Ending the Year Strong: Report From the Central Valley of California

Report and reflection on anarchist and antifascist activity in the Central Valley of so-called California.

2023 saw a lot of activity across  the Central Valley of California, from large antifascist mobilizations in Davis, ongoing abolitionist organizing in Modesto, strong showings of community defense of LGBTQ+ spaces, and the recent Sacramento Anarchist Bookfair that brought out hundreds. In the nearby bay area, people launched a campaign against a “Cop City” styled police training facility and also mobilized against far-Right anti-trans groups.

When fascists did attempt to mobilize off the internet, such as making calls to oppose drag story events or showing up to Turning Point USA forums as an auxiliary security force, they were met by much larger antifascist mobilizations and literally run off the streets.

Also of note, the yearly “Straight Pride” demonstration in Modesto brought out only about a dozen fascist rally goers, after being shut down by over 250 antifascists and community defenders in 2022. Calls by the Proud Boys to hold a rally against antifascists in Modesto along with a BBQ event never materialized, while Mylinda Mason and Ron Grundmann held an awkward rally alongside several neo-Nazis sporting an Adolf Hitler shirt and swastika necklace.

Despite the decline of fascist and white supremacist groups on the streets, we’ve still seen a string of outright neo-Nazi and far-Right activity continue in the region. From banner drops, sticker campaigns, hijacking city council meetings, and showing up in small crews to demonstrations – while largely hidden from the public, multiple networks are active both online and in real life. Coming together through umbrella groups like “White Lives Matter” and active cross over with more established groups like the Proud Boys, these formations are a recipe for potential violence.

With this in mind and a desire to end the year strong, our networks came together to proactively push back against the far-Right and white supremacist groups in our communities over the last several weeks.

Source: Indybay.org

In Modesto, antifascists mailed out hundreds of letters to Modesto residents, warning them of two neo-Nazi organizers living in their area. A post on Indybay.org stated:

This week, Antifascists from Northern and Central California collaborated to send out hundreds of letters alerting neighbors in Modesto, CA about a neo-Nazi couple living in their neighborhood. Harley and Haley Petero have been active with neo-nazi and white nationalist groups including “White Lives Matter California”, “Norcal Active Club”, and the “Goyim Defense League”. The two are also responsible for literring neighborhoods with racist, homophobic, and antisemitic flyers, hanging banners with nazi symbols and slogans, and organizing a nationwide campaign wherein neo-nazis call in to leave hateful comments with city councils and school board meetings. The two will no longer be able to operate their program of bigotry with anonymity or secrecy from their local community.

Posters and stickers also soon hit the streets of the city. Patrols of areas were also organized by various groups in Modesto and Stockton where neo-Nazi graffiti and banners were found. This trash was quickly taken down, covered, and destroyed faster than the fascists could often report on their own “activism.”

Meanwhile, in Sacramento, people put up flyers warning the public about potential “White Lives Matter” activity from neo-Nazis and Proud Boys in specific areas known for banner drops and stickering.

In the bay area, various crews also organized to clean up, take down, and cover up stickers put up by a neo-Nazi group which has since imploded. Check out a report on this activity here. A banner was also dropped in Berkeley.

Lastly in Chico, California, people put up messages in solidarity with Gaza and those in the occupied territories of Palestine and against fascism.

We feel that these small interventions are a step in the right direction, and serve as a way for us to engage both the public and our wider networks. Antifascist action shouldn’t feel like or be reduced to a chore of taking down or removing far-Right graffiti, but be part of a larger movement which builds our collective capacity for liberation and autonomy.

With an election looming next year, the far-Right is set to shift and mutate once again. Our resistance will not look like it did in 2016, or even 2020. We must change and adapt with the surrounding environment. We must also work to generalize our work within the broader population. As turnout to the recent Sacramento Anarchist Bookfair shows, there are many people across Northern California and the bay area who are hungry for an anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian alternative to the mainstream political parties that confronts the crisis of capitalism head on.

Over the coming year, we must work to promote and expand our networks of direct mutual aid, communal solidarity, and direct action. The only alternative is war, ecological disaster, and rising totalitarianism.