Among the guys indicated his white power beliefs in ways that were both blatant and subtle: a patch with the red-and-white checkered insignia of the Croatian Legion, a division of the German Army throughout World War II; stickers on his helmet depicting the image of American Nazi Party creator George Lincoln Rockwell and the motto “White Lives Matter”; and a Confederate battle flag spot on his military-style backpack.
2 days later on, the two males joined members of the Maryland DC Proud Boys chapter at the Lincoln Memorial for the anti-vaccination rally. After marching from the Washington Monument, the Proud Boys entourage collected at the end of the showing pool, holding a position at the edge of the big anti-vaccination crowd and near a handful of counter-protesters clumped together at a close-by knoll.
READ: New filing recommends Trump accounting firm has actually now turned in NY scams probe: MSNBC expert
” These accelerationists– the guys wearing skull masks, they use that due to the fact that they … were signaling to each other that they are extremists, but to the public they are telegraphing that they are tough, something to be feared, masculine,” Kristofer Goldsmith, Sparverius CEO, told Raw Story. “Theyre bring in individuals who believe its a drinking and street brawler club, and theyre putting them in a pipeline to extremism that ends in domestic terrorism.”
Goldsmith, who is also a senior fellow at the Innovation Lab of Human Rights First, stated the Proud Boys public existence in DC last month marked a substantial turn, following a year in which members across the country have primarily focused on flashpoints of local debate like school board conferences.
” That weekend Friday through Sunday, between the anti-vax and anti-choice events, was the very first significant return to DC after the attack on the Capitol,” Goldsmith stated. “Though it wasnt the exact same numbers and there wasnt violence the way there had actually been the year prior, what it did develop to these groups in their psychology is that it is now safe to go back to DC in an election year.”
Accelerationists at March for Life
Members of the Proud Boys group also distributed sticker labels at the anti-vaccination rally with the Proud Boys logo design and text, “We are enjoying.” When a journalist posted a picture of herself holding up the sticker in front of the crowd gathered at the Lincoln Memorial on Twitter, the Proud Boys chapter validated obligation with a post of its own on its Telegram channel that checked out: “Local antifa residue wanted a business card. Thats right, we are enjoying.”
READ: Trump-backed GOP Senate prospect under analysis for misuse of charity cash: report
Matthew Kriner, the managing director of the Accelerationist Research Consortium, told Raw Story that he views the text as a signal that the Proud Boys and their affiliates who participated in the rally “are trying to find scenarios to place themselves to initiate more violence and destabilize the political system.” Kriner is also a senior research study scholar at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
” After January 6th, this sticks out to me as something that shows theyre not afraid to take part in provocateur behavior, since we saw them do that on January 6th,” Kriner included. “They initiated a crowd at a right-wing event that ended up being a riot.”
The Maryland DC Proud Boys chapter commemorated its appearance at the anti-vaccination rally by posting a picture of a member nicknamed “Ghost” positioning with a plate carrier in front of the Washington Monument, accompanied by the text, “Were back!” Another greatly stylized picture posted on Telegram reveals a handful of members, including the neo-Nazi using the Croatian Legion spot, marching away from the Washington Monument. A variation of the image posted on Telegram reveals the members superimposed on a war-ravaged metropolitan landscape with the chapter logo slapped in the middle.
Members of the chapter did not respond to ask for comment for this story. Raw Story was able to reach Brandon Heffner, who was recognized as the recipient of funds from a GiveSendGo campaign to raise cash for a current Christmas toy drive. Heffner told Raw Story that he is not involved in the chapter, however accepted deal with the funds for the toy drive.
READ: Revisiting The Lost Boys of Ukraine: How the war abroad attracted American white supremacists
Raw Story likewise left a voicemail at a telephone number noted on the Telegram represent a user called “Joe Bonadio,” generating no reaction.
Regardless of Heffners claim to not be involved in the chapter, a Telegram user named “HEFF,” along with the “Joe Bonadio” account revealed interest for a planned White Lives Matter rally in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area last March. The person behind the “HEFF” account also appears to have a family member included in the chapter. A user named “LadyHeff” periodically remarks on material on the chapters Telegram channel, consisting of a post last month blaming people of color for urban decay in which she composed, “They can take their variety and push it up their ass.”
The ethno-nationalist material shared on the chapters Telegram channel echoes the white power signs showed in public by some of its members. Because December, the channel has forwarded at least two posts from Greyson Arnold, a podcaster who has spoken approvingly about Nazi Germany and who as soon as duped a Republican National Committee member into stating that white nationalist Nick Fuentes should have a voice in selecting prospects to run for office in Republican primaries. Later that month, the channel for the Maryland DC chapter forwarded a post by Lauren Witzke, a former US Senate prospect from Delaware who has retweeted posts from VDARE, a white nationalist website.
Beyond forwarding material from other white nationalists, the channel has contributed its own white power messaging. Without specifying the target, a Dec. 29, 2021 post declared, “Special place in hell for these individuals. Day of the rope mutha fuka.”
READ: He is the Yoda of intel: How conspiracy theorists were instrumentalized to set in motion fans to violence on Jan. 6
” Day of the rope” is an explicit recommendation to The Turner Diaries, a novel composed by neo-Nazi William Pierce that motivated the Oklahoma City battle and a many other acts of terrorism and racist violence by wrongdoers looking for to replicate the novels lead character by “stockpiling biological weapons, engaging in a racist shooting spree, robbing banks, and putting together pipe bombs with Jewish and Black targets in mind,” according to the Southern Poverty Law.
” I would portray the Proud Boys as antisemitic, racist bigots; they would not see themselves as such,” said Michael Loadenthal, a board of advisers member at the Accelerationist Research Consortium. “Its indisputable when they begin sharing content that is antisemitic and clearly racist.”
Loadenthal and Goldsmith both stated the barriers between Proud Boys and hardcore neo-Nazi groups, always permeable, are becoming progressively porous.
Goldsmith said antifascist researchers have identified existing members of the openly fascist group Patriot Front who had formerly been identified as Proud Boys, suggesting a migration between the two groups and a radicalization path towards more severe violence and bigotry.
Last week, the Maryland DC Proud Boys chapter reshared a propaganda video produced by the fascist media clothing Media2Rise, which was embedded with Patriot Front throughout its surprise march through DC in December 2021 and produced top quality video from the event. Goldsmith informed Raw Story that a person of Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseaus lieutenants, Graham Whitson, runs Media2Rises online shop. Whitson was arrested with Rousseau in August 2020 for plastering Patriot Front stickers on the premises of county courthouse in Grapevine, Texas.
” Here, were developing the skeleton of how the Proud Boy-fascist pipeline works,” Goldsmith stated.
Proud Boys Telegram channels, including the Maryland DC chapter, regularly share material from the “Western Chauvinism” channel, which is called after a primary tenet of Proud Boys teaching.
” Western Chauvinism produces high-production quality video that is targeting Proud Boys,” Goldsmith said. “Its shared in Proud Boys channels.
” The actual absurdity of attempting to whitewash Hitler and put on pedestal Hitler himself and the increase of the Nazis is deliberately too far,” he continued. “Its part of the Proud Boys claim that were not really Nazis, simply edge lords; were simply trolling the libs. The factor we had kids in their early twenties appearing in Charlottesville is they began on the internet making jokes about the Holocaust, and after that they started to think in it.”
youtu.be
Two days later on, the two guys signed up with members of the Maryland DC Proud Boys chapter at the Lincoln Memorial for the anti-vaccination rally. When a journalist posted a photo of herself holding up the sticker in front of the crowd collected at the Lincoln Memorial on Twitter, the Proud Boys chapter verified duty with a post of its own on its Telegram channel that read: “Local antifa residue wanted a business card. Last week, the Maryland DC Proud Boys chapter reshared a propaganda video produced by the fascist media outfit Media2Rise, which was embedded with Patriot Front during its surprise march through DC in December 2021 and produced high-quality video from the event.” Western Chauvinism produces high-production quality video that is targeting Proud Boys,” Goldsmith said. “Its shared in Proud Boys channels.
