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Tag: white nationalist terrorism
White Nationalists Arrested In Riot Plot Near Idaho Pride Event

White Nationalists Arrested In Riot Plot Near Idaho Pride Event

By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) - Police in northwest Idaho arrested more than two dozen members of a white nationalist group on Saturday and charged them with planning to stage a riot near a LGBTQ pride event, authorities said.

Lee White, police chief in the city of Coeur D'Alene, told reporters 31 members of Patriot Front face misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot and additional charges could come later.

A local resident spotted the men, wearing white masks and carrying shields, getting into a U-Haul truck and called police, telling the emergency dispatcher it "looked like a little army," according to White. Police pulled the truck over about 10 minutes after the call.

Video taken at the scene of the arrest and posted online showed about 20 men kneeling next to the truck with their hands bound, wearing similar khaki pants, blue shirts, white masks and baseball caps.

Police recovered at least one smoke grenade and documents that included an "operations plan" from the truck, as well as shields and shin guards, all of which made their intentions clear, White said.

"They came to riot downtown," he said.

The men come from at least 11 states, White said, including Texas, Colorado and Virginia.

Patriot Front formed in the aftermath of the 2017 white nationalist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when it broke off from another extremist organization, Vanguard America, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

As America Mourns Gun Victims, Republicans Block Domestic T​​error Bill

As America Mourns Gun Victims, Republicans Block Domestic T​​error Bill

Washington (AFP) - Republicans in the US Senate prevented action Thursday on a bill to address domestic terrorism in the wake of a racist massacre at a grocery store in upstate New York.

Democrats had been expecting defeat but were seeking to use the procedural vote to highlight Republican opposition to tougher gun control measures following a second massacre at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday.

There was no suggestion of any racial motive on the part of the gunman who shot dead 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

But the shock of the bloodshed, less than two weeks after the May 14 murders in Buffalo, New York, has catapulted America's gun violence crisis back to the top of the agenda in Washington.

"The bill is so important, because the mass shooting in Buffalo was an act of domestic terrorism. We need to call it what it is: domestic terrorism," Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of the vote.

The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act would have created units inside the FBI and Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to combat domestic terror threats, with a focus on white supremacy.

A task force that includes Pentagon officials would also have been launched "to combat white supremacist infiltration of the uniformed services and federal law enforcement."

Schumer had urged Republicans Wednesday to allow the chamber to start debate on the bill, offering to accommodate Republican provisions to "harden" schools in the wake of the Texas murders.

Just ahead of the vote, Schumer said he had wept while studying pictures of the young victims, calling the state's pro-gun governor, Greg Abbott, "an absolute fraud."

Abbott has made efforts to loosen gun restrictions in Texas, including signing into law a measure last year authorizing residents to carry handguns without licenses or training.

The domestic terrorism bill's 207 co-sponsors included three moderate Republicans in the House.

But there was not enough support in the evenly split 100-member Senate to overcome the Republican filibuster -- the 60-vote threshold required to allow debate to go forward.

Republicans say there are already laws on the books targeting white supremacists and other domestic terrorists, and have accused Democrats of politicizing the Buffalo massacre, in which 10 Black people died.

They have also argued that the legislation could be abused to go after political opponents of the party in power.

Democrats are looking for Republicans to support a separate gun control bill, and said Wednesday they would work over the coming days to see if they could find common ground with enough opposition senators to circumvent a filibuster.

"Make no mistake about it, if these negotiations do not bear fruit in a short period of time, the Senate will vote on gun safety legislation," Schumer said

Neo-Nazi Fuentes: Americans Want A President Who’ll ’Say The N-Word’

Neo-Nazi Fuentes: Americans Want A President Who’ll ’Say The N-Word’

White nationalist provocateur Nick Fuentes said on his podcast this week that was posted to former President Donald Trump's "Truth Social" propaganda platform that Trump is the right-wing’s “hero” because of his racist comments and flagrant xenophobia.

Fuentes represents the extreme fringe – albeit a loud and well-monied one – of the American conservative movement. His ilk is responsible for harmful legislation like Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill as well as efforts to outlaw abortion. And while his branded message is indeed dangerous and exceptionally toxic, it would be unwise to pretend that he and his followers do not exist. That he was approved to post content to Trump's app is even more disturbing.

Fuentes has also been subpoenaed by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol because he has called for the assassination of lawmakers.

The Holocaust-denying 23-year-old Fuentes – whom the Department of Justice has labeled a "white supremacist" – was incensed about non-white individuals coming into the United States for a better life, which Trump infamously railed against during his campaign kickoff in 2015, the presidential race, his single term in office, and his post-presidency purgatory.

“They’re trying to cram this bullshit down our throat; these people who are not like us. You know what Americans want? It’s pretty clear when they elected Trump,” said Fuentes. “Trump got up there and he didn’t say, ‘hi, we’re gonna bring the – workers of the world, unite – you know, Black, Hispanic, and White workers for populism, let’s unionize DoorDash.’”

Recall that Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 to then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by nearly three million and by more than seven million in 2020 to President Joe Biden. His 2016 victory was solely a result of the Electoral College, not a plurality of the American electorate.

Nevertheless, for Fuentes, the intolerance that Trump promulgated while descending the elevator in Trump Tower is precisely what the American people crave. Further, Fuentes said, the country seeks a president who is willing to say the N-word.

“Trump went up there and said, ‘they’re bringing drugs, crime, they’re rapists,’ ya know, he said, ‘we’re gonna – I’m calling for a shutdown of Muslims coming into America,’ ya know? We’re gonna sing here at Christmas," Fuentes said.

‘’He was like this close to saying the N-word. That's what Americans want,” Fuentes added. “This guy talks like us. This guy’s our hero. He said, ‘I’m your voice.’”

Watch below via Right Wing Watch:

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Arizona Republican Official Urges Holocaust Denier To ‘Run For Office’

Arizona Republican Official Urges Holocaust Denier To ‘Run For Office’

Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers, who spoke at last week’s white nationalist America First Political Action Conference, called on white nationalist and Holocaust denier Vincent James Foxx to “run for office.” Rogers also recently forwarded a piece from VDare, a white nationalist website that is dedicated to warning readers about the supposed dangers of nonwhites.

Foxx is a white nationalist streamer and writer. He is also a Holocaust denier who has said that “the Holocaust is weaponized” against white people; attacked Jewish people because they supposedly “not only control Hollywood, congress, and the media, but they control social media as well”; and claimed that the impeachment of former President Donald Trump was “The Jew Coup.”

He recently spoke at AFPAC, where he pushed the white nationalist “great replacement” theory and said that “Western white culture is the majority culture, to which even non-whites assimilate into today in many western countries, and they’re better off for it.” The Twitter account AZ Right Wing Watch noted Rogers' exhortation, which was made on Telegram.

Foxx is based in Idaho and said that he has “deep connections” to the Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R), who spoke at AFPAC. McGeachin is now a candidate for governor.

Rogers has become a major Republican validator for the white nationalist movement, promoting its efforts while receiving rhetorical and financial support from top Republicans including Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Trump himself. (Rogers has been incessantly lying that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.)

On February 2, Rogers used her Telegram account to forward a post from VDare.com, which claimed that President Joe Biden’s administration has been “shipping the illegals in (illegally and impeachably).” VDare also embedded a video from openly bigoted commentator Laura Loomer supposedly showing how “illegal immigrants invade Central Florida.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled VDare a white nationalist hate group and wrote that it “regularly publishes articles by prominent white nationalists, race 'scientists,' and anti-Semites.”

VDare features posts with such headlines as: “One Problem With These Hispanic Immigrants Is Their Disgusting Behavior”; “Come Back, Stonewall Jackson! Hispanic Gangs Invade Shenandoah Valley”; “Indians Aren't That Intelligent (On Average)”; “America Does Not Need ANY Immigrants From Africa”; “Roll Over, JIHAD -- There’s Also HIJRA, Muslim Conquest By Immigration”; “National Data: Haitian Immigrants Pretty Useless -- But Haiti Still Needs Them More Than We Do”; and “OK, Let’s Give Them Reparations—If They Go Back To Africa.”

Rogers' promotions of VDare and Foxx are further examples of her love of the white nationalist movement. Last weekend, she spoke remotely at the America First Political Action Conference, a white nationalist gathering that was organized by Holocaust denier and white nationalist Nick Fuentes. During her speech, Rogers said: “I truly respect Nick because he’s the most persecuted man in America.” Rogers has frequently praised Fuentes and said that she loves him.

Rogers has repeatedly praised Fuentes’ racist followers, known as “groypers,” including saying that “I love the Groypers because the Right Wing Watch hates them” and asking the “Groyper army” to help her. The Arizona Mirror’s Jerod MacDonald-Evoy recently explained: “The self-styled online ‘army’ that Rogers was imploring to rally to her aid is a collection of white nationalists who often use online trolling tactics against people they don’t like. Their goals broadly include normalizing their extreme and racist views by aligning them with Christianity and so-called ‘traditional’ values.”

She also has repeatedly appeared on TruNews, an anti-Semitic outlet that warns viewers of “seditious Jews.” Additionally, Rogers has expressed support for the violence-linked QAnon conspiracy theory and is a proud member of the Oath Keepers, a militia group with a history of violence.

The Arizona Republican has pushed toxic rhetoric, including calling for “more gallows”; praising the Confederacy; and claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “is a globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons.”

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters