Filed under: Featured, This Week in Fascism
We got a massive column this week for you. First a report on the recent deadly shooting in Portland that targeted a Black Lives Matter demonstration and how people are showing solidarity with our comrades in PDX; a slew of news stories, and as always: doxxes, action, analysis, and updates.
Let’s dive right in!
Action
Far-Right Gunman Kills One, Injures Five Others at Black Lives Matter Protest in Portland, Saturday Night
Journalists have corroborated identity of suspected #Portland mass shooter: a man with a history of advocating for the murder of left-wing protesters, follower of Andy Ngo + fan of Proud Boys + Kyle Rittenhouse. Was denounced in "Furry" subculture for violent, far-Right views. https://t.co/hMGdAnoZBR pic.twitter.com/o66Fgn28QY
— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) February 22, 2022
In Portland on Saturday night, a gunman shot and killed one person and injured 5 more. The shooting took place at Normandale Park and occurred during a rally for Amir Locke, a Black man recently shot and killed by police in Minneapolis and Patrick Kimmons, also Black, who was killed by Portland police in 2018. About 50 people had gathered for a march, when according to several witnesses, a man exited a home, approached a group of women who were diverting traffic away from the march, and quickly began screaming and cursing at them. According to a report in the New York Times:
One of the victims, Dajah Beck, who turns 39 on Monday and who was contacted through her attorney, said she was shot twice. One bullet went through her side, and the other grazed her knee. Ms. Beck said she was part of a volunteer motorcade group that was working to set up a safety plan and reroute traffic a block or two ahead of the marchers. “We’re not part of the protest,” she said, adding that no one in the motorcade group was armed.
As Ms. Beck and the group were working, with one woman riding in a truck because she walked slower and with the aid of a cane, a man approached her and a small group of women, screaming that they were “violent terrorists” and repeatedly calling them a misogynist vulgarity. The man said they were the people responsible for violence in the city, Ms. Beck recounted, adding that he said: “If I see you come past my house, I’ll shoot you.”
People in the group tried to calm the man down. But as Ms. Beck looked away from him toward one of her friends, “that’s when he started shooting,” she said. She fell to the ground after she was shot and crawled behind a truck tire for cover. Moments later, she said, “the first thing that I saw was my two friends on the ground covered in blood.” One of them was the woman who died. Ms. Beck said that at that point, the shooter had been subdued and people were on top of him.
All our love and solidarity goes out to the family and friends of June Knightly (T-Rex), who was murdered while protecting her community, and also to the other victims of this attack. May her memory be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/Y3H40Fzmfq
— Always Antifascist (@RoseCityAntifa) February 21, 2022
Police then arrived on the scene, where one person was reported dead and five others were taken to the hospital. Medics reported tensions with the police as they attempted to deal with gun shot wounds and witnesses claim that at least two people were possibly arrested.
According to another eye witness account in the Portland Mercury:
“We were unarmed and actively working to de-escalate him and get him to leave,” she told the Mercury. “He wasn’t threatened by us. He walked up to us yelling about protestors in his neighborhood and opened fire within 90 seconds.” She said she was standing about ten feet away from the man when he shot her, and bullets also grazed her knee and arm. Another woman was shot in the stomach, leg, and chest. Another was hit in the neck. The fourth woman was fatally shot. The woman who spoke with the Mercury said that volunteer street medics were the first on the scene to respond to their injuries.
The woman said the entire encounter was recorded on her GoPro camera, which the police confiscated as evidence. She said she was discharged from OHSU at midnight Saturday, along with another of the injured women. She said she was surprised to learn that paramedics also took the shooter to OHSU. She said that she’s been volunteering to help with traffic control since June 2020, and has volunteered at at least 200 protests since. During that time, she said she’s been maced, hit by drivers, and assaulted by members of the public, but had never been shot at. “We show up voluntarily to put ourselves between people exercising their first amendment rights and outsiders who would kill them for doing so,” she said. “We did our jobs.”
We were unarmed traffic safety volunteers who weren’t with any protestors. Four women trying to de-escalate & he unloaded a 45 into us because he didn’t like being asked to leave and stop calling us terrorist c*nts. We were in high vis and dresses. He murdered a disabled woman. https://t.co/il3OrMP2OT
— SSDGK 🦖 (@dontgetkettled) February 21, 2022
Another survivor that was shot posted to Twitter stating:
We were unarmed traffic safety volunteers who weren’t with any protestors. Four women trying to de-escalate & he unloaded a 45 into us because he didn’t like being asked to leave and stop calling us terrorist c*nts. We were in high vis and dresses. He murdered a disabled woman.
My GoPro will substantiate this. They took it as evidence. It was attached to my motorcycle helmet as I watched my friend die. I got the whole thing. Do not believe PPB press releases or the statements of mass murderers.
It was a 50-60 year old white man. The exchange lasted under two minutes. He came there to kill us, I am positive. He thought we were protestors.
On Monday, the identity of the person killed was released as June Knightly, 60, a longtime activist who was deeply involved in “corking” demonstrations, or diverting traffic away from marches in order to protect demonstrators. According to Oregon Live:
June Knightly had a decades-long history of activism in Portland, first in the LGBTQ movement and more recently as a fixture of the city’s racial justice protest culture.
As this report was being finalized, the identity of the shooter was discovered – first by antifascist researchers and then corroborated by Portland area journalists as Benjamin Jeffrey Smith. Smith, a 43-year old machinist, lived in an apartment across from the park, and had a long history of stating his deep opposition to antifascists, Black Lives Matter, the poor, and COVID-19 lockdowns. He made numerous posts on social media in support of groups like the Proud Boys and individuals like Kyle Rittenhouse, while promoting violence against left-wing protesters. Smith also followed Andy Ngo on YouTube and was active in the “Furry” subculture, where many pushed back on his openly reactionary and violent far-Right views. For a deep dive, go here.
In the days leading up to the killing, far-Right troll Andy Ngo – who is best known for spreading disinformation and embedding himself within far-Right organizations, had been tweeting that the march represented a violent threat to the public. In the past, Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson have also spread disinformation and played up fears of violent ‘ANTIFA’ or Black Lives Matter protesters ruling the streets of Portland, however it has been the far-Right and the police themselves which have carried out deadly attacks and acts of violence against protesters and the wider public.
More than 12 hours after the deadly Portland mass-shooting, Andy Ngo is still spreading disinformation about an "antifa" attack.
Dozens of eyewitnesses from the neighborhood have given statements to journalists. But Ngo is a disinformation agent. https://t.co/l7l6iw18dw
— Chad Loder (@chadloder) February 21, 2022
Those looking to donate to help those in Portland recover from the attack, can go here.
Solidarity Banners and Vigils with Portland Spread Across the US
People quickly took to the streets over the weekend and on Monday to express their solidarity with Portland from across the so-called Pacific Northwest, the US, and the world, dropping banners, holding vigils.
Antifascist activists dropped a banner over I-80 in Reno today in solidarity with Portland.
Reno❤️PDX
↙️↙️↙️ pic.twitter.com/z0NcKTOft8— Biggest Little City Antifascists (@renoironfront) February 24, 2022
Comrades in Western NH put up banners in solidarity with Portland🖤❤ pic.twitter.com/SZcT2arrr9
— Federation of Anarchists and Syndicalists (@1312FAS) February 24, 2022
DMV 🖤 PDX pic.twitter.com/T78LTSIW6B
— Frederick Against Fascism (@FAF_1312) February 22, 2022
Love and Solidarity pic.twitter.com/4gIRgj3Zq7
— RCR Karratir (@karratir) February 21, 2022
Sending love and solidarity to our comrades in Portland from DC.
We keep us safe. pic.twitter.com/vOWsjcsIsa
— DC Anti-Fascist Action (@DC_AFA) February 22, 2022
Anti-fascists in Eugene gathered today in solidarity with our comrades in Portland. In an age when hatred has filled so many, may we never forget the love and light in this world. Stay together! Stay tight! We protect us. ❤️🔥✊💯 pic.twitter.com/39GlvorD9N
— Maslow's Mission (@MaslowMission) February 21, 2022
People in #Oakland gathered tonight to honor those lost to police and vigilante violence in #Portland and beyond. pic.twitter.com/ch5LcEEgFM
— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) February 21, 2022
Solidarity from Toronto to Portland, Rest in Peace T-Rex ✊🏼🖤 pic.twitter.com/XxTmFtOKDu
— BeadsAgainstFascism (@beadagainstfash) February 22, 2022
[Anonymous submission received 02.20.22]
"Pittsburgh stands with frontliners in Portland. Stay safe, stay strong – we love you with all our hearts!" pic.twitter.com/fee2XKn4u8
— Filler Distro | PGH (@PghAutonomy) February 20, 2022
Solidarity from Eugene to Portland. We protect us. pic.twitter.com/VA47fNXIAv
— Neighborhood Anarchist Collective Ⓐ (@NACeugene) February 20, 2022
We are #LIVE in #Minneapolis covering a rally in solidarity with #Portland where six people were shot and one killed on Saturday night during a protest in support of Amir Locke https://t.co/y3RMJmbKqs
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) February 21, 2022
"From the Bay to PDX with love"
Graffiti in the Bay Area in solidarity with protesters in Portland, Oregon after 5 people were wounded and 1 killed after a local reactionary named Ben Smith opened fire on a demonstration on Feb 21 for Amir Locke. pic.twitter.com/cxziy6Q2TB— Radical Graffiti (@GraffitiRadical) February 22, 2022
LA stands with Portland. You are not alone. 🖤 pic.twitter.com/y62nNtra5A
— Pacific Antifascist Research Collective (@PacAntifa) February 20, 2022
Stand with Portland.
Solidarity from Olympia Antifascists.
Love and Rage across the States. pic.twitter.com/ltAdfDgeZM— Miguel, Allegedly… (@allegedlymiguel) February 20, 2022
"To Portland with Love & Rage from C-Ville Antifa!"
Graffiti in Charlottesville, Virginia in solidarity with protesters in Portland, Oregon after 5 people were wounded and 1 killed after someone opened fire on a protest on Feb 21 for Amir Locke. pic.twitter.com/JTVF5dPcLs
— Radical Graffiti (@GraffitiRadical) February 22, 2022
MPLS to PDX
Love and solidarity ❤️#AmirLocke pic.twitter.com/cNtbVl1FD7
— MNUPRISING (@MnUrising) February 21, 2022
From fundraiser I'm solidarity with victims of shooting in Portland:
"please donate to help us build funds to cover expenses for our wounded and fallen comrades… at the justice for Patrick Kimmons march."https://t.co/kCkGee8tfM pic.twitter.com/anHFOMCyLb— The_Final_Straw (@StrawFinal) February 21, 2022
From the Boise family to the Portland family with endless love and solidarity. https://t.co/yYb3kr22tR
— Redoubt Antifascists (@RedoubtAFA) February 22, 2022
San Diego stands with Portland https://t.co/0y2Ozo2QoL
— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) February 22, 2022
horrible quality but saw this in Tempe “justice 4 Amir Locke, solidarity w/ PDX, Kill Fascists” pic.twitter.com/V8M1dCyigk
— shakey (@suxkitfeds) February 24, 2022
Solidarity with Portland ❤️🔥🏴 pic.twitter.com/sBxxZfEwHL
— Mask Bloc SF (@MaskBlocSF) February 24, 2022
Solidarity with PDX from Los Angeles! 🏴🖤#WeKeepUsSafe#AlwaysAntifascist pic.twitter.com/NBDvidp1ZL
— A.A.R.F. Autonomous Anarchist Revolutionary Front (@AARF_LA) February 23, 2022
Vigil at Hebert Von King Park in Brooklyn for the victims shot and killed at a Amir Locke march in Portland. #shooting #newyorkcity #portland #pdx #amirlocke #solidarity #vigil #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/IjWcPJN8L6
— Adrian (@ALChildress_) February 22, 2022
Yesterday anti-fascists in London met up to paint a mural in solidarity with Portland after a horrific attack on a protest last weekend left one person dead and more injured. pic.twitter.com/8mBTUMb8Af
— 12 Rules For WHAT (@12rulesforwhat) February 23, 2022
In response to far-right violence, we must come together as anti-fascists. Neither fear nor death can undo our bonds. From London we sent our solidarity with the people of Portland with this banner drop in front of the Cable Street mural.
Today we mourn, tomorrow we fight on! pic.twitter.com/LyfdlZJvC4
— London Anti-Fascist Assembly (@London_AFA) February 23, 2022
Fascist Banners Destroyed and Burned
Fascist and neo-Nazi banners were destroyed across the US, almost as fast as they went up. Here’s a few that met a quick fate:
Been a rough day. Here's some photos of Patriot Front and Proud Boy banners set on fire this week. 🍷🔥💕 pic.twitter.com/ShjLiOTmc8
— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) February 20, 2022
Y’all are quick. The second one is allegedly taken down already too pic.twitter.com/COFrJovNrw
— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) February 20, 2022
Woodstock Residents Mobilize After neo-Nazi White Lives Matter Rally
Residents in Woodstock, New York showed up in large numbers after a tiny White Lives Matter rally brought out a handful of neo-Nazis to their town. See the following thread from New York City Antifa below.
Last week, some 'White Lives Matter' garbage showed up in Woodstock, NY to hold a banner & shout Nazi bs. They were countered on-the-fly by a small group of residents. This week, the community showed up again with even more people to make a statement against white supremacy. https://t.co/Q12xQqS8EJ
— New York City Antifa (@NYCAntifa) February 19, 2022
News
DC Cop Placed on Administrative Leave following Collaboration with Disgraced Proud Boy Snitch Enrique Tarrio
The Washington Post reports that Officer Shane Lamond of the intelligence branch of the DC police department has been placed on leave for improper contact with former Proud Boy leader and snitch Enrique Tarrio. According to officials, Lamond, a 22 year veteran of the DC police is currently under investigation for his communications with the disgraced chairman of the far-Right gang. Washington Post states:
Tarrio, reached by phone, described his contacts with Lamond as professional. He said he provided Lamond or other police officials advance notice when the Proud Boys planned to rally or march in the District.
But Tarrio also said that during marches, Lamond would tell him the location of counter-demonstrators. Tarrio said that was so his group could avoid conflict, though after one violent night of demonstrations, police accused the Proud Boys of roaming the city looking for and instigating fights, targeting people they believed identified as antifa, or antifascists.
The saga of cooperation between law enforcement and Enrique Tarrio continues.
White Nationalist Groypers to Host Conference in Orlando Featuring Neo-Nazi Trolls Alongside Republican Officials
Former sheriff Joe Arpaio, former GOP #Iowa rep Steve King + #Arizona Senator Wendy Rodgers are all slated to speak next to neo-Nazis + white nationalists like Nick Fuentes, Baked Alaska + Jared Taylor in #Orlando. GOP candidate Kari Lake seems to have officially backed out. pic.twitter.com/FouNpZX04G
— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) February 18, 2022
White nationalists, neo-Nazi trolls, and racist anti-Semites in the so-called Groyper movement, are holding another conference to coincide with the Conservative Political Action Conference or CPAC, happening in Orlando, Florida.
But on top of bringing out washed-up “very online” white power racists like Vincent James and Baked Alaska, the conference will also feature Republicans such as Steve King and elected representative, Wendy Rogers.
Proud Boys Take Leading Role in Planning ‘Convoy’ Protests in the US
The Proud Boys have taking on a leading role in attempting to organize a US version of the ongoing ‘convoy’ protests in so-called Canada. According to the Daily Beast, this online organizing has brought together both Proud Boys and even elected GOP officials. According to the Daily Beast:
A Sacramento County, California supervisor says she didn’t mean to rub shoulders with members of the Proud Boys when she joined a Telegram channel to help plan a potential far-right truck convoy.
Sue Frost, one of the county’s five supervisors, came under fire this week after an area Twitter-user spotted her in a series of fringe Telegram channels, including a channel run and moderated by self-described Proud Boys who had previously used Telegram to encourage the murders of Jews and “race war now.”
Atlanta Antifascists on Far-Right in Ukraine
Antifascists in Atlanta have put together a new short video about the situation in Ukraine and the role that neo-Nazi and far-Right groups have within it. Check it out here:
We were targeted for assassination after we IDed a neo-Nazi who later went to Ukraine to fight for a fascist militia. Based on our experiences and reports from international antifascists, we made this video to dispel misinfo around conflict in Ukraine.https://t.co/fF9Aj4EGuM
— Atlanta Antifascists (@afainatl) February 17, 2022
A Brief History of the Patriot Movement, The Oathkeepers, and the White Riot Fallout
Raw Story published an article looking into the history and background of the Oath Keepers militia, it’s white nationalist roots that sprang from the Christian Identity Movement, how it has changed and morphed since it’s inception, and how it made the January 6th storming of the DC capitol possible. On January 13th, 2022, seditious conspiracy charges were filed against 11 members of the Oath Keepers.
The government case opens a window into the comically dangerous world of paranoid coup plotters who stormed the Capitol last Jan. 6. It shows how the Oath Keepers acted as a bridge between far-right extremists and average Trump supporters. The case sheds new light on how the “war on terror” led directly to Jan. 6 by stoking nativism, racism, and Islamophobia and created a huge pool of angry veterans ripe for recruitment by the Oath Keepers.
Most significant, the case shows how the Oath Keepers almost fulfilled the decades-long plotting by violent white nationalists to overthrow the government.
At the center of the conspiracy is Oath Keepers founder and leader Stewart Rhodes. In effect, he organized an insurrection within the government itself. He recruited police and soldiers armed with a zealous faith in the Constitution to wage a “bloody revolution” against a tyrannical government they believed was subverting the Constitution. Instead, the Oath Keepers find themselves accused of trying to violently overthrow the constitutional order.
What sets Rhodes and the Oath Keepers apart from other groups is the fact that his target demographic for recruitment is ex-military, retired law enforcement and first responders. He would urge those currently serving to resist laws they deemed “unconstitutional.” He got his foot-hold during the Obama presidency, aligning himself with Tea Party and recruiting in Tea Party spaces, however the Patriot movement can be traced all the way back to the white supremacist formation, the Posse Comitatus:
The Patriot movement did not appear out of thin air. It grew out of Posse Comitatus, which nurtured the twisted branches of today’s far-right extremism. Founded in 1971 by Bill Gale, a malingering former Army Lieutenant Colonel, Posse Comitatus advocated for armed insurrection. The son of a Russian Jew who fled pogroms, Gale was a preacher in the viciously anti-Semitic, white nationalist, and anti-communist Christian Identity movement.
Posse Comitatus went on to spawn militias, “constitutional sheriffs” who claim they are the highest law in the land, “sovereign citizens” who reject federal authority, and “common law grand juries” that claim the power to arrest and try public officials. In 2016, each one of these types of extremists converged at the Bundy occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge — including the Oath Keepers and other militias.
What has manifested since then is a clusterfuck of toxic masculinity, patriotism, libertarianism and Christian-identity. This culminated into not just a failed insurrection, but a network of far-Right collaboration between various hate-groups including the Three Percent militia and the Proud Boys. The article details the patriot movements roots, it’s foothold in the Tea Party and Obama years and it’s evolution into the modern-day militias we see today aligned with Trumpism.
Unicorn Riot Sheds Light on Wildly Inaccurate MPD Training Manual on “Political Extremism”
Unicorn Riot has obtained documents used to train MPD staff on political extremism. Full report and documents in story. https://t.co/xwoHMre8fa
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) February 5, 2022
Our comrades at Unicorn Riot have released a report on Minneapolis Police Department’s training on extremism and the false equivalency it draws between the far-Right accelerationist Boogaloo Boys and the antifascist movement. UR got their hands on an MPD training PowerPoint that shows a seriously reductive and uneducated understanding of antifascism, treating it with equal or concern as the Boogaloo movement.
From Unicorn Riot:
The MPD presentation wrongly claims that Antifa entered the modern scene at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The presentation failed to mention the white supremacist terror attack on anti-racist counter-demonstrators that killed Heather Heyer and injured 35 others. This is of import as the neo-Nazi who attacked the counter demonstration was driving a car when he plowed into the crowd, a tactic that would become increasingly prominent both locally in Minneapolis but also nationally. Again, from Unicorn Riot:
Though vilification of the antifa boogeyman by the state is certainly not unheard of, the fact that one of the MPD PowerPoint slides is a list of local anti-racist activist twitter accounts is definitely something to be concerned about, as it places a target on these accounts for being generally outspoken against hate as well as being particularly outspoken about state and police violence in their community.
From the article:
The MPD’s PowerPoint mythologizes Antifa and falsely claims it has a national headquarters as well as internal processes and accreditations that simply do not exist. There are no bylaws, nor master plans, nor officialdom of any kind with Antifa – its organizing typically occurs in response to planned rightwing demonstrations and members spontaneously come and go. Leftwing organizing in the U.S. takes this approach specifically due to historical repression and surveillance of leftist movements.
Unicorn Riot also points out:
Nationally, since the mid 1990s, incidents of rightwing violence far exceed leftwing attacks. It’s not even close. From the Guardian, “A new database of nearly 900 politically motivated attacks and plots in the United States since 1994 includes just one attack staged by an anti-fascist that led to fatalities. In that case, the single person killed was the perpetrator. Over the same time period, American white supremacists and other rightwing extremists have carried out attacks that left at least 329 victims dead, according to the database.”
For the full story as well as a glimpse into the MPD training, check the article linked above.
Three NSM Neo-Nazis Arrested for Attacking a Jewish Man in Orlando
The neo-nazis caught on video attacking people in FL are using @tucows for their website registrar and @google is helping direct traffic to the site
This is not ok pic.twitter.com/RwSaKplsjk
— We Will Be Ruthless (@RuthlessWe) February 8, 2022
Click Orlando reports three men who took part in a neo-Nazi rally in Orlando have been arrested for attacking a Jewish man. Joshua Terrell, Jason Brown, and Burt Colucci have all been arrested. Colucci is a the leader of the National Socialist Movement (NSM) with a documented history of antisemitism and bigotry, specifically an incident in Arizona where he threatened a group of Black men with a gun at another NSM rally.
From the article:
According to the affidavit for an arrest warrant, deputies responded to the rally on Jan. 29. Around 1:30 p.m., deputies said they were made aware that a young man had been pepper-sprayed by the rallying white nationalists. At the time, investigators said they could not determine who started the incident, but that they have since seen video of what took place.
As he drove by, the victim said one of the NSM members spat into the sunroof of his car. At that point, according to investigators, the victim got out of his vehicle and got into an argument with the group — displaying a Star of David charm on his necklace and announcing that he was Jewish.
Deputies said, as the victim argued with the Nazi group, one of them — who the others called “Grandfather” — tried to get into his car, but the victim was able to get back into the vehicle before that could happen. The victim said he continued to argue with the man who tried to get into his car, records show. As the two argued, Grandfather spat at the victim, the victim threw some crumpled paper at the man and Grandfather spat on him again, records show.
All 3 #NSM Nazis arrested in FL have long violent criminal histories. Jason Brown, 46, a former jail guard fired for forcing oral sex on an inmate & arrested for "Felony Domestic Battery by Strangulation" in 2020, is also the east coast head of the Nazi Goyim Defense League 1/ pic.twitter.com/KcAenoDB8r
— Nate Thayer (@nate_thayer) February 5, 2022
According to the article, the sheriff’s department is recommending Hate Crime enhancements. Idavox also reports that Brown is a member of the Goyim Defense League and New Jersey European Heritage Foundation:
Brown, who is the East Coast head of the Nazi Goyim Defense League and a member of Dan D’Ambly’s New Jersey European American Heritage Association, was fired in 1999 from his position as a corrections officer in Dillon County, South Carolina and arrested for forcing an inmate to perform oral sex on him.
HBCU’s Recieve Bomb Threats
US historically Black colleges and universities face second day of bomb threats https://t.co/ioOMa4eZYN
— Anarcho-Bibliophile (@intlibecosoc) February 2, 2022
Several Historic Black Colleges around the country went on lockdown Tuesday, February 1st, after they received bomb threats. The Guardian reports:
Howard University in Washington, University of the District of Columbia, Kentucky State, Xavier University of Louisiana and Fort Valley State in Georgia were among the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) reporting threats, according to Twitter postings and local media.
Students and staff were asked to stay off campus or remain in their dorms until the lockdown was lifted. Buzzfeed reports that one of the suspects who called in the threat claimed to be affiliated with stochastic neo-Nazi terror cell Atomwaffen Division:
It wasn’t clear on Wednesday if the caller who threatened Bethune-Cookman had ties to the group or was simply using its name as a way to make a racist threat.
This isn’t the first time threats have been made to HBCUs. On Jan. 5, seven HBCUs entered lockdown after similar threats were made to Howard University, Norfolk State University, the University of Arkansas, Florida Memorial University, North Carolina Central University, Xavier University, and Prairie View A&M University, according to Yahoo News.
The investigation is ongoing.
Boston Neo-Nazis Rally Outside Boston Hospital
White Nationalists NSC-131 were in Boston to fuck w/ people at the hospital yesterday.
Even after Trumper talk show host #DiannaPloss discovered they were white nationalists, she decided she wanted to have them on her show.
Fun fact: She's running for governor.#BosPoli pic.twitter.com/vR9QQAdVGz
— Rod Webber (@RodWebber) January 24, 2022
Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s initiatives to address racial disparity in healthcare and medical communities have drawn attention and ire from far-Right activists leading to a protest outside the medical center from the neo-Nazi group NSC-131 in Boston. Data shows that Black and Latine people are not as likely to have access specialized care to address medical issues as their white counterparts. Doctors and institutions are working toward achieving health equity which has led to medical professionals and facilities to be targets of far-right attention and violence.
Dr. Michele Morse says she’s noticed a visible escalation in attention from far-Right and fascist groups. There most recent neo-Nazi demonstration drew more people than Brigham employees have seen in the past, says Robert Trustin of the ADL when speaking with local Boston NPR. The overlap between healthcare initiatives to address racialized medicine and the push for more serious discussion of critical race theory continues to enrage white people who feel victimized by even the idea of addressing racism. Check out the article for the full story.
MTG Paying for Marketing on Gab
To the surprise of literally no one, turns out Marjorie Taylor Greene has been paying for marketing on the far-Right social media platform, Gab, according to a Media Matters report. Not only is the app a safe-haven for everything from hate-speech to conspiracy theory, but it’s also one of the few places Greene is able to do any serious self-promotion since she’s been banned from more mainstream sites like Twitter and Facebook, though her Facebook ban was only temporary and is already back up and running. Gab is a cesspool for the exact demographic of supporters that got her elected in the first place. Media Matters reports:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has paid $36,741 in marketing costs to Gab, a social media site that’s been a haven for white nationalists, antisemites, and pro-violence extremists…
Greene’s congressional campaign committee paid Gab (also known as GAB AI Inc.) on September 13, September 20, September 22, October 1, and October 6, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission. The disbursements state that the payments were for “digital marketing” and “digital marketing for fundraising.”
Check the link for the full story.
Shuttering Sanctuary for Butterflies
Yesterday the National Butterfly Center announced it was closing its doors for three days due to a weird encounter with a GOP candidate and an upcoming MAGA rally. We got audio of the brawl with that candidate and it is … something: https://t.co/lbkzT5ZLyo
— Kelly Weill (@KELLYWEILL) January 28, 2022
The National Butterfly Center is a butterfly sanctuary located along the so-called US/Mexico border in Texas, and is home to hundreds of species of wild butterflies. It has also been a hotspot for unwanted attention from the far-Right since the center’s open opposition to the Trump border wall, which would have bisected the land. Since 2019, the National Butterfly Center has faced ongoing harassment from fascist grifter Steve Bannon, leader of the “We Build the Wall” pyramid scheme Brian Kolfage, and the campaign’s supporters.
[Marianne] Wright is the executive director of the National Butterfly Center, a private nature preserve in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. The center is a sanctuary for hundreds of butterfly species—and a frequent target for conspiracy theorists after Wright and her colleagues opposed the Trump administration’s plans to build a border wall through the middle of the property.
But after last week’s bizarre confrontation with longshot congressional candidate Kimberly Lowe, the National Butterfly Center is closing its doors from Jan. 28 through Jan. 30, in order to avoid a far-right conference that promises to take supporters (including Lowe) on a field trip to the border.
Although the National Butterfly Center is located in Texas, Donald Trump’s proposed wall would run two miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, bisecting the protected land. In 2019, the center filed a restraining order against the construction project. That court filing made the center a fixation of the far right.
One Trumpist group, the Bannon-backed “We Build the Wall” campaign, targeted the center with conspiracy theories. Brian Kolfage, a leader of the group, repeatedly tweeted that the National Butterfly Center was harboring an illegal sex trade and dead bodies.
The intersection of MAGA, conspiracy theory, and border wall nonsense has put this space designed for wildlife conservation, NBC’s staff, and their families at risk of harassment and violence for years. Check the link for the full story.
Daily Dot Sheds Light on 2019 Patriot Front Trip to Europe
NEW: Document recapping white nationalist Patriot Front's Eurotrip reveals a multi-nation tour comprising networking with neo-Nazis, barhopping, and participating in one of the largest gatherings of racists in the world. My latest for @dailydot https://t.co/RTvA4Tky7H
— Claire Goforth (@claire_goforth) February 1, 2022
The Daily Dot has published an article reporting on a 2019 Patriot Front trip to Europe. Antifascist activist “Billy,” who infiltrated Patriot from from 2018-2020 reached out to Daily Dot to provide a document detailing the trip to Europe to network with other far-Right organizers from a handful of European countries in order to better organize here in the so-called US. Daily Dot reports:
The 10-page document describes the activities and groups Patriot Front connected with on each leg of the trip. The groups include the National Independence in Poland; CasaPound and Forza Nuova in Italy; Verrogs in Latvia; Nordic Resistance Movement in Sweden; and affiliates Junge Nationalisten and National Democratic Party of Germany.
The document is called “Reflections on Nationalist Organizations in Europe. What we can learn, what we can bring back, and what should be pursued.” It analyzes each group’s network, infrastructure, and finances, with discussions about which it could implement.
On direct orders from Patriot Front’s leader, Thomas Rousseau, members were told to scrub their chats of any evidence of the trip, though some remained. The document provides report-backs of the groups engagement with the various European far-Right groups as well as criticisms of their organizing strategies and activist practices. According to the article, Billy indicates that overall, members of PF were generally impressed with the groups that they met save for CasaPound and Forza Nuova, who, according to Rousseau, operate more as street gangs with a propensity for violence that members of PF find overly risky to their overall mission. Check out the article for all the details.
SPLC Reports One in Five Patriot Front Applicants Has Military Ties
Patriot Front exposed membership applications in chat leaks published by @UR_Ninja. One in five claimed to have military ties. One guy claimed to work for DHS.
Me, @MeganSquire0 and Jeff Tischauser: https://t.co/Fpwflv7qjl
— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) February 1, 2022
On January 21st, comrades at Unicorn Riot dropped 400+ GBs of neo-Nazi hate group Patriot Front internal chats. Among the data were applications for 87 prospective members. The Southern Poverty Law Center combed through the applications and discovered that one in five applicants have current or former military ties. Hatewatch reports:
The applications show that 18 of those 87 applicants (21%) claimed to be current or former members of the U.S. military. One of the applicants, who claimed to be a former Marine, also stated in his application that he currently works for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In addition to DHS, applicants indicate active duty status in the Army Reserve and former status as an Army Ranger. They speak of their experience being radicalized by Alex Jones, 9/11 conspiracy theories and list the skills they are willing to contribute to the group such as martial arts, firearms, navigation, and signal intelligence. This report is yet another glaring example of white nationalist groups overlapping into the military and security state.
GiveSendGo Data Leaked for a 4th Time
A year ago, every donor for every GiveSendGo leaked to DDoSecrets.
A week ago, IDs for old GiveSendGo campaign creators leaked to DDoSecrets.
Yesterday, donor info for the biggest GiveSendGo campaign publicly leaked.
A pattern emerges. https://t.co/IQSSeGMEn9
— Emma Best 🏳️🌈🏴 (@NatSecGeek) February 14, 2022
The Christian fundraising site GiveSendGo, that has served as the home for fascist fundraising across the board is basking in the fallout of a 4th major hack and subsequent data leak. First, personal details of 92,000 people who donated to “Freedom Convoy 2022” were leaked, followed by every single donor to every campaign run on the site. Vice News reports:
According to Distributed Denial of Secrets, a WikiLeaks-like website that’s sharing the leaked information with journalists and researchers, the huge cache contains over 5GB of data that includes the source code for GiveSendGo’s website, data on all the campaigns it’s run, limited credit card data, and unredacted images of identity-verification documents sent to GiveSendGo by those running crowdfunding campaigns…
Worryingly for some users, the data leak also contains around 1,400 images of passports, driver’s licenses, and Social Security cards used by those running campaigns to verify their identities.
Some of the most profitable fundraisers were the “Freedom Convoy 2022” fundraiser and the defense fund for Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse. Journalists have been analyzing the data specific to the “Freedom Convoy 2022” donor list. Washington Post also reported on the leak stating:
Residents in wealthy enclaves across the United States — from Beverly Hills, Calif., to suburbs of Austin, to Florida beach communities — sent millions of dollars to support trucker convoys that occupied the Canadian capital and shut down commerce at key border crossings between the two nations, according to a Washington Post analysis of leaked fundraising data posted online over the past 48 hours.
The richer an American community was, the more likely residents there were to donate, and the biggest number of contributions often came from communities where registered Republicans made up solid majorities, according to the review of more than 55,000 U.S.-based donations through the Christian fundraising website GiveSendGo. The site, which had suffered multiple security breaches over the past year, emerged as a fundraising magnet early this month after the better-known online fundraising platform, GoFundMe, stopped accepting donations for the convoy. GoFundMe pulled away after saying the occupation born out of opposition to vaccine requirements for truckers violated its policies.
According to DDoSecrets, who obtained the leaked data and is hosting it on their site, the amount of data is just around 5GB. Since the hack and leak were announced, fundraising to the “Freedom Convoy 2022” campaign has continued to go up, indicating that these donors will need to learn multiple times over, that the site is a complete privacy and security nightmare.
Doxxes
Charles Sean Conry, Patriot Front Neo-Nazi of Fairview, North Carolina
Meet Charles Sean Conry AKA Jesse NC, Patriot Front member in North Carolina. https://t.co/Sk4sWAbVgT#PatriotFront #patriotfail pic.twitter.com/kAicqq00xV
— Asheville AntiRacism (@avlantiracism) January 28, 2022
Ashville Antiracism brings us the identity of Fairview, North Carolina Patriot Front member Charles Sean Conry. Conry, who goes by “Jesse NC,” and according to antifascist researchers, is responsible for much of the neo-Nazi propaganda in the Asheville, North Carolina area including the creation and distribution of stickers, stencils, and banners. Check the blog for the full dox.
Joshua Thayer Legoff, Neo-Nazi Comic Illustrator Propagandist of Cranston, Rhode Island
Here’s to a lousy Thursday for Nazi shitheel cartoonist Joshua Thayer Legoff of Cranston, RI better known and Jingerzilla. Content Warning for antisemitism, racism, transphobia, suicide, assume the worst. pic.twitter.com/BhA7mgvNXw
— Anonymous Comrade Stan Account (@AnonCommieStan) January 28, 2022
Anonymous Comrades Collective in collaboration with Utah161 and Partisan161 bring us the identity of neo-Nazi cartoonist Joshua Thayer Legoff. Legoff, who goes by the name “Jinjerzilla” and according to ACC:
Joshua Legoff published a children’s book called Herman’s Hiccup Hijinx and has recently announced plans for a White Nationalist children’s book through secretive neo-Nazi publisher Antelope Hill.
Legoff’s cartoons are a shitstorm of antisemitism, racism, and transphobia, among other awful things. He has seriously disgusting beliefs and is motivated to find ways to indoctrinate children. Check the blog for more details and calls to action.
Riley Johnson, Patriot Front Neo-Nazi from Madison, South Dakota
Hey guys say hello to Patriot Front member and Dakota State University computer science major Riley Johnson!https://t.co/Rz6YBcntgS pic.twitter.com/JVRCjCqSsi
— Central oregon antifascist (@Centraloregona1) February 1, 2022
Comrades from the Central Oregon Antifascist crew have uncovered the identity of “Tyler SD” as Riley Johnson, currently a computer science major at Dakota State University in Madison, South Dakota. Johnson has been a diligent notetaker for the hate-group, acting as scribe during interviews of prospective PF members. According to Central Oregon Antifascists, he’s also gone on group hikes with other members, provided tech support to members who are working on their respective websites and played a central role in the vetting process of new members. Check the link for more info and calls to action.
Victor Krvaric, Patriot Front Prospect of San Diego, California
The white supremacist group that allegedly attracted Victor Krvaric, a Marine reservist and son of former San Diego County GOP Chairman Tony Krvaric, has a violent past and a penchant for recruiting members of the military, according to experts.https://t.co/m5CZMJwCfl pic.twitter.com/RMN0qkzkq2
— KPBS News (@KPBSnews) February 12, 2022
Comrades over at the Activated Podcast have identified Patriot Front prospective member Victor Krvaric of San Diego, California. Krvaric is a member of the Marine Corps Reserve and a contracted security guard at the Department of Homeland Security. Leaked chats show that Krvaric was interviewed in December of 2021. Folks at the Activated Podcast were able to corroborate his admission of employment by cross-referencing his LinkedIn page. Check the thread for all the details of his extensive history of racism and bigotry.
Allen Goff, Neo-Nazi Propagandist and Patriot Front Member of Billings, Montana
Hey guys say hello to Patriot Front member and Dakota State University computer science major Riley Johnson!https://t.co/Rz6YBcntgS pic.twitter.com/JVRCjCqSsi
— Central oregon antifascist (@Centraloregona1) February 1, 2022
SPLC’s Hatewatch along with supplemental research from Colorado Springs Antifascists bring us the identity of the ever elusive “Valaska” aka “Lucca Corgiat” aka Allen Goff of Billings, Montana. Goff is a neo-Nazi propagandist and videographer from Montana with connections to Patriot Front, and Rob Rundo’s Will2Rise, specifically RAM’s media arm, Media2Rise, and Identity Evropa – to name just a few. As a member of Patriot Front, Goff has been responsible for much of the groups propaganda including a mural of Kyle Rittenhouse in the Denver area. In 2018, he was responsible for a huge Identity Evropa mural with white supremacist organizer Corey Reeves, who was exposed by Colorado Springs Antifascists. The depth and breadth of Goff’s organizing is quite expansive. Check out the SPLC article for some background and look out for a more detailed report on Goff from COSA soon!
Calvin Stow-Ortiz, Patriot Front Member and Nazi Sympathizer in Tallahassee, Florida
NEW ON SITE:
"Meet Calvin Stow-Ortiz: 'Patriot Front' Member and Nazi Sympathizer in Tallahassee, Florida"Calvin Stow-Ortiz is a Patriot Front member & @floridastate student in Tallahassee. He attended PF's December rally in DC. His dad's a cop in Tampa.https://t.co/NzU6D3n8hj pic.twitter.com/6ke0PHxeYE
— Atlanta Antifascists (@afainatl) January 31, 2022
Atlanta Antifascists bring us the identity of Patriot Front member “Arthur FL” as Calvin Joseph Stow-Ortiz of Tallahassee, Florida. Atlanta Antifascists were able to identify Stow-Ortiz from the metadata of a word document shared in the leaked chat data hosted by Unicorn Riot. The chats also showed that he traveled and participated in “activism” by putting up stickers and stencils of Patriot Front propaganda. His profile picture for his Telegram account is a Nazi soldier, which makes total sense given his neo-Nazi affiliation. Check the blog post for all the details.
Cristian Xavier Barajas, White Riot Participant and Right Wing Extremist from Boyle Heights, California
Introducing Los Angeles-area Capitol rioter and right-wing extremist Cristian Xavier Barajas, 31, of Boyle Heights.
Barajas frequently makes violent threats on social media. He trespassed on U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan 6. #CristianBarajas #LosAngeles https://t.co/8wOucbbSp6 pic.twitter.com/k4FIb9LDha
— Pacific Antifascist Research Collective (@PacAntifa) February 1, 2022
Pacific Antifascist Research Collective has identified January 6th participant Cristian Xavier Barajas of Boyle Heights, California. According to PARC’s blog:
Cristian Xavier Barajas is a right-wing extremist from Los Angeles, California who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Barajas associates with other violent right-wing extremists from Southern California. Barajas has not been witnessed committing violence, but he has been known to menace antifascists and BLM activists online.
Check the link for more information.
Zachary Ross Stern, Patriot Front Neo-Nazi of Bushkill, Pennsylvania
Patriot Front Neo-Nazi “Ryan-PA” Identified as Zachary Ross Stern of Bushkill, Pennsylvaniahttps://t.co/vaZhoz22dj pic.twitter.com/YUOE41NV3r
— Anonymous Comrades Collective (@AnonComrades) February 16, 2022
Anonymous Comrades Collective have uncovered the identity of Patriot Front member “Ryan-PA” as Bushkill, Pennsylvania resident Zachary Ross Stern. Stern was originally ID’d by the Huffington Post because he was on the rental agreement for a a rental truck used to transport Patriot Front members to and from a rally in Philadelphia. ACC used the information from Huffpost to connect Stern to his PF ID, Ryan-PA. From their blog:
Besides being a distributor of neo-Nazi music, his company also distributed white nationalist books by the American neo-Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell, esoteric Hitlerism guru Miguel Serrano, the fascist Francis Parker Yockey and the like, as well as apparel featuring white nationalist and neo-Nazi imagery…
There is no doubt about Zachary Stern’s position as an antisemite now that we know he is a member of the explicitly racist, antisemitic neo-Nazi organization Patriot Front. We find this particularly upsetting since his family, as seen on social media, seems active in fighting antisemitism.
Check the link for the full dox.
Tristan Michaelangelo Yeager, Patriot Front Neo-Nazi of Haslet, Texas
Today we would like to introduce you to Patriot Front member Tristan Michaelangelo Yeager (Michael TX) who also happens to be the newest resident of Patriot Front HQ recently relocated to Haslet, TX. Other residents include Thomas Rousseau, Graham Jones Whitson and Kieran Morris. pic.twitter.com/WeqpQbB01W
— Sunny South Dallas AFA (@PegasusAFA) February 16, 2022
Texas Antifascists have identified Patriot Front member “Michael-TX” as Tristan Michaelangelo Yeager. Yeager currently lives in Haslet, TX, the established headquarters of Patriot Front and home of PF founder Thomas Rousseau. According to comrades in TX, Yeager is an active member of PF’s tech team working on their servers. Follow this link for the full dox and calls to action.
Amy Wainwright, Neo-Nazi Trad-Wife & “Avalon Rising” Club Creator of Rural Kentucky
Amy Wainwright and the Neo-Nazi Ladies Club “Avalon Rising”https://t.co/GMBPQgOPYw pic.twitter.com/5wXzlseEFu
— Anonymous Comrades Collective (@AnonComrades) February 18, 2022
Anonymous Comrades Collective bring us the identity of Trad-Wife “Avalon Club” creator Amy Wainwright. Wainright, who lives in a cabin in rural Mount Vernon, Kentucky, goes by the name Clarion Wakefield on Telegram, and is the admin and creator behind the Telegram channel “Avalon Club.” The club is a pro-white cesspool of “traditionalism” meets child-rearing meets doting white wifedom. Describing the Telegram club content, the ACC blog states:
While some of the discussion involves various “trad” topics related to homesteading, gardening, knitting and the like, most of discussion goes towards organizing “pro-white” activism, paranoid theories of “white genocide” and blatantly racist discourse…
However unsubtle this is already, much of the discussion in Avalon Rising is blatantly pro-Nazi. The ladies of Avalon Rising make clear that Adolf Hitler is a figure they revere. In the posts below, “Clarion” requested recommendations for a print collection of Hitler’s speeches. In one post she explained that her daughter was to memorize and recite a speech for her home-school co-op.
According to our comrades, Wainright’s 18 year old daughter is also a co-admin of the channel. She goes by the name Branka Ryan and has published books through neo-Nazi publishing company “Antalope Press.”
Despite being a minor youth at the time, “Branka Ryan” was very active in the chat greeting new members. Keeping to the norms of the chat, “Branka Ryan” did not refrain from expressing her views about persons of color or those in the LGBT+ community, as well as her admiration of Adolf Hitler. In one post she wrote, “Adolf Hitler was a great man.”
Check the blog for all the details, backstory and bonus ID’s of other “Avalon Rising” members including Adrienne Dohrmann of New Bern, North Carolina, Kristie Lynn Robinson (also known as Kristie Rowland) of Overton, Nevada, Michelle Widdowson (aka Michelle Caudlle or Michelle Caudle) from Launceston, Tasmania, Kristen Hatten, Allyson McKevitt, and finally “Avalon Rising” co-admin Alisia J. Collett (née Jezierny) of Bedford, Pennsylvania.
Support Our Prisoners
- Support those arrested during the ongoing rebellion! Check the In Contempt column on It’s Going Down for a list of prisoners.
- Support Gage Halupowski! Currently serving a six year sentence. More info here.
- Support Dan Baker! Currently facing federal charges for posts online in response to armed far-Right rally at the capitol building in Florida. More info here.
- Support Eric King! Anarchist and antifascist prisoner who has been targeted by the State and neo-Nazi inmates. More info here. Donate here.
- Support San Diego antifascists facing heavy charges! Go here to sign petition and donate.