Antifascists Call for Mobilization in Chicago Against Neo-Nazi Group Behind Racist Attacks and Charlottesville Violence

Antifascists in Chicago have issued a call for a community mobilization against the neo-Nazi group, Patriot Front, who has stated that they plan to rally alongside the March for Life anti-choice demonstration on January 8th.

Patriot Front is the same group that is behind a wave of racist and anti-Semitic attacks and vandalism across the US, but is perhaps best known for its role in the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville in 2017, when the group was called Vanguard America.

In leaked audio from a recorded meeting in December filled with racial slurs and screams of “White Power!,” Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau claimed to have a good working relationship with March for Life organizers, and that the group planned on joining them at their next rally in 2022.

Today over 100 neo-Nazis with the group "Patriot Front," led by Thomas Rousseau of Texas, marched today in #DC. The event was not promoted online. Patriot Front grew out of the same neo-Nazi message board, Iron March, which spawned Atomwaffen. A thread. https://t.co/72WALOO1aK

— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) February 9, 2020

As Claire Goforth wrote in The Daily Dot:

Audio reportedly leaked from a recent Patriot Front meeting reveals the white nationalist group’s inner workings. During the meeting, Patriot Front’s purported founder also claimed that they’ve garnered support from people who attend events by the anti-choice group March for Life.

During another portion of the meeting, he claimed that the group’s visibility is on the rise. He said hundreds have recently applied to join. One of the first items on its 2022 agenda, according to the meeting, is the annual March for Life on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade next month. Patriot Front has purportedly been participating in these anti-choice events for several years. Its Odysee platform includes a video from one such event. The individual who’s presumably Rousseau indicated that they’re welcome at the March for Life.

“These people at the March for Life events have really come to support us over the years and because of the last year’s cancellations of these events, we are expecting even larger crowds of supportive individuals,” he said.

In chats leaked by @afainatl, Thomas Rousseau, leader of neo-Nazi group #PatriotFront, claims that hate crimes carried out by his group: vandalism of #GeorgeFloyd statues, #BlackLivesMatter murals, synagogues + Pride centers – are green-lit from the top + receive "consultation." pic.twitter.com/YoNSgw1JpZ

— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) December 11, 2021

 

According to an antifascist website calling for protests against the neo-Nazis entitled, Stand Against the White Nationalists:

Grab your friends, and some masks, and make a plan to confront the losers who think that people of color and Jews are the reason their lives are miserable and they don’t have a girlfriend. Patriot Front, an American Fascist organization, will be attending and recruiting new white nationalist members at the March for Life Chicago rally on January 8, 2022, from 1-3pm at Federal Plaza in Chicago. 

Whether the organizers of March for Life wish to allow Patriot Front to march with them and continue to organize in their midst or not, Chicago as a community and the surrounding areas will respond to their planned presence. Goals include disrupting their spectacle and organizing as well as showing them they are not welcome in our city. Bring a friend, bring a mask, bring your yelling voice. On Saturday, January 8 at 12:30pm at Fedaral Plaza in Chicago, IL stand with us all to face them, frustrating their ability to continue to increase their membership, making clear to their current membership that they will not have a friendly reception anywhere they go, and denying them the appearance of public acceptance, we can make sure that they are only seen as a Patriot Fail.

About 50 neo-nazis from the group Patriot Front were seen marching in DC earlier today.

In 2018 we leaked extensive chat logs and voice recordings from inside the group, allowing an inside look at how they operate: https://t.co/rwfGbhAT9h

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) January 29, 2021

Patriot Front is a re-brand of Vanguard America, one of the groups which marched in Charlottesville at the Unite the Right rally and who’s supporter, James Alex Fields, Jr, murdered Heather Heyer after driving his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. Chat logs of the group were leaked by Unicorn Riot, showcasing a organization obsessed with racial and sexual violence:

Recorded conversations between members show an obsession with firearms, a non-stop tirade of racist, sexist and otherwise abusive language, and a desire to take action in the real world. Patriot Front members are also told that raping women is acceptable, “as long as you’re raping, like, people in your own race” and describe how in their ideal society, “ethnostate rape gangs” would be allowed to freely target unmarried white women who did not adhere to “traditional values.” Discord users in the server repeatedly share pictures of themselves, wrestling, boxing, sparring, and shooting, which they casually refer to as “violence training.”

For more information on the counter-mobilization, go here.

by It's Going Down via It's Going Down