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May 11, 20

This Week in Fascism #59: What a Long Strange Grift It’s Been

Welcome, fellow antifascists!

This week, we’ve got the IWW confronting militia members in St. Paul, Minnesota; Proud Boy leaders in more hot water; the Washington Three Percenters threatening to dox anyone who reported a stay-at-home violation; the UK experiencing 77 arson attacks related to a conspiracy theory claiming that 5G networks spread the coronavirus; plus, doxxes of Proud Boys and the League of the South.

Without further ado, let’s begin!

News

IWW Rallies Behind Nurses, Confronts Armed Militia in St. Paul, Minnesota

On Saturday, May 2, 2020, the Workers Defense Alliance, formerly the Twin Cities IWW General Defense Committee, rallied to support nurses and other healthcare workers at Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota. (General Defense Committees are specialized autonomous working groups within the Industrial Workers of the World that organize to confront both state repression of workers as well as fascist and hate groups.)

The group was countering an #OperationGridlock protest outside a hospital, a subset of the far-Right ReOpen protests that have gained traction across the country in recent weeks. The Gridlock protesters were armed with guns, wore plate carriers, and flew a Kekistan flag, a white supremacist symbol created in 2016 to represent the Alt-Right.

As a report back noted:

The nurses held fast while the Trumpers attempted to push their vehicles through the line, and repeatedly brandished shotguns and rifles at them. One Trumper used a shotgun as a flagpole. Another shouted: “I HAVE A GUN.” at nurses while waving his AR.

The protest itself was organized by the Dorr brothers, two siblings who have a history of using far-Right causes for their own financial gain. As detailed by Brian Krebs, the brothers registered approximately 150 domain names relating to the ReOpen movement in states across the US– including reopenmn.com, reopenpa.com, and reopenva.com. The brothers also started Facebook groups in several states for the Reopen movement, in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York, Minnesota, and Ohio.

Far-Right and White Nationalists Cheerlead Killing of Ahmaud Arbery

White nationalist and far-Right social media figures have seized upon the killing of 25 year-old Ahmaud Arbery as a vehicle to push their wider racist agenda. According to the Daily Dot:

Right-wing troll Andy Ngo wrote an entire thread attacking the slain young man. He argues that Arbery deserved to be killed because he has a minor criminal history.

Liberty Hangout, the extremist, wannabe version of Turning Point USA, is also attempting to vilify Arbery. The home of Kaitlin “gun girl” Bennett thinks the media should be using his mug shot photo in its coverage of his death.

Media Matters also pointed out how white nationalists and far-Right pundits are using the incident as a way to promote conspiracy theories surrounding “black crime,” writing:

Arbery’s killing fits into a pattern of unarmed Black men being shot and killed with little to no accountability for the shooters, and right-wing media’s quick vilification of Black people who are killed in those cases. Despite the mounting evidence against the McMichaels, far-right reactionaries on social media platforms and message boards are already attempting to obscure the facts of the case, downplay the incident with racist talking points, and even outright justify Arbery’s killing.

Denver Public Health Officials Receive “Civil War” Threat

A receptionist at the Tri-County Health Department in Denver, Colorado, received an email this week blaming “9 petty tyrants” for the lock down of Colorado, saying, “’We the people’ are DONE with this f***ing bulls***, and you’re about to start a hot-shooting no bulls*** civil war.”

Officially, the Colorado shelter-in-place order ended on April 26th. The threat comes after four instances of vandalism at the Denver public health offices, and one week after Colorado Boogaloo adherent Chevy Lee McGee livestreamed himself preparing for a showdown with the police, threatening to “slaughter some fucking tyrants.”

Former Proud Boys Chairman Has Law License Suspended

Former Proud Boys Chairman Jason Van Dyke had his law license suspended for six months this week, after a scandal broke involving Dyke filing a false police report. This comes about a month after it was reveled that Dyke had attempted to use the Arizona chapter of the Proud Boys to surveil an enemy of his in a wider assassination plot.

Washington Three Percenters Release List of People Who Reported Stay-at-Home Violations

3% of Washington, a Facebook page run by far-Right militia members, released a list this week of people who have reported stay-at-home violations to government agencies.

Publishing the names and addresses, or “doxxing,” of political opponents in the hopes of inspiring violence is an old tactic by the far-Right. In the 1980s, the anti-abortion group the Army of God began publishing the personal information of reproductive healthcare providers. Since 1993, the National Abortion Federation notes that there have been eleven murders and 26 attempted murders linked to anti-abortion extremists.

UK Sees 77 Arson Attacks Related to Coronavirus Conspiracy Theory

Wired reports that since March 30th, there have been 77 separate arson attacks in the UK, targeting telephone poles supporting mobile infrastructure. The attacks are an outgrowth of a conspiracy theory claiming that mobile 5G networks are spreading the coronavirus. 5G has been pushed by politicians like Donald Trump and the Department of Defense has expressed interest in “harnessing” it’s power, while environmentalists have raised the alarm on its possible impacts. While far-Right conspiracy theorists have dominated the conversation around 5-G, anarchists have also taken action against it.

Doxxes

Marc Anthony Bru, Proud Boy in Vancouver, Washington

Cascadia Anarchist Network shared a dox of Vancouver, WA Proud Boy Marc Anthony Bru. Bru resides in the Hazel Dell area of Vancouver. The Proud Boys are a pro-Trump street gang who played a large role in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, and have been present at the wave of “ReOpen America/Anti-Lockdown” protests across the so-called US. This Week in Fascism has reported on these protests over the past several weeks.

In addition to his affiliation with the local Proud Boy chapter, he is also known to push QAnon conspiracy theories on his social media and claims to be a member of known far-Right militia the  “Three Percenters.” His militia ties don’t stop there, as it’s also been reported that he is a member of the Washington State Militia as well.

The intersection of militias, far-Right organizations and QAnon conspiracy theorists has been well documented in the push back and protest of COVID-19 related health measures across the country. The original article that was posted to an antifascist researcher’s twitter account that has since been suspended but the archived information can be accessed here.

Clint Cassidy Gene McCook, League of the South Member in Sarasota, Florida

Antifascist researcher Antifa Garfield published a dox uncovering Sarasota, Florida resident and white supremacist Clint Cassidy Gene McCook. McCook is a member of the neo-Confederate group League of the South (LoS) and was an active participant in the deadly 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, VA. The LoS website also shows McCook marching at a 2017 “White Lives Matter” rally in Shelbyville, Tennessee. The League of the South is known for promoting white supremacy and anti-Semitism, with a goal of creating an all-white ethno-state within the territory that made up the former Confederacy. The LoS was at one point a part of the “Nationalist Front,” which included other neo-Nazi, Ku-Klux-Klan, and white nationalist groups.

McCook, who sometimes goes by the name Clint Cooke, regularly posts hateful memes to his Facebook account. They target everyone from queer to Jewish people and he often quotes American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell and posts pictures of British fascist, Oswald Mosley.

 

Any information about Clint McCook can be sent to [email protected].

Scarlet Horse, White Nationalist and ReOpen Protester in Portland, Oregon

Antifascists uncovered the identity of Portland, OR white nationalist and nurse Scarlet Horse. Horse works at Oregon Health & Science University, dubbed “Oregon’s Number One Hospital,” as a Health Unit Coordinator by day and involved in white nationalist politics and local “ReOpen” protests by night. As a healthcare worker, it’s alarming and dangerous that she refers to people who have self-isolated as “entitled little bitches” as well as making other inflammatory statements.

Horse uses her Instagram account to post about the anti-Semitic white genocide conspiracy and regularly references her involvement in the “TradWife Movement” which promotes so-called “traditional” patriarchal gender roles within the white nationalist movement. She also posts references and quotes of fascist philosopher Julius Evola – famous for influencing everyone from Steve Bannon to the Rise Above Movement. Nearly every post is tagged with #revoltagainstthemodernworld, the name of Evola’s most famous manifesto.

CV Antifa is asking folks who are inclined to please call Oregon Health and Science University’s integrity hotline to inform them that their employee Scarlet Horse has a blatant disregard for the health and safety of her patients and her community. Their phone number 877-733-8313.

Glenn Hamilton, ReOpen Activist and Sheriff of Sierra County, New Mexico

Researcher abq161 identified Sierra County Sheriff Glenn Hamilton as an attendee at a recent ReOpen protest. Hamilton recently deputized a church congregation in order to exempt them from public gathering restrictions issued by the governor.

Deplatforms

Tom Kawczynski Kicked Out of Own Facebook Group

Maine for Mainers, a white nationalist Facebook group in Maine, has booted former leader Tom Kawczynski, after deciding he wasn’t conspiratorial enough for the group. Kawczynski runs a coronavirus podcast and has been hoping to use the crisis to build a white neo-monarchical ethno-state of which he would appoint himself king. Kawczynski supports the shelter-in-place guidelines, while the rest of the group wanted to support the far-Right ReOpen movement.

Proud Boys Leader Quits Congressional Campaign

Enrique Tarrio, the current Chairman of the Proud Boys, an ultra-nationalist, anti-Islam, misogynistic far-Right street gang, ended his Republican primary Congressional campaign this week. Tarrio participated in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017 as part of the “military wing” of the Proud Boys, the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights, or FOAK.

According to FEC records, Tarrio raised just $8,158, well short of the $1.8 million raised by Democratic incumbent Donna Shalala, or the $1.1 million raised by GOP frontrunner Maria Salazar. The names, addresses, and occupations of those who donated over $200 to the Tarrio campaign are public information and are available via the FEC’s website.

Banjo CEO, Outed as White Nationalist, Resigns

Banjo CEO Damien Patton has resigned, after revelations last week of his white nationalist past.

In 1990, Patton participated in the drive-by shooting of a synagogue with a Ku-Klux-Klan leader.

Patton is the second CEO of a surveillance firm to have his extremist connections exposed in recent months. In April, the Huffington Post detailed the far-Right ties of Clearview CEO Cam-Hoan Ton-That.

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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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