Insult to Injury: TWP Leftovers and League of the South Shut Down in Knoxville TN

The following report comes from Knoxville, and details defense of a panel on antifascist organizing.

Three former members of the recently, and hilariously, disbanded white nationalist organization, the Traditionalist Worker Party (Craig Spaulding, Joseph Hutchins, and Johan Carollo), joined with Tom Pierce of the white nationalist organization League of the South to mobilize against an anti-racism panel titled, “No Nazis on Rocky Top? Anti-racism In the Age of Trump,” held on The University of Tennessee Knoxville campus on the night of Wednesday, March 21st. A post on the white supremacist website Stormfront.org from username Confederate 28, called for other white supremacists to join the TWP in protesting “the Marxist takeover of UT.” Johan Carollo also indicated his attendance to the panel on Facebook.

ATTN Knoxville: We believe that businesses need to be held accountable for their actions, especially when they hold positions of power and fail to be consistent with their stated commitments to the community. We are therefore calling for a boycott of @thetomatohead. pic.twitter.com/YdLkN1lXBy

— Knoxville Radical Alliance (@knoxradical) March 21, 2018

During the panel, Hutchins, Spaulding, Carollo, and Pierce were spotted at the “the rock” on campus painting nazi symbolism along with targeted messages against the host and a panelist of the anti-racism discussion. While one crew worked on covering their messages, another followed them to the area where the event was being held. After anti-fascists thwarted their multiple attempts to park near entrances to the panel, the fascist group finally managed to leave their van for all of five minutes and distribute a couple pathetic flyers before retreating back to their vehicle. Their propaganda was covered and removed quickly, and the group was blocked from approaching the panel or any of its attendees.

April 28, block the suit and tie fash in Burns,eastern TN, at #AmRen . more info at https//onepeoplesproject.com (@OnePeoplesProj ) or @NashvilleARA pic.twitter.com/eRKHbxnLpy

— The_Final_Straw (@StrawFinal) March 18, 2018

Anti-fascist presence effectively prevented fash from mobilizing against the panel, from harassing or harming panel participants, and stopped them from recruiting or distributing more than a couple measly flyers on campus. These white supremacists’ plan to recruit and disrupt the anti-racism/anti-fascism panel utterly failed.

To the fascist scum trying to make East Tennessee a stronghold for your steaming pile of genocidal ideology: you will continue to be met with fierce resistance, and with a resounding FUCK Y’ALL. And to folx everywhere getting down against white supremacy, fascism, and all forms of hierarchy and oppression: we got y’alls back. From the hills to the hollers, from the cities to the sea, from Mexico to Palestine, our struggles are bound and we’re fuckin’ bound to get free.