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Feb 17, 20

This Week in Fascism #46: Fellow White Nationalist Helps Gets Nick Fuentes Kicked off YouTube

Welcome, fellow antifascists!

This week, we’ve got Nick Fuentes getting kicked off YouTube, members of Vanguard America pleading guilty to various crimes, doxxes of Proud Boys, neo-Nazis, and more!

Without further ado, let’s begin!

News

Fred Arena, Vanguard American Member and Unite the Right 2 Planner, Sentenced to Six Months

Fred Arena, a member of Vanguard America and a co-planner of Unite the Right 2, was sentenced to six months for lying to the FBI about his membership in the group in order to obtain a security clearance.

In January 2019, Arena applied for a security clearance as part of his job as a security contractor at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. According to a Department of Justice press release, Arena was “required to disclose whether he had ever been a member of an organization that used (or advocated the use of) force or violence to prevent others from exercising their constitutional rights. He falsely answered that he had not.”

In June 2018, Arena was doxxed as a member of the neo-Nazi organization when antifascist infiltrators leaked the event’s planning chats to Unicorn Riot. In the chats, Arena repeatedly discussed his capacity for violence, his links to and in a public Facebook post, endorsed a statement from Andrew Anglin associate “Ludovici Alibi,” saying that “The only answer to Antifa is Atomwaffen,” (a neo-Nazi group linked to five murders in the US) adding “Absolutely agreed! And a few other crazy fucks like myself!! HAIL VICTORY!”

In private chats with an antifascist infiltrator posing as a neo-Nazi, Arena claimed that he and other Vanguard America members were planning on hiding weapons in the Charlottesville park, should the permits be granted, and said he was organizing a group of Vanguard American, Hammerskins, and Atomwaffen members to attend.

“At a minimum I would have a shield, a really good stun gun. A medium-sized padlock tight on the end of a handkerchief makes it a very good weapon,” Arena told an antifascist infiltrator whom he believed to be a fellow member of the Unite the Right 2 security team via Facebook, where he used the pseudonym “McCormick Foley.” After Arena’s bail hearing in October 2019, journalist Nick Martin posted prosecution exhibits to Twitter.

A motion for pretrial detention notes that Arena had a history of threatening witnesses, including one Charlottesville resident whom he believed to be a federal informant. “During their investigation, agents also learned that Arena made online and verbal threats against two women with whom he had failed relationships…. In both cases he threatened to sever intimate parts of the women’s bodies and store the parts in a jar,” prosecutors argued in a motion for pretrial detention.

Though Arena faced up to 20 years in prison, he was sentenced to only six months, with two years supervised release.

Though This Week in Fascism does not endorse imprisonment (or the criminal justice system as a whole), as a collaborator of this author noted, this is disappointing because the length of prison sentences is often a shorthand for the importance with which society views a given issue.

Though some will celebrate Arena’s sentence as a victory of the state, it is anything but. It was antifascists, not federal investigators, who exposed Arena’s affiliations.

Even though Arena was interviewed by the FBI in August 2018 after he was doxxed by antifascist activists as a member of Vanguard America, he was allowed to keep his job at the Philadelphia Naval Yard for fourteen more months, and for 10 months after applying for a security clearance.

This is the failure of the State, and the degree to which it does not treat seriously the threat of fascism and white nationalism. The need for antifascists is greater than ever. We keep us safe!

Let Them Fight! Nick Fuentes Kicked Off YouTube, Other White Nationalist Claims Credit

French Canadian white nationalist and host of The Public Space, Jean-François Gariépy, (known for his livestreams alongside neo-Nazis like Richard Spencer and Mike Enoch), took credit for getting fellow white nationalist Nick Fuentes kicked off YouTube this week.

Regarding his battle to deplatform Nick Fuentues, Jean-François Gariépy stated:

“For the last few weeks I’ve been regularly watching some clips of Nick Fuentes and noting timestamps. And those of you who really follow the TPS show, you know that I know my stuff. It’s like whenever he had a strike, I knew where the timestamp was. That’s because I do a lot of research. I spend my days– especially when I’m in a quest for vengeance, especially when I’ve been insulted – I will spend my days, all of my intellectual resources, documenting your errors, and I will hit with reports…When I see someone who is an enemy of mine violating the TOS, I will go on an absolutely autistic quest to document every single timestamp where a homophobic slur can be used or some violation of the rules or an appeal to violence, and I will pursue the destruction of those who attack me,” Gariépy said in a followup YouTube video. [h/t to Hilary Sargent for posting that quote to Twitter.]

Ironically online, Jean-François Gariépy called on antifascists to join with him in his campaign to deplatform Fuentes, despite both Gariépy and Fuentes having almost totally similar ethno-nationalist and fascist politics. This call was not headed by antifascists nor taken seriously, but seems to be taken at face value by Fuentes supporters. Where Gariépy and Fuentes diverge is on the question of optics and leadership, with Gariépy being tied closely to Richard Spencer, whom Fuentes has been locked in a long-standing feud with.

Conor Climo, Member of Feuerkrieg Division, Pleads Guilty to Planning to Bomb ADL Office, Synagogue, Gay Bar

Man admits plotting attack on Las Vegas synagogue

Conor Climo, a member of the recently disbanded Feuerkrieg Division, (an Atomwaffen Division-like group), plead guilty this week to plotting a bomb attack at a Las Vegas synagogue, an Anti-Defamation League office, and a gay bar. At the time of his arrest, Climo was working as a Security Guard for Allied Universal, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Climo was formerly a member of the National Socialist Legion, a Vanguard America splinter, where (under the Discord username CC96), he told the group “Fuck the K*ked laws. Oh I know where the ADL office is in Vegas and I know it is also surrounded by Lawyer firms,” in July 2018, suggesting that he’s long had an obsession with the Anti-Defamation League.

After antifascists infiltrated the NSL and doxxed their leadership in the fall of 2018, showing them trading bomb-making materials in their private Discord chat, Climo subsequently joined Feuerkrieg Division, an international accelerationist group preparing for a race war, via a private Wire chat under the name username Sir78.

After Climo’s arrest, internal FKD chat logs obtained by This Week in Fascism show that the group’s leadership took months to remove his account from their chats.

Following Climo’s arrest, fellow FKD member William Jarrett Smith was arrested by the FBI for planning bomb attacks against CNN, Beto O’Rourke, and leftist podcast Daniel Harper, host of I Don’t Speak German, which covers the far-Right.

Climo is expected to receive three years in prison.

Far-Right and White Nationalists Respond to Coronavirus With Racism and Conspiracy Theories

With the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, which has infected tens of thousands of people and led to the deaths of almost 2K, the far-Right has jumped at the tragedy to spread racist anti-immigrant sentiment as well as conspiracy theories.

Eyes on the Right has a good write up wroth reading:

The idea that “bat soup” was responsible for the outbreak quickly became a meme on the far-right. On January 23rd, conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson tweeted that “our media encourages us to eat all kinds of weird stuff because it’s ‘normal’ in other cultures,” and that “Some cultures are better than others.”

The phrase “eat the bat, bigot” became a common refrain on the far-right, and people on Twitter and Telegram added cartoon hazmat suits to their avatars to mock the epidemic.

During the February 12th episode of The Daily Shoah, another white supremacist podcast on The Right Stuff, co-host Mike “Enoch” Peinovich said he felt no sympathy for the victims because they aren’t white.

“You know what’s funny is I have not been really thinking about this [virus] very much or caring about it too much ’cause I’m just like, so far everyone [that’s] died of this is a chink,” Peinovich said. “Like, whether they’re here in America or over there, like have any white people died of this?” he asked.

In a video for his YouTube channel, Mark Collett — a British Nazi sympathizer — complained about the coverage of anti-Asian racism in the wake of the virus.

“[Liberals] are more bothered that people may respond to the coronavirus by calling for checks on immigration, and the virus may even lead to people questioning the merits of globalization,” Collett said. “And you only have to type ‘coronavirus racism’ into Google to see liberals foaming at the mouths, not because they’ve been infected by the virus, but because they’re committed followers of the cult of multiculturalism.”

This spread of online misinformation has been coupled with real-world, racist and anti-Asian attacks.

Proud Boy Raven Burkhow Pleads Guilty to Distributing Drugs, Illegal Possession of Firearms

Proud Boy Raven Burkhow, originally charged with 42 counts of the distribution of drugs and illegal possession of firearms, pled guilty to six of them. His arsenal included three machine guns and a pipe bomb.

Burkhow faces a mandatory minimum of at least 25 years in prison.

The Base Members Face Charges for Killing Goat in Ritual Sacrifice

Michael Helterbrand, Jacob Kaderli, and Luke Austin Lane, three members of The Base charged with planning to murder a couple they believed to be antifascist activists in Georgia, may be facing additional charges related to the theft and ritual sacrifice of a goat, prosecutors said this week.

Though the mens’ attorneys petitioned the court for bond, those motions were denied. “They’re domestic terrorists. That’s why we’re here,” Bartow County Assistant District Attorney Emily Johnson told the court.

Doxxes

John Charles Stortstrom, Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement in Bel Air, Maryland

Panic! in the Discord identified John Charles Stortstrom, a resident of Bel Air, Maryland, as a member of the white nationalist group the American Identity Movement, formerly known as Identity Evropa.

Stortstrom was previously profiled by the One People’s Project in June 2013.

Chase Grant Labudda, Proud Boy and Antisemite in Flower Mound, Texas

Chase Grant Labudda, a resident of Flower Mound, Texas, was identified this week as a member of the hate group the Proud Boys. Labudda also posts virulent antisemitic material from his two Facebook accounts.

Dominick Carmine Giannattasio, Neo-Nazi in Madison, Wisconsin

Vigilant AFA exposed Dominick Carmine Giannattasio, a resident of Madison, Wisconsin, this week.

Giannattasio shares neo-Nazi images and propaganda on his Facebook page and “Wolf Age,” a page he runs on the VK social networking site.

Benjamin Baker, Proud Boy in Corvallis, Oregon

Benjamin Baker, a Proud Boy in Corvallis, Oregon, was doxxed by Corvallis Antifa this week.

Baker is also a militia member, using his Facebook profile to spread racist, Islamophobic, and transphobic memes. He also uses the n-word multiple times in his posts.

Baker is a manager at McDonald’s, located at 300 NW 3rd St. in Corvallis, Oregon.

You can contact the restaurant at 541-754-8050, but use *67 first to obscure your phone number.

Additionally, you can contact McDonald’s corporate customer service at 1-800-244-6227 or via their online contact form.

Jarred Sallas, Fascist in Huntsville, Alabama

Haleyville Anti-Rapist/Anti-Fascist Action doxxed Jared Sallas, a fascist who appears to have violent fantasies.

Haleyville activists have requested that readers contact Sallas’ employer, DCS Electric, in Gurley, Alabama by calling (256)-776-9336 or their online contact page.

They have provided the following script as a guide:

Hello,

I am writing to inform you that one of your employees, Jarred Sallas of Huntsville, is a white supremacist who openly posts on his Facebook about murdering people and doing violence to his political enemies. He also posts, and likes pages, about neo-Nazi activities, racism, and misogynistic and anti-LGBT+ sentiment. He’s believed to be a danger to vulnerable people.

I learned about Jarred Sallas at haleyvilleara.blackblogs.org.

Call to Action

There is a call for solidarity with Russian anarchists and antifascists from February 22nd – 29th. If you need a quick refresher on the intense repression being dished out to anti-authoritarians in Russia, check out our podcast interview with a Russian anarchist here.

From the call:

International solidarity is especially important at this moment because the “Network case” is not over. In St. Petersburg, two more people, Viktor Filinkov and Julian Boyarshinov, await trial on related charges. The next court hearings are planned for February 25-28. This is why we ask that solidarity actions take place the last week of February.

Many other anarchists and anti-fascists in Russia are experiencing repression and torture, including Azat Miftahov, Ilia Romanov, Egor Lesnyh, Evgeny Karakashev, and Kirill Kuzminkin. They too deserve our attention and support.

If there is a Russian consulate or embassy in your city, consider organizing an action in front of it! Failing that, you could consider what other appropriate venues or targets are available, or simply paint a beautiful banner and hold a public gathering to inform people of the situation.

Email action reports to [email protected] or via Telegram to @RUPRESSION_bot or Rupression social networks.

We will inform the prisoners about any actions that take place.

For more information about the Network case, details of financial support and prisoners addresses: rupression.com

Support Our Prisoners

  • Support Gage Halupowski! Currently serving a six year sentence. More info here.
  • Support David Campbell! Currently serving a year. More info here.
  • Support Eric King! Anarchist and antifascist prisoner who has been targeted by the State and neo-Nazi inmates for being ‘ANTIFA.’ More info here.

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A weekly roundup of the latest and greatest happenings in the anti-fascist world. Each column features a roundup of news, actions, doxxes and current calls to action.

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