On Saturday, 26 June, 2022, Georgia saw something not seen in about four years: mobilization from a local Proud Boys chapter. That afternoon and evening, two different pro-abortion protests gathered in downtown Atlanta, at Liberty Plaza by the Georgia State Capitol and at the CNN center, respectively.
Continue reading “Georgia Proud Boys Reactivate”Note on the Highland Park Shooting
This opinion piece is based largely on a thread we originally posted on our Twitter. This is not an extensive investigation or analysis, but hopefully will lead to more.
While much has been made of the alleged Highland Park shooter’s attendance of Trump rallies, more alarming is his presence in online subcultures detached from reality. The shooter inhabited communities focused on conspiracy theories, the paranormal, and deep nihilism. These communities cut off their participants from consensus reality at large and serve to lower the inhibitions of their participants towards violence.
Continue reading “Note on the Highland Park Shooting”When Conspiracy Comes to Georgia, Again
The conspiracy theorists are coming to town, again! From 1 July 2022 to 4 July 2022, Nations in Action, a 501(c)4 organization advocating for civic nationalist causes, is holding a conference at the Georgia Tech Convention Center, owned by the Georgia Tech Foundation and managed by Crestline Hotels & Resort. The event has been endorsed by the Gwinnett County Republican Assembly on Facebook.
This conference brings together a broad swathe of speakers, including those who focus on COVID vaccine denialism, antisemitism, and #StopTheSteal. Such an event is a clear cause for alarm. Amongst the speakers, several regularly call for political violence. Others actively spread disinformation about the 2020 election. The conference represents an opportunity for these conspiracy theorists to network, spread their beliefs, and rake in cash. Tickets for the 3-day event start at $199 and sponsorship packages range $2,500-$10,000. Most alarming, many of these characters have links to, are endorsed by, or are part of the GOP.
See below for a quick look at a non-exhaustive list of the participants, detailing known antisemites, con artists, and insurrectionists.
Continue reading “When Conspiracy Comes to Georgia, Again”
PRO-COUP TENNSESSEE PASTOR HOLDS ANTI-MASONIC, ANTI-DISNEY BONFIRE
This is a guest article for DSRW and LCRW from Christ, Jesus (any pronouns). The article is also available on LCRW’s website.
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Polemic
It’s rained all day. You’ve been wondering if the bonfire is still going to happen tonight. Luckily though, god’s good graces have prevailed, and the downpour seems to have stopped just in time. You chide yourself for having doubted. With some occult stuff (mostly old Disney merch) sitting in the back of your flatbed, you hop in the driver’s seat and trundle on over. Pastor Locke himself seems on fire tonight, radiating energy. You always love the songs that come before the sermon but whenever he gets up on stage it feels like the lord’s spirit has entered you. He denounces the Masons and Satanists who have been threatening the church, even mentioning how the fire department threatened to put out the burning display. You felt a bit of shock at that. A couple of years ago, you and everyone you knew trusted the local government. It seems like even that’s gone away now. The pastor lets way for more music before hopping back into preaching. He immediately calls out the way other churches have been conducting spiritual warfare.
Continue reading “PRO-COUP TENNSESSEE PASTOR HOLDS ANTI-MASONIC, ANTI-DISNEY BONFIRE”The 2022 VCDL Lobby Day Was a Bust
This year’s “Virginia Citizens Defense League Lobby Day”, held on January 17, 2022, in Richmond, Virginia, went much quieter than in recent years. Nonetheless, as with years prior, armed far-right groups appeared alongside friendly media. Front and center of the spectacle in the Virginia capital–once again–were members of the waning “Boogaloo movement”.
The Nazi Heathen AFAir: The Asatru Folk Assembly and their Southern racist foothold
Much of this post is derived from information from @FolkishFacts on Twitter, who put together a thread on the topic covered below. The thread can and should be viewed at this link.
Pagans come in many different varieties. The vast majority are not the murderous cult members as seen in “Midsommar”. Many are groovy people who want to enjoy time in nature. Unfortunaltey, there is a small but vocal contingent of hardcore racists. The Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA, not to be confused with ‘Anti-Fascist Action’) is a far-right, racist ‘Folk’ organization. The Heathen tradition that Folkish followers claim is one that is deeply contested by anti-racist Pagan adherents who oppose all bigotry, calling all peoples children under Odin, the Allfather (see, for example, the works of Graham Harvey and Michael F. Strimska et al). The Pagan Federation of Ireland, for example, publicly denounced a racist, homophobic solicitation by a US couple, saying in response “Fuck off”. The AFA’s racist stances within the broader spiritual tradition is not a new one and is ultimately a minority within the Heathen community (they have an estimated 700 members), but AFA’s influence and attempts to grow and gain more followers warrants documentation and response nonetheless.
Continue reading “The Nazi Heathen AFAir: The Asatru Folk Assembly and their Southern racist foothold”White Rose Stickers and the Transnational Antivax Network Behind Them
An international network with roots in the UK is pushing a message against life-saving pandemic health measures. Stickers from “The White Rose” group appeared around the world, from Australia to the USA to South Africa to Japan. Beyond limited reports of this guerrilla “activism” in a few local UK papers, the English-language reporting on the group remains weak.
Maybe the stickers have popped up in your hometown. A quick Twitter search shows their appearance in NYC, Wales, Kent, London, Bristol, Dublin, the Pacific Northwest, and Germany all in the past week. With black text on a white background, they bear phrases like “The media is the virus”, “This is child abuse” with a picture of masked children, or “Mass non compliance is the only way to end this nightmare”. At the bottom or on the side is a QR code and a link to a Telegram chat. The exact same stickers have appeared around the world and they all link back to the same place – “The White Rose”, a Telegram channel with just under 50,000 followers.
Continue reading “White Rose Stickers and the Transnational Antivax Network Behind Them”Incel Punks Fuck Off: When a Far-Right Internet Subculture Comes to Town
In 1981, hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys released “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” The song decried both explicitly neo-Nazi punks and punks who flirted with fascist imagery for shock value. The song made clear in no uncertain terms that neither group was welcome in the punk scene. Forty years later, the song and sentiment remain relevant. “Ironic” usage of far-right language and symbols paves the way for serious far-right presence in the scene.
On 11 September 2021, attendees from around the country gathered in Atlanta for “Virginfest”, a self-described “incel music festival”. The “incel” community or “involuntary celibates” are a violently misogynistic online community that produced numerous mass murderers, such as Elliot Rodger. The most recent incel mass murder occurred on 12 August 2021. This event was to be held at Toki Tatt2, where Athena Raven Rapp, who organized the festival, worked before being fired following the event. The event attracted a large crowd of edgelords, but mixed in were serious far-right actors who understood the opportunity presented by the gathering.
Continue reading “Incel Punks Fuck Off: When a Far-Right Internet Subculture Comes to Town”Georgia’s “Worldwide Freedom Rally” and Chris Hill Hit Hilarious Hiccups
On August 29, 2021, under the Georgia sun’s sweltering heat, the Georgia Capitol Building in Atlanta stood in a state of lockdown. Amidst online chatter surrounding a planned rally coordinated between unstable militia leader Chris Hill’s III% Security Force and the Georgia contingent of the astroturfed-by-Germans anti-vax “Worldwide Freedom Rally”, armed counter protesters and law enforcement stood ready. Hill called for a pre-rally at the Capitol ahead of an anti-vaccination rally at Piedmont Park. A total of 6 militia members showed up armed downtown. A few other “activists” aimlessly wandered the area. All in all, the operation was a complete bust.
Continue reading “Georgia’s “Worldwide Freedom Rally” and Chris Hill Hit Hilarious Hiccups”Atlanta Organizing and the Big Igloo Meltdown
Editor’s Note: We initially shared early information from this article on our Twitter account.
On 15 August 2021, a group of organizations gathered at Atlanta City Hall. The group protested the construction of a massive police training facility and the razing of an ecologically valuable forest to make space for the facility. Together, the group of organizations make up part of the Defend the Atlanta Forest/No Cop City movement, which DSRW will report on in future articles. The following day, the Atlanta City Council voted on the facility, ultimately tabling the decision for three weeks. A previously unknown individual appeared at this protest.
Continue reading “Atlanta Organizing and the Big Igloo Meltdown”