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Oct 20, 20

This Week In Fascism #79: The Jaws of Victory

Photo: Left Coast Right Watch

Welcome fellow antifascists!

There’s a lot going on this week: from hundreds of antifascists demonstrators marching in San Francisco and Boston against the Proud Boys and other far-Right chuds, former-prisoner and anti-fascist David Campbell getting released, a neo-Nazi cop getting fired after being exposed, a neo-Nazi vandal getting caught putting up swastika stickers, a Proud Boy getting catfished by undercover antifa, and much more!

Let’s dive in!

News

Witnesses Say Cops Failed to Identify Themselves Before Opening Fire On Michael Reinoehl

Newly released witness testimony from the scene of Michael Reinoehl’s death at the hands of U.S. marshals raises questions about whether officers attempted to arrest the leftist activist before opening fire and killing him. According to the New York Times, Attorney General William Barr’s description of the incident – that Reinoehl attempted to flee and pointed a gun at marshals – are contradicted by witness reports. Out of 22 witnesses, 21 say that they did not hear the officers announce themselves or give any commands. According to five of the bystanders, Reinoehl was not holding a weapon and the shooting started immediately as marshals arrived on the scene. Conflicting reports were also given by officers at the scene. One said they saw Reinoehl produce a gun before they opened fire, but this claim was directly contradicted by two other statements from law enforcement.

Trump’s fascist rhetoric has been particularly alarming since the start of the uprising and protests started following the murder of George Floyd. His statements regarding Antifa have been pointed and violent, emboldening law enforcement and far-Right organizers to engage in escalated violence toward anyone they deem as anarchist, Black Lives Matter, or antifascist. Trump’s recent comments during the presidential debate, telling Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” have only added to these escalations in force and violence. At a presidential rally last week, regarding the extrajudicial murder of Michael Reinoehl, Trump said, “…we sent in the US Marshals, took 15 minutes and it was over… They knew who he was, they didn’t want to arrest him and 15 minutes that ended.” The clip has been highly circulated on social media. It’s clear that the Trump administration, his surrogates and his supporters have no problem killing leftist organizers and activists.

Trump Retweets Neo-Nazis, Refuses to Disavow QAnon

On Friday October 16th, President Trump retweeted two fascists, Styxhexenhammer666 and Lauren Southern, from his official Twitter account. Styxhexenhammer666 is a Holocaust revisionist who has done stream with white nationalist Richard Spencer, and been featured on the anti-Semitic and white nationalist website, Red Ice TV. ​​​​

Lauren Southern is an Alt-Right YouTuber known for peddling the fascist “Great Replacement” theory through her Islamophobic, anti-immigrant videos. In 2018, she hired the Nazi group “Lads Society” as private security during her tour of Australia. She has also collaborated with Defend Europe and Generation Identity, fascist groups that obstructed boat rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea intended to prevent refugees from drowning.

Trump has already been criticized for repeatedly sharing posts related to the QAnon conspiracy theory. Just last Thursday during his town hall, the president refused to disavow the QAnon movement, instead praising the conspiracy theory’s supporters for opposing “pedophilia,” and then pivoting to criticisms of Antifa. This week’s retweets were a marked escalation in the presidents promotion of far-Right content, proving that fascists will continue to be emboldened as long as he remains in power.

Proud Boys Chased out of San Francisco by Hundreds of Anti-Racist and Antifascist Counter-Protesters

On Saturday October 17th, hundreds of Bay Area antifascists mobilized against a far-Right demonstration in San Francisco featuring Proud Boys, far-Right grifters, and attendees of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. Like Unite the Right, the protest was billed as a “free speech” rally, and was expected to end in a protest outside of Twitter headquarters to decry the corporation’s recent move to ban Qanon, pro-Trump bots, and coronavirus truther accounts. In the lead-up to the demo, event organizer and Proud Boy Philip Anderson (who also has identified with the white nationalist Groyper movement on social media) posted a video claiming that the right-wing crowd would be “beating the living shit” out of their antifascist opposition at the event.

Despite this promise of violence, before the rally had even officially began, an altercation broke out between Anderson and an a counter-demonstrator which resulted in two of Anderson’s teeth being knocked out. Anderson later created a GoFundMe to cover the costs of his injuries, but told an associate that he was using the funds to host another free speech rally. As of Monday morning, this fraudulent fundraiser has raised nearly $28,000.

Antifascists greatly outnumbered far-Right protesters and a barrage of angry chants and thrown eggs successfully shut down the event after only ten minutes of half-hearted rambling, according to local news. The crowd then marched the fascists to their van, after which a San Francisco police officer drove them to their car several blocks away.

According to Left Coast Right Watch:

Video from Patriot Prayer member Mack Lewis appears to show fellow Patriot Prayer member Chandler Pappas putting an unknown object in his pocket before they were dropped off at the garage they parked at. On the Citizen app, police reported someone fleeing the rally dropped an illegal-in-California 17-round handgun magazine on the ground.

Reporting by NBC Bay Area depicts Anderson’s rally as a small, free speech themed, conservative event overtaken by violent protesters. It’s Going Down has thoroughly documented the white nationalist ties and violent histories of the attendees in this thread, proving that this framing is incorrect. Featured speakers at the protest were supposed to include Joe Biggs (who received visits from the FBI over his excessive violent threats), Black Rebel (a neo-Confederate historical revisionist who argues that slavery wasn’t that bad and who attended Unite the Right), Enrique Tarrio (who marched at the deadly Unite the Right rally as part of the Proud Boys’ military division), Haley Adams (friend of Joey Gibson and countless other violent fascists), and Louie Huey (former Proud Boy who coalitions with open neo-Nazis against the LGBTQIA community). The protest also attracted various local neo-fascist street brawlers and livestreams along with several Patriot Prayer members associated with Haley Adams. Biggs, Tarrio, and Huey along with many others were complete no shows.

According to Berkeley Antifa, riot police tried to protect the fascist event from counter-demonstrators. After the rally was shut down, antifascists faced off with the cops before eventually dispersing. Video evidence exemplifies the extraordinary level of collaboration between the State and white supremacists. It’s clear that given Trump’s groundswell of support for police and right-wing organizing is having direct impact on any protesting or counter-protesting from the Left. His refusal to condemn white supremacy, racialized police violence, QAnon, and refusal to believe basic science in favor of re-opening the economy have fostered a climate where fascists and police can operate in tandem at the expense of anyone who opposes them.

Far-Right “Super Happy Fun America” Outnumbered by Antifascist Mobilization

Over 150 anti-racist and antifascist demonstrators in Boston mobilized against “Super Happy Fun America,” a re-brand of “Resist Marxism.” Both groups have direct ties to neo-Nazis and white nationalists as well as the wider MAGA and Patriot movement. Anti-racists ended up taking over their rally spot after the far-Right left their own rally.

Deplatforms

Neo-Nazi Cop Fired After Being Outed by Antifascists

New antifascist twitter account Sound the Alarm released the identity of neo-Nazi Indianapolis police officer Joseph Zacharek. Zacharek is an army gunner veteran who moved into the role of EMT and worked in the “inner city.” This job has informed his racist and xenophobic views on Black people and immigrants.

Zacharek shared his problematic takes in the Iron March chats under the username Panzerleiter. The chats were leaked and can be accessed here. Since Sound the Alarm dropped the dox, according to the Lafayette Journal and Courier, Zacharek has admitted that the comments in the leaked chats and been subsequently fired from the Indy Police Department.

After being exposed on social media by antifascists, a police officer and former poster on the neo-Nazi web forum Iron March, was fired:

Lafayette police fired a recently hired officer less than 24 hours after he was accused to having ties to racist posts made on a fascist web forum, LPD Chief Pat Flannelly confirmed Saturday afternoon.

Flannelly said Officer Joseph Zacharek, hired by LPD in June, was called into the police station Friday night after claims started showing up on social media that he was linked to Iron March, a neo-Nazi forum disbanded in 2017 but that had its entire database exposed on the internet in late 2019.

Doxxes

Ryan Saxer is Sean Battle: Florida Fascist involved in Multiple Neo-Nazi Groups

CVAntifa has outted Ryan Saxer, a neo-Nazi involved in the group, Revolt Through Tradition, which is modeled directly after the Rise Above Movement (RAM). According to the doxx:

RAM and RTT are both closely associated with the new group, International Conservative Community (ICC). ICC is a massive coalition of fascist and far-right groups across the world that was started by RAM’s founder, Robert Rundo. RAM and RTT’s logos both appear on this wheatpaste orchestrated by ICC.

Groups that have participated in ICC demos include: RAM, RTT, Pro Patria, RME Crew, Tradition and Order, Action Zealandia, De Fria Sverige and more. So far, the organization’s activities have been limited to doing international solidarity campaigns with arrested RAM members and fascist murderer Kyle Rittenhouse. ICC demonstrations have been documented in 7 US states and 12 countries.  Ryan and the Florida RTT chapter posed with a RAM solidarity banner, and Ryan has advertised the group on his Sean Battle Instagram account.

Ryan appears to be a member of the neo-Nazi group Patriot Front. Patriot Front is a rebrand of Vanguard America, the group responsible for the murder of Heather Heyer at the 2017 Unite the Right rally. Ryan can be seen sparring in propaganda posted by the organization this May. An uncensored photo from the same sparring session was sent to us by one of his former fiends.

Ryan is also a probate for the Vinlanders Social Club, a violent bonehead(neo-Nazi skinhead) gang responsible for several murders.  Here, he can be seen wearing his probate shirt and posing with Vinlanders members including FL leader Donald Hansard. Don has a particularly violent history, and once went to jail for attacking a Cuban man and his child.

Through his pseudonym Sean Battle, Ryan authored several posts on a blog belonging to the white-nationalist clothing company Our Fight. Our Fight sold merchandise for numerous fascist groups and bands from the US and Europe.

Ryan Saxer is also real good buddies with Ryan Ramsey, the region 4 representative of the Florida Libertarian party. Ramsey is a former member of neo-Nazi bonehead gang The Hated, and is a co-founder of American Guard, an incredibly violent fascist organization.

For more information on Ryan, go here.

Christopher Allen Pohlhaus, Telegram Neo-Nazi of San Antonio, Texas

Antifa Garfield was able to identify and expose a Bellingham, Washington vandal who placed swastika stickers on store fronts and bookstores as Christopher Allen Pohlhaus of San Antonio, Texas. Bellingham Police Department shared video stills of Pohlhaus in a skull mask that were captured from surveillance footage, asking the community to help identify the vandal. Pohlhaus made it easy for Antifa Garfield to identify him because he went onto Telegram to brag about it.

Antifa Garfield had previously doxxed Pohlhaus, who goes by “The Hammer” on Telegram, back in April. He was active in the chat and regularly posted genocidal and neo-Nazi memes and propaganda. It would appear that not much has changed since his dox was dropped and Antifa Garfield warns that he is heavily armed.

Christopher “CJ” Grisham, Proud Boy and Law Student at Appalachian School of Law

Antifash Gordon released the identity of Virginia Proud Boy and law student as Christopher “CJ” Grisham. According to the dox, it appears Grisham joined the Proud Boys in January 2019 and has been involved in far-right activism for years. He ran a group called “Open Carry Texas” that was extreme even by the NRA’s standards.

Leaked audio chats reveal that he was associated with the Proud Boys as well as Soldiers of Odin back in 2018 and planned to attack antifascist activists at a Houston action. Video of the event was streamed by Grisham where he admits to being a National Socialist. Comrades who are inclined are asked to reach out to Appalachian School of Law and ask them why they choose to violate their own campus safety standards by admitting members of a hate group into their law program.

Appalachian School of Law Twitter

Appalachian School of Law Contact

Audra Price, Neo-Nazi, Far-Right Collaborator and “COPS NW” Facebook Group Admin

Rose City Antifa has released the identity of the “COPS NW” Facebook group administrator and far-Right collaborator Audra Price. Price has connections with members of the violent hate group Patriot Prayer. “COPS NW” bills itself as a group that is supportive of law enforcement, but the content on the page indicates it’s members are holocaust-deniers, antisemites, QAnon supporters and as Rose City Antifa states “this kind of rhetoric appeals to neo-Nazis & can lead to antisemitic violence.”

Price is a staunch supporter of law enforcement and has contributed to disinformation campaigns that has lead to community members in the Pacific Northwest to be held at gunpoint by right-wing vigilantes. In addition to her collaboration with Patriot Prayer members, Price was also seen at a rally outside the Portland Justice Center with Drew Duncomb, who marched at the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Price continues to use her Facebook group to proselytize her far-Right beliefs and normalize neo-Nazi viewpoints.

Bryan Reza / Bryan Parviz Bakonyi, An-Cap and White Supremacist from Lakewood, Colorado

Colorado Springs Anti-Fascists dropped the dox on Lakewood, Colorado An-Cap and white supremacist Bryan Parvis Bakonyi. According to COSA, Bryan is known for posting racist content to his Instagram. Bryan is a fan of weapons, justifies violence toward anti-racist protesters, and is a supporter of Kenosha killer, Kyle Rittenhouse. Videos posted to Bryan’s Instagram show him harrassing Black Lives Matter protesters at an action in August.

Bryan was outed after he engaged in a conversation with an undercover antifascist on Instagram. He believed he was talking to a neo-Nazi femme, and disclosed his phone number, address and job. COSA captured a screenshot that Bryan posted to his Instagram on August 26th, of an excert from a white supremacist essay published on neo-Nazi website American Renaissance. As COSA states, “the essay argues for a white-led revolution in the United States on the specious idea that white people have better intellects and temperaments than Black Americans.”

Also worth noting is the fact that Bryan’s former roommate had to get a restraining order against Bryan after Bryan threatened to shoot him. This is especially alarming given Bryan’s racist values, support of violence and access too and familiarity with firearms. For more information on Bryan, head over to COSA’s blog.

Marshal Didriksen, Proud Boy of O’Fallon, Missouri

Antifascist researchers Panic in the Discord identified carpenter, union member and Proud Boy Marshal Didriksen of O’Fallon, Missouri. By day, Didriksen is a member of the Carpenters Local 32, building residential buildings, and by night, he works as a wedding photographer. Didreksen is seen in photos with a Proud Boys sticker on his hard hat, and posting the “okay symbol,” a gesture that has been co-opted by Proud Boys as far-Right dog whistle.

Concerned community members who are inclined are asked to reach out to Local 32 leadership and ask them how they feel about a member of a SPLC-designated hate group, the Proud Boys, being employed by them. Head over to Local 32’s website to let them know. They can also be reached here.

Local 32 Quick Contact Information:

Support David Campbell’s Post-Release Fund

Former anti-fascist political prisoner David Campbell has been released! You can help him get back on his feet by donating to his post-release fund here!

Support IGD!

Due to the pandemic, many people who have supported It’s Going Down monthly in the past can no longer afford to. If you are able, please consider signing up to donate monthly or giving IGD a one time donation. Your help ensures that this platform can continue to not only keep the lights on, but also grow and expand at a time when autonomous media platforms are needed, now more than ever.

Support Our Prisoners

  • Support those arrested during the going rebellion! Check out list of bail funds here.
  • Support Gage Halupowski! Currently serving a six year sentence. There is currently an outbreak at his prison, so please step up and support! 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. Donate 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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