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Jan 5, 21

This Week In Fascism #90: Proud Boy Leader Arrested as DC Prepares for Another Neo-Fascist Rally

Welcome fellow antifascists!

Things are heating up as the Proud Boys prepare to descend on Washington DC for yet another violent rally. We’ve got reports on the arrest of Proud Boy’s leader Enrique Tarrio and the ensuing lawsuit brought against him by one of the churches the Proud Boys vandalized on December 12th. We’ve also got info on various far-Right plots and acts of terror, a report from Salem’s anti-racist rally there last week, continued police murder and harassment in Minneapolis, plus doxes and much more!

With so much to cover, let’s dive in!

News

Proud Boys Leader Arrested  on Hate Crimes and Weapons Charges Days Before Massive Far-Right Trump Rally

Upon arriving in Washington DC, Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, was arrested Monday and currently faces several charges, that same day, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law launched a lawsuit against the group, stemming from its destruction of several Black Lives Matter banners belonging to historic Black churches in the downtown DC area on December 12th.

According to a report from Unicorn Riot:

Upon his arrival in Washington, DC on Monday, January 4, 2021, for an upcoming January 6 rally, Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was arrested on property destruction charges for his role in the vandalism. According to the New York Times, during his arrest Tarrio was also “found to be in possession of two high-capacity firearm magazines” (illegal in DC) and was “charged accordingly with possession.“

The opening paragraph of the Metropolitan AME Church’s lawsuit asserts that “the Proud Boys, its leadership and certain of its members … engag[ed] in acts of terror and vandalizing church property in an effort to intimidate the Church and silence its support for racial justice.“

The five counts named in the complaint include “Bias-Related Conspiracy, Theft and Defacement of Private Property“, several counts of trespass, and “Intentional Damage or Destruction of Religious Property“.

The Metropolitan AME Church’s suit is asking the court for compensatory and punitive damages as well as “declaratory relief stating that the Defendants have committed crimes that were motivated by bias under the D.C. Bias-Related Crime Act..and for any other relief this Court may deem appropriate, including any appropriate injunctive relief.”

Around the same time, far-Right Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys associate Chandler Pappas was also arrested and now faces multiple charges of “assault on an officer,” among several others.

Suspect in Custody After Possible Arson at Black Church in Springfield, MA

Firefighters were called to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church on the morning of December 28th, after an overnight fire rendered the church “unusable.” Springfield Fire Commissioner Bernard Calvi called the fire “highly suspicious,” noting that there had been three other fires in the area within the last few weeks.

On Friday January 2st, Dushko Vulchev of Houlton, Maine was arrested for trying to start fires at the church once on three separate occasions in mid-December. Officials say that the December 28th fire is still under investigation, but Vulchev is being charged with “three counts of attempted arson and several counts of malicious damage” according to CBS Boston. Vulchev will be arraigned at Pittsfield District Court on Monday January 4th.

Although his political motivations are still under investigation, Vulchev has a history of violence. Hilary Sargent notes that in 2017, he was sentenced for several domestic violence related charges after kidnapping and holding a woman captive. In 2015, he served roughly seven months in prison for threatening to kill an economist and European Commission administrator.

This arson comes amidst a disturbing uptick in violent hate crimes.

Groyper Troll and Recent InfoWars Guest Sought By Police in Queens, NY

Law enforcement is on the lookout for a Groyper troll and conspiracy theorist, 22 year old Louis Shenker, who is behind a series of far-Right “pranks” in so-called Queens, New York.

According to NBC News:

New York City firefighters discovered a stolen car with wire, cans and electrical wiring in the form of a hoax bomb device on top of the car’s trunk. No explosives were found in the vehicle — a Tesla with Nevada plates parked on a spiral ramp between parking garage levels at the Queens Place mall — but police rescued a husky dog from inside it. The car had pro-Black Lives Matter movement signage, raising questions of whether the signs were intended to discredit the movement, three senior law enforcement officials said.

Law enforcement officials say that police were already investigating Shenker and that they have arrested him twice in connection with other disruptive stunts. On Wednesday, he was arrested and charged with criminal mischief and two counts of low-level arson, accused of burning a poster affixed to a New York Police Department barricade, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Authorities said Shenker repeatedly engaged in a variety of similar stunts, including anti-mask actions, which he documented on Instagram.

Shenker has repeatedly tweeted at Nick Fuentes, a prominent figure in the far-right Groyper movement, which seeks to turn the racist and homophobic trolling culture of the extremist forum 4chan into real life action. His Twitter account has been suspended.

Shenker appeared on an InfoWars online conspiracy webcast last month, when he pushed false conspiracy theories about the election, the coronavirus and a plot to take over the world. He implored “100,000 people at minimum to come to New York City” to protest a litany of causes outside Mayor Bill de Blasio’s residence, including the false conspiracy theory that “Donald John Trump is the rightful winner of this election.”

A review of an Instagram account, confirmed to belong to Shenker by three senior law enforcement officials briefed about the investigation, shows Shenker burning a photo of George Floyd with a caption that refers profanely to Floyd and insults the Black Lives Matter movement.

Minneapolis Police Kill Another Black Man, Raid His Home While Pointing Rifles at Children

On Wednesday, December 30th at approximately 6:15 pm, Minneapolis Police shot and killed Eden Prairie, Minnesota resident Dolal Idd. Officers were attempting to pull him over outside of a Holiday gas station on 36th Street and Cedar Avenue in the south side of Minneapolis. Body camera footage shows officers in unmarked vehicles attempting to box in the 23 year old. Idd, who was in the drivers side with a woman passenger sitting next to him, attempted to maneuver his vehicle away from police when a puff of glass burst outward from the driver’s side window. It’s followed by a dozen or more gunshots fired by MPD. According to the Sahan Journal, police characterized this stop as a part of a weapon’s investigation.

Roughly eight hours later, around 2:15 in the morning, MPD raided Idd’s parents home, where he lived. Idd’s father, Bayle Adod Gelle recalled the traumatic, terrorizing experience for the Sahan journal some 14 hours later indicating that not only did police enter his home without disclosing why they were there, but that they zip-tied the adults hands, pointed rifles at the children and it wasn’t until the very end that they provided a warrant. More horrifying still is the fact that as they were leaving, MPD finally told Gelle that they had killed his son:

During the police action, he recalled, his 4-year-old panicked and tried to run back upstairs. Officers yelled at him to stop running, the father said. The boy sat next to his mother, whose hands were tied, and could not stop crying.

The rest of family members sat in the living room, their hands tied with a cord. Officers kept the door of the living room open throughout the entire incident, and cold winter air rolled inside the house.

The cord on his hands nearly stopped the blood flow to his fingers, and Bayle, who is in his 60s and has diabetes, felt dizzy.

On Thursday afternoon, the police released the 27 second clip that quickly circulated, enraging community members throughout Minneapolis and across the country. The footage has also drawn more attention to the “shoot first, ask questions later” approach that law enforcement have made standard operating procedure, especially as racialized policing continues terrorize the Black community. In the body cam clip, you can hear the officer yelling “Hands up!” before the burst of glass and then a barrage of bullets are unloaded into the vehicle.

On January 2nd, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office released the 28-minute clip of the raid on Gelle’s home.

According to the Star Tribune, the officers who discharged their firearms are Darcy Klund, Paul Huynh and Jason Schmidt. They have all been placed on administrative leave. The Hennepin County Coroner discovered Dolal Idd had died from multiple gunshot wounds and ruled the cause of death Homicide. Idd’s death is the 83rd murder by police officer this year and the first since the killing of George Floyd, who’s death sparked the nationwide Uprisings this summer. The Star Tribune also reports that’s Klund, who leads the Community Response Team, signed a letter calling for a commitment to working with the community and condemning the officers who killed George Floyd.

“Police say the officers pulled the car over for a “felony stop,” language that could be key to the investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). The term implies the person was suspected — but not convicted — of a felony-level crime, and Minneapolis police policy cites deadly force may be authorized to stop a suspect ‘whom the peace officer knows or has reasonable grounds to believe has committed or attempted to commit a felony and the officer reasonably believes that the person will cause death or great bodily harm to another person under the threat criteria in clause.’ ”

On New Years Eve, community members met at the Holiday gas station where Idd was murdered. Members of the community gave speeches and Unicorn Riot reports that roughly 100 people were present. Hennepin County reports that five people were arrested for felony rioting.

Idd’s family have set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover funeral costs as well as lawyer fees as they continue to seek justice for his murder.

Chuds Turn on Cops; Antifascists Defend Shop Targeted by Neo-Nazis on New Year’s Day in Salem, Oregon

At least two hundred right-wing “patriots,” many of them maskless and carrying firearms, gathered at the Oregon state capitol in Salem last Friday to protest Governor Kate Brown’s COVID-19 restrictions and the results of the November presidential election. They were countered by a crowd of antifascist protesters who gathered in Bush’s Pasture Park ready to take back the streets, as well as a police presence of over 100 officers.

Following the rally at the capitol building and a march to the governor’s residence, violent clashes erupted, largely between far-Right protesters and the police, who declared an unlawful assembly and made “numerous arrests.” Antifascists also mobilized to stand in solidarity with a local black-owned business which had been vandalized in the past by neo-Nazi groups.

According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, Friday’s protest split into two groups as the crowd made their way toward Governor Brown’s home from the capitol. After listening to speakers, including Joey Gibson of Patriot Prayer, a group of Proud Boys splintered off toward Bush’s Pasture Park to confront a group of antifascists who had assembled there. Footage shows the far-Right crowd screaming at the police and counter-protesters as law enforcement attempted to keep the groups separated. Both crowds refused to disperse, and police used riot munitions to force the Trump supporters back.

There were also smaller altercations between the fascists and antifascists, as groups of Proud Boys roamed the streets seeking violent confrontations. Chud Trackers is seeking further information on one such altercation, seen below.

The recent protests in Salem have seen a marked increase in tension between the far-Right and the police, with many right-wingers renouncing their support for “the blue.”

The thread below contains footage of violent clashes between cops and Trump supporters. In the following clip, a far-Right protester can be heard accusing the cops of working with antifa.

In the following video, a right-wing protester expresses outrage that the police allowed two antifascist counter-demonstrators to make their way around the police line. After shouting demands at the cops asking them to remove the antifascists from the area, he states, “No more support for you guys, at all. Zero.” Another far-Right demonstrator can be heard in the background exclaiming, “They hate us!”

Authorities say that three individuals were arrested on Friday. This event follows another right-wing protest which took place at the state capitol on December 21st, culminating in several armed protesters attempting to force their way into the statehouse.

Proud Boys Square Off Against Housing Activists Working with Homeless Folks in Tacoma, WA

Following the occupation of several hotel units at a Travelodge in Tacoma, Washington by Tacoma Housing Now last week, members of far-Right groups like the Proud Boys, some armed, mobilized to harass housing activists and support the police as they evicted those taking shelter.

Doxxes

Joseph Charles “Oakman” Golinske, Proud Boy of Southeast Michigan

Vigilant AFA has published a thread on Proud Boy Joe “Oakman” Golinske, owner of the “Oak Nation” Telegram channel. Golinske was present at the August 2019 attack on Portland, where he was photographed marching across Hawthorne Bridge alongside Joe Biggs and Enrique Tarrio. He was very active in the “Reopen” protests in Lansing, MI, with one photo from these protests depicting Golinske beside an effigy of governor Gretchen Whitmer dressed as Hitler. (Whitmer was the subject of a militia-led kindapping plot earlier in 2020.)

On his Telegram channel, Golinske downplays the risks of COVID-19 and promotes hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by right wing conspiracy theorists as a cure for the virus, despite evidence to the contrary. In one particularly misogynistic post, he praises his friend for making a “bartender girl” cry through his “presence alone.” He also claims to “de-radicalize” antifascists, claiming to have “helped 8 former Antifa break free.”

Although he announced his departure from the Proud Boys in 2020, citing personal issues, he later spoke at a “Take Back America” meetup hosted by Stephanie Redding, addressing the crowd “officially as a Proud Boy.” Vigilant AFA notes that Golinske’s social media accounts are now largely inactive, but it is very likely that he will return to far-right organizing in the coming year, and community members should be aware that he is a threat.

Billy Leonel Knutson, Proud Boy of Charlotte, NC

Antifascist Trash Panda has identified Billy Knutson, a 35-year-old Proud Boy from North Carolina. A wanna-be rapper, Knutson makes music under the moniker “Playboy the Beast,” including one track called “Stand Back and Stand By.” He has been banned from Instagram and Facebook for hate speech over his association with the SPLC-designated hate group, and appears to be friends with Enrique Tarrio.

Knutson is active on Parler, where he shares far-right Proud Boy-themed content constantly. He recruits for the group using his personal Facebook page, promotes his music on his official Twitter account, has a Spotify page, and uses several other social media platforms to spread his hateful ideology. Antifascist Trash Panda requests help reporting Knutson’s accounts in order to stop him from recruiting for his hate group on these platforms. For specific action items and more detailed information on Knutson, view the full thread.

Shawn Loza, Proud Boy of Las Vegas, Nevada

Our comrades with Sunny South Dallas AFA released the identity of Las Vegas Proud Boy Shawn Loza. Loza is a musician and SPLC-designated hate group member who is grifting hard off his hateful affiliations and proximity to fascism. Beyond his weird twitter feuds with Whoopi Goldberg and his terrible trigger discipline, and a t-shirt grift in collaboration with Las Vegas Proud Girl, Natalie Thomas, Loza’s most recent grift includes asking for donations to get to DC on January 6th. Last time the Proud Boys made a pilgrimage to DC, Black Lives Matter banners were ripped off historic Black churches and burned, locals were harassed and assaulted and multiple counter-protesters were attacked.

Proud Boys are not welcome in DC and this includes Shawn Loza. Sunny South Dallas ARA is asking that people report Loza’s Venmo account to Venmo.

Venmo Email: [email protected]
Venmo Phone: (855) 812-4430

Garrett Martin Sipe, Proud Boy from Willamina, Oregon

Antifascist activist collective Chud Trackers has identified Willamina, Oregon Proud Boy Garrett Martin Sipe. In August, Sipe was captured on camera kicking an antifascist protester in the head at a rally in Portland. On September 26th, Sipe was in attendance at Proud Boy rally in Portland. Most recently Sipe was present and armed at the rally in Salem, Oregon on January 1st. Sipe was previously a member of PNW Patriot Coalition who’s chats were leaked by Eugene Antifa back in September. Sipe is a violent member of the SPLC-designated hate group, the Proud Boys and community members should be aware of him. For details on Sipe, head over to Eugene Antifa’s blog post.

According to Chud Trackers, Garrett Martin Sipe works for Square Deal Construction Company. Chud Trackers are asking folks who are inclined to please contact Sipe’s employer and demand that he be fired.

Phone: *67 (971) 832-0191
Email: [email protected]

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photo via: @SmashTheFashNVA

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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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