Mastodon Twitter Instagram Youtube
May 6, 19

This Week in Fascism #8: Over the Edge Lords

Welcome, fellow antifascists! This week, we’ve got an explainer on the Alt-Right and mass shootings; multiple doxxes of both Patriot Front and Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement members; eggings, milkshakes, and the sit-in that cancelled two fraternities; plus, how you can help wreck the money flowing into Patriot Prayer.

Explainer: How the Alt-Right Came to Celebrate Mass Murderers

White nationalist and Alt-Right mass shootings and acts of murder are becoming common place as well as an international phenomenon. What follows are some notes on the current reality as well as some thoughts on how to combat it.

4 and 8 Chan and the Cult of Mass Killers

4chan and 8chan began as anonymous posting forums where people would post images and memes and then make fun of them. They started in part as a reaction to “social justice” Tumblr pages and by and large were libertarian. After Gamergate, the politics and culture of the chans were colonized by the Alt-Right and neo-Nazis, and with the coming of Trump, the wave of radicalization was kicked into high gear. But such pages have also become a center for worship of far-Right mass killers from incels like Elliot Rodgers and Alek Minassian, to white nationalist mass shooters like Dylan Roof, Robert Bowers, John Earnest, and Alexandre Bissonnette. Posters and readers of this growing online culture hold up these murderers as movement “martyrs” who not only die for the cause but also rack up a large body count.

We see this across the culture of the Alt-Right. From organizations encouraging people to write to Dylann Roof as a “political prisoner,” to the proliferation of memes and podcasts (“Bowl Patrol”) which celebrate far-Right mass murders, to those that would share things like the New Zealand shooter’s livestream. In both the Poway and Christchurch shootings, the murderers uploaded a manifesto onto 8chan and announced their murderous intentions before the killing started because they saw the readers and posters on that message board as their peers.

As a former member of the Alt-Right discussed on a recent It’s Going Down podcast, 4chan and 8chan are the cafes and pubs in which active members and supporters of the Alt-Right come together and talk movement strategy. It just so happens that a lot of that strategy is mass murder.

In many ways, there are a lot of parallels between groups like ISIS and their celebration of those that are martyred for their cause, and those in the far-Right who idolize these mass killers and dream of eventually becoming one of the martyred dead. For even after they have been killed or locked away, they will forever be immortalized in memes and on podcasts; becoming in death or in prison what they failed to achieve in life: human connection and meaning.

The Growth of Far-Right Mass Killers Shows a Shift in Strategy

Many on the Alt-Right argued that Trump was their last hope for an “electoral strategy,” a way to stop or reverse the amount of non-whites coming into this country as white birth rates decline, threatening a white super majority in culture, politics, and beyond. As It’s Going Down wrote in Rich Kids of Fascism:

As Nathan Damigo wrote recently on twitter, the failure of the current ‘work within the system’ breed of Alt-Right organizers will lead to a much more violent collection of white nationalist militants. While of course in the US and around the world we’ve seen the growth of far-Right violence and terrorism for decades, it is very possible that this tendency will grow and expand as it is felt by the broad base of the insurgent far-Right that Trump (and overall democracy) has failed them. As this shift happens, questions of violence will again take center stage and the movement will continue to fracture over disagreements.

Many argued that if they failed under Trump, or if Trump failed them, then the Alt-Right would be forced to adopt a much more violent strategy of armed resistance. Richard Spencer and those on The Daily Stormer have echoed this sentiment on various podcasts and editorials, claiming that as long as a multicultural and multiracial society exists, such acts of mass murder and violence will only continue. Thus their message is clear: submit to our rule, or suffer the consequences.

But the turn towards armed actions that leave mass casualties is also one that is largely nihilistic and many in Alt-Right and white nationalist circles agree that overall such acts hurts their cause. In recent leaked conversations with Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement leader Patrick Casey, he argued that such actions were essentially “gifts” to the opposition because it made them look so bad and turned people against them.

Thus, the Alt-Right entering into a period of “lone wolf” styled action aimed at the general public at large could be a sign of the movement running out of steam, ideas, and more importantly, public support. Having said that, it still doesn’t do anything for those that have been horrifically slaughtered or who may still be targeted.

Such Acts Help to Continue to Push the Overton Window

As everyday communities and also online spaces drive more and more Alt-Right, white nationalist, and far-Right elements out, mass shootings and attacks remain a way in which the Alt-Right can continue to appear relevant and get their ideas out to the public, even as it views the public as an arena of mass slaughter.

With Trump continuing to turn a blind eye to the threat of white nationalism and with police agencies viewing autonomous social movements as more a threat, such acts of mass murder also help to make other far-Right formations more “moderate” and digestible, even when the degree of separation between Atomwaffen, Identity Evropa, and ‘New Right’ or ‘Alt-Lite’ groups like the Proud Boys is in fact, very small.

The Trump Administration Does Not View White Nationalist Violence to Be a Problem

Only days before the most recent white nationalist shooting in Southern California, Trump doubled down on his statements that there were “very fine people” on “both sides” of Charlottesville, and defended Confederate monuments and statues. After the New Zealand shooting, who’s perpetrator praised Trump in his manifesto, Trump declared that white nationalism posed no threat, yet has readily played up fears of Muslims, immigrants, and refugees.

Within Trump’s administration, people like Sebastian Gorka (who was fired post Charlottesville) and his wife Katie Gorka, have also downplayed the threat of far-Right violence, going so far as to say that some acts of racist violence were in fact manufactured by the Left to make Trump look bad. Katie Gorka has also pushed the narrative, as have others promoted by Trump like Candance Owens, that in fact ‘ANTIFA’ are much more of a danger than the far-Right.

Many police agencies also continue to view antifascists as more of a threat at public demonstrations and beyond. This is evidenced by the recent disclosure of texts centered around Portland Police and Joey Gibson, internal police documents from Charlottesville before Unite the Right, and Sacramento area police working with neo-Nazi skinheads following a June 2016 demonstration which left many antifascists stabbed. This in itself is ironic, as those on the far-Right have killed more law enforcement officers than any other political group.

Need for Self-Defense and Good Security Practices

As far-Right acts of mass shootings and murder continue to sadly be part of our social landscape, there remains a much greater need for antifascists to map out far-Right networks, expose those pushing for acts of murder and terror, and also spread this information to the public at large and targeted communities most especially. We must also keep in mind that our own communities and spaces are also at risk, and we must take security at our events and in our spaces very seriously.

Doxxes

Monday, April 29, 2019

Pine Tree Antifa Collective identified Maine Libertarian Party Vice Chair Michael Fitch, Jr., as a member of the white nationalist Traditionalist Worker Party Discord server. In the TWP server, Fitch encouraged TWP members to attend a Libertarian Party protest against Indigenous People’s Day, and once, simply posted “Upper New England Ethno State!”

As of this writing, Fitch’s name has been scrubbed from the Libertarian Party of Maine’s website, and Fitch appears to have deleted his Medium profile.

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

A pseudonymous Twitter account with the display name “David Bennet” identified three members of the newly formed Legion of St. Ambrose, a white nationalist religious organization comprised of former Traditionalist Worker Party members. Craig Spalding, standing in the middle of the above photo, has a forehead tattoo of the symbol of the Iron Guard, a semi-obscure Romanian fascist organization whose iconography was recently found at scene of the Highlander Center arson in Tennessee, as well as painted on the gun of the Christchurch shooter.

The account identified the three men in the above photo as (left to right) Corey Whittman, Craig Spaulding, and Caleb Rose.

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Rose City Antifa identified Landon Duncan as attending a May Day rally alongside Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson and Haley Adams. Duncan is employed by the Birthing Center at Willamette Valley Medical Center.

If you would like to inform the hospital about the far-right ties of their employees, you can reach their Chief Quality Officer by calling (503) 435-6317. Additionally, you can contact the Birthing Center Manager, Amy Thompson, by calling 503.435.6400, or by emailing [email protected].

San Jose member of Identity Evropa, Kyle Aaron Scheuerlein, was exposed at the end of April by antifascist researchers Panic! in the Discord. Scheuerlein was subsequently placed on leave by his employer, Valley Christian High School. On May Day, his neighborhood was flyered by local activists to warn the community about his white nationalist affiliations.

Researcher ToynbeeRus identified Identity Evropa member Auf – WI as Cody Alexander Delis, of Spencer, Wisconsin. He works at McDonald’s in Marshfield, Wisconsin. If you would like to inform his employer of his white nationalist ties, you can call them at (715) 387-4785, or tweet @McDonalds.

Thursday, May 2, 2019

AntiFash Gordon exposed Patriot Front member 18-year-old Antoine Renard, a senior at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland. In the leaked Discord chats, he first went by “Antoine,” later changing his username to “Charlemagne MD.” During the first Unite the Right rally, in August 2017, the chats appear to show Renard relaying information between Christopher Cantwell and the Anticom members in attendance.  If you would like to inform his high school about his membership in a neo-Nazi group, you can tweet them @RMHS_MainOffice.

Colorado Springs Anti-Fascists wrote about Rob Adams, a Travel Assistant at the Colorado State University Office of Admissions. Adams is a co-admin of a Colorado gun rights page that recently sent a bizarre message to the group, threatening a local activist with no ties to the antifascist scene. His Facebook posts and comments are filled transphobia, racist conspiracy theory, and Islamophobia. If you would like to inform his employer of his far-right ties, email Jeff Milton at CSU’s HR office at [email protected], or tweet to @ColoradoStateU.

Friday, May 3, 2019

AnonymousCommie outed Colin Brett Rikard, a Patriot Front member in Tampa, Florida. In the leaked Discord chats, Rikard’s username was “Walking Holocaust-FL.”

Panic! in the Discord doxxed Blaze Kody Spon, an Identity Evropa member in Bangor, California. In the leaked IE chats, Spon bragged about tagging Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Twitter threads of undocumented migrants.

Colorado Springs Anti-Fascists outed Castle Rock, Colorado resident Curtis DeGroote as a friend and associate of neo-Nazi Jovi Val. DeGroote is the Director of Product Engineering at Stream Companies, a marketing firm. If you wish to alert them of their employee’s far-right ties, you can tweet them @streamcompanies, or post on their Facebook page.

Sunday, May 5, 2019

Haleyville Anti-Rapist Action doxxed Identity Evropa member Jake Purvis, a former Marine based in Alabama. In the chats, Purvis uses the screen name The Lion and professes his belief in antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Deplatforms

On Thursday, May 2, 2019, Facebook banned several far-right media personalities, including Alex Jones, Laura Loomer, Paul Nehlen, and Milo Yiannopoulos. Several hours after the announcement, those same personalities were also banned by Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

Actions

We don’t know the name of this hero, but he fucking did it. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known by his supervillain persona Tommy Robinson is running for European Parliament btw. Look at how he and his crew go off on this dude for throwing a milkshake at him. Honestly. Tommy should enter the police force if he wants to do that, not the Parliament.

Students at Swarthmore College staged a sit-in at a fraternity with a history of racism and sexual assault. The result?

Two fraternities disbanded. Congratulations to the students who stood up to protect their communities. Direct action gets the goods.

https://twitter.com/idkbrosorry/status/1123658670397632514

On May Day, neo-Nazi and professional loser Jovi Val found out for his first time what it’s really like being a Nazi. What the above tweet doesn’t show, however, is that our hero egged this egghead not once, but at least four or five times. Presenting the full length version:

Skip to 6:40 for the egging.

Comrades in Portland had a full day of May Day actions, and then when they were trying to celebrate and have a drink they were attacked by Joey Gibson and a small crew of the usual suspects, which at this point are truly the bottom of the barrel. Proud Boy Jake Adkins lost a one-on-one fight, then Patriot Prayer associate Ian Kramer clubbed and badly injured an antifascist comrade, and then the next day they got slapped with a one million dollar lawsuit. Fuck Joey Gibson.

Proud Boys and Trump supporters also rallied in Eugene on Sunday where a counter-demo was organized. One comrade was arrested and you can support them here.

Call to Action

Patriot Prayer is currently using payment processor Stripe to collect donations on GibsonForFreedom.com [archive].

However, Stripe’s Terms of Service prohibit “any business or organization that a. engages in, encourages, promotes or celebrates unlawful violence or physical harm to persons or property, or b. engages in, encourages, promotes or celebrates unlawful violence toward any group based on race, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or any other immutable characteristic.”

Please tweet at Stripe, asking them to enforce their own terms of service and drop Patriot Prayer, a violent hate group, from its clients.

Sample tweet:

Hey, @stripe, Patriot Prayer is using your services to spread their message of hate and fund their ongoing attacks against the city of Portland.

Patriot Prayer largely subsists by attacking innocent people in the streets of Portland, and then using that footage to raise funds. If we can remove their payment processors, we can remove one of their incentives to commit random violence.

CORRECTION: This article originally identified a Legion of St. Ambrose member as Colton Williams. Williams is a different member of the Legion of St. Ambrose. The member picture in this article is Corey Whitman.

Share This:

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.

More Like This