well documented.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The show
went through successfully.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ARIZONA–MARCH 29<sup>TH</sup> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Next stop was March 29<sup>th</sup>’s show Club
Red in Mesa, Arizona. All That Remains was supposed to play the same venue that night on a different stage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Activists confronted All That Remains
frontman Phil Labonte about the show. The exchange happened after Labonte <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190405224358/https:/twitter.com/philthatremains/status/1109294500562624512">replied to journalist Talia Lavin's post</a> about <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-called-talia-lavin-and-lauren-duca-little-journo-terrorists-now-theyre-facing-death-threats">Fox News targeting her</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lavin has been a recurring target for right
wing pundits after she mistakenly reported an ICE agent as having a tattoo of
an iron cross–an error she promptly retracted and apologized for. Fox host
Laura Ingraham called her and another reporter “little journo-terrorists.”
Lavin has since faced death threats and harassment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Didn’t you smear a guy as a Nazi cause you
misunderstood a tattoo? I don’t think people are gonna feel that bad for you,”
Labonte said to Lavin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“If Phil really hated Nazis he'd get the band
horna kicked off the bill at the show his band has with them in Mesa AZ on
March 29th since they're involved in the NSBM scene,” an activist replied.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Labonte
replied, saying he’d have his management remove Horna from the show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I believe in free speech, I also believe in
freedom of association and we don’t associate with those types of beliefs,”
Labonte said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Screenshots of texts between Labonte and his
manager that proved Horna was dropped weren’t initially viewable because
Labonte blocked LCRW on Twitter. LCRW had not previously reached out to
Labonte.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Angry fans called for retaliatory action against
Neckbeard Deathcamp, an antifascsist band whose debut album, “White Nationalism
is for Basement-Dwelling Losers,” made them an internet sensation. One Horna
fan, Jesus Adan Bracamonte, who listed himself as a session guitarist for NSBM
band Odium Totus on his Facebook, <a href="https://twitter.com/heresysquad/status/1112149026500022273">called on people</a> to shut
down their June 11<sup>th</sup> show at Club Red.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“New Zealand part 2 anyone?” a commenter
named Daniel Shipley said on the thread, referring to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/05/christchurch-shooting-accused-faces-victims-relatives-in-court-on-50-charges">recent mass murder of 50 people</a> by
a white nationalist targeting Muslims in Christchurch. The post got eleven
likes–apparently the most of any in the thread. Bracamonte apparently deleted
his Facebook account shortly after the post caught the attention of antifascists
on Twitter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna’s show was moved 25 miles away to the
Starlite Lounge in Glendale. 85 people attended according to the event page. At
All That Remains’ show at Club Red, 215 people went.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LOS ANGELES–MARCH 30<sup>TH</sup></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Los Angeles show at the Five Star Bar on
March 30<sup>th</sup> may have gotten the most media buzz in part because of a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/horna-chaos-antifa-and-proud-boys-clash-over-black-metal-band-with-alleged-nazi-ties">Daily Beast report</a> that said
the Proud Boys might show up. According to the article, “[m]ore than one” local
business received warnings the alt-lite fraternal “Western Chauvinist” group
which frequently brawls with leftist protestors might show up outside of the
venue. Local businesses didn’t want to go on the record, but two people who
LCRW reached out to confirmed the Daily Beast’s reporting was accurate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A campaign of call-ins and <a href="https://twitter.com/lbcafa/status/1110686099410747393/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1110686099410747393&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fhorna-chaos-antifa-and-proud-boys-clash-over-black-metal-band-with">flyering</a> in the neighborhood worked–the
Five Star Bar cancelled the show on March 28<sup>th</sup>. The owner of the bar
<a href="https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/horna-finnish-metal/">claimed</a> he’d consulted the
Anti-Defamation League and the ACLU about the matter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fans were
furious.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz2dn_Yn8mhtYc8Z72GH9I8nCPGrCfVzs8JDzOC9GIS9_g7z-otC3e-fglltGCxBGLxRMrQcYEr_7N9vpjYGLhUafltdSf0LwbFOzj1AMkvOMtvk3UI1ZNvBNXnM7WTM5f7Hho2B1II8Y/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-03-28+at+11.33.12+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz2dn_Yn8mhtYc8Z72GH9I8nCPGrCfVzs8JDzOC9GIS9_g7z-otC3e-fglltGCxBGLxRMrQcYEr_7N9vpjYGLhUafltdSf0LwbFOzj1AMkvOMtvk3UI1ZNvBNXnM7WTM5f7Hho2B1II8Y/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-03-28+at+11.33.12+PM.png" width="290" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Facebook comments by Horna fans on the L.A. show's event page.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We’ll take care of any protesters….if it
comes down to it,” Bill “Stonie Cat” Cervantes commented on the event page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Please let
there be protesters,” Warren Rathbert replied.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I’ll step
on the cock of anyone who fucks with my black metal,” Alice St. Romain replied.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Several
others commented “I’m in” or “Ready.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hate War Productions scrambled to find Horna
a new venue and <a href="https://twitter.com/LAAB23362986">offered to honor tickets to the cancelled show</a> at the door for the Karman Bar show. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then, on the night of the 30th, Hate War told
people who bought tickets to meet them at a Bob’s Big Boy in Downey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Look for a few metalheads somewhere in the
parking lot- show them proof of your presale & you’ll get the address to
the venue….” Hate War’s post read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The promoters pulled an old stunt where
those who purchased tickets go to a "meeting place" where they will
learn the actual location for the show. It's how neo-Nazis did shows back in
the day to avoid opposition or shutdowns,” Daryle Lamont Jenkins, director of
One People’s Project, an anti-racist nonprofit, remarked in a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190406100851/https:/twitter.com/DLamontJenkins/status/1112355683595358208">tweet</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hate War eventually announced the venue as
Bricks Restaurant and Sports Bar in Maywood, just south of East LA down the 710.
Some folks in the comments said it was too far for them to make it. One was trying
to sell their tickets. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Heresy Labs representatives told LCRW they
suspected the phone numbers associated with Bricks were unplugged. When we
called that night, one phone line couldn’t be reached because of "errors
in the network" and two went to voicemail. Bricks did not respond to requests
for comment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some antifascists went to Bricks that night. Sources
told LCRW that Horna fans threw sand in their faces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Horna gigs disrupted, forcing show promoters
to spend extra time, energy, and resources to relocate,” activists at Long
Beach Antifascist Action <a href="https://twitter.com/LBCAFA/status/1112369654146756608">tweeted</a>, adding “...and at the end of
the day, Horna had their gig but loose lips sinks ships.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“You all were outnumbered last night! bahahah
lucky that nobody beat your asses into the pavement,” an attendee <a href="https://twitter.com/IndridCold_17/status/1112484179403390976">replied</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">OAKLAND–MARCH 31<sup>ST</sup> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Horna has some pretty fucked up NSBM ties,”
the Oakland Metro Operahouse’s statement read in part. They cancelled the show on
March 22<sup>nd</sup>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Metro Operahouse previously caught flak
for letting Marduk, a Swedish band with NSBM ties, play in February 2017. <a href="http://www.metalsucks.net/2017/02/17/oakland-metro-operahouse-cancels-marduk-show-in-the-interest-of-public-safety/">The show was eventually cancelled</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At the time, Jeremy Christian, a Patriot
Prayer rally attendee, was notably furious about Marduk and other bands with
NSBM ties having shows called off or protested.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Since you brought up Violence, I’m going to
stab some masked up bitch protesting Black Metal shows as soon as they touch
me. All thanks to your ignorance and insolce [sic] you wretched wench,”
Christian wrote on Facebook.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Two months later, Christian <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/portland-max-attack-what-we-know/283-444221342">murdered two people and seriously injured another</a> on a Portland train. The victims intervened after Christian went
on an Islamophobic tirade against two women on the train, one of whom was
wearing a hijab.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oakland was
the only city Horna couldn’t find a replacement venue in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BEND, OREGON–APRIL 1<sup>ST</sup> </b></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilMW9_VH2qR6LNjjuEKrolLuq2U95UveLV8qBO92kurKIfGLoSPRhERH7_xJgvXISieEsHAZWymJT164KtKY1VInvIbw2hlcGkNjYbY-fOmwItoINnG9wGYaXrJEb5zYA8JK-omDnTEf0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-03-22+at+7.40.44+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1000" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilMW9_VH2qR6LNjjuEKrolLuq2U95UveLV8qBO92kurKIfGLoSPRhERH7_xJgvXISieEsHAZWymJT164KtKY1VInvIbw2hlcGkNjYbY-fOmwItoINnG9wGYaXrJEb5zYA8JK-omDnTEf0/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-03-22+at+7.40.44+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bossanova Ballroom statement on cancelling Horna's show.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On April 1<sup>st</sup>, Horna were supposed
to play at the Bossanova Ballroom in Portland. It was called off within hours
of Oakland’s show’s cancellation. The venue cited Horna “using hate speech” and
band members’ “ties to far right and racist business interests” in cancelling
the show. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Instead,
they played at the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190402063339/https:/www.facebook.com/events/397471130803105/?active_tab=discussion">Third Street Pub</a> <a href="http://archive.is/4ePXV">in Bend</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We found out the Portland show had been
cancelled because of the promoters personal opinions about the bands,” Nichole
Northcraft of Northcraft Productions said, “so me and my Fiance (Brandon Self) along
with his father (Mike Self), decided to pick up the show.” Northcraft
Productions and the Self family’s Coma Booking and Promotions put on the show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“So we found it funny that a supposedly
"Nazi" or "white supremacist" band was even touring with a
band (Cultus Profano) that’s mixed race,” Northcraft and Brandon Self, who
answered some questions jointly through Northcraft’s Facebook account, said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The call-in campaign continued. Northcraft
and Self said they heard threats like “We are going to burn down the venue with
all you 'Nazis' inside,” and “We are on our way right now to shoot everyone in
the venue.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Northcraft and Self said activists “wanted us
to cancel the show because of their personal opinions over the matter” and
called Horna’s well-documented NSBM ties “ridiculous accusations.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As
previously stated, Horna’s ties to neo-Nazism are well-documented.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Northcraft
and Self said “the show was a success with no issues of any kind” besides the
phone calls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Antifascists claimed they’d received
threatening phone calls and that their numbers were leaked by someone at the
venue. Heresy Labs advised activists calling the venue to dial *67 first to
hide their numbers from the venue’s caller ID. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I did have a post up no longer than a hour
with a few of the numbers that called third street pub making threats. But in
my post I shared the numbers given to me from the bartender,” Northcraft
admitted. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“However,” she continued, “we definitely told
anyone who wished to get involved NOT to make threats like they were doing to
us.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One source who asked not to be named reached
out to LCRW and recounted being threatened by someone using the venue’s number
and receiving multiple calls from numbers they didn’t recognize.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I called at 7:21 and a younger male
answered,” the source said. “He was soft spoken. I was polite and said
something to the likes of “Hey man, I really think you should cancel Horna
tonight,” and he mumbled, “Sorry, but we can’t.””</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It’s going to be really bad if you don’t
cancel this is going to turn out really badly. This is not a threat let me be
clear, but people are going to be mad,” the source recounted telling the Third
Street Pub employee. They said the employee responded, “Ok, thanks for your
concern.” The exchange, according to call logs provided by the source, lasted
40 seconds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Call logs show one minute later, they were
called back by the bar’s publicly listed number. The source says a “gruffer
sounding guy” spoke.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Hey [source’s real name]? You show your
antifa ass down here and I’m going to fucking–” the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>source recounted the caller saying. “[A]t
which point I hang up,” the source recounted. The call lasted 11 seconds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I honestly just made that post to annoy those
who were going out of their way to mess with us or the venue. Shortly after I
removed that post to stop any more unnecessary drama,” Northcraft said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Half an hour later, the unnamed source got a
call from a Brooklyn area number, which they didn’t answer. Three more calls
from unknown numbers followed that night. <a href="http://archive.is/4cIWY">Another twitter user</a> who claimed to have called the venue said they received a
threatening message from a New York number.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“By the end of the night, not one single
fight, argument, protest, or any sort of issues or drama happened [at the
venue,]” Northcraft and Self said. “Just a bunch of temper tantrums from local
antifa and pyrate punx.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On Facebook, Northcraft <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190402201059/https:/www.facebook.com/GarrettSav541/posts/2466085816820779?comment_id=2466149463481081&reply_comment_id=2466158386813522&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D">admitted</a> to sharing activists’ phone
numbers on a Facebook post by Rachel Gregori. Gregori is Captain of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bend.pyrate.punx/">Bend
Pyrate Punx</a>, in her words “an international
non-profit DIY organization out to help touring bands.”</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0FcuURbEJ_gkpNpde_i2uqP1DyceTYq7uHCKofuUsOq7uInyu_9wYIBDevF7Wmxd8rEN6qCTVPdcdQq6NKNPeohdhEibynv44mBpYJbaP_s36LSQ3qAtIFn2vLyEutG7Ob1uXURMk-Us/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-02+at+10.03.33+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="996" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0FcuURbEJ_gkpNpde_i2uqP1DyceTYq7uHCKofuUsOq7uInyu_9wYIBDevF7Wmxd8rEN6qCTVPdcdQq6NKNPeohdhEibynv44mBpYJbaP_s36LSQ3qAtIFn2vLyEutG7Ob1uXURMk-Us/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-02+at+10.03.33+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Northcraft admitting she shared phone numbers on Facebook.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“They’re now threatening people who call 3rd
st. Apparently there are tons of Nazis outside (from what I heard,)” Gregori
wrote at 8:23pm that night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Not
threatening anyone sharing numbers darling,” Northcraft replied at 8:31pm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The two exchanged barbs, Northcraft repeatedly
denying Horna had any association with NSBM. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Northcraft and Self told LCRW that “[n]either
the crowd, nor any of the bands, supported any sort of "Nazi" or
"White supremacist" attitude or memorabilia,” adding “Obviously, if
any of the bands had been supporting that bullshit we would have pulled the
plug immediately.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gregori says “the promoters [Third Street
Bar] work[s] with are well-known as being fencewalkers and enablers,” including
Northcraft and her connections at the local chapter of <a href="https://nydmnews.wordpress.com/about/">New York
Death Militia</a> (NYDM,) an international network
of show promoters and metal fans who cross-promote each others’ events.
According to Gregori, many but not all chapters of NYDM “often overlook the
racist tendencies of metal bands to make a quick buck.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The NYDM and its ORDM chapter had absolutely
nothing to do with this show whatsoever. I know for a fact, however, that
nothing gets over looked to just make a quick buck,” Northcraft said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Representatives
of NYDM did not respond to requests for comment at press time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Northcraft
and Self also denied having any personal sympathies to white nationalism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“My dad and I are of Spanish decent so it's
quite literally and genetically and logically impossible for us to be white
Nationalist,” Self said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We at COMA and Northcraft simply do what we
do for the love of music. We dont associate with any sort of labels or groups
and we treat our venue with the same mindset,” Northcraft and Self wrote in a
joint statement to LCRW.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the aftermath, antifascists put Northcraft
on blast and notified the employer she listed on her Facebook page. Northcraft
said the info on her Facebook was dated and she hasn’t faced repercussions from
her current employer. The former employer appears to confirm this,<a href="https://twitter.com/MaximHealthcare/status/1115231104825532419"> telling</a> antifascist activists on Twitter
she is “not a current employee.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gregori and others who asked not to be named
told LCRW that to their knowledge, Horna is the first band with documented
white nationalist ties to play Third Street Pub. However, they said the venue has
“a reputation of attracting people with white nationalist ties.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I’ve been in there several times and have
never come out without having some sort of race-fueled interaction with their
customers,” Gregori said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gregori says
there have been issues at the bar for “the past ten years.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“My brother and his wife were confronted by a
few patrons at the bar, one with a white nationalist affiliated tattoo, and
threatened at knifepoint. One threw a glass at his wife’s face,” she recounted,
saying the incident happened four years ago. Around the same time, Gregori said
a friend “was in a fight” inside of the bar “with several alleged nazis there,
similar tattoos.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“In both instances the police were called,
but the owners have done nothing to disassociate themselves or change the customer
base of their business,” Gregori told LCRW. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When asked if he was familiar with the
reputation Third Street Bar had, Self said that “This is all based on hers and
others personal opinions and them being overly outspoken.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We've
never had any issues with any sort of racist or hateful groups in the bar and
if there were it was simply because opinions were tossed around and at that
moment there were people who disagree with said opinions,” he added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gregori says
Bend is “especially isolated and whitewashed."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The minority communities are so small that
many white folk here are stuck perpetuating racist ideologies and can go their
whole lives without ever personally experiencing those other cultures,” she
said.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It’s always been an issue in the punk and
metal music scene here, more so now than ever due to the rise of the alt-right
and widespread use of social media,” Gregori said of the local racist and
neo-nazi presence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Before that,” she continued, “we used to
just chase boneheads out of the venue and they’d go back to whatever hole they
crawled from and never come back. Now they’re able to organize online and find
others with similar mindsets, book controversial bands and doxx anyone that has
something to say against it.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">APRIL 2<sup>ND</sup>–AUSTIN</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">April 2<sup>nd</sup>, Horna was supposed to
play Come and Take It Live in Austin. After claiming to be “in the process” of
cancelling the show, the venue relented on March 27<sup>th</sup> and Horna had
to find another venue yet again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The show was moved to Texas Mist, also in
Austin. After the threats some activists received the previous night, Heresy
Labs told the call-in campaign to dial *67 or use an encrypted calling service
to hide their numbers from the venue’s caller ID system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Texas Mist, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/heresysquad/status/1113242736780509184">Heresy Labs</a>, removed the event page and
denied Horna was playing when activists called in.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“They were telling people they had the wrong
number, pretending to be a McDonald’s a while ago,” prolific antifascist doxxer
Antifash Gordon <a href="https://twitter.com/AntiFashGordon/status/1113252026433957888">said</a>, adding, “If they’d just
insisted it wasn’t happening at the outset, I might have believed them?”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The show did go on. Darren Cowan, a reviewer
at the website <a href="http://archive.is/en8DC">Metal
Centre</a> said the club was small and the crowd size
was “modest.” He said “[a] wide assortment of races attended the show, too,
something common throughout the world when it comes to “NSBM” bands.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pystynen, Cowan claims, told him after the
show that “They (antifa) are going after the wrong bands.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“HORNA presented an imposing stage facade.
Part of this was natural due to their large Nordic frames,” Cowan wrote. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Front man, Spellgoth didn’t shy from his
opposition to Antifa, wearing a shirt that said, “Satanic Resistance Crush
Antifa,”” Cowan’s review continued. </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He added that “[t]here were no seig heils
[sic], Swastika’s or panzer division tanks on stage or in the crowd.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But the next
night in Houston, there would be Seig Heils.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">APRIL 3<sup>RD</sup>–HOUSTON</b></span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I don't vet the bands or go in a search
about band members political or social views prior to booking,” Houston’s The
White Swan booker and bar manager ‘Gore Tooth’ told LCRW, continuing, “I book
several shows a week while hosting 4-7 shows a week regularly.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I'm just
giving you an idea how Horna was booked 2.5 months prior to the date,” he
added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Due to the overwhelming bullshit associated
with the Horna show next Wednesday April 3rd, we're not hosting the event,”
Gore Tooth <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190408083500/https:/www.facebook.com/whiteswanlive/posts/1225704400928926?__tn__=-R">wrote</a> on the venue’s Facebook page on
March 27<sup>th</sup>.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.houstonpress.com/music/horna-gig-cancelled-after-anti-fascist-campaign-11267864">The Houston Press’s Jef Rouner reported</a> the shutdown campaign <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/389412691895372/">locally</a> consisted of “Houston Socialist Movement, Houston United Front
Against Fascism, Pantsuit Republic Houston Racial Justice Committee, and the
Young Communist League.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gore Tooth said the shutdown campaign “consists
of people that have called with their numbers blocked leaving messages that
they're gonna burn us down (terrorist lynch mob.)” He claimed the shutdown
campaign and “the anti-anti-hate group which consists of probably racists…turned
a concert into a Jerry Springer episode and people are coming for the
fireworks.” </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“What a
joke,” he added. “It's no longer about the music.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Heresy Labs said members of Texas Patriot
Network (TPN), an <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190409055333/https:/www.facebook.com/texaspatriotnet/posts/389900698263386?__xts__%5b0%5d=68.ARBi0JPnRUrr1y3VX_fXDrxfF2gROfE7bW0gYMEayY-6wFRrqt3DXS8ygOqIaNd8J4s2UfyOjWL1Af1nVzWZ-gCcF_QVxQZOlQ38if661M94zRZQut6_rpufQyfB61z">explicitly Islamophobic</a> activist
group, were planning to support Horna’s show.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">TPN’s <a href="https://www.txpatriotnetwork.com/about-us">website</a> describes them as a “non-partisan” group dedicated to <u>ALL</u>
Texan’s Natural and Constitutional Rights” and claims they are “NOT racists,
bigots, a hate group, militia” and “are NOT the silent majority any longer!” The
group has some connections to Patriot Prayer, Joey Gibson previously hosting a
rally in support of Alex Jones with their participation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Houston United Front Against Fascism (HUFAF)
organizer Dr. David Michael Smith, also a ‘semi-retired’ political science
professor, says TPN was planning to protest the show at the White Swan
until it was cancelled. He said TPN is “anti-communist, anti-muslim, anti-migrant,
and sometimes don’t want to be seen with people who have swastikas but there’s
not that much difference there.” </span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“They’re the
kind of fash that don’t understand that they’re fash,” he added.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">HUFAF has
stood opposing TPN protests multiple times, often with both groups armed.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Dr. Smith said “a lot of the time they’ll put
stuff up [online] but never show up.” He said the Horna show was one such
event.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The ultimate reason we cancelled the show at
our venue is I caught word from friends in low places that a small group of KKK
members [was] coming ON OUR BEHALF from Santa Fe Texas,” Gore Tooth told LCRW,
continuing, “Maybe they are the Atomwaffen nerds, I dunno. But, we refuse to be
represented by scumbags like that.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“They are just as bad as Antifa with their
members threatening to burn us down. They're all terrorists,” he added.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It was really only an hour before the
protest that we found out that Horna was going to be performing, along with a
couple other bands, at this venue called the Hellcat Café,” Dr. Smith
recounted. The Café was in a mostly Latinx neighborhood in Houston which Dr.
Smith said was “not one that was super conservative or heavily right-wing.” </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We knew that this kind of performance would
draw some fascists and some folks who were like, proud to be fascists, too,”
Dr. Smith recounted. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cole,
another activist at HUFAF told LCRW 13 people showed up to protest the show.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Four of us
were openly armed (likely the reason we had zero issues,)” Cole told LCRW. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“One thing about Texas is that you can be
carrying a rifle or a sidearm publicly and you don’t have to have a license for
a long gun and cops often won’t even ask you for a license for your handgun.
It’s a little bit different than New York or California,” Dr. Smith said,
chuckling a little. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“An advanced civilization–a just civilization
wouldn’t have a need for any of this kind of stuff, but it’s not that in Texas
right now,” he added.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We got out there and three of us had rifles.
I was also carrying a 40 caliber. My wife was carrying a 9 millimeter openly–it
was for self-defense,” Dr. Smith continued. “We certainly weren’t going to try
to shoot up the place. We’re not into that kind of stuff, but we definitely
wanted to make sure we were not fucked with–and we didn’t get fucked with.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Dr. Smith says they had bullhorns, chanted, and
used battery-powered lights to “shine a little light on what we were doing.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We got as close to the club as we possibly
could and we did what we had to do,” Dr. Smith recounted. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“One of the ugly things about the evening was
that we did notice this Attomwaffen leader, John Cameron Denton, who lives in
the county north of Houston.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Attomwaffen leader John Cameron Denton Seig Heiling at Horna's Houston show. Photo by HUFAF activist "Cole."</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">John Cameron Denton, the leader of <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/atomwaffen-division-inside-white-hate-group">Attomwaffen Division</a>, a neo-Nazi
terrorist network with ties to five murders, <a href="https://twitter.com/heresysquad/status/1113678836577660929">showed up to the show</a> with other
members of the group. On the Attomwaffen servers, Denton’s alias was “Rape.” A
photo of Denton by Cole circulated on Twitter. That photo and others provided to
LCRW by HUFAF activists show Denton and others making the Nazi salute at the
show. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unknown man seig-heiling at Horna's Houston show. Photo by HUFAF activist "Cole."</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“When we identified him, one comrade got on
the megaphone and said “Yo is that JCD of AW over there? You’re a long way from
Montgomery, boy! Thought this wasn’t a nazi show!”” Cole recounted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“He and his puke buddies were just doing Nazi
salutes. Over the course of the evening we heard a few comments about ‘inferior
genes’ and comments like ‘How many Jews are out there?’ You know, anti-Semitic
bullshit,” Dr. Smith recounted. “They tried to troll us as much as they could,
shout anti-communist slogans.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We couldn’t attribute any comments to Denton
or his puke friends, but it’s what you’d expect from Nazis,” Dr. Smith said. He
says there were “maybe a dozen, maybe fifteen” neo-Nazis including Denton
present.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unknown man seig-heiling at Horna's Houston show. Photo by HUFAF activist "Cole."</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The punk never responded, only sieg Heiled
multiple times and waved. His friend jumped up on a table and opened his jacket
to reveal a Sonnenrad shirt, before we were able to grab a picture though,”
Cole said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Sonnenrad or “black sun” is a Nazi icon
first popularized by Heinrich Himmler in 1933. It depicts a sun whose twelve
rays are a pre-Germanic ‘S’ rune. It gained notoriety recently for appearing on
the cover of the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto and on his bulletproof vest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The AW guys knew [that] we knew who they
were, most other people in the venue did not. None of them gave us any trouble
and we protested outside the new venue for 5 & 1/2 hours,” Cole said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“On the one hand, we were disgusted and
angered by seeing Denton and feeling bad that we couldn’t get our hands on
him,” Dr. Smith said. “On the other hand, we maintained good discipline because
nobody’s going to do anything adventurous or stupid and go to prison.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Show attendees who were unaware of Horna’s
white nationalist connections heard HUFAF members out, according to Cole, and
community members in the area were supportive of the effort. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Cops and constables came by from time to
time and basically, you can tell it’s Texas because if you’re not shooting
somebody, they’re basically okay with the weapon,” Dr. Smith said, chuckling
again. “It’s weird out here. I’ve been here twenty years, it’s so weird.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The last cops that came by, a young European-American
woman cop and an African-American cop–and he actually heard one of the racists
yell something on the patio–there was a patio where a bunch of them were
assembled–and he yelled something funny back at them. He knew instantly what
the word ‘fascism’ on our signs meant. Some of the people, you had to explain
to them ‘white supremacy, remember Hitler?’ And so on.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
protesters were at the venue until around 11:30. Dr. Smith said everyone got
home safely.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cole said “an effort is underway to continue
to call out the venue who ended up hosting them in the end.” Dr. Smith said it
wouldn’t be a major priority for the group since other organizations like TPN
are planning actions soon, but activists with HUFAF and other organizations
would call and urge the Hellcat Café to “not make the same mistake again.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Look, any small business needs business,
right? And we understand that if you’re operating a bar and making a couple
thousand dollars it’s good for them–but not at the expense of housing Nazis,”
Dr. Smith said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I did see the pictures of those two
individuals [from Attomwaffen] saluting,” Gore Tooth said, continuing, “And I
seen a lot of concert-goers and the promoter talking against them the next day.
They're fuckin idiots. There aren't any Nazis left in the world. Nazis ended in
the 1940s as far as I'm concerned. These people identifying as such are posers.
They're just no-brain racists using imagery from historical happenings to give
their ignorance a foundation.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I think there is an crucial lack of
awareness in metal's self-proclaimed "anti-SJW/anti-antifa"
contingent that stems from both privilege and their lack of involvement in any
actual activism,” Teen Vogue labor columnist and metal scene writer Kim Kelly <a href="https://twitter.com/GrimKim/status/1113773081858846721">said</a> in response to tweeted photos of
Denton.” They don't understand that this is a war. They don't understand what
is at stake,”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Whether it’s a music club or a campus
meeting or some kind of forum in the community, if they’re fascists, we must
deny their right to be there and to recruit and proselytize and spread their
propaganda,” Dr. Smith said. “We must reject the liberal notion that they
should enjoy First Amendment rights. We’re not interested in legal solutions
within a capitalist state. We’re going to be there to shut them down every time
we can.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">APRIL 4<sup>TH</sup>–DENVER</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Hi-Dive Bar in Denver blacklisted the
promoter, MetalDP, and cancelled Horna’s show. The announcement came in a
Facebook post that linked to the MetalSucks article on Horna’s NSBM ties.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Horna is not a NSBM band, even the author of
the article could not say that they were,” MetalDP said on the event’s Facebook
page on March 22<sup>nd</sup>, adding that he was uncertain about “[t]he fate
of this show in Denver.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MetalDP struggled to find another venue. On
the 2<sup>nd</sup> they claimed they found one that was “bigger, more than double
the old venue's capacity” and it would be “revealed the day of the show.” Six
hours later, MetalDP updated fans, saying that “the venue is in Denver and will
actually be a little smaller. Not quite half the size, which also means the
show could sell out.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Activists scoured social media for clues as
to where it would be. They first thought Horna would play at 3 Kings Tavern on
South Broadway. MetalDP denied this, saying “stop harassing them, they have
nothing to do with this show.” On the 3<sup>rd</sup>, opening band Morgue Whore
was listed as playing Herman’s Hideaway on South Broadway on the 4<sup>th</sup>.
MetalDP updated fans and directly addressed activists that day, saying “It will
not be at any venue anymore, you never guessed it right anyway with your ludicrous
whack-a-mole accusations.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At about noon on the 3<sup>rd</sup>, MetalDP
said the show “has been moved to private property,” the “[v]enue will not be
made public,” and “[p]rivate property means no trespassing.” On the 4<sup>th</sup>,
they posted an updated flyer listing the venue as Denver’s 7<sup>th</sup>
Circle Music Collective. It was misdirection. 7<sup>th</sup> Circle hosted a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/238156330472743/">completely
different band</a> called A Light Among Many.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“THANKS YOU GOONS. What a fun night. One
point for antifa,” A Light Among Many’s account <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/238156330472743/permalink/256923098596066/">commented</a> on their event’s page the next
day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Opening band Weapönizer posted another fake
flyer claiming the show was at the Lion’s Lair on Colfax Avenue. MetalDP posted
fake flyers <a href="https://postimg.cc/phyjPxhn">claiming</a> the show was at The Marquis
Theater on Larimer Street. They also claimed the show was happening at <a href="https://postimg.cc/y3ZSSPT1">The Roxy Theater</a> on Welton Street and a skating rink in Aurora.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It actually took place, according to <a href="https://cospringsantifa.wordpress.com/2019/04/05/fascist-black-metal-comes-to-north-denver/">Colorado Springs Antifa</a>, in a
Denver warehouse “owned by <a href="https://www2.colliers.com/en/United-States/Cities/Denver">Colliers International</a>, a Canadian
based global real estate giant.” Colorado Springs Antifa researchers verified
the location through matching old photos of the warehouse from when it was a
music space called Dryer Plug with photos from the Horna show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Colorado
Springs Antifa claimed that members of Operation Werewolf attended the show. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-B1FEkMD_wQYzav4BtVKLuTIgHCgrCIsYdZEqg0BCHNLPDC6bnUFnYO2ipDz7CDVNpzDh0l4UOcLemlW5WIKFtTgvZxSqLS43nleX41SDBBTTWqdIqJbjEXhs_WGMyvSKzD5JUod4yrk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-18+at+1.45.23+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="905" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-B1FEkMD_wQYzav4BtVKLuTIgHCgrCIsYdZEqg0BCHNLPDC6bnUFnYO2ipDz7CDVNpzDh0l4UOcLemlW5WIKFtTgvZxSqLS43nleX41SDBBTTWqdIqJbjEXhs_WGMyvSKzD5JUod4yrk/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-04-18+at+1.45.23+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Screenshot of Operation Werewolf promotional video where a man's OW-branded clothing has the slogan "Only the inferior strive for equality."</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Mixing together equal parts fight club,
strength regimen, motorcycle club and esoteric order, Operation Werewolf is
more than the sum of its parts,” the group’s <a href="https://www.operationwerewolf.com/">website</a> says, continuing, “It is not an organization, but an organism-
living and breathing by its tenets and watchwords, “Iron and Blood.””</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the their website, there’s OW “propaganda”
zines, shirts, hoodies, “99% pure” <a href="https://www.operationwerewolf.com/product-category/cbd/">OW-branded CBD</a>, and <a href="https://www.operationwerewolf.com/store/warpath-conan-the-convict/">“choose your own adventure” books that double as workout manuals</a>. OW market themselves as a lifestyle brand, but they’re an
offshoot of the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/03/27/chorus-violence-jack-donovan-and-organizing-power-male-supremacy">Wolves of Vinland</a> (WoV), a
white nationalist neo-Pagan group.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rose City Antifa <a href="https://rosecityantifa.org/articles/the-wolves-of-vinland-a-fascist-countercultural-tribe-in-the-pacific-northwest/">profiled</a> the WoV and OW in 2016. They
described OW as a “feeder” organization for Wolves of Vinland.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Most new members from the current era of
[WoV] are drawn up from the OW ranks, for their dedication to the political and
quasi-religious goals which are preached ad nauseam in OW forums, publications
and merchandise,” Rose City Antifa wrote.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">WoV received funding from white nationalist
Counter Current Publishing. The Washington/Oregon chapter of Wolves of
Vinland’s leader Jack Donovan, who <a href="https://www.counter-currents.com/2013/03/anarcho-fascism/">describes himself</a> as an
“anarcho-fascist,” spoke at the white nationalist American Renaissance
conference and at Richard Spencer’s National Policy Institute. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Donovan and OW leader Paul Waggener preach an
anti-trans, anti-PC culture hyper-masculinity that became popular with the
mens’ rights activism (MRA) currents in the alt-right. One of their t-shirts <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNsopkV7S8Y&feature=youtu.be">featured in a promotional video</a> but
apparently not available in their online store has the slogan “Only the inferior
strive for equality” on the back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">April 5<sup>th</sup>–Chicago</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna planned to play two shows in Chicago.
Their locations on the band’s Facebook events page is posthumously is listed as
“North Korea.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Live Wire Lounge was supposed to host their
early show. Cobra Lounge was supposed to host their late show. Both venues
cancelled and punk venue Exit Chicago <a href="https://twitter.com/ExitChicago_/status/1112468719085801479?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1112468719085801479&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthreadreaderapp.com%2Fthread%2F1109256880310771712.html">removed</a> Horna tickets from a raffle they
were having. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They played one show at Ranger Studios and
Sound, a recording studio in the west Chicago suburbs. The promoter, Sound Zero
Productions, asked people not to mention antifa in the comments of the photos
they posted after the performance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">April 6<sup>th</sup>–Maryland</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna were supposed to play Schizophrenia
Hall in Hyattsville, Maryland. Hyattsville Mayor Candace B. Hollingsworth <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorCBH/status/1109851760749879298">got involved</a> in the
shutdown campaign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"That’s not in the city (outside of
my/our jurisdiction). Still worth letting county representatives know,” she
wrote on Twitter on March 24th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Juan Luis Cruz, the owner of metal promotion
Templo de Lucifer Prods, had the show moved to El Gran Chaparral in New
Carollton, Maryland the next day. He claimed early tickets were sold out the
day before. El Gran Chaparral decided against hosting the band and on the 26<sup>th</sup>,
Cruz had the show moved to an undisclosed location in Ashburn, Virginia,
available only to those who bought tickets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Templo de
Lucifer Prods also accused MetalSucks writer Axl Rosenberg of <a href="http://archive.is/hklCa">being a pedophile</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For days afterwards, people asked where the
venue would be. Cruz cited Heresy Labs tweets updating activists on the
location of the show to justify not announcing the venue until “two hours
before the show star [sic].” On the day before the show, he told ticketholders
to meet at the Rosel Hill Shopping Center in Alexandria, Virginia, which he
said was “ten minutes” from the venue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“There is Macdonald[sic] on that shopping
center u all can meet there,” Cruz wrote, adding “antifas[sic] will not win
this.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“First band is supposed to start in 70
minute; where do we go?” Dale Rich asked at 3:50pm the day of the show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cruz <a href="http://archive.is/KKiAE">posted the location</a> half an
hour later. It was the Filipino Multicultural Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A fan <a href="http://archive.is/Dhqe4">wrote</a> the next day that “everything
went perfectly, attention to the bands, sound, local, camaraderie with
everyone, no mayor [sic] incidents, and the most important thing no masked
protesters.” They followed this with several middle finger emojis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">April 7<sup>th</sup>–Brooklyn, New York</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The last time I saw Horna live their
vocalist whipped out his dick on stage and pissed on his hands because uh,
Satan, I guess?” Chris Birch <a href="http://archive.is/ojT4O">wrote</a> on the event page for Horna’s
Brooklyn show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=aqeV_bMfZHM">apparently</a> backs up this claim.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/metalmafiarecords/photos/gm.511461149380822/2207195939344036/?type=3&theater">banner image</a> for the New
York show was a house on fire with ‘SOLD OUT’ in red letters over it. They were
supposed to play the Kingsland on Norman Avenue. The Kingsland issued a
statement, <a href="http://www.brooklynvegan.com/horna-gigs-cancelled-after-racism-accusations-the-kingsland-included/">quoted in Brooklyn Vegan</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The dangers of working with outside bookers
is that at times, things like this fall through the cracks and when that
happens, we take heed to the warnings and heads up from you. Our brothers and
sisters who are the beating heart of NYC live music culture,” the Kingsland’s
statement read in part.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They
cancelled the show within a day of the MetalSucks article about Horna’s NSBM
ties. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“#1 no show was cancelled it was just moved</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">#2 if you have your ticket don’t panic just
wait for info</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">#3 FUCK ANTIFA. Fuck THE KINGSLAND,” Promoter
Metal Mafia Records wrote in a now-deleted post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Heresy Labs pointed out that Metal Mafia’s
founder, Eduardo MacLeod, posted <a href="https://twitter.com/heresysquad/status/1109602555221336064">an anti-Semitic meme</a> on his <a href="http://archive.is/Ap3go">Facebook page</a>. He also posted an <a href="http://archive.is/R0OEy">Islamophobic</a> one last
year. MacLeod’s band, Azanigin, was booked to open for Horna in New York and
New Hampshire.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Metal Mafia claimed the location would be
revealed via email to ticketholders. Several people in the following days
posted that they couldn’t go and were selling their tickets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The day before the show, Heresy Labs <a href="https://twitter.com/heresysquad/status/1114743329453826048">claimed</a> that Horna’s show was at the SL
Lounge in Elmhurst, New York. On the day of, New York City Antifa <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCAntifa/status/1115018003115053057">claimed</a> it was moved again to Las
Catrinas Bar in Queens. Fans were annoyed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Dear Horna, I know you wanted to avoid
Antifa because of bad press but changing the venue 3 times is pretty annoying,”
Eva Sanchez <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv-RhS4h6y-/">wrote on Instagram</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I get the feeling that metal mafia records
purposely changed the location to a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood,”
Sanchez wrote on a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv_EHvLhifO/">later post</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some
antifascists showed up to observe, apparently without incident. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Half the people there were locals speaking
Spanish. Doesn’t seem like a recruiting opportunity for them. I’m on my way
home now,” one antifascist <a href="https://twitter.com/TheIronFront2/status/1115115711792320513">wrote</a> on Twitter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They were
later <a href="http://archive.is/DsJTb">mocked</a> on the Facebook event page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">April 9<sup>th</sup>–New Hampshire</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After taking Monday the 8<sup>th</sup> off, Horna
played The Chop Shop Pub and Grub in Seabrook, New Hampshire. It was one of
three dates (Allentown and Laguna Niguel being the other two) they were able to
keep at the original venues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Chop Shop owner Bill Niland refused to back
down from hosting the band, <a href="https://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20190404/band-with-alleged-neo-nazi-ties-to-play-at-chop-shop">telling the Seacoast Online</a> “What
the Antifa people have supplied me with for proof is propaganda written by
Antifa supporters,” adding that “What they are doing is wrong and original
music supporters should not support their censorship.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Niland claimed that he couldn’t find any
other sources to back up antifascists’ claims.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna’s ties to NSBM have been documented by
reporters, primary source documents, and statements from band members, not just
antifascist groups.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Niland also told Seacoast Online he was “contractually
obligated to host the show, as he is working with an outside booker that is
bringing Horna to the Chop Shop.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“My attorney says if I cancel, the agency
will come after me for the full monetary value of the event. Plus attorney
costs,” Niland said in his Seabrook Online interview. “I am not in a position
to defend nor pay out for canceling the show.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The show, <a href="https://twitter.com/heresysquad/status/1115755999242022912">Heresy Labs pointed out</a>, was hosted
by Paul Heathen, aka Paul Hamblet of NortherN/Cold Northern Vengeance. Heresy
Labs described them as a “Nazi heathen metal band.” </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZe-RotHLbv-uF2diJcfy-lDaNyvAc4_x32qbImfx30L-6nk3bBXzpfMhMc3Bfq8R4l3pl79g19xAQs0_-tX2SsoQN0e-PnULC0xSuAx5sEfmQRJPx9XFN4HEFWj4GfiL84iEq-RaUFHc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-16+at+3.40.29+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1178" data-original-width="1600" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZe-RotHLbv-uF2diJcfy-lDaNyvAc4_x32qbImfx30L-6nk3bBXzpfMhMc3Bfq8R4l3pl79g19xAQs0_-tX2SsoQN0e-PnULC0xSuAx5sEfmQRJPx9XFN4HEFWj4GfiL84iEq-RaUFHc/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-04-16+at+3.40.29+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">NortherN flyer for Horna's New Hampshire show. Comments include one person saying "Hails! 88!" 88 is a common code for "Heil Hitler."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">NortherN used a Sonnenrad, the symbol
emblazoned on the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto and bulletproof vest, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UltimaThule666/photos/a.232571943429976/1962461187107701/?type=3&theater">in one of their banners</a>. They also
used a wolfsangel, an ancient Germanic symbol appropriated by the Nazis, in its
logo on the flyer for the show with Horna.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZHGb2wK0B9VB6NKpJTJ3WDAZO_wJPYngRTOqOPXAf_iImCyiA8bO2cd8Pub1HBoR3mFAaO2Vc_mxh5oz4gT2hJfOVvElvOI7_ADD53-p75r20D4HBFMsuRxkdd2QI696wQprSXK7IQA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-16+at+4.01.01+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="1600" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZHGb2wK0B9VB6NKpJTJ3WDAZO_wJPYngRTOqOPXAf_iImCyiA8bO2cd8Pub1HBoR3mFAaO2Vc_mxh5oz4gT2hJfOVvElvOI7_ADD53-p75r20D4HBFMsuRxkdd2QI696wQprSXK7IQA/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-16+at+4.01.01+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">NortherN banner featuring a Sonnenrad.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I want to go. Love your music!! Hails! 88,”
Joey Hunt commented on the photo of the flyer. 88 is a well-known neo-Nazi code
for the phrase “Heil Hitler.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But probably most telling, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UltimaThule666/photos/a.232571943429976/1914895635197590/?type=3&__tn__=-R">they posted an anti-Semitic meme on their Facebook page last year</a> that as of this writing is still up. The meme shows a photo of
two Orthodox Jewish boys. Fans of the band commented “Ugly fuckin creatures
man” and “Heebillies.” “Heeb” is a slur for Hebrew.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9oZBKYNHJJUkAx4XXzM-HnBo2FBgR4X-IeRBlkeQStrc2Kq6K5ekht0wlLslE4VA7nLaAs0R-XS55r2KSPNhDkX_mm4i0fcGyKnCVKWqL0g85sqGVpMkakBeSl_8LZU7QLlrJZqstsdc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-16+at+4.00.28+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1600" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9oZBKYNHJJUkAx4XXzM-HnBo2FBgR4X-IeRBlkeQStrc2Kq6K5ekht0wlLslE4VA7nLaAs0R-XS55r2KSPNhDkX_mm4i0fcGyKnCVKWqL0g85sqGVpMkakBeSl_8LZU7QLlrJZqstsdc/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-16+at+4.00.28+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anti-Semitic meme posted on NortherN's Facebook page. Fans remarked that the Jewish boys depicted are "Ugly fuckin creatures."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a statement on Facebook, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UltimaThule666/photos/a.232571943429976/2261901447163672/?type=3&theater">the band said</a> it has “never
claimed the NSBM label.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The show was a success.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Thank you for coming! People from all kinds
of ethnic backgrounds came to this "Nazi" show. Imagine the logic
behind that?” Hamblet wrote on the event page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">April 10<sup>th</sup>–Allentown, Pennsylvania</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Police will be hot on the block just in case,
guess the Metal haters called and they were kind enuff to watch parking and
area,” Skip Horn of Biz R Entertainment, the promoter for Horna’s last show of
the tour wrote on the day of the show.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“If you wear ..Any[sic] Hate propaganda you
will be asked to leave,” he added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The show at Jabber Jaws Bar and Grille in Allentown
was met with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/556803468174951/?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A%223%22%2C%22ref_newsfeed_story_type%22%3A%22regular%22%2C%22feed_story_type%22%3A%22117%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22%5B%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22newsfeed%5C%22%2C%5C">protest</a> organized by a page called Lehigh
Valley Antifascist Updates (LVAU.) LVAU <a href="http://archive.is/uMhUi">gave activists a script</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LVAUpdates/photos/basw.AbrIZonqkzm7rYLdyQKjCIzEnv4dOHSKsyF2mJsers2YUyZh_Y6LbNSwFQksZHWt2gX0NOspssSCS9dwPgKneK5A5P2XKHSfv_or_PZYKSJ24cze43ZIj2DnFejUyiCkyLCvqi8vKabURP8FwMY-AZSzlaVbhaQsRNyUP0ltQ6zDxQ.2238937929664388.2197820">for call-ins</a> and
announced they’d be at the venue from 4-8pm. Lehigh Valley Democratic
Socialists of America <a href="https://twitter.com/DSALehighValley/status/1116081146947940352">were in attendance.</a></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Known neo-nazis will be at this show. Please
come out and show this kind of hate is not welcome in our community!” the event
page’s description read. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You
got chased off by the people you pretend to protect haha. Everyone hates antifa
just give up,” Joseph Tommasi said on LVAU’s page.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tommasi also posted a 21-second video showing
a handful of activists, some masked, being shouted at.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“You’re on my fucking property in my
neighborhood!” someone shouts out of frame. </span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the activists apparently tries to ask
the shouting person if they know what’s going on inside the venue.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I don’t, nor do I care right now. Go the
fuck over there! And mister-fucking-I-have-a-mask-on, go the fuck over there!”
the out-of-frame person says. The protesters appear to turn around and leave
and he says “Thank you” as they do.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An activist replied to Tommasi’s video comment
with a screenshot of his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/joseph.tommasi.545/photos?lst=1546248560%3A100023904732906%3A1555472682">old Facebook banner</a>. It was a <a href="http://archive.is/mHBR9">photo</a> of white nationalist mass murderer Dylann Roof. Tommasi didn’t
reply again.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Allentown show was the last of three to
keep its original venue. The number of people going wasn’t made public. Rough
head counts of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211162142003159&set=bc.AboObfEcuIhiqzgNdxpHZwylO4s3AMy7gsutR_rwNxQqu77hDhNN7b3p1Lw7nHP8DmAazTriS9chSUXn6Kkq5tDZ5TpebocXHQ_SKhbFiQNDuNbL8XFBq-nzkbzkT_cISQY5W6IMYz7bwA8SprQq8xze&type=1&opaqueCursor=AbrGLC1GW">photos</a> at the show indicate at least 30
people attended.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anarchist news site It’s Going Down <a href="https://itsgoingdown.org/this-week-in-fascism-5-knockin-on-odins-door/">claimed</a> “Horna wrapped up its US tour at
a sports bar in Allentown, PA playing to a room half full of old, bald metal
nazis.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BURNING THOUGHTS, BURNING ACTIONS</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Two days before
Horna’s first show of the U.S. tour, the 21-year-old son of a sheriff’s deputy,
Holden Matthews, allegedly burned down a historically black church in Louisiana.
The day they played Austin, another burned down. The day they played Denver, a
third. Matthews was arrested on the day of Horna’s last U.S. show. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/04/16/man-accused-burning-down-three-churches-louisiana-has-been-charged-with-hate-crimes/?utm_term=.42ff001dd2b3">He’s now facing hate crimes charges</a>. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Matthews had a <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/crime_police/article_6797d334-5e41-11e9-acd8-03bb611794a3.html">history of beliefs</a> that echoed famous pagan neo-Nazi
church burner, murderer and Burzum frontman <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/mar/11/norwegian-black-metal-varg-vikernes">Varg Vikernes</a>.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It should be noted
that at least one of the pagan/Norse religion groups Matthews belonged to on
Facebook expelled him for his alleged actions. There are people who genuinely
practice these beliefs peacefully and there are white nationalist groups like
Wolves of Vinland/Operation Werewolf who incorporate them into their narrative.
Similarly, NSBM is merely a subsect of black metal. The genre has a broad
range of tendencies including an explicitly antifascist subsect.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But Matthews was in
a black metal band called Pagan Carnage whose lyrics include "The holy
church is now destroyed/Burning down in Odin's name." The song was posted
to YouTube mere days after one of the church burnings he’s charged with
carrying out.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I can’t stand all
these Baptists around here, bunch of brainwashed people trying to find happiness
in a religion that was forced on their ancestors just as it was on mine. I wish
more blacks people would look into ancient beliefs of pre Christian Africa,” he
wrote on a Facebook post about “Afrikan spirituality.” </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Similar sentiments
drove Vikernes and others in the early 1990s Norwegian black metal scene to
burn down 50 or more churches. White nationalists who adopt pagan beliefs often
see Christianity as a malign foreign influence equitable to Islam and Judaism.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Matthews, like John
Cameron Denton of Attomwaffen Division and Norwegian mass murderer <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10182961/Neo-Nazi-linked-to-Norwegian-killer-Anders-Breivik-arrested-in-France.html">Anders Bering Breivik</a>, is a Burzum fan.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There’s no evidence
Horna themselves inspired these attacks, but they’re part of a broader
ecosystem of fans, bands, music labels, lifestyle brands, festivals, public
intellectuals, and ultimately militias and terrorist networks that sure as hell
did.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>NEW BATTLES, OLD WAR</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When neo-Nazis and fascist rhetoric began to
infiltrate punk and rock music in the 70s and 80s, Rock Against Racism concerts
became the rallying cry against it. In response, neo-Nazi bands like
Skrewdriver organized <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/rock-against-communism">Rock Against Communism</a>. Fascist
and white supremacist movements were <a href="https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/l-punks-80s-90s-kept-neo-nazis-scene/">militantly resisted</a> in punk
rock, but this didn’t happen uniformly across music. </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The fact that not enough has been done about
it in the music scenes, especially in the "dark" genres, also shows
why fascists have focused in those areas: because they can hide behind
subjectivity, "free speech"–much like the plausible deniability in
ironic hipster racism and memes,” Heresy Labs told LCRW.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some subsects of music like NSBM have had
time to grow and become organized. <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/neo-folk-music-folks-futuristic-cousin-has-a-nazi-problem">Other, newer genres like neo-Folk are now experiencing issues with
alt-right entryism</a>. Horna’s tour and the shutdown
campaign against it are the latest battle in a long conflict over cultural
spaces.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It's definitely generating discussion in the
metal community about taking things like this more seriously, if nothing else,”
Heresy Labs said. “And [it’s] also getting anti-fascist activists to take
things like this happening in the music scenes more seriously too.” </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SO WHAT DO YOU DO?</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Horna tried to
categorically dismiss the accusations against them. They insisted they were
just another black metal band without substantively addressing any of their
past and present associations–or lyrics. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many fans,
promoters and venues followed suit, denying, dismissing and rationalizing the
band’s links to the world of NSBM away. They often used a vague notion of free
speech to defend hosting the band. More often, they hid behind the ethnicities
of people who didn’t have a problem with Horna when confronted. Some asked how
Horna could be a racist band when they toured with multiethnic music groups and
multiethnic crowds attended the shows. None substantively addressed the basic
argument antifascists were making.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Antifascists argue that when bands with
active ties to NSBM like Horna get to play shows, fascists and white
nationalists come out of the woodwork and use those shows to network and
recruit. And when Nazis get to network and recruit, antifascists argue, people
get hurt and people die.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When Horna came to
Houston, the leader of a white nationalist terrorist network that planned large-scale
attacks and has a body count of at least five people showed up. We don’t know if anyone
was radicalized–or further radicalized–that night. But people are meeting in
private chatrooms and using the kind of bands that Horna has members, labels ,
and lyrics about exterminating Jews in common with to spread their messages.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Take it from someone in a private chatroom where the Nazis of the Traditionalist Workers Party could be honest with each other, free from prying eyes: </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“NSBM is redpilled
and white and brings a lot of guys in the movement.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That movement kills
people.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And it wants to
kill a hell of a lot more.</span></div>
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</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-13789592267859387412019-02-16T16:04:00.000-08:002019-02-22T12:58:46.358-08:00WHEN A PORTLAND TRANS WOMAN WAS ATTACKED, A PATRIOT PRAYER ASSOCIATE APAPRENTLY CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY AND ANOTHER HARASSED HER GOFUNDME<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjINtqTaPS94rcQ5FVVynx8m3TfUhqdK7YiWoK1vDz8H-LYH-yflB-DPUg9xp3q_c2efJHC2IKB39tH_GLMhO4vKJQ8Jr71l_j_BNIZVleNkjSmBleYvloeea5SVFCr9tdRZV1f7_BUqU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-12+at+12.32.48+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1496" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjINtqTaPS94rcQ5FVVynx8m3TfUhqdK7YiWoK1vDz8H-LYH-yflB-DPUg9xp3q_c2efJHC2IKB39tH_GLMhO4vKJQ8Jr71l_j_BNIZVleNkjSmBleYvloeea5SVFCr9tdRZV1f7_BUqU/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-02-12+at+12.32.48+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tweet Deme Cooper sent out apparently claiming responsibility for the February 10th attack.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Update 8:06PM: This article has been updated to include breaking news on another attack.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Correction February 22, 12:06PM: This article has been updated to correctly attribute the breaking report on 2/17.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“A beloved member of our community was
violently attacked from behind with a baseball bat possibly by multiple
individuals in the Buckman neighborhood near S.E. Morrison,” the GoFundMe page
for “<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/trauma-recovery-fund-for-our-girl?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fb_dn_postdonate_r&fbclid=IwAR3RdIiZHAlv7Hfmlzy3zQDNaKyZA9NB3ZuvVo6f-R3jpLnoGAUQmF9rd2o">Trauma recovery fund for our girl</a>” reads. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The attack occurred sometime around 1AM on
Sunday the 10<sup>th</sup>. The survivor, Sophia, said she was ambushed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I was
bleeding for almost 2 hours,” she recounted on the GoFundMe page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jack Buckley, a former EMT, was visiting
Portland with some friends for the weekend. They were walking back to their
room that night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“As we crossed the street, Sophia heard us
talking and called out for help and just repeatedly kept asking us for help,”
Buckley said. “I saw right away a contusion on her left cheek and her messed up
left hand.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Temperatures were as low as 23 degrees that
night according to <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/portland-or/97209/february-weather/350473">Accuweather</a>. They got her off the cold
ground. One of them held her as she sat on the hood of a car. Buckley said
Sophia was disoriented and asked if she was at Yale, where she said a friend
was a professor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“She said she had been attacked,” Buckley
recounted, “and that she hated herself for it. We tried to encourage her but
it’s–obviously, what are you going to say to that?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Buckley called 911 at <a href="https://twitter.com/pdxpolicelog/status/1094556591133605888">3:01 AM Sunday morning</a> according
to Portland PD computer-aided dispatch (CAD) logs. He and his friends waited
with Sophia until the ambulance took off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I’m still processing it. It’s fucking
terrible–excuse my language,” Buckley said, audibly distraught. “This person
was just living her life and got attacked for no reason but hate.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Officer
Edward O. Mitchell arrived on the scene five minutes later. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the original GoFundMe description, Sophia’s
friends said first responders didn’t take her seriously, “told her to be
"more careful,"” and misgendered her. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Buckley doesn’t remember hearing this but
doesn’t rule it out as he was told to stand “about 8-12 feet” away when the
ambulance arrived.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In his initial remarks, Mitchell said Sophia
had “a facial cut, bruises/scratches, thinks [she] was assaulted.”</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8pVmNkFMC-jcVezwmAnxT1cUeF-n3x3__szGXbZJU1iveMwdelkLXdSKd6tT2XfNSHAqHJE1BIzSRNaYSFVk0aE6xKhsTrzfCeD0wf4IGNUXI1KMRQdq7hG4L3tRlQ_gxgp4-6ezH3o/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-16+at+3.03.53+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="1424" height="47" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8pVmNkFMC-jcVezwmAnxT1cUeF-n3x3__szGXbZJU1iveMwdelkLXdSKd6tT2XfNSHAqHJE1BIzSRNaYSFVk0aE6xKhsTrzfCeD0wf4IGNUXI1KMRQdq7hG4L3tRlQ_gxgp4-6ezH3o/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-02-16+at+3.03.53+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Initial remarks from CAD logs obtained by LCRW</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The dispatch logs don’t appear to misgender
Sophia, but when the incident was cleared, Officer Mitchell told dispatchers
that she “admitted to being drunk” and “possibly fell and hit [her] head.”
Mitchell said she “can’t remember what happened or where at.”</span></div>
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</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjueOcKrWqd8XVHcCQUPalxTmlG9SYEc-z4ToV71SLpwlhG_mzZK90tTmeHOXub3S9CXKUq_vRwIGEy_lowqeH24x38uT-sCSSvGr9jRztffp7zD8ATGXfwuKYunm_xM7Kj6fWIUGrS4zE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-16+at+3.05.46+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="138" data-original-width="1252" height="35" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjueOcKrWqd8XVHcCQUPalxTmlG9SYEc-z4ToV71SLpwlhG_mzZK90tTmeHOXub3S9CXKUq_vRwIGEy_lowqeH24x38uT-sCSSvGr9jRztffp7zD8ATGXfwuKYunm_xM7Kj6fWIUGrS4zE/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-02-16+at+3.05.46+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Clear reamarks from CAD logs obtained by LCRW</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On Wednesday, Sophia posted a Google Street
View photo of McLeod Manor Apartments on SE Morrison Street between 15<sup>th</sup>
and 16<sup>th</sup> Avenues. She said she remembered her left arm hitting the
building’s obelisk-like gate tower.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sophia was taken to Portland’s Emanuel
Hospital. Officer Cuong D. Nguyen’s initial remarks at 8:01AM said she arrived
by ambulance “approximately four hours ago”–about an hour after first
responders arrived at the scene. Sophia’s friends said in the GoFundMe that the
hospital staff treated her with “the same condemnable behavior” as the first
responders allegedly did.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She received “CT scans and treatment for a
series of wounds all over her body from the assault,” according to the
GoFundMe, and later posted a photo of a handout the hospital gave her for
physical assault. The first line of the handout reads “You have been examined
today due to an assault. Someone attacked and tried to harm you.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
organizers of Sophia’s GoFundMe did not respond to a request for comment at
press time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Antifascists and concerned people across the
country quickly spread the link to the donation page. It reached its $5,000
goal within a day and as of this writing is at over $7,300. The money will be
used for the costs of Sophia’s “hospital, ambulance, physical therapy, CT
Scans, counseling post assault, and all obstacles that arise during recovery.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2256708584575006&id=2144035472508985&__xts__%5b0%5d=68.ARDMj9Fm6iK6fUA5AlL3JLOqbfWeejwNFijuOZ5LcohdQlxsQJubzVmsh6TnBi42pMBIH-PnEfGi1o0TG4NPhpKWdAbAwMr5RhtjH88_9zO7XT353hgJhLuepK9aGOJpubLB-1zETrbytj21pM">notice</a> came in Tuesday from the Northwest
chapter of Red and Anarchist Skinheads (RASH) pointing a finger for the attack
at two Patriot Prayer associates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjODBHiC2MdKLtXk5rQu7H0N0xL-fK9KLgLLXE40UWkP4pexGP5c-Q6OYULtaUIk48Y4cv2dNXyG_Eby0__TMQc07-vRli-UyUTX-x5iAbtK_JEMS0temGgPPXfLjH0xFcOawgD_4X4JjY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-16+at+3.10.52+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="912" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjODBHiC2MdKLtXk5rQu7H0N0xL-fK9KLgLLXE40UWkP4pexGP5c-Q6OYULtaUIk48Y4cv2dNXyG_Eby0__TMQc07-vRli-UyUTX-x5iAbtK_JEMS0temGgPPXfLjH0xFcOawgD_4X4JjY/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-02-16+at+3.10.52+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RASH NW notice about the attack.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Patriot Prayer is a diffuse far-right protest
group with ties to militias like the Oath Keepers and III% Militia, white
nationalists and the “Western Chauvinist” fraternal organization the Proud
Boys. Based in Vancouver, Washington, they frequently travel to Portland to
stage rallies that often attract extremists. There have been at least four
murders tied to Patriot Prayer <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2017/05/police_responding_to_ne_portla.html">rally attendees</a> and <a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2018/08/01/a-portland-tattoo-artist-fatally-shot-a-homeless-man-in-the-parking-lot-in-front-of-his-business-oregon-law-says-the-shooting-was-legal/">associates</a> <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/proud-boy-allegedly-murders-brother-with-a-sword-thinking-hes-a-lizard_us_5c36042ee4b05b16bcfcb3d5">so far</a>. The Portland Police Bureau has
also recently come under fire because texts <a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/02/14/texts-between-portland-police-and-patriot-prayer-ringleader-joey-gibson-show-warm-exchange/">revealed</a>
an officer aided Patriot Prayer by telling them where leftist protests were
taking place and overlooking outstanding warrants on members of the group.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Deme Cooper and Proud Boy/Patriot
Prayer/Copwatch affiliate Chris Ponte are currently claiming the attack on Twitter
and in the case of Chris Ponte, posting information listing aspects of the
attack and hinting at responsibility,” the RASH Northwest post reads.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ponte <a href="https://twitter.com/AntiFashGordon/status/1095855385653755904">posted</a> an “Antifa Hunting Permit” meme
at 6:43AM that morning. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3f_63bd0Mh374mVS-Y_wKXw0TzbR-0po7Vvf1h5CocvjgKkeaCVH0uS-J_5dm131p1IPaEwfkssC_UnAzjsy5pAwZM2SU9Xw8dGHuqSRXgqb-Q9oDq06y5zfja40K6MHfqgoheq0lK4/s1600/IMG_1949.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3f_63bd0Mh374mVS-Y_wKXw0TzbR-0po7Vvf1h5CocvjgKkeaCVH0uS-J_5dm131p1IPaEwfkssC_UnAzjsy5pAwZM2SU9Xw8dGHuqSRXgqb-Q9oDq06y5zfja40K6MHfqgoheq0lK4/s320/IMG_1949.JPG" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0563c1;"><u>Screenshot of Ponte's meme and "Baseball Bat" comment taken from @Antifashgordon's Twitter account. LCRW viewed the tweet before it was taken down but missed taking a screenshot of it.</u></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Baseball Bat beatdowns coming your way
Antifa…Payback is a mother!” he captioned the picture. The tweet was later
reported and taken down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In response
to antifascists connecting this tweet with the attack, Ponte took to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/chris.ponte1/posts/2055601924493693">Facebook</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Yeah
fucking right losers! I don't attack anyone with baseball bats,” he said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Deme Cooper
responded to the same antifascists by apparently admitting to the attack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Sucks for your retarded comrade, we
should’ve ended them instead of let them live. Next time I’ll make sure they
don’t make to a hospital,” Cooper wrote on Tuesday. Ponte responded with “Lol.”
The tweet appears to have been deleted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ponte was definitely in town at the time. At
1:41AM Sunday morning, Ponte posted an eight minute <a href="https://www.facebook.com/chris.ponte1/videos/2052767701443782/?lst=1546248560%3A100001317150490%3A1550192616">livestream</a> titled “Snowtime CopWatching
Portland.” Cooper’s location wasn’t revealed through social media at the time
of the attack, but a <a href="https://twitter.com/AirlinerPDX/status/1094357167954522112">tweet</a> he sent the day before tagged
his location as Portland and he was in Portland filming on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeM2VyGPPY4">Wednesday</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to a 2017 article by <a href="https://rosecityantifa.org/articles/csc/">Rose City
Antifa researchers</a>, Cooper “has been seen
physically attacking activists on multiple occasions and generally tries to
antagonize leftists while filming their reactions.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Rose City Antifa article also cites a
2016 complaint that states a Matthew Demetrius Cooper fled Virginia to Oregon
to avoid charges for “two counts of forcible sodomy on a victim under age 13.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LCRW attempted to verify this was the same
person as Deme Cooper. Online records searches at the Oregon Judicial
Department and Multnomah District Attorney’s office prove it was a real case. A
related court record from Virginia lists his race as black, which Cooper <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BMQUJpQgVkJ/">is</a>. His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/demetrius.cooper.376/about?lst=1546248560%3A100006944808554%3A1550278214">Facebook page</a> shows the
same birthdate as the court document. Posts from Cooper’s Facebook page show he
claimed to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/demetrius.cooper.376/timeline/story?ut=32&wstart=-2051193600&wend=2147483647&hash=1713440078897469&pagefilter=3&ustart=1">live and work in Oregon</a> at the time
the state of Oregon was prosecuting the case. The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/AirlinerWorldMore-105172466179954/about/?ref=page_internal">Facebook page</a> for his
personal “Airliner World and More” media presence lists the founder as
“Demetrius Demster Cooper” and his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/demetrius.cooper.376">Facebook
page</a>’s extension is “demetrius.cooper.376,” indicating
that “Deme” is short for “Demetrius” for him. In the Rose City Antifa article, Cooper
was photographed with a press badge for a media collective called Common Sense
Conservative (CSC,) which has filmed many of the violent confrontations between
Patriot Prayer and counter-protestors. LCRW reached out to CSC through their
Facebook page and asked if a Matthew Cooper was ever associated with them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“No Comment,” a CSC representative who declined
to give their name said, adding in their response to LCRW “I know who you are
and I know what you do. Any information on Matthew Cooper, you can get from get
from Matthew Cooper. This organization has nothing to give you.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cooper did not respond to requests for
comment sent through his Twitter and an email associated with his YouTube
account at press time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One post on Cooper's Facebook seems to allude to the crime. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/demetrius.cooper.376/posts/1837140883194054">On October 30th, 2016 he posted</a> "Apparently I did something wrong, what thing was is anyone's guess. But it's apparent that I had something to with it.....life..." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Given the facts uncovered so far, if Deme
Cooper isn’t the person listed in these court records, then a person of the
same race with the same birthday who lived in the same county in Oregon at the
same time as him with an almost identical name faced pedophilia-related
charges.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Oregonian <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2018/04/portland_cop_watcher_gets_6_mo.html">reported</a> last year that Ponte’s police
watchdog activities, including filming in front of officers’ homes, prompted a
stalking order from Portland Police Captain <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2014/07/portland_police_capt_mark_krug.html">Mark Kruger</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">, who himself was previously disciplined in part for erecting memorial
placards to Nazi soldiers. </span>Ponte also
faced an investigation from Portland PD. He received six months in jail and six
months home detention for target shooting in a national forest last year. He
was previously convicted for possessing a stolen car and was forbidden from
handling guns.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ponte is associated with Cooper through a
cop-watch group called “Film the Police.” Both are also involved with “PDX
Crew,” a group of Patriot Prayer members and Proud Boys lead by Haley Adams,
who’s <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2018/11/damn-straight-support-white-pride-far-right-organizer-haley-adams-embraces-white-nationalism-exclusive-interview/">on the record</a> saying she
“support[s] white pride.” Ponte claims he was unaware of the pedophilia-related
allegations against Cooper and that Cooper never mentioned such allegations to
him. He also said Cooper’s threats weren’t serious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“In my opinion i believe he is just using his
free speech to troll them. He is not a violent person,” Ponte told LCRW via
Facebook messenger.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ponte donated six dollars to the recovery
fund, saying on <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisPonte3/status/1095447567301636096">Twitter</a> that he chose the number six
because it’s “bad juju.”</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nR_TYHJ6VUHEa2AKTIyd0T7kypE4xlmwSp5bSOnA0nADp-0N-BGS33nInvgOfBUxser8ZUYEOYczjylO6PmyQSLvihpgASPINw681Y-08Lb5JESVJ8Ux8sfyid3IqcZ2mxGdTnPE8I0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-12+at+1.33.07+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="900" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nR_TYHJ6VUHEa2AKTIyd0T7kypE4xlmwSp5bSOnA0nADp-0N-BGS33nInvgOfBUxser8ZUYEOYczjylO6PmyQSLvihpgASPINw681Y-08Lb5JESVJ8Ux8sfyid3IqcZ2mxGdTnPE8I0/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-02-12+at+1.33.07+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">GoFundMe notification of Ponte's donation.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“This Is a false flag event
for a group called Antifa that terrorizes the people of Portland. This is a
scam,” Ponte wrote on the GoFundMe page.</span></div>
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</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4wriFhAmcqCqwDMkFvCGw6yozHsqcVNAnT6blFdB2SMT4OWKfldlSYXYxOnWvzgsu2W-Kii5a7oLhrDKbbD5K4r0pnQRYKWQBe0RwDTDEd66YE257hqEkbbDT5DFKVDmw3i0qpElPfE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-12+at+2.48.17+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="1502" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4wriFhAmcqCqwDMkFvCGw6yozHsqcVNAnT6blFdB2SMT4OWKfldlSYXYxOnWvzgsu2W-Kii5a7oLhrDKbbD5K4r0pnQRYKWQBe0RwDTDEd66YE257hqEkbbDT5DFKVDmw3i0qpElPfE/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-02-12+at+2.48.17+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ponte's comment on the GoFundMe.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ponte also directed his
social media followers towards the campaign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“They made up this fake attack and injury to
collect money to fund there [sic] terrorism. Please go flag this fake gofundme
account,” he wrote on his<a href="https://www.facebook.com/chris.ponte1/posts/2056292207757998">
Facebook</a>.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEt7FZf6_EJOf-OmcoxK2yLpkssjtLJfhPywX9C4p3u4GpYcQAMwfjA62bJ49KTHYGO1FlxykcCMXqYyAq0G2JdZrSQrOsZeMZ_DZxpOMcPfv2xKR8phSj6q7CPNn-QwXkAErfu0hw_I/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-12+at+12.17.21+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1048" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEt7FZf6_EJOf-OmcoxK2yLpkssjtLJfhPywX9C4p3u4GpYcQAMwfjA62bJ49KTHYGO1FlxykcCMXqYyAq0G2JdZrSQrOsZeMZ_DZxpOMcPfv2xKR8phSj6q7CPNn-QwXkAErfu0hw_I/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-02-12+at+12.17.21+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ponte's Facebook post imploring his followers to flag the GoFundMe for Sohpia.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Claiming something is a “false flag” or
staged event has become a <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/26/mail-bomber-false-flag-theories-overwhelm-discourse-terrorism">common response</a> to events
that don’t further the narratives of the far-right. Perhaps the most infamous
case of this was with conspiracy theorist and radio show host Alex Jones, who claimed
the Sandy Hook massacre that killed 26 people–20 of which were children–was a
false flag and part of a plot to seize U.S. citizens’ guns. A lawyer for one of
the victims families’ claimed in one episode of his show that Jones <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/alex-jones-claims-free-speech-as-defense-in-defamation-suit/">broadcast
families’ home addresses after a viewer called in and threatened the family on
air</a>. Jones is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/us/politics/alex-jones-sandy-hook.html">currently facing defamation suits</a> from families of the victims, who faced death threats, stalking
and harassment after Jones claimed they were “crisis actors,” or people hired
to play the part of a victim in a staged event. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“At the moment, a nationally recognized hate
group is targeting this campaign. A member of the LGBTQ community was beaten a
block from a gay bar in cold blood with bats to the back of the head. There is
no "false flag" or hoax to queer bashing. Hospital injury reports and
police logs exist which are not subjective banter,” the GoFundMe’s organizers
said in an update posted two hours after Ponte’s comment. Ponte’s seems to be
the only publicly viewable harassment of the GoFundMe.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“It is horrific to see trolls attacking me online
just for being hate crime'd,” she said. “I am trying to get my head back
together to be able [to] teach in the fall.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The day after, Sophia responded to Ponte’s
harassment in the updated description by posting more evidence of the
attack–some of which has since been taken down in further updates. She included
photos of the injuries on her arms and face that match not only her friends’
description, but Jack Buckley’s and the CAD log’s. She also posted the street
view photo of the location she was attacked at and details she remembered, like
her arm hitting an obelisk-like fence gate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The way traumatic events shape memories came
into the national spotlight last year during the controversy surrounding Dr.
Christine Blaise Ford’s allegations of sexual assault against now-Supreme Court
Justice Brett Kavanaugh. NPR spoke to scientists about the nature of traumatic memories
in a <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/09/28/652524372/how-trauma-affects-memory-scientists-weigh-in-on-the-kavanaugh-hearing">September 2018 article</a> while Ford was
testifying about the incident before Congress. In the article, Harvard
psychologist Richard McNally says that the brain, in a heightened emotional
state, remembers key details at the expense of others. He uses the example of a
robber pointing a gun at a cashier. The cashier might remember the gun in vivid
detail but forget if the robber was wearing glasses or not. Sophia’s
recollections therefore appear to be consistent with the way people generally
remember trauma.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ponte backpedaled when LCRW asked if he stood
by his “false flag” claims and complained about it being assumed to be a hate
crime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“This is a false flag as far as the claim
that some white supremacist or nazi attacked them people,” Ponte said,
continuing, “Why do they claim its a hate crime? Is every attack on a
transgender a hate crime just because they changed there[sic] gender. These
people are liars.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ponte did
not respond to follow-up questions at press time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LGBTQ+ people–trans people especially–are
disproportionately more vulnerable to violence than other groups of people. 2017
<a href="https://www.hrc.org/blog/new-fbi-statistics-show-alarming-increase-in-number-of-reported-hate-crimes">FBI statistics</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"> show</span> that 1.5% of all hate crimes are
against trans people who, according to a <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/press-releases/updated-estimates-show-1-4-million-adults-identify-as-transgender-in-the-us-doubling-estimates-from-a-decade-ago/">2016 UCLA study</a>, make up
0.6% of the population. In other words, the ratio of anti-trans hate crimes to
hate crimes in general is more than double the ratio of trans people to the
general population. The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence’s <a href="https://vawnet.org/sc/serving-trans-and-non-binary-survivors-domestic-and-sexual-violence/violence-against-trans-and">2015 Transgender Survey</a> Report concluded
9% of respondents had been physically attacked and 46% were verbally harassed
because they were trans. The same survey found 65% experienced homelessness,
47% were sexually assaulted at least once in their lives and 54% had dealt with
intimate partner violence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Statistics about trans people are difficult
to track for a number of reasons including inability to safely come out,
misgendering, and difficulty getting the state to acknowledge their identity. <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/deadnamed-transgender-black-women-murders-jacksonville-police-investigation">ProPublica</a> found in 2018 that in 74 of 85
cases they studied of trans people being murdered, police used the victim’s
“deadname”–the name they abandoned after transitioning. For the victims’ families,
friends and communities, this wasn’t just painful and insulting–it indicated to
them that law enforcement didn’t take violence against them seriously.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Threats of violence towards LGBTQ+ people
aren’t new for Patriot Prayer. In December, Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, who is
sometimes described as group founder Joey Gibson’s “<a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/06/patriot-prayer-and-proud-boys-roll-portland-ready-fight">right hand man</a>,” said he
was starting an “anti-faggot movement, anti-butthurt movement,
anti-butt-fucking movement…real patriotic American movement” in a <a href="https://twitter.com/jaredlholt/status/1073772088291418112">two-minute rant</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“You want to tell me I can’t wear my Trump
shirt somewhere? Try to rip it off and you’re going to get your teeth knocked
out and you’re going to get treated like a faggot,” Toese said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys, once
virtually in lockstep in the Pacific Northwest, have recently suffered from
internal conflicts. Toese left Patriot Prayer and reaffirmed his commitment to
the Proud Boys while other members have gone on video to air feuds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jared Holt, a research associate at <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post_author/jared-holt/">Right Wing Watch</a>, said that
right-wing extremist organizations are usually hard to control and prone to
in-fighting. He said that as groups like the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer fall
apart, their members often become more violent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Although the group may be falling apart, the
figures and participants don't disappear or become less hateful,” Holt told
LCRW.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As Patriot Prayer’s internal conflicts
started to show in the last few months, leader <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/americas/2019/02/11/in-portland-a-roving-right-wing-gang-demasks-left-wing-activists/">Joey Gibson began escalating violent tactics with his “Demask
Antifa” campaign. At the same time, Adams, Toese and the PDX Crew targeted an
organizing hall used by the Portland Industrial Workers of the World and
Democratic Socialists of America</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Groups like this are already powered by
rage. Members fantasize about violence and glorify those who engage in it,”
Holt said, “But without a group and a collective image to maintain, there's
less incentive to be nonviolent.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Other threats of violence from Patriot Prayer
affiliates came Wednesday after Luis Enrique Marquez, an antifascist activist who’s
received a lot of ire from the local far-right, was acquitted of misdemeanor
theft charges brought after he took a tripod from a PDX Crew member named Kerry
Hudson during a protest scuffle. Marquez claimed he was disarming Hudson, who Marquez
said was using the tripod as a weapon. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I’m at the point where there’s no justice,
so there’s not going to be any peace,” Hudson said in a now-deleted livestream
preserved on <a href="https://twitter.com/Kherman112/status/1095832892612079616">Twitter</a>.” He added that he isn’t
“calling to beat down on Antifa, but if they come at us–find out, you know what
I mean? It’s time. We’re done.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Patriot Prayer followers took to two posts on Haley Adams' Facebook to vent their rage. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/adamshaley39/posts/10210799044411066">One read</a> "If you see Antifa recording or taking pictures on any device while at an event you are allowed to take their property. Its legal." The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/adamshaley39/posts/10210798037705899">other</a> read "The time of the communist revolution is over; the time for our Counter-Revolution is now." People posted graphics of brass knuckles, American flags and skulls and one that said "Hospitalize your local antifa."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In response to Marquez's taunts on one post, Christopher Ritchie said "I've been to prison before and i ain't scared to go back. Your bitch ass times coming." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On Thursday, Ponte pinned a Tweet that read
“antifa are a joke and I’m done kicking there [sic] ass. I forgive you antifa.
[Portland Mayor] Ted Wheeler we coming 4 your job!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ponte's Twitter account as of this writing is
viewable with a notice that it is “temporarily restricted.” According to the <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/locked-and-limited-accounts">Twitter Support page</a> on
temporary restrictions, this is done when an account “appears to be compromised
or in violation of the <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-rules">Twitter Rules</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/tos" target="_blank">Terms of
Service</a>.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cooper responded to the not guilty verdict by
taking to Twitter to dox Marquez, posting what he claimed was Marquez’s address
and phone number. As of this writing, the dox tweet has only one like–from
Ponte. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Tell him
how upset you are, he prefers face to face confrontations,” Cooper said in the
tweet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On Wednesday, the campaign for Sophia’s
recovery posted an update revealing more attacks had occurred.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“In the time I've been trying to get through
to gofundme, (whom has no contact phone). 2 more lgbtq people have been jumped
and beaten in the same neighborhood,” the update reads in full. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Several Portland-area activists and LGBTQ+
community members have written about these attacks online. Because one attack
survivor has already been harassed online, LCRW will not quote them at this
time in order to protect their safety. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cameron Whitten, director of the LGBTQ+ space
The Q Center <a href="https://www.kptv.com/news/lgbtq-community-members-concerned-after-trans-woman-says-she-was/article_aec39666-30ed-11e9-93e5-336e769e91e4.html">told
Fox12 on Thursday</a> that he’d heard of two more attacks, saying that “[m]ost
of these folks have been assaulted by a group of men with bats and wooden
planks.” Police haven’t received other reports of assault, according to the
Fox12 report, but there is now an ongoing investigation into Sohpia’s attack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Pacific Northwest Antifascist Workers
Collective (PNWAWC), one of the first groups to alert people about the attack
on Sophia, <a href="https://twitter.com/PNWAWC/status/1095785090196459520">said</a> they’d received reports of two
attacks. One, according to PNWAWC, was in the same area as the attack on
Sophia. Another was in the 67<sup>th</sup> and Sandy Boulevard area. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">“[B]oth reporting multiple
attackers,” PNWAWC’s post said, “1 says they were hit from behind with a plank
of wood.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Another attack was reported on February 17th around 3:00PM by Portland resident Jenny Bruso. Bruso said her partner, Brie, was attacked by “two young white men in a maroon Bronco or Suburban at SE 7th & Madison.”<br /><br />“She was walking to her car after work and they pulled up beside her, yelled DIE FUCKING DYKE!,”" she said, recounting that Brie “was struck with an unopened beer in the face thrown from the vehicle and was lacerated, shaken up but she'll recover.”<br /><br />Twitter user @anarchojet, who brought the attack to the attention of Portland's antifascist community, <a href="https://twitter.com/anarchojet/status/1097290149921079297">posted an update at 4:22PM</a> saying “This may be a string of attacks today, possible victim in the Kenton neighborhood within the last hour, same description - burgundy SUV, two white males, young, verbal and physical.” </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Bruso later deleted the post about the attack, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jennybrusounlikelyhikers/posts/893866150784046?__xts__[0]=68.ARBd7qnZ70nDdgAOQPKSszgr7xgoLlN276txi0SFuX4angZdXbG1i2og6sPdeLr4B_co5B2y5jqxNADBBMFlg0O1gI3qnSAU2zxGIme2ziElNeg8MH6PjMUohnAeHDC_x20RpOqaQadAYVBi_XmBc6gqlwHDU3fflWl3651IWkoLIxkfaHuemqTKMgDIt9KDRMbtAjss3nxHwf4ccPaaaaoa9TTO0aGRPm61PYVNpop9f8CE9lisgenN82Bt-j20bxOP6k7tCQ3Xbo3UFU0_cjhPdo9ngFdkkIi4_gU04_KdR7oyVa6WfeNxgQtPMnRJBmPSxZqwYmuJEimbGY0&__tn__=-R">claiming</a> the original post "was taken over by homophobic, white supremacist scum and apologists."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">LCRW will continue to cover these incidents as they unfold. </span></span>
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</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-78227447698096348762019-02-04T14:37:00.001-08:002019-02-04T23:23:25.527-08:00MAGA GIRL ORGANIZATION SET TO HOLD ANTI-LGBT EVENT ON A HIGHWAY OVERPASS<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib2-TBJZkUI3Nk5loTsA3lTA5CdgTkG3ShdfBCzat8zYJsRZZxroFv3e6HvBbdz-wWFS7lIc-PN3-4X83Maqg4BP8pIfJb2lQN-nBPqIDFfseZxfpEUFDcxZQd_J71dfY6D19OlNDxzLY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-22+at+3.58.19+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1194" data-original-width="674" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib2-TBJZkUI3Nk5loTsA3lTA5CdgTkG3ShdfBCzat8zYJsRZZxroFv3e6HvBbdz-wWFS7lIc-PN3-4X83Maqg4BP8pIfJb2lQN-nBPqIDFfseZxfpEUFDcxZQd_J71dfY6D19OlNDxzLY/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-22+at+3.58.19+PM.png" width="180" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Anti-Pedo" t-shirt designed by Denise Ruiz.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Are you sick and tired of watching perverted mentally ill
pedophiles brainwash our youth and society with their idiologies [sic]? They
have abused the rainbow for the last time!!!" reads the description of
MAGA Girl founder Denise Ruiz’s latest rally, the “The Rainbow Event.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ruiz, who organized the<a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2018/12/all-west-coast-alpha-marches-cancelled.html">
Las Vegas “Alpha March</a>” counter to the Womens’ March last month, announced “The
Rainbow Event” last August. According to her posts on the discussion section of
the event page, the event is “"an online Campaign and will be ended with a
huge rally on Feb. 16<sup>th</sup>" at noon to 3pm. The rally will take
place in Yucaipa, just east of San Bernardino, on the Wabash Exit Bridge. Accounting
for the main and backup pages of fellow far-right activist Lexi Davis both saying
they’re going, there are 20 people set to appear at the event.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"No we are not trying to literally take the rainbow
flag out of the hands of gays... it's just a metaphor," Ruiz’s description
says. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the same day the event went up, she posted a meme in
the Facebook page’s discussion with the caption “Pedophelia [sic] is always the
end game of gay marriage; we Christians tried to warn you.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Equating LGBT+ people with pedophiles <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2011/10-anti-gay-myths-debunked">is
a common trope</a> for homophobes and transphobes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The day after the anti-gay marriage meme, Ruiz posted a
photo of an “Anti-Pedo” t-shirt she designed depicting a hanged stick figure
with the word “solution” written under it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After this post, Ruiz <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1087874760682307584">claimed</a> one of her daughters is gay
and said that anyone who disagrees with the event is pro-pedophilia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Among those who plan on attending the event is Arthur
Schaper of MassResistance, a Massachusetts-based organization that the Southern
Poverty Law Center describes as “an Anti-LGBT hate-group.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfI83jqJwnhp3gsSlQA-6eL2IzGa8MwlD6vBBLts362ceuX0mjjHTqXwCTbQRQ8uSvjTd9SUxOVakUy7C04lzW_-351gAVuf2pjTGZNCFXHdM3k3X7IfJJrcYeZaEeLZtPhx_S4iOAdx0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-22+at+4.29.43+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="1002" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfI83jqJwnhp3gsSlQA-6eL2IzGa8MwlD6vBBLts362ceuX0mjjHTqXwCTbQRQ8uSvjTd9SUxOVakUy7C04lzW_-351gAVuf2pjTGZNCFXHdM3k3X7IfJJrcYeZaEeLZtPhx_S4iOAdx0/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-22+at+4.29.43+PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“This is the kind of uprising we need to see in California
against sexual perversion and the LGBT Movement as a whole,” Schaper posted on
the event discussion with a link to his TownHall.com column titled “Americans,
learn from the Yellow Jackets: Stop running and start fighting back.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In August, the SPLC <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/08/16/california-chapter-anti-lgbt-hate-group-massresistance-gets-white-nationalist-member">published
a report</a> detailing how Schaper’s California chapter of MassResistance included
white nationalist Kenny Strawn. Strawn, <a href="https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/2018/03/12/generation-identity-european-far-right-group-launches-america/">according
to UK-based anti-hate group Hope Not Hate</a>, tried to start an American
branch of the European white nationalist organization Generation Identity last
year. Schaper was present at Patriot Prayer’s failed August 2017
post-Charlottesville rally in Berkeley. He’s also written for the Red
Elephants, a far-right media group that promoted the neo-Nazi Rise Above
Movement gang.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Schaper and MassResistance <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2018/12/16/drag-performers-read-children-story-hours-library/2332114002/">recently
gained attention</a> for disrupting “Drag Queen Story Time” events at libraries
<a href="https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2019/01/12/colorado-towns-drag-queen-story-hour-draws-protesters-counter-protesters-windsor/2550820002/">around
the country</a>, claiming they were part of the same plot to indoctrinate young
people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ruiz’s connection to the recent trend of harassing Drag
Queen Storytime events goes further. On January 28<sup>th</sup> she posted a defense
of a “close friend” who was banned from a library in Houston for protesting one
of these events. She doesn’t mention the man’s name but key details from her
account match the <a href="https://m.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Armed-Houston-area-man-kicked-out-of-Montrose-13582139.php?utm_campaign=CMS+Sharing+Tools+%28Mobile%29&utm_source=m.facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&fbclid=IwAR19ehWf0tW5Rgqqwt8o1tXyblXuB-0JBi">Houston
Chronice’s</a> report of the event and identify him as James “Doc” Green Sr,
the host of conservative “Raging Elephant Radio.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Green, according to HPD spokesperson Jodi Silva, was
previously banned from the Freed-Montrose Library for “filming children at the
library.” He allegedly trespassed on January 26<sup>th</sup> to protest a Drag
Queen Storytime event, refusing to leave. Multiple officers had to escort him
out. The police confiscated a concealed handgun that Green brought into the
library.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We have a bunch of homosexuals who are molesting children,”
Green says in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=339&v=6kx1D3bcMUo">livestreamed
YouTube video</a> titled “Arrested for being a Christian,” adding “and they’re
doing it with your help!” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Green was taken to a hospital after complaining of chest pains that Ruiz's post describes as a panic attack. He was release from the hospital the same day without charges. Ruiz’s description of the event doesn’t mention the fact
that Green brought a gun into the library.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">“He
is a patriot. He doesn't want this exposed to children. I agree. I do not want
my taxes going towards the promotion of this kind of sexuality in public
libraries to children,” Ruiz said in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/235466257174347/permalink/310566916330947/">post</a>.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyoyugJ_GwhN_tEojljOG_QOKfigXsWOdMHUc_-bivKsTx4UB9zCqhQqR8LZ6aUENt27K9OAGO05OsN3KCeTDZMR_pNXapS9FszQD2Fr_PA0gQLn1P4p9AXmzIaELFSXyvRbkWEwBkCOQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-22+at+4.40.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="1042" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyoyugJ_GwhN_tEojljOG_QOKfigXsWOdMHUc_-bivKsTx4UB9zCqhQqR8LZ6aUENt27K9OAGO05OsN3KCeTDZMR_pNXapS9FszQD2Fr_PA0gQLn1P4p9AXmzIaELFSXyvRbkWEwBkCOQ/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-22+at+4.40.40+PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another notable attendee of “The Rainbow Event” is Lexi
Davis, a prominent far-right organizer and partner of <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1087874768563400704">open fascist</a>
activist Jourdin Davis. Jourdin Davis is frequently suspended from Facebook
over extreme statements. Last October <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jordin.davis.3958/videos/vb.100024803626159/312182589618526/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab">he
posted a video rant</a> to Facebook about the migrant caravan, saying that if
the caravan reaches the U.S. border, “I think it’s time for us now to start
shooting on sight.” Davis, who claims he went to Berkeley High School, was at
numerous bloody 2017 Berkeley protests.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On August 11<sup>th</sup> in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jourdin.davis/videos/10157599572684409/UzpfSTEzNTAyNjI0MzgxMzYzMDpWSzoyNDA4MzAzMTY2Mzc5NDE/?action_history=null&__xts__%5b0%5d=68.ARAjhDnZOaC_4PJ_O5_vN_WTuTKYYPS8VKy_q3IvUE0Z7DWQO7HkTPpmLFi3K2oCbEPZ1LKlFBEBupR0rX_Zy4kn-LipEkBt">25-minute
video</a> with over 3600 views posted to his Facebook page, Jourdin and Lexi
Davis spoke at length about how the famous rainbow pride flag was appropriated
from Christianity and their objections to educating children about
non-heteronormative gender and sexuality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“What the LGBT community did with the rainbow flag just went
way too fucking far,” Jourdin Davis said, continuing, “They should have made
something that references their own community instead of a biblical story.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The couple both agreed on camera that pedophilia is distinct
from being LGBT+, Jourdin calling pedophilia “a disease with no cure.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Except maybe lead behind the ear,” Lexi added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jourdin
also called helping a child with gender dysphoria to transition “a work in
progress for Satan.”</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Antonio Foreman, who was alt-right internet celebrity Baked
Alaska’s bodyguard during the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, listed
himself as going to the event as well. Foreman has <a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2019/01/laura-loomer-dresses-up-as-racist.html">appeared
recently</a> at conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer’s stunts at the Governor’s
Mansion in Sacramento and Nancy Pelosi’s home in Napa Valley.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Denise Ruiz herself is a self-identified member of the III%
Militia movement, whose members have been linked to numerous hate crimes
against Muslims, including the <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/blog/hate-report-get-to-know-the-three-percenters/">firebombing</a>
of a mosque in 2018. "III%ers" acted as perimeter guard during Unite the Right and distanced themselves publicly from white nationalism in its aftermath.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/235466257174347/permalink/313725186015120/">most recent post</a> on the Facebook page for the event is
an article about New Jersey schools teaching LGBTQ history. As of this writing, six people responded to it with the “angry face” emoji.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This story was
updated on February 4th at 11:23PM to include details about the January 26<sup>th</sup> incident in
Houston and Ruiz’s connection to it as well as newly discovered statements from Jourdin and Lexi Davis.</i></span></div>
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</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-7112017361930251252019-01-31T01:13:00.001-08:002019-01-31T01:13:38.357-08:00LAURA LOOMER DRESSES UP AS RACIST CARICATURE AND GETS ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING AT GOVERNOR’S MANSION
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYp7mWzRH23N_zQhXedxYO8HGy2rHYblQU3rRI1vigi7LggetBpcN4aCB1BDqc7aQlE3rRkeQgyzJkHtlXPawwnJI2fBFSwi6lOS0mLJ6yoVW67s9jjnnF0ENY6ValRyCmQeAMC4a-0dw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-30+at+1.51.32+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="1600" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYp7mWzRH23N_zQhXedxYO8HGy2rHYblQU3rRI1vigi7LggetBpcN4aCB1BDqc7aQlE3rRkeQgyzJkHtlXPawwnJI2fBFSwi6lOS0mLJ6yoVW67s9jjnnF0ENY6ValRyCmQeAMC4a-0dw/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-30+at+1.51.32+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Screencap of Frontline America <a href="http://bit.ly/2FW1NDT">video </a>showing Laura Loomer and Ben Berquam getting arrested for trespassing.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“How many people do we have on the livestream so far?” Laura
Loomer asks, standing on the sidewalk by the Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento. It’s
Wednesday January 30<sup>th</sup>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ben Bergquam grins in the foreground. “I have to do my botox
smile.” He says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They’re both dressed as racist caricatures of Mexican
people, wearing ponchos and oversized sombreros. Bergquam has a fake mustache on.
They do bits and say hello to their followers on the livestream in a voice like
the Frito Bandito. Loomer has a tent set up with photos of people she describes
as “victims of illegal immigrants.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“No hate! No Fear! Rapists are welcome here! No hate! No
fear! Drug dealers are welcome here!” Loomer and her supporters chant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She and Bergquam, who hosts the 1680 AM Radio program
“Frontline America,” will soon step on the mansion’s lawn and get arrested for
trespassing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A crowd of around twelve, some of whom are livestreaming the
event, stand around the three-foot-high fence. Antonio Foreman, Baked Alaska’s
bodyguard during Unite the Right, is there apparently acting as security for
Loomer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At about 1:22PM, an officer tells Berquam and Loomer they’re
trespassing and gives them a chance to leave before they risk arrest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“What’s trespassing? I thought this was open borders in
California?” Loomer says to the officer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Why would [Governor] Gavin [Newsom] invite us to California
and then say we can’t go into his house?” Bergquam asks as part of his bit. At
this point in the video he’s given up on the accent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Loomer’s latest stunt is similar to the one <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/laura-loomer-tricks-undocumented-men-for-her-latest-stunt">she
pulled at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Napa Valley home</a> about two weeks
ago, where she hired three undocumented laborers to trespass on her property. Loomer
wanted to confront Pelosi about having a wall around her home while opposing
Trump’s border wall. According to the Daily Beast, these undocumented men may
not have understood who she was or that they were committing a crime.
Representatives for Pelosi declined to press charges on the men. Loomer’s
group, which included Foreman, complained that the men weren’t deported.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“This feels like a bigoted action,” Bergquam says as he and
Loomer are being handcuffed at around 1:30PM.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Loomer has a history of publicity stunts and tirades. She
claimed survivors of the 2018 Parkland shooting were “being fed lines” <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/infowars-sends-professional-troll-laura-loomer-to-parkland">while
working for InfoWars</a>. She <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/twitter-bans-far-right-activist-laura-loomer">was
recently kicked off Twitter</a> for using common Islamophobic tropes in a rant
against newly elected Representative Ilhan Omar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bergquam is a self-identified Proud Boy who frequently
attends far-right rallies to livestream them for his show. He was at the bloody
April 15<sup>th</sup>, 2017 rally in Berkeley attended by white nationalist
groups like Rise Above Movement and Identity Evropa as well as militias like
the Oath Keepers and the III%ers. On Bergquam’s <a href="https://frontlineamerica.com/about/">website</a> he says he “believes
that abortion is murder, homosexuality is sin, and transgenderism is insane.”
He also claims “[w]e are in the midst of a cultural civil war” whose enemies
include the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Black Lives Matter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Officers allow live-streamers and supporters to get right
next to Loomer and Bergquam as they’re put in the back of squad cars. The
officer holding Loomer’s handcuffs waits so she can make a statement to the
livestreamers. She repeats far-right talking points about politicians like
Pelosi and Newsom letting rapists and cop-killers into the country and giving them
benefits like free housing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“You have a journalist being arrested in Gavin Newsom’s yard
but then illegal aliens last week were not arrested. They’re here illegally!”
Loomer says as she’s being lead into a squad car.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While waiting to pick up Loomer and Bergquam from jail, one
of Bergquam’s assistants took to Frontline America’s livestream to complain to
nearby police officers that a restaurant was refusing to serve them because of
their pro-Trump gear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Guys, call this place. Go ahead and Yelp ‘em,” he said on
livestream as someone from the restaurant attempted to explain the group was
making other patrons uncomfortable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Call ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] they
probably have illegals working for them and they’re afraid,” commenter Julian
Kruger said on the livestream. Multiple posters implored those watching the stream to report the
restaurant to ICE on the baseless assumption there were “illegals” in the
restaurant. The phone number of the restaurant was posted multiple times in the comments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1090828445175541760">Loomer</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1090828445175541760">Bergquam</a>
were booked at 4:33PM and 4:14PM respectively according to the Sacramento
Sheriff’s office and released some time between 8 and 9PM. They’re both due at
Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse, Department 3 at 8:30 AM today. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bergquam posted a video update at 11:33PM in character as
“Poncho Benny,” fake moustache, sombrero and all. He broke character after
repeating his bit about Gavin Newsom apparently personally not letting him on
the Governor’s Mansion property despite what Bergquam describes as an open
border policy. He breaks character to complain about the smell of “bums that literally
crapped themselves” in his holding cell while he was in jail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“It was worth every second of it to have Gavin Newsom have
to watch us get kicked off his lawn. He said everyone is welcome and we tested
him on that and it’s not true,” Bergquam said, returning to his bit character
voice. “Today I identified as an illegal and you kicked me off your property
and that’s not cool.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">One
commenter on the video posted a picture of the Frito Bandito.</span></span>
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</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-64957918633579817712019-01-06T17:30:00.004-08:002019-01-06T17:30:42.805-08:00CANCELLED YELLOW VEST PROTESTS IN SACRAMENTO HIGHLIGHTS CONTEST OVER THE MOVEMENT’S MEANING
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBktfks4R5IjVs14haPcchxM2K-1tMheL2IntmGDAC4d6H1pKxZ1OuRkBuZVUTj3HAqhQm7BE8uyfBbslXSAZJpXwzvoCSvBNIbJKcvRiWNw-yl0ftMFU_-re2lWGIYk74GE3pTWRURs/s1600/yellowv.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1322" data-original-width="1320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBktfks4R5IjVs14haPcchxM2K-1tMheL2IntmGDAC4d6H1pKxZ1OuRkBuZVUTj3HAqhQm7BE8uyfBbslXSAZJpXwzvoCSvBNIbJKcvRiWNw-yl0ftMFU_-re2lWGIYk74GE3pTWRURs/s320/yellowv.png" width="319" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left-leaning Yellow Vest Sac's flyer warning about far-right groups attending a now-cancelled Yellow Vest protest at the State Capitol building in Sacramento.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There’s a fight in the United States over what exactly the
Yellow Vests stand for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Facebook group called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/YellowVestSacramento/">Yellow Vest Protest
Sacramento</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/306369579974177/">planned
a demonstration</a> in front of the State Capitol building for tomorrow morning.
The Facebook event and the Yellow Vest Protest Sacramento page have since been
deleted for unknown reasons. <a href="https://sacramento.carpe-diem.events/calendar/9123762-yellow-vest-inauguration-day-protest-at-california-state-capitol/?fbclid=IwAR0GWUD6kq2CH9Cv0g5YUiwfHXOlqp71u5yrYS1n5R4R6VmIV-oiQgek2J8">The
event is still viewable on the website carpe-diem.events</a>. The description
says it’s a “forum to gather public opinion on a peaceful protest of
unconstitutional gun laws and excessive taxation.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A left-leaning group called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Yellow-Vest-Sac-339548590109594/">Yellow Vest
Sac</a> created an event in opposition <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/600615500362290/">slated for the same
time and place</a>. It’s since been cancelled due to bad weather.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A <a href="https://www.facebook.com/339548590109594/photos/a.344872772910509/344872756243844/?type=3&theater">flyer
posted on their Facebook page</a> on January 1st reads “SHOW UP JAN 7. “Yellow
Vest Protest Sac” is organizing a rally at the Sacramento Capital building. In
attendance will be members of the State of Jefferson, New California, III%
Militia, and other groups affiliated with right wing violence and a history of
committing hate crimes. SACRAMENTO IS PROGRESSIVE!”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Numerous members of the III% Militia have been charged with
hate crimes, including the <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/blog/hate-report-get-to-know-the-three-percenters/">firebombing
of a mosque</a>.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The State of Jefferson is a project to split parts of
northern California and southern Oregon off into a new state with more
right-libertarian laws. The Oath Keepers militia is listed among its supporters,
<a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2017/splitting-difference#jefferson">according
to the Southern Poverty Law Center</a>. The New California movement is a similar
effort to split the more right-leaning rural parts of the state into a new
state</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The left-leaning Yellow Vest Sac group says their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/339548590109594/photos/bc.AbrnZz15H9PW_BfPHNyaAdH1MS1-Xt6u1TH5UPt1orLh2Uz1gxosmRtu2Qy8_09X65IYIyJWJKomRE6L7VqyFNriwTx56sHaXlA-o3HUWstsFD_gbIK5DgdQbstTxHjIjCJ2o9P0bY183xtLMjclmYUPfkhqhsr_UnKRbcf23Q6tg8E1OtljuLgFRzGxi39S96To">demands</a>
are for healthcare, education, “workers rights over corporate profit,” housing,
ending police violence, and an “end [to] enforced austerity.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">James Lee Clark, an activism coordinator at the Sacramento
Green Party, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OccupySac247/posts/1450886728380869">shared the
flyer on January 2<sup>nd</sup></a>. He urged people to come and go in groups “as
there is a possibility that there may be some far right individuals in
attendance.” </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two years ago, a rally at the State Capitol by the white
nationalist Traditionalist Workers Party ended in a brawl with counter-protesters
and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/26/white-nationalist-rally-stabbings-california">multiple
stabbings</a> by neo-Nazi gang members.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the top Facebook photo results for “Yellow Vest
Sacramento,” there’s a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10213402601728043&set=basw.Abq8L0wiT7VVhM9yvZF8CLxBdhesEXmlZn5gkUd9Alnbjmg-ip46WzKfnghNgk_T8WJHzBx_Y1OVchieeTogQgyVMCkdquHkHkpvLCp4Ei-o3eJ8jyMHYKDriBmdV70lmh6K1GvGTjE0g1Qd25LBbCF9.10213402601728043.144963816">picture
of a bungee chord tied in a noose in front of a Confederate flag</a>.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vDtJ4YSyp-W5ViQoMjBKs6QdKHcnkksbiJAjciUBZX7HcuWnEYhyrYwEAx157AryZ43rsJkmMyByxfHftzHz_SlSN4s3x6qI8UOpoqrAoUG8IfNDjI3zovAXcAk5kXwo2suIgwrDkLo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-06+at+1.25.01+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="1600" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vDtJ4YSyp-W5ViQoMjBKs6QdKHcnkksbiJAjciUBZX7HcuWnEYhyrYwEAx157AryZ43rsJkmMyByxfHftzHz_SlSN4s3x6qI8UOpoqrAoUG8IfNDjI3zovAXcAk5kXwo2suIgwrDkLo/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-06+at+1.25.01+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dixon's photo of a noose in front of a Confederate flag captioned "</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monday Justice comes the the [sic] Sacramento Capitol.
Yellow Vest March. Demand Democrats hang."</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Monday Justice comes the the [sic] Sacramento Capitol.
Yellow Vest March. Demand Democrats hang,” writes the photo’s author, Claude E
Dixon. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The photo was posted yesterday, but it was repurposed from
an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10213022588907960&set=ecnf.1489504823&type=3&theater">earlier
post</a> that Dixon captioned “Democrats should fear what is coming. Americans
all we need to do is wake up. I saw it at the MAGA rallies. Time to come
together as a country. Voting didn't work, and if they are not stopped we lose
in 2020. How much more do we tolerate? TIME FOR ACTION.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Clark said in his Facebook post that “[m]any who have signed
up for the right wing version [of the event] are regular conservatives who can
be brought into the working class struggle.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Yellow Vest movement started in France as a popular reaction
to austerity measures–policies by the government meant to balance the budget by
raising taxes and lowering spending on social services. Because the Yellow
Vests aren’t a strictly left/right movement, many on the far-right have been
trying to hijack it in the United States.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Resist Marxism in Boston <a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2018/12/updatethe-yellow-vests-and-far-right.html">tried
to co-opt</a> a Yellow Vests event on December 22<sup>nd</sup>. People at that
event waved III% Militia flags.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Haley Adams, an activist associated with Patriot Prayer and
the Proud Boys in the Pacific Northwest, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Divas4Trump/videos/1012302315623796/">adopted
the Yellow Vest imagery</a> in December for her own livestream protests.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The New California movement <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-california-yellow-vest-movement-joins-french-citizens-against-socialism-and-globalism_2741403.html">donned
yellow vests to make an announcement</a> against “globalism” and “socialism” on
December 8<sup>th</sup>. In the statement, New California movement founder Paul
Preston said they stood in solidarity with the French Yellow Vests. Preston claimed
the French protests were caused by the United Nations Agenda 21 initiative.
Conspiracy theorists think Agenda 21, a 1992 non-binding sustainable
development project, is a blueprint for a malign, totalitarian global
government.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For many, “globalist” can be interchanged with terms like “the
1%.” For far-right conspiracy theorists “globalists” are a cabal of specific
wealthy and powerful people who want complete control of the world. Anti-Semitic
conspiracy theorists, particularly white nationalists, often use the term to
mask their discourse about supposed Jewish control of the world and push for
greater acceptance of their beliefs.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Yellow Vest Sac protest cancelled the event as of
4:42pm, saying “Due to the nature of risk and the nature of the weather, you
should show up at your own risk or not at all.”</span></div>
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</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-82016979472001736882018-12-28T13:43:00.002-08:002018-12-28T13:43:53.712-08:00ALL WEST COAST “ALPHA MARCHES” CANCELLED EXCEPT FOR LAS VEGAS<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHDH58arrK0sL4TmuAwa_ZB8xa0K7IJas-FFVrIadcOTZ4XsRvzAerB9jYCqAo8d2c40lsSi9iOxydB67yVc8k77qPY2ihPh1BuagxHegyayp5vA6FmdYdzywld_3xcGxnjkfOPQBPCg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-26+at+6.37.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHDH58arrK0sL4TmuAwa_ZB8xa0K7IJas-FFVrIadcOTZ4XsRvzAerB9jYCqAo8d2c40lsSi9iOxydB67yVc8k77qPY2ihPh1BuagxHegyayp5vA6FmdYdzywld_3xcGxnjkfOPQBPCg/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-12-26+at+6.37.42+PM.png" width="314" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Screenshot of III% militia supporter and MAGA Girl member Erin Gooch's Facebook post announcing Alpha Marches "on the west coast is now in Las Vegas only!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Denise Ruiz, self-identified III% member and official MAGA Girl store owner, announced a change of plans recently.<br /><br />In the description of a livestream interview Sunday, fellow III% supporter Erin A. Gooch said that the only west coast rally for the nationwide “Alpha March” on January 19th would be in Las Vegas. In the livestream, Ruiz said the march will meet at 11AM at Circus Circus and plans to march to the Trump hotel about a mile away. There will be a brunch beforehand at Ameribrunch and a “networking and cocktail hour celebration” sponsored by the Las Vegas Proud Boys and Nevada MAGA Girls chapter.<br /> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRNeN2HwKkF-9r4syzkfUVRMT1dQxAA-sCp0iXkcTK5V0245wZLHZEitJCwdE2EaGz4GVTv3ZCGYzKR40sAEQqlheo7NPK0EwhzBQjGVP7-GKD58rKbfq6-N52O6eF1pa2If0GDSXAxY/s1600/48243190_372378126901430_2185050176454918144_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRNeN2HwKkF-9r4syzkfUVRMT1dQxAA-sCp0iXkcTK5V0245wZLHZEitJCwdE2EaGz4GVTv3ZCGYzKR40sAEQqlheo7NPK0EwhzBQjGVP7-GKD58rKbfq6-N52O6eF1pa2If0GDSXAxY/s320/48243190_372378126901430_2185050176454918144_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Flyer for Las Vegas Alpha March pre- and post-events sponsored in part by the local Proud Boys chapter. Found on organizer Alexis Davis's "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/patriotLexiofthewildwest/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARDl5_rH_e8bN5b3MoDVipUbF7IQZCFh4sUeOdCbA2IB0QBrQ59mEitEmBnJ6sXIWg6cVYsa2EY-Dsk4&hc_ref=ARR-Mg8P2yZaF3fy_e12NISGsmqpv12s0v5EO8pvhpT9BUU7rG03JCU08M73cE3dBoE&fref=nf&__xts__[0]=68.ARDGxJH-V78pvqnkBYgz1sJPr1ZOecl9p-M2aFKKYU8N3rJgMpM0muEdM1nBQyeiESNhajTJUE_3S1JafoQWLjXTspPBTo5tC0RmFyDVxZtdqCezsF1t43I8YcDX2RMiMJQ_uTnqJFrCheV5mQrElYbI3HXyFVGtCFA_AepR98Tg1Lxfm8EPl4UM3ZGlZHrINNoVi00KS7kQjn4j2KR16GO5Y4e45HzjQt2f7QeR6RPevvhU1wJT-0BT58kYWIPiN0LJZK0JVho4eH84dqiQXUJK6Df_CPzSVRmlNVkTksaXpelhUGECBw5HBs7hrpXonoA">Patriot Lexi of the Wild West</a>" page.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />Other West Coast rallies were previously scheduled in Portland and Fresno.<br /><br />The “Alpha March,” according to Ruiz, is an “ongoing” counter-protest to the national Womens’ March. <br /><br />“MAGA Girls will be making it a permanent thorn in the pussy hats back!” Ruiz said, referring to the pink hats protestors wore at the Womens’ March in response to President Trump’s now-infamous “grab them by the pussy” comment. <br /><br />Ruiz did not give a reason for cancelling the other west coast marches.<br /><br />Gooch said the interview was about how the “MAGA Girls” organization was “evolving” and asked Ruiz about its “new vision.” <br /><br />Ruiz said the group was started as a pro-Trump “women’s support system” that particularly encouraged activists. She said it’s now expanding by adding a “MAGA Men” branch. Both organizations will be under the umbrella of what she called “American Alphas.” <br /><br />Ruiz contrasted the “Alphas” in her organization with “beta males” with “man buns” and “skinny jeans.” She has a history of ranting about deviations from traditional gender roles online and making transphobic remarks. One meme she posted on the Alpha March event page read “The bulge in the pants of a conservative woman is a pistol. The bulge in a liberal woman’s pants is a dick!”<br /><br />Beyond the restructuring and new men’s wing of the group, Ruiz and others in the video imply the “new vision” involves changing tactics. A recurring theme in the almost 45-minute video was going beyond left/right politics. It seems the group is pivoting towards organizing non-partisan charity events as well as right-wing rallies. <br /><br />“The idea is if you love God the way you say you do, it’s time to make a difference. It shouldn’t matter if you’re left, right, blue, brown, green, caca-color” Ruiz’s husband, Geo, said.<br /><br />“I’d rather get a positive answer than get a label from people across the street,” he added. <br /><br />Ruiz and her husband said they participated in such charity events for years before the Trump presidency, but a toy drive they organized for the Ronald McDonald foundation last year went poorly because of their political affiliations.<br /><br />“A lot of people didn’t show up because they found out we were Trump supporters,” Ruiz said. <br /><br />Ruiz and her husband said they’re organizing five events for 2019. One will be April 27th and will fund work with autistic children. Another will be the Las Vegas Alpha March on the 19th next month.<br /><br />Ruiz and the other activists spent much of the video rambling about putting “God back into schools” and other talking points common with the Christian far-right.<br /><br />“Our college professors, they’re so liberal, they don’t want God in anything. But they’ll gladly teach Islam, Satanism, Atheism,” MAGA Girl activist Rosanna Gonzales said.<br /><br />“They're trying to make it we actually have a Muslim president majority House and Senate Muslim,” a viewer named Ronnie Gilmore wrote in the comments.<br /><br />“What sets us apart from the other religions is that Christians will live peaceably among you, where other religions will not. They will rape, they will kidnap, they will torture. They bend all the rules and they twist the rules and try to say ‘oh but according to our religion, this is okay,’” Gonzales said.<br /><br />Numerous members of the III% militia, which Ruiz and Gooch both identify with, have been charged with hate crimes against Muslims, including firebombing a mosque.<br /><br />One of the organizers of the Las Vegas march is Lexi Davis, whose partner Jourdin Davis is a regular at far-right protests in the Bay Area and beyond. Jourdin Davis has gone on multiple anti-immigrant rants. In a video on his since-deleted Facebook account Jourdin Davis said that American citizens might have to gun down any who came across the border.<br /><br />Ruiz, during the conclusion of the video, said “Make America Christian again.”<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span> </span><style><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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</span></span></style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-12772519316804972252018-12-23T20:07:00.002-08:002018-12-23T21:09:32.408-08:00UPDATE–THE YELLOW VESTS AND FAR-RIGHT INFILTRATION<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6O1C5NreNv3ZRvWomalC86ALakAMh5983IdSCgD50TjMAxuZl5bcnDBG5pu7e5MJfHUwfIwj76uRoJ9Q0E-n_Q1n1m3MEtwPMlIyybSQvu2ffNV5tf7s_hbIPEBS8Zq_9I8jM8Co6LM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-21+at+5.00.24+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1169" data-original-width="1600" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6O1C5NreNv3ZRvWomalC86ALakAMh5983IdSCgD50TjMAxuZl5bcnDBG5pu7e5MJfHUwfIwj76uRoJ9Q0E-n_Q1n1m3MEtwPMlIyybSQvu2ffNV5tf7s_hbIPEBS8Zq_9I8jM8Co6LM/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-12-21+at+5.00.24+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Screencap of the first post by @yellow_vest_america on Instagram. The post rants about New World Order conspiracies and "droves of Arabs."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is an updated version of an <a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2018/12/the-yellow-vests-are-coming-tomorrowand.html">article
that ran on December 21<sup>st</sup></a>. It includes comment from a
Maine-based organizer with American Yellow Vests (AYV) who did not give a name.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For over a month now, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gilets jaunes</i> or Yellow Vests, a popular uprising in France that started
in response to a gas tax, has captured international attention. Protests have
been violent, with police often firing less-lethal munitions at demonstrators.
Like the Arab Spring and Occupy movements before it, the Yellow Vests have
spread across the globe. <a href="https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/12/5/basra-demonstrators-wear-yellow-vests-echoing-paris-protests">Yellow
Vests protesting high unemployment in Iraq</a> and <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Yellow-Vest-protest-reach-Israel-rage-against-high-living-cost-mounts-574274">high
living costs in Israel</a> while <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/11/egypt-bans-sale-of-gilets-jaunes-yellow-vests-in-fear-copycat-protests">Egypt
has banned the sale of hi-vis safety vests out of fear of an uprising</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And now it’s come to the United States. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Saturday, a nationwide “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/212559212992030/">YellowVest Movement
American Action</a>” took place. The event seems to be coordinated in part by
the same people who organized the<a href="https://www.facebook.com/AnonymousMayDayMarch/?eid=ARDfbgohiijRwTSwJUhRFH9aVhcKHD6q8m0z1FPawi0l9jT7HfE7ddPzxfeGnvzG3hNYAK0TiPOq-Vfr">
May Day Anonymous March</a>, though <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/ayv2019/events/?ref=page_internal">an
American Yellow Vests</a> (AYV) page also organized the event.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The AYV <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/ayv2019/about/?ref=page_internal">Facebook
page</a> says they are a “nonpolitical peoples movement” who “aim to remove
corruption in all areas and maintain and perfect our system of governance so it
operates for the people and not the interests of the 1%.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">During a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ayv2019/videos/367006853864363/?hc_ref=ARStFFoppNQB27ejTloy1K5m_ZVvWu7JXiCNnG9DZUd401UkkNDnlP2YrhMMe3cfm_E&__xts__%5b0%5d=68.ARBuOAnLT40KW6n1w-t-o5j-_vpF2E7kpE66SLcbWEMRvufzRl4IaD3JdRHxCxDvcV6Sj3U6h50thIIlkvwSawMBxFj05bIfWtxqm">Facebook
livestream by AYV activist Adam Rice</a> the account commented “End
neoliberalism and its wars! We demand self-governance through the right to
referendum and healthcare for all! No more precariat class!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The spokesperson for the group said it is against
destruction of public and private property and that “[a]nyone committing
violence immediately disassociates themselves from AYV by doing so.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the AYV Facebook page’s former moderators, according
to the representative that spoke to LCRW, was linked to the Modern Monetary
Theory (MMT) movement. The AYV page is full of MMT memes. The movement is based
around the ideas of University of Newcastle, New South Wales Economics
professor Bill Mitchell. MMT economics are premised on the idea that governments
spend money into existence and destroy it through taxes. MMT activists argue
for policies like the federal job guarantee. They often try to frame their
arguments outside of left versus right political dynamics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gilets jaunes</i>
protests in France and abroad aren’t organized strictly along left/right lines.
They’re broad working class responses to dissatisfaction with the way centrist
governments like Emmanuel Macron’s craft policies. <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2018/11/29/les-gilets-jaunes-publient-une-nouvelle-flopee-de-revendications_a_23604413/">The
yellow vests in France demand</a> less taxes, more subsidies for hiring young
people, and ending austerity politics–the style of governing associated with
neo-Liberalism and the Washington Consensus. Under austerity, government
spending is reduced and taxes are hiked so government budget deficits can be
reduced. Social welfare programs are typically cut first.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/328024074457485/?active_tab=about">One
event in Sacramento</a> organized by AYV started at 10am didn’t give a meeting
point. The other two events were in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/280727005968296/">San Diego</a> at an
unspecified location and at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/203511960601014/">Consulate General of
France in Los Angeles</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to an Instagram account called <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yellow_vest_america/?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=1268s1u9d2d2c&fbclid=IwAR2e2816FTzzqBkO1h-55PzbmZTnFUbbmsY_CJ9C5_GnLvXNS1b5_uQumzA">@Yellow_vest_america</a>,
the protest was to take place at Sacramento City Hall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Boston area-based Resist Marxism, an organization started by
Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman of Proud Boys and Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights
fame, posted a list of Yellow Vest protests happening last Saturday on its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ResistMarxism/photos/a.1663999880318314/2203035943081369/?type=3&theater">Facebook
page</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We're co-opting the Boston protest, wouldn't be surprised
if we're the only ones there,” the group’s account commented on the post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Maine-based Yellow Vests spokesperson said before the
event that they were aware of the Resist Marxism’s planned attendance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">AYV’s account asked a viewer of the Boston livestream to
refer to the group specifically as ‘American Yellow Vests’ or AYV.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“We are trying to identify ourselves as one and stay away
from right-wing fascist groups who are/may be trying to usurp our movement,” AYV’s
account said in the comment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The livestream shows Resist Marxism holding its banner on
the top of a staircase. A Resist Marxism member said over a microphone that “We
need to end the War on Terror” to whistles of approval from Rice. The Resist
Marxism speaker called the war “an excuse to stick our fighting youth in places
it does not belong to perpetuate the failing system.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A common talking point shared by the pro-Trump right and the
alt-right is objection to U.S. wars abroad on the basis that American troops
being needlessly killed to fight others’ wars for them. Leftists tend to argue
against U.S. wars abroad because they kill civilians abroad, not just U.S.
soldiers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The other prominent speaker ranted vaguely about globalists
before the livestream ended. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The term globalist is shorthand for global elites such as
politicians, bankers and heads of industry. The term was popularized by
far-right talk show host Alex Jones. While some use the term interchangeably with
terms like “the 1%” that just mean the wealthy and powerful, it’s often a
dog-whistle for fringe groups. In different far-right and conspiracy circles
‘globalists’ are secretive people or groups who control the world from the
shadows. ‘Globalist’ also serves as a dog-whistle for Jews in white nationalist
and other anti-Semitic circles. Anti-Semitic conspiracies are typically
premised on replacing malign elites’ influence over the world with Jewish
influence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rice’s Facebook photos of the event show people <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2014347561979869&set=pb.100002139353573.-2207520000.1545543608.&type=3&theater">wearing
III% militia</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2014347561979869&set=pb.100002139353573.-2207520000.1545543608.&type=3&theater">gear</a>
and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2014347631979862&set=pb.100002139353573.-2207520000.1545543608.&type=3&theater">waving
III% flags</a>. Members of the III% Militia have been tied to multiple hate
crimes including firebombing a mosque.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJEKjxP3CN3P6dS17_hyEUST-QFfvfTuEEGyD4w7t8LU8xCtCxpOYkpcGnaQg1z0RldZ7Ue_R1iWkBM_pMGUh2jbTdzKacjK2C2M_pD_k0aTB0ogA5HGQpkqFoo9pE6qRvgZqQIdKMoY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-22+at+10.46.21+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="1600" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJEKjxP3CN3P6dS17_hyEUST-QFfvfTuEEGyD4w7t8LU8xCtCxpOYkpcGnaQg1z0RldZ7Ue_R1iWkBM_pMGUh2jbTdzKacjK2C2M_pD_k0aTB0ogA5HGQpkqFoo9pE6qRvgZqQIdKMoY/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-12-22+at+10.46.21+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Protestors with III% militia gear from Yellow Vests America activist Adam Rice's publicly viewable Facebook page.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Witness before your eyes the Left and the Right sharing a
megaphone to publicly condemn globalism as part of the yellow vest peoples
movement. we all shook hands at the end, so glad we went! You won't catch this
on msm!” Rice said when he posted the livestream to his personal Facebook page.
MSM is shorthand for “mainstream media.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This isn’t the first time far-right organizers have tried to
use yellow vests for their own causes. Haley Adams, an associate of the Pacific
Northwest’s Patriot Prayer, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Divas4Trump/videos/1012302315623796/">began
wearing a high-visibility vest to her events this month</a>. One of the
Saturday YVA events was slated for Portland City Hall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It’s unclear who runs the Instagram account that Resist
Marxism and AYV <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ayv2019/posts/2245646812424015?__xts__%5b0%5d=68.ARBB1iaMMe2VC1nWl1oYxnXmWaacvAg_WpLrDwB0wtoNkp4b2P6RCUokHBvjaVRX1Mn0HFe08-QZPGcTeERr8ts7L_aWvOyJBoqUbaNeWrTpU7vfLKIBXMv6D1y5snHvRs01Ao9y1yGFZEIC24K6v-rbtu4ewLPQMeoHGRFHnwm72">both</a>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BrlsErFlQvP/">sourced the image</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"> from.</span> The AYV spokesperson said the group is “not
linked” to the Instagram account. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The AYV spokesperson said they’re linked to <a href="https://twitter.com/207YVUSA">Maine Yellow Vests</a> on Twitter, the
Facebook page, an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/AmericanYellowVests/">AYV
Facebook group</a>, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2189760581036240/">the Yellow Vest Dank
Meme Stash Facebook group</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Instagram account is clearly run by someone who gives
credence to far-right conspiracies. The <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Brbv_FslV2N/">first post</a> on the account
was five days ago. It depicts the back of a yellow vest with a pair of scissors
stabbing an Eye of Providence. The caption on the picture rants about how global
warming is a “fraudulent narrative” and claims the protests in France are
“anti-New World Order” and against “open borders and droves of Arabs being
brought into their country by their traitorous leaders.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.yooying.com/p/1935437467286298786_9491183540">Another picture</a>
of the French protests is captioned “Guess who doesn’t fluoridate their water?
France,” referring to fluoride-in-the-water conspiracies made popular in part by
Alex Jones. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Number 15 in the ‘Demands’ section on the Instagram page
says “Award the right of vaccine exception to every American citizen, period.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A future rally in Sacramento is being planned for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/306369579974177/">January 7<sup>th</sup></a>
by a group called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/YellowVestSacramento/">Yellow
Vest Protest Sacramento</a>. The group also seems to be linked to the broader
Anonymous movement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LCRW will continue to follow far-right involvement in the
United States Yellow Vest Movement as it develops. </span></div>
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</span></style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-35057882395359086522018-12-21T17:03:00.003-08:002018-12-21T17:03:38.363-08:00THE YELLOW VESTS ARE COMING TOMORROW–AND FAR-RIGHT ACTIVISTS ARE LOOKING TO JOIN
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5Q3nr97yDeHyfNmHJwdLid0SCNUI37SEXe0qb41YIdFncwX-UZCvGOmGyvMn9ddjjVBviPxx9vjAhIjDuLzercnwMvw0pLV3HXPUr4jxvE182MBRfJPLZXBCyrJXRXEuYID5iNqWmds/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-21+at+5.00.24+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1169" data-original-width="1600" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5Q3nr97yDeHyfNmHJwdLid0SCNUI37SEXe0qb41YIdFncwX-UZCvGOmGyvMn9ddjjVBviPxx9vjAhIjDuLzercnwMvw0pLV3HXPUr4jxvE182MBRfJPLZXBCyrJXRXEuYID5iNqWmds/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-12-21+at+5.00.24+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Screenshot of @yellow_vest_america account's first post on Instagram. The Facebook group apparently organizing the protest hasn't posted a date for the Sacramento rally, but this Instagram account is claiming they're meeting in front of City Hall tomorrow.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For over a month now, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gilets jaunes</i> or Yellow Vests, a popular uprising in France that started
in response to a gas tax, has captured international attention. Protests have been
violent, with police often firing less-lethal munitions at demonstrators. Like
the Arab Spring and Occupy movements before it, the Yellow Vests have spread
across the globe. Examples include <a href="https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/12/5/basra-demonstrators-wear-yellow-vests-echoing-paris-protests">Yellow
Vests protesting high unemployment in Iraq</a>, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Yellow-Vest-protest-reach-Israel-rage-against-high-living-cost-mounts-574274">high
living costs in Israel</a>, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/11/egypt-bans-sale-of-gilets-jaunes-yellow-vests-in-fear-copycat-protests">Egypt
has banned the sale of hi-vis safety vests out of fear of an uprising</a>.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And now it’s coming to the United States. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tomorrow, a nationwide “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/212559212992030/">YellowVest Movement
American Action</a>” is taking place. The event seems to be coordinated in part
by the same people who organized the<a href="https://www.facebook.com/AnonymousMayDayMarch/?eid=ARDfbgohiijRwTSwJUhRFH9aVhcKHD6q8m0z1FPawi0l9jT7HfE7ddPzxfeGnvzG3hNYAK0TiPOq-Vfr">
May Day Anonymous March</a>, though <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/ayv2019/events/?ref=page_internal">an
American Yellow Vests</a> (AYV) page seems to also be organizing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The AYV <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/ayv2019/about/?ref=page_internal">Facebook
page</a> says they are a “nonpolitical peoples movement” who “aim to remove
corruption in all areas and maintain and perfect our system of governance so it
operates for the people and not the interests of the 1%.” They claim they have “strict
adherence to nonviolence.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The AYV Facebook group appears to be linked to the Modern
Monetary Theory (MMT) movement based around the ideas of University of
Newcastle, New South Wales Economics professor Bill Mitchell. Many of the AYV
posts promote MMT ideas. MMT economics are premised on the idea that
governments spend money into existence and destroy it through taxes. MMT
activists argue for policies like the federal job guarantee. They often try to
frame their arguments outside of left versus right political dynamics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gilets jaunes</i> protests
in France and abroad aren’t organized strictly along left/right lines. They’re
broad working class responses to dissatisfaction with the way centrist governments
like Emmanuel Macron’s craft policies. <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2018/11/29/les-gilets-jaunes-publient-une-nouvelle-flopee-de-revendications_a_23604413/">The
yellow vests in France demand</a> less taxes, more subsidies for hiring young
people, and ending austerity politics–the style of governing associated with neo-Liberalism
and the Washington Consensus. Under austerity, government spending, usually
first on social welfare programs, is reduced and taxes are hiked so government
budget deficits can be reduced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/328024074457485/?active_tab=about">One event
in Sacramento for tomorrow</a> organized by AYV starts at 10am but doesn’t give
a meeting point. The other two events <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/280727005968296/">San Diego</a> at an
unspecified location and at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/203511960601014/">Consulate General of
France in Los Angeles</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to an Instagram account called <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yellow_vest_america/?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=1268s1u9d2d2c&fbclid=IwAR2e2816FTzzqBkO1h-55PzbmZTnFUbbmsY_CJ9C5_GnLvXNS1b5_uQumzA">@Yellow_vest_america</a>,
the protest tomorrow may be at Sacramento City Hall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Boston area-based Resist Marxism, an organization started by
Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman of Proud Boys and Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights
fame, posted a list of Yellow Vest protests happening tomorrow on its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ResistMarxism/photos/a.1663999880318314/2203035943081369/?type=3&theater">Facebook
page</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We're co-opting the Boston protest, wouldn't be surprised
if we're the only ones there,” the group’s account commented on the post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This isn’t the first time far right organizers have tried to
adopt the yellow vest for their own causes. Haley Adams, an associate of the
Pacific Northwest’s Patriot Prayer, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Divas4Trump/videos/1012302315623796/">began
wearing a high-visibility vest to her events this month</a>. One of the YVA
events tomorrow is slated for Portland City Hall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s unclear who runs the Instagram account that Resist
Marxism <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BrlsErFlQvP/">sourced the image</a>
from or if they’re tied to the AYV Facebook page. Today, the AYV Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ayv2019/posts/2245646812424015?__xts__%5b0%5d=68.ARBB1iaMMe2VC1nWl1oYxnXmWaacvAg_WpLrDwB0wtoNkp4b2P6RCUokHBvjaVRX1Mn0HFe08-QZPGcTeERr8ts7L_aWvOyJBoqUbaNeWrTpU7vfLKIBXMv6D1y5snHvRs01Ao9y1yGFZEIC24K6v-rbtu4ewLPQMeoHGRFHnwm72EXPk">linked
to</a> the same image as Resist Marxism. The Instagram account is clearly run
by someone who gives credence to far-right conspiracies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The <a href="https://www.yooying.com/p/1935351508515511693">first
post</a> on the account was five days ago. It depicts the back of a yellow vest
with a pair of scissors stabbing an Eye of Providence. The caption on the
picture rants about how global warming is a “fraudulent narrative” and claims
the protests in France are “anti-New World Order” and against “open borders and
droves of Arabs being brought into their country by their traitorous leaders.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.yooying.com/p/1935437467286298786_9491183540">Another picture</a>
of the French protests is captioned “Guess who doesn’t fluoridate their water?
France,” referring to fluoride-in-the-water conspiracies made popular in part by
Alex Jones. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number 15 in the ‘Demands’ section on the Instagram page
says “Award the right of vaccine exception to every American citizen, period.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A future rally in Sacramento is being planned for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/306369579974177/">January 7<sup>th</sup></a>
by a group called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/YellowVestSacramento/">Yellow
Vest Protest Sacramento</a>. The group also seems to be linked to the broader
Anonymous movement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This story will be updated.</span></div>
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</style>Left Coast Right Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03919182266001341215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5107879462898966539.post-64838228787095538202018-12-14T13:58:00.000-08:002018-12-14T14:32:11.235-08:00FAR-RIGHT ACTIVISTS ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR WOMENS’ MARCH COUNTER PROTEST IN FRESNO
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BY ABNER HAUGE|LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On January 19<sup>th</sup> the <a href="https://www.officialmagagirls.com/alpha-march-2019?fbclid=IwAR38g1UZl1DKyZeqkPx8QV7pBe58uUoIRYok7L78cdQwHtXSdXcHAYfMazY">“Alpha
March”</a> is set to counter what its organizers call the “Anti-American
haters” of the nation-wide Womens’ March. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“They might be a women's organization that is paid &
funded by leftist foundations but we have the man power to march along side our
real women's National Community of Alpha's who know how to respect our American
Constitution & do not need to indoctrinate our youth to get our point
across!” the description of the event reads.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“If they’re doing it nationwide–great. We’ve yet to hear to
much about it,” said Kim Slavan, lead organizer of the Fresno Womens’ March.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The march is being planned by San Bernardino-based “<a href="https://www.officialmagagirls.com/?fbclid=IwAR38g1UZl1DKyZeqkPx8QV7pBe58uUoIRYok7L78cdQwHtXSdXcHAYfMazY">Official
MAGA Girl Store</a>” owner Denise Ruiz. MAGA is an acronym for President
Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ruiz, in her Facebook post, said she intends to make the
event “ongoing,” saying “MAGA Girls will be making it a permanent thorn in the
pussy hats back!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ruiz <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BcLWW5LgsPa/">claims</a>
to be part of the III% militia movement. III% members have been linked to
numerous hate crimes against Muslims, including <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/blog/hate-report-get-to-know-the-three-percenters/">the
firebombing of a mosque</a>. Members of the militia were the perimeter guard
for the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, although they <a href="https://twitter.com/jjmacnab/status/896927138397405185">publicly
distanced themselves</a> from white nationalism in its aftermath.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ruiz’s MAGA Girl organization also <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BlWOfs8FgKU/">previously rallied</a> with the
Oath Keepers militia in Los Angeles in July. The <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/oath-keepers">Southern
Poverty Law Center calls the Oath Keepers</a> “one of the largest radical
antigovernment organizations in the United States” and claims they have over
30,000 members. The Oath Keepers acted as security on April 15<sup>th</sup>,
2017 in Berkeley for a rally that quickly turned bloody. During that rally
their leader, Stuart Rhodes, denounced the white nationalists of Rise Above
Movement (RAM) and Identity Evropa (IE) who brawled in the streets with
counter-protestors. After the event, however, Rhodes continued to voice support
for Kyle Chapman of the Proud Boys’ now-defunct paramilitary wing, the
Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights, who fought alongside RAM and IE members that
day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Thursday the 6<sup>th</sup>, Ruiz announced on the
Facebook page that Ben Bergquam would be a co-organizer of California’s Alpha
March. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bergquam is the host of AM 1680’s “<a href="https://frontlineamerica.com/">Frontline America</a>.” His <a href="https://www.my1680.com/?c=2">show airs</a> at 4pm-5pm, right after Alex
Jones. According to the Sacramento Bee, he is a “<a href="https://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/political-notebook/article218763830.html">self-identified
Proud Boy</a>.” Bergquam says on his <a href="https://frontlineamerica.com/about/">‘about’ page bio</a> that he “believes
that abortion is murder, homosexuality is sin, and transgenderism is insane.”
He also claims “[w]e are in the midst of a cultural civil war” whose enemies
are Black Lives Matter, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Antifa, La
Raza, the Democratic Party and “godless cowards on the right.” Bergquam claims
these groups are part of a “force for evil” that is attempting to “destroy
America from within.” Bergquam is a frequent attendee of far-right rallies
across California, including the bloody April 15<sup>th</sup>, 2017 event in
Berkeley.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Ben makes his presence known at every event in Fresno,”
Slavan said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bergquam isn’t the only one attending to express transphobic
and homophobic views. Ruiz herself posted derogatory memes on the event’s
Facebook page, including one which read “The bulge in the pants of a
conservative woman is a pistol. The bulge in a liberal woman’s pants is a
dick!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a December 7<sup>th</sup> livestream, Ruiz said the
“whole reason behind” the Alpha March was as a way to bring men into the fold
of far-right womens’ organizations like hers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We MAGA girls are the backbone to America, and we are the
backbone to our men” she said, adding “Men, M-E-N.” as emphasis.</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ruiz in the video said her “main focus” for the march is the
perceived deterioration of traditional gender roles–a long-time hobby-horse on
the right. She complained, among other things, about parents allowing their
children to express doubts about their gender identity. Ruiz said one of her
daughters claims to be gay, but “she’s gonna dress like a girl, because she’s a
girl.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We have these men that are confusing everybody–they confuse
the hell out of me,” she said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We are going to take that rib that God has made us from and
we are going to be after all you betas,” Ruiz continued. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The “Alpha” in “Alpha March” refers to the online-right term
“alpha male.” It means traditional dominant, muscular definitions of
masculinity. “Beta males,” the foil to this in online right lingo, are deemed
as effeminate or otherwise not performing traditional masculinity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the video Ruiz also decried “the indoctrination” in
schools, saying she took her third grade daughter out of school after “they
were talking about the whole immigration thing.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ruiz’s daughter made a brief appearance in the livestream,
saying “I hate you. I hate being homeschooled. I hate this.” Ruiz said her
daughter is still adjusting to homeschooling, adding that her other two
daughters were homeschooled and they “turned out fine.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lindsay Grathwohl, a prominent figure in Bay Area far-right
activism, announced plans to attend and help organize the event on her Facebook
page. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Excited to help Magagirls with this march!!” she wrote on
her <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Lindsay-Danae-Grathwohl-747258945638811/">public
figure page</a> on Facebook.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Notable Bay Area organizers <a href="http://blog.leftcoastrightwatch.net/2018/12/merry-christmas-were-here-to-liberate.html">Amber
Cummings</a> and Jourdin Davis also marked themselves as “going.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other prominent far-right figures attending the march
nationwide include Haley Adams of Patriot Prayer and the #HimToo movement.
Adams said she’d attend the Texas march.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Patriot Prayer is a Proud Boys-linked far-right organization
based in the Pacific Northwest. Patriot Prayer members and rally attendees have
repeatedly engaged in violent confrontations during protests, particularly in
Portland and Berkeley. While its leader, Joey Gibson, publicly disavows white
nationalism, its rallies often attract white supremacists. One <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/05/27/man-fatally-stabs-2-on-portland-ore-train-after-they-interrupted-his-anti-muslim-rants-police-say/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.626e5decc301">white
supremacist who attended Patriot Prayer events, Jeremy Christian</a>, murdered
two men and wounded another with a knife on a Portland train. The three men had
intervened after Christian launched a hateful tirade against two women of
color.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I will be at this event to show OFF my ALPHA FEMALE. I
challenge Anyone to mutual combat. Ha,” Adams wrote on the page.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In reaction to national outrage and protest over the
confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Adams organized the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/himtoomvmt/">#HimToo</a> <a href="http://www.himtoo.com/?fbclid=IwAR0-OZdrXejhVWbw0TjKHxnVvAqGNpOaGgNQZHrryjVldSpKYJ6otVJNU-o">Movement</a>to
combat a “war on men” in which men are “being falsely accused, slandered,
attacked and harassed at their homes." Anti-fascist activists often accuse
Adams of being a “rape apologist." </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Yes, we support the #HimToo movement,” Ruiz said in the
December 7th livestream, also praising Adams multiple times.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">False accusations of sexual assault and harassment against
men have long been a hobby-horse for the online Mens' Rights Activism (MRA)
movement. MRA was one of the major political tendencies that went into the
alt-right and current online far-right. False rape allegations are difficult to
track but are widely believed to make up a small percentage of total
allegations. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180101025446/https:/icdv.idaho.gov/conference/handouts/False-Allegations.pdf">A
2010 study</a> concluded between 2 and 10 percent of total rape allegations are
false.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Alpha March in Fresno will convene at Woodward Park at
10am. The Fresno Womens’ March, with 229 listed as ‘going’ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1121489254665205/">on Facebook</a> as of
this writing, will convene at 234 East Nees Avenue, about a mile away from the
park.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The national Womens' March organization was founded in
response to Donald Trump's presidential victory. The first annual Womens' March
was set for the day after his inauguration and subsequent marches commemorate
the date annually. Slavan said that the Womens’ March “organizes to hold our
politicians accountable” and that the organization is for free speech.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Their attendance at our event is actually supported as
their First Amendment right,” she said.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to the Facebook event page, Alpha Marches are also
set for Buffalo, Las Vegas and Houston.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is unclear how many plan to attend the Alpha March. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/599874330467230/?active_tab=about">25
people as of this writing</a> said they were going on the nation-wide event’s
Facebook page while 77 people said they were interested. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much of the organizing information will not be posted
publicly “due to security purposes.” Security breaches have happened at past
events. <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/website-promised-free-anti-antifa-shirts-alt-right-signed-up-it-was-a-trap">In
the leadup to August 18<sup>th</sup>’s nation-wide “March Against Far-Left
Violence,” a fake website promising free t-shirts doxxed people who gave the
site their addresses.</a></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Alpha March’s description includes a link to an <a href="http://www.officialmagagirls.com/alpha-march-2019">email form</a> to RSVP
and then join state-based closed groups for coordination. The Official MAGA
Girls organization has groups set up for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/232366330646032/">California</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/196311960986781/">Kansas</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/372118163293358/">Utah</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/393902557744689/">Texas</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/210880176172685/">Oregon</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/244551496108936/">New York</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1804048739654985/">Arkansas</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/451598935281147/">Minnesota</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/218625058897219/">Ohio</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/876487492535119/">Florida</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/354791621698195/">Alabama</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/MAGAGirlsMaryland/">Maryland</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/203690806906080/">Virginia</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/MagaGirlsOfOklahoma/">Oaklahoma</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/MagaGirlsOfSoCarolina/">South Carolina</a>,
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/MagaGirlsOfNevada/">Nevada</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/MAGAgirlsOfArizona/">Arizona</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/MagaGirlsOfTennessee/">Tennessee</a>, and
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/709551716095870/">Pennyslvania</a>.
Some groups have as few as four members while the most populous, Arkansas, has
175 members as of this report. The California group has 71 members at press
time. Some groups’ posts are hidden while others are publicly viewable as of
this writing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Membership in the MAGA Girls groups, according
to Ruiz, is open to men.</span></span>
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