Wednesday, April 20, 2022

This Week in Fascism #129: SoCal Pushes Back Against Neo-Nazis; Far-Right Rebranding Anti-LGBTQ Hate; Proud Boy Exposed as ‘White Lives Matter’ Leader

cover photo: @CAntifascists

Welcome fellow antifascists!

We’re back after a break, with a roundup of recent neo-Nazi activity under the ‘White Lives Matter’ banner and how various communities are organizing to push back, both in the so-called US and in Canada. We also bring you an analysis of how the far-Right and the Republican party are attempting to rebrand anti-LGBTQ hate under opposition to “groomers” and Disney. Plus, we’ve got doxxes, news, calls to action, and more.

There’s a lot to cover – so let’s get into it!

Action

White Lives Matter Exposed and Confronted

Since April of 2021, white nationalist groups across the US and Canada, organizing through the Telegram channel ‘White Lives Matter,’ have attempted to carry out monthly actions under the WLM banner, advancing a tactic of projecting strength through unannounced rallies, banner drops, and demonstrations.

As Montreal Antifascists wrote:

White Lives Matter (WLM) is a neo-Nazi initiative that over the past year has spread to a number of areas in the US and Canada, as well as to New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, and elsewhere in the world. The network’s first documented action was a series of decentralized demonstrations on May 8, 2021. The low turnout for these events led some observers to conclude that the undertaking had failed, but that optimistic assessment proved premature, as the network continued to grow, with an increasing number of actions over the past year.

WLM signals an attempt to reconsolidate the neo-Nazi milieu via decentralized chat rooms on the Telegram app. This approach is in part an effort to circumvent various obstacles, ranging from censorship on the major social media platforms to doxxing and other forms of resistance from the antifascist movement, as well as eventual criminal prosecution. It also parallels the international tendency amongst neo-Nazis towards clandestine, decentralized, and “leaderless” forms of activism, a trend with roots stretching back to the 1970s. Over the years, this has given rise to the “accelerationist” current and the increased prevalence of “lone wolf” mass murderers.

The WLM project also reflects substantial frustration with the marginal status of the neo-Nazi far right and a desire to move beyond the current subculture and the ideological quarrels among different tendencies and to form an activist network able to exercise genuine influence.

Although WLM is beyond any shadow of a doubt a neo-Nazi phenomenon, the American organizers’ original intent was to soften the movement’s image, which concretely translated into a superficial reticence to openly identify with the Nazi legacy or to use the swastika or other Nazi symbols in public discussions or on the stickers that the movement’s activists put up in public. Participants were also instructed (an instruction they often ignored) not to discuss the “Jewish question” or to encourage violence on public channels. Despite this, the chat rooms are completely saturated with Hitler memes, explicit references to historical Nazism, and unbridled racism of the most extreme variety—jokes about lynching Blacks, Holocaust denial videos, discussions asserting that Jews are not human and must be exterminated, etc.

Since its inception however, WLM organizing has faced resistance from antifascists through infiltration of its online organizing channels, opposition on the streets, and the doxxing of its members. Most recently, antifascists with Pacific Antifascist Research Collective, exposed the leader of the California chapter of WLM as Robert Bowen Wheldon,, a third-degree Proud Boy and a full-blown neo-Nazi.

According to the report:

Robert Bowen Wheldon, 30, of San Diego, CA, is a neo-nazi, third-degree Proud Boy, and leader of a Southern California-based white supremacist “active club” calling itself Legion XIV. Wheldon regularly participates in white supremacist actions, including Legion XIV’s March 12th, 2022 neo-nazi banner drop in Thousand Oaks.

Robert Wheldon participated in the November 11th, 2021 neo-nazi banner drop in Irvine, CA with the white supremacist group Goyim Defense League.

Robert Wheldon participated in the Legion XIV neo-nazi banner drop above the 101 Freeway in Thousand Oaks, CA. When confronted by a local chicano community member, Wheldon threatened the community member, called him an “invader” and told him “get out of my country.”

Using the alias “R-Dub”, Robert Wheldon is the head of the White Lives Matter California (WLM_USA_CALIFORNIA) Telegram chat, one of the fastest-growing white supremacist Telegram chat groups in the United States. On this channel, Wheldon is responsible for recruiting new members, organizing white supremacist events, and distributing racist propaganda.

In addition to being a neo-Nazi member of Legion XIV, Robert Wheldon is a 3rd-degree Proud Boy (as indicated by the Proud Boy tattoo on his inner arm). Wheldon wore his Proud Boy colors to a December 5th, 2020 rally in San Diego where he, along with members of Defend East County, harassed Black Live Matter activists.

Neo-nazi and Proud Boy Robert Wheldon is employed as an electrician’s apprentice somewhere in Southern California.

As of April of 2022, fascists operating under the WLM banner clearly had taken a hit from months of doxxing and counter-organizing; opting in many cities to not hold events or changing locations to avoid confrontation. In Southern California for instance, neo-Nazis there made no attempt at a repeat action, after community members in the town of Newbury Park held a rally with anti-racist banners and signs on the same bridge where fascists had rallied a month before.

Half a dozen neo-Nazis did rally in Snead, Alabama and the neo-Nazi group the Nationalist Social Club-131 held a flash demonstration in Hartford, Connecticut, notably outside of their usual stomping grounds of New England. In response, a local Black Lives Matter group is holding an anti-racist rally in Hartford next weekend in opposition to the neo-Nazis. Hopefully everyone in the local area can attend!

Another half-dozen neo-Nazis in Lancaster, Ohio also held a small demonstration, seemingly the same group that’s also held small rallies in Medina and Wooster, Ohio.

Speaking on the Canadian context, Montreal Antifascists wrote:

As of this writing, many WLM channels are to all intents and purposes dormant, with less than a dozen members. Meanwhile, some groups in the US have taken their activities off the internet and into the streets in the form of banner drops, organized outings, leafletting, etc. In the areas where it is most active, WLM has been entwined with other neo-Nazi groups, such as the Folkish Resistance Movement (whose propaganda has been distributed in Saskatchewan and Alberta),[1] the Canada First group in Ontario, which received a certain amount of visibility at the so-called “Freedom Convoy” in Ottawa, and the attempt to set up a group called “Nationalist 13” (“13” symbolizing “anti-communist”) in southern Ontario.

WLM fascists also dropped banners in Indianapolis, Indiana, which were quickly taken down, and briefly in the Sacramento, California area. Antifascists in the Boise, Idaho area also report taking down WLM trash in the form of stickers. With the next WLM coordinated day of action coming up on May 14th, antifascists should work towards mobilizing their networks and continuing to put in work to expose WLM organizers.

As Montreal Antifascists wrote:

WLM is the neo-Nazi milieu’s most recent attempt to organize and recruit new members using semi-secure online platforms, with the goal of organizing outreach activities and, eventually, other forms of direct action. Given its international, coordinated, and decentralized nature, we think that it merits particular attention.

Now is the time to act to deter these people from developing their project any further, before they move on to more dangerous actions. It is clear that the political movement these individuals represent can “accelerate” (to borrow a term that’s currently in vogue in this context) very rapidly, leading to actions with extremely serious consequences. Which is also why, beyond actions to prevent little groups like WLM from developing into the real world, we need to constantly work through our own movements and communities to combat antisemitism, white supremacy, and all the forms of racism that provide the ideological basis for these groups and their poisonous projects.

As the actions by those in Southern California show, by holding space and working with the wider community, we can push fascists out of areas they’ve attempted to claim. We should also work to educate the wider public about these groups and the genocidal threat they represent; that way if and when they do pop up, more people are ready to respond to them. Finally, we should work to not just react to the far-Right, but instead flood areas experiencing fascist activity with antifascist and anti-racist stickers, flyers, zines, and posters. Let’s not just react, but instead, take and hold space.

Analysis

The Far-Right’s New Culture War Strategy: Rebranding Anti-LGBTQ Bigotry

The far-Right has always had an obsession with pedophilia: it’s been a useful way to launder outright transphobia and homophobia while promoting a series of evolving conspiracies – from Pizzagate, to Qanon, attacks on Drag Queen Story Hour, and the current obsession over the “grooming” of children. Such a trajectory has also fits nicely into Republican opposition to public schools, teacher’s unions and ongoing legislative attacks on LGBTQ people.

In recent months, this obsession of connecting anything LGBTQ related with conspiracies around “grooming” has heated up, following, as the LA Times reported, “leaked footage of a Disney employee diversity and inclusion meeting show[ing] an animation producer praising Disney’s inclusiveness and talking about “adding queerness” in the company’s programming.”

Those on the far-Right seized on this footage, claiming it was proof that Disney was in fact, “grooming” young people for pedophilia. This escalation also came after Disney workers organized a walkout against the company for donating money to Republican candidates who had backed the much hated “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

In response, a collection of far-Right grifters, influencers and activists have promoted attacking Disney as the latest front in an ongoing culture war; rushing to organize various protests outside of Disney offices and theme parks. So far, these demonstrations have remained rather small, with about 150 protesting in Burbank, California outside of Disney’s corporate headquarters and a smaller protest of less than 100 outside of Disneyland. In Florida, other protests have taken place but have also remained lackluster.

According to Salon:

At least one hundred right-wing protesters assembled just outside of Disney World in Orlando, Florida on Saturday in protest of the company’s position on the state’s recently-passed “don’t say gay” bill, holding up banners and flags in support of expanding “parents’ rights” in education.

Calling themselves the “Patriot Convoy,” dozens of conservative protesters unsuccessfully attempted a car “blockade,” that proved to be more of a minor inconvenience than the major headache organizers were surely hoping to cause. Such protests were outlawed by Florida Republicans in reaction to the anti-police brutality protests of 2020, although a federal judge has since ruled the ban unconstitutional.

Florida Governor Rob DeSantis has also been feuding with the corporate giant after Disney came out in opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill “and went so far as to halt all political contributions to Florida’s elected officials,” following public backlash.

As Politico wrote:

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ battle with the Walt Disney Co. intensified after he pushed state lawmakers to strip the California-based entertainment giant of a special status that allows the company to essentially operate its own government in Central Florida.

A huge benefit of special districts is making tax-exempt purchases for the services they provide and issuing municipal bonds for major infrastructure projects at a much lower interest rate, said Chris Lyon, an attorney who deals with special districts.

If legislators approve the bill, as is expected, Disney would be able to go to the state Legislature in Tallahassee next year and request it be reestablished, likely under more limited capabilities and powers.

In an interview with It’s Going Down, Vishal P. Singh, a documentary filmmaker and journalist who covers street protests and the far-Right in the Southern California area, discussed how far-Right activists currently organizing protests against Disney are part of the same group which has jumped from far-Right cause to far-Right cause. From opposing Black Lives Matter to decrying mask mandates, far-Right activists are trying to “keep up their political momentum as they look at issues that are in the Zeitgeist” of the wider MAGA echo-chamber, Singh stated.

Singh went on to argue that the anti-trans protests that broke out against Wi Spa in Los Angeles last summer were in many ways a testing ground for what has now become part of the Republican mainstream. In short, far-Right activists realized that they could re-frame their attacks on the LGBTQ community under the guise of opposing “groomers,” giving activists plausible deniability when accused of homo and transphobia. Such conspiracies built on top of previous iterations of Pizzagate and Qanon, while running parallel with GOP backed anti-LGBTQ legislation.

With far-Right preacher Sean Feucht calling for another round of anti-Disney protests on May 16th in Florida, its clear that neo-fascist movements will continue to exploit the returns from the anti-grooming panic for as long as possible, as Republicans are only happy to score points with the Trumpian base by passing draconian attacks on reproductive freedom and LGBTQ people.

News

Maryland Police Traded Texts About Killing Black Lives Matter Protesters

A civil-rights lawsuit has been filed in Maryland against white police officers, including one supervisor, for sending texts about “race war” and killing Black Lives Matter protesters. According to Yahoo News:

Maryland police officers discussed killing Black Lives Matter protesters in text messages, a Black police officer alleges in a civil rights lawsuit. The federal suit…also accuses the officer’s white supervisor in the Maryland-National Capital Park Police of once writing, “They want a race war…ok lets go.”

“…officers repeatedly made racist, hateful and offensive comments on that text chain with impunity,” the suit says. “These comments included racial and other offensive ‘jokes,’ condoning ‘civil war’ or ‘race war’ and extremist militia groups, and overt threats of violence against African American citizens…[and] frequently talked about murdering Black Lives Matter protesters,” [and texted] things like, ‘Time to start killing ….’”

New Documents Shine Light into FBI Surveillance of George Floyd Rebellion as Agency Claims It Didn’t Have the Resources to Monitor Far-Right

Following J6, the FBI claimed it didn’t have the resources to monitor the far-Right online, yet new documents show that the agency was vastly invested in monitoring social media of everyday people during the George Floyd uprising. According to Rolling Stone:

[I]nternal FBI records obtained by Rolling Stone show that, well before Jan. 6, the bureau already engaged in ongoing and widespread tracking of Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, and other social-media platforms. The new documents suggest the agency has all the authority it needs to monitor the social-media platforms in the name of public safety — and, in fact, the bureau had done just that during the nationwide wave of racial justice protests in 2020. Critics of the FBI say that the bureau’s desire for more authority and surveillance tools is part of a decades-long expansion of the vast security apparatus inside the federal government.

The documents refer to teams of employees engaged in what law-enforcement agencies call “social-media exploitation,” or SOMEX. According to the documents, SOMEX teams gather reams of data from social media and distribute that information to special agents and other law-enforcement representatives. The documents show SOMEX data included in situation reports, or “sitreps,” distributed within the bureau.

The documents were first obtained by Property of the People, a government-transparency nonprofit group. “The documents bring into relief three consistent truths about the FBI,” says Ryan Shapiro, executive director of Property of the People. “One: At its core, the FBI is a political police force that primarily targets the left while ignoring or outright enabling the far-right. Two: FBI spokespersons lie like they breathe. Three: The Bureau shamelessly exploits national crises to expand the already dystopian reach of its surveillance.”

Other FBI documents show bureau employees using Instagram, Snapchat, and Reddit to monitor possible threats, flagging certain hashtags, and tracking attempts to publish personal identifying information for law enforcement officers on the dark web. The bureau appeared to have cast a wide net in its online monitoring, according to the records.

Yet despite having wide latitude to monitor social-media activity for years predating Jan. 6, the FBI says it needs more authority and technology to monitor online activity. The bureau’s newly inked agreement, costing $5 million in its first year, to license a SOMEX tool called Babel X demonstrates the FBI’s desire to continue escalating what it can see, hear, and read online.

Just what the hell is “Babel X,” you may ask? According to Fed Scoop:

Babel X is a text analytics platform that allows users to search multiple online media websites and search by location. The software is sold by AI data company Babel Street, which is led by Jeffrey Chapman, a former Treasury Department official. Earlier in his career, Chapman was a White House aide and intelligence officer at the Department of Defense, according to LinkedIn.

In documents issued during the procurement process, the FBI said that prospective vendors would need to offer a tool that can search a wide range of different social media websites in multiple languages. The award of the licenses could be worth up to $27 million.

“The tool shall be able to gather information from the following mandatory online and social media data sources: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Deep/Dark Web, VK, and Telegram,” the bureau said. It added that the ability to search Snapchat, TikTok. Reddit, 8Kun, Gab, Parler, ask.fm, Weibo, Discord. and “additional fringe platforms, and other encrypted messaging platforms,” would be a bonus.

Also, as journalist Ash J noted on Twitter about the documents released by Property of the People, like many in law enforcement, those in the FBI often seem to be getting their information about autonomous movements from far-Right sources on social media, which are often riddled with misinformation and outright conspiracy theories.

A Look Into the Tech Used in “Operation Safety Net’ Shows Vast Network Used to Surveil Activists and Journalists

Following the police murder of George Floyd, law enforcement set up Operation Safety Net in an effort to better coordinate repression of the rebellion in Minneapolis and link local police with federal agents through a wide range of high-tech tools and gadgets.

As Technology Review wrote:

But an investigation by MIT Technology Review reveals that the initiative expanded far beyond its publicly announced scope to include expansive use of tools to scour social media, track cell phones, and amass detailed images of people’s faces.

Documents obtained via public records requests show that the operation persisted long after Chauvin’s trial concluded. What’s more, they show that police used the extensive investigative powers they’d been afforded under the operation to monitor individuals who weren’t suspected of any crime.

Operation Safety Net (OSN) was announced in February 2021, a month before Chauvin’s trial was set to begin. Publicly, OSN acknowledged that federal agencies would assist in monitoring for threats of violence and activity by out-of-state extremist groups, and that an “intel team” would be established to help share information surrounding these threats. Our investigation shows that federal support for OSN was in fact extensive, involving the US Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

..according to emails obtained and reviewed as part of our investigation, the operation does appear to be actively ongoing, with regular planning meetings of the executive and intelligence teams—where it has been referred to as “OSN 2.0”—and sharing of intelligence documents.

MIT Technology Review obtained a watch list used by the agencies in the operation that includes photos and personal information identifying journalists and other people “doing nothing more than exercising their constitutional rights,” Leita Walker, a lawyer representing journalists arrested in the protests who has examined the list, wrote in court documents. It was compiled by the Criminal Intelligence Division of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office—one of the groups participating in OSN—and included people arrested by the Minnesota State Patrol, another participant.

OSN also used a real-time data-sharing tool called Intrepid Response, which is sold on a subscription basis by AT&T. It’s much like a Slack for SWAT: at the press of a button, images, video (including footage captured by drones), geolocations of team members and targets, and other data can be instantly shared between field teams and command center staff. Credentialed members of the press who were covering the unrest in Brooklyn Center were temporarily detained and photographed, and those photos were uploaded into the Intrepid Response system.

Previous reporting has shown that policing agencies participating in OSN also had access to many other technological surveillance tools, including a face recognition system made by the controversial firm Clearview AI, cell site simulators for cell-phone surveillance, license plate readers, and drones. Extensive social media intelligence gathering was a core part of OSN as well.

The report also notes that the OSN was also coordinated through a local fusion-center, that brought together both local law enforcement and federal officers with the FBI and DHS.

Paul Gosar Can’t Keep His Hand Out of the White Nationalist Cookie Jar

Paul Gosar, the Republican who looks like a Lord of the Rings troll and who has repeatedly associated with the white nationalist Groyper movement, issued a statement claiming he made a mistake in attending the recent American First Political Action Conference, organized by Unite the Right marcher, Nick Fuentes. As the AZ Mirror reported:

Gosar said his March video message to attendees of AFPAC was the fault of a staffer who sent his video message to the wrong group. He distanced himself from Fuentes, telling Politico that the young Holocaust-denying racist  “has a problem with his mouth.”

But then Gosar turned around and promoted an appearance at the white nationalist and Groyper connected American Populist Union conference:

Prescott Republican Congressman Paul Gosar was listed as a “special guest” with the white nationalist American Populist Union at an event that will be on a date popular among white nationalists and Neo-Nazis: Hitler’s birthday. The American Populist Social will be held in Tempe on April 20, a date revered by white supremacists and Neo-Nazis. But Gosar’s campaign says he isn’t attending and it doesn’t know how he was listed as a guest of honor, even though Gosar promoted his scheduled appearance on social media.

Guard Found Guilty of Facilitating White Supremacist Attack on Black Prisoners

In Oklahoma according to the Daily Beast:

…a former supervising corrections officer was found guilty of facilitating an opportunity for white supremacist inmates to attack Black inmates, the Justice Department announced Friday. Matthew Ware, 53, was convicted for violating the rights of D’Angelo Wilson and Marcus Miller in 2017 by transferring them to an area at the Kay County Detention Center where he knew white supremacists were detained.

Texts Show Coordination Between Far-Right Groups and Trump Officials on J6

It’s been a bad few weeks for the Proud Boys – as several of those facing charges from J6 within the group have turned snitch. Now, new texts show coordination between Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and even close Trump associates.

As The Guardian reported:

Top leaders in the Oath Keepers militia group indicted on seditious conspiracy charges over the Capitol attack had contacts with the Proud Boys and a figure in the Stop the Steal movement and may also have been in touch with the Republican congressman Ronny Jackson, newly released text messages show.

Oath Keepers text messages released in a court filing on Monday night showed members of the group were in direct communication with the Proud Boys leader Enqrique Tarrio in the days before the Capitol attack.

The newly released text messages also show a new link between the Oath Keepers and an unnamed figure from the Stop the Steal movement, which has ties to the pro-Trump operative Roger Stone and to Ali Alexander, a prominent Trump ally and activist.

The Oath Keepers text messages also show a connection to Ronny Jackson that allowed one of its members to learn that the Texas congressman – Trump’s former White House doctor – needed protection as the Capitol attack unfolded.

The potential connection between the Oath Keepers and a Republican member of Congress could mark a new investigatory direction for the committee and the justice department: whether Jackson or others might have had advance knowledge of the Oath Keepers’ plans.

Calls to Action

  • April 24th, Rally in Hartford, CT against neo-Nazi groups holding recent ‘White Lives Matter’ rally. Keney Park, Woodland Street, 12 NOON.

  • April 30th, Mobilize at Stone Mountain in Georgia against White Supremacist Rally

Doxxes

Patriot Front Network 10 Member “Mark PA” Identified as Nicholas Wolfgang Kauffman

Nicholas Wolfgang Kaufman has been exposed as a neo-Nazi activist involved in Patriot Front. “Kaufman has put up Patriot Front stickers in the area around LHVN’s offices in Allentown, PA, including the Citgo on West Street and the Butz Corporate Center on Hamilton Street.” More info here.

Michael Anatolivich Newidomy, Identity Dixie White Nationalist of Bismarck, North Dakota

From Anonymous Comrades Collective:

The neo-Nazi internet troll known as “Mitch Hoob” was once a member of the white nationalist group Identity Dixie, and we know this because prior to the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally “Mitch Hoob” stated that he would be hanging out with “Wade Garrett” (actually Mitchell Shane Rivers of Burlington, North Carolina) who then instructed him to inform “Erika” (Erica Alduino of Identity Evropa) that he was a member of Identity Dixie. This is detailed in Unicorn Riot’s Discord Leaks, which exposes the communications of white nationalist groups prior to the event and after.

Full report here.

Southern California White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis Involved in White Lives Matter

Pacific Antifascist Research Collective brings us reports on three white supremacists in the Southern California area.

  • Michael Halahan III, 24, of Orange, CA, is a neo-nazi member of a Southern California-based white supremacist “active club” calling itself Crew 562. Halahan has participated in multiple racist and antisemitic provocations in Southern California alongside Crew 562 and the white supremacist hate group Goyim Defense League. Michael Halahan has participated in multiple acts of what these neo-nazi groups consider to be “activism”: Dropping racist and antisemitic banners over freeway overpasses and distributing white-supremacist propaganda by “stickering” public property – but Halahan and other members of Crew 562 took their activism a step further (or rather, 1000 steps too far) when they joined Goyim Defense League leader Aryan Bacon’s hate-parade.
  • Shaun Thomas Mulville, 32, of Ventura, CA, is a neo-nazi member of a Southern California-based white supremacist “active club” calling itself Legion XIV. He is also an active participant of the “White Lives Matter” telegram chat where he regularly posts racist and antisemitic comments.
  • Robert Bowen Wheldon, 30, of San Diego, CA, is a neo-nazi, third-degree Proud Boy, and leader of a Southern California-based white supremacist “active club” calling itself Legion XIV. Wheldon regularly participates in white supremacist actions, including Legion XIV’s March 12th, 2022 neo-nazi banner drop in Thousand Oaks. In addition to being a neo-nazi, Robert Wheldon is also a third-degree member of the Proud Boys…Robert Wheldon participated in the November 11th, 2021 neo-nazi banner drop in Irvine, CA with the white supremacist group Goyim Defense League.

Read more here.

Support Our Prisoners

  • Support those arrested during the ongoing rebellion! Check the In Contempt column on It’s Going Down for a list of prisoners.
  • Support Gage Halupowski! Currently serving a six year sentence. More info here.
  • Support Dan Baker! Currently facing federal charges for posts online in response to armed far-Right rally at the capitol building in Florida. More info here.
  • Support Eric King! Anarchist and antifascist prisoner who has been targeted by the State and neo-Nazi inmates. More info here. Donate here.
  • Support San Diego antifascists facing heavy charges! Go here to sign petition and donate.

by This Week in Fascism via It's Going Down
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