Having announced the event on his twitter 48 hours before hand and working with Red Ice Radio, a live-streaming and in home studio run by a white nationalist married couple, the National Policy Institute along with Identity Europa, the youth wing of the American Freedom Party, (a key organizer for ANP is David Duke’s former right-hand man, Jamie Kelso), a Neo-Nazi formation, was working to create a “virtual rally.” The event itself was billed as a “Safe Space” to talk about race in America, using language common among left-wing, activist, and anarchist spaces. Before the rally even began, Spencer’s fellow white nationalists at Red Ice were already playing up what they imagined was going to happen that day. “Here is is, the birth of the free speech movement, and all of these liberals aren’t going to be able to stand white people talking about race,” they stated, (as if somehow Berkeley was devoid of white people doing just that). As Anti-Fascist News wrote:

When the idea was announced only a few days ago it seemed like an insulting media stunt, and it was, but it was also a strategic point for the growing Alt Right and its attempts to market racism and bigotry to Millenials. Richard Spencer of the Radix Journal and the National Policy Institute put together a video and a plan, to promote an outdoor meeting at the historic Sproul Plaza on the University of California and Berkeley campus. This was a place where 60s radicals joined together to confront the Vietnam War, and to build the Berkeley Free Speech movement. The point they were trying to make is that Berkeley is no longer a bastion of free speech because of the Political Correctness that has run rampant. Though this seems like the embarrassing overreach of angry children who are stomping their feet about no longer being able to say the N-word in public, what they are tapping into is a feeling in much of middle America of not understanding the new developments that have come in confronting interpersonal oppression.

While they didn’t fly completely under the radar, their event happened without being physically shut down. When their gathering was disrupted (briefly only twice), NPI members waved at the police (who were stationed around the plaza watching the entire event) to come over and back them up. This makes it appear that there had to have been some level of coordination between the white nationalists and UC Berkeley itself, and if a permit (aka, police protection) was involved, then this would have meant that UC Berkeley students were needed to set those wheels in motion.

Also, throughout the event, a large man in his 40s was stationed next to Spencer and watched closely the entire time. When he left towards the end he stated, “This went really well.”  At the end of the event, after a loud heckler belated members of the NPI/IE crowd as fascists, Spencer left within five minutes alongside other members of his entourage surrounding him, leaving what appeared to be “the locals” to find their way home. They weren’t going far anyways, on twitter members of the rally posted pictures of themselves drinking beers and discussing the days events in what seems to be a moneyed house.

We believe that all of this information: the path that they choose to enter the campus to avoid detection, the use of “muscle” as bodyguards, and the possible use of students to get access for police protection all point to UC Berkeley students possibly being involved in the white nationalist movement. According to one article, at least one UC Berkeley white nationalist alumni was in attendance. We also think it is clear that no Berkeley student is going to come forward as an out and out white nationalist; when a heckler approached supporters in the crowd, all but a few seemed to disavow being associated with the event.

Spencer left, with Henrik Palgren and Lana Lokteff of Red Ice Radio, and Mike Enoch of The Right Stuff podcast at an NPI Conference. 

Even a small group of militant anti-fascists could have stopped Spencer from stepping foot on campus, however Spencer was after something much different than the inevitable ass-whooping that would have been dealt to him and all his counterparts had the heads up arrived sooner. An energetic dialog and disagreements with enthusiastic UC Berkeley students that would make excellent livestream, podcast, meme, and twitter fodder. If they yelled and screamed and called them names, all the better, because then the NPI/IE could show that of course, “there is no safe space to talk about race.” If students were instead polite and composed, then just as well, fascist ideas were then thrust into the mainstream realm of debate and argumentation. There, along with PETA booths stacked with Why Vegan? pamphlets and a plethora of campus socialist groups, the National Policy Institute, Identity Europa and the ‘nipsters’ (Nazi hipsters) that made up its rank and file could be free to enter into the mainstream of college campus discourse.

In many ways, this idea and concept that was created almost entirely for online consumption and with hopefully viral potential, played out pretty flawlessly. Anyone walking around UC Berkeley for more than five minutes will be approached by either a campus group, GreenPeace or another non-profit asking for money, or someone promoting a business or restaurant. Because of this, most people walked right past the “safe space,” and continued on their way, heads buried in their phones. A cluster of 20-30 people did gather around the spectacle, however it seems many (or at least almost all the white males) were associated with the fascists.

This “safe space” tactic we imagine will grow in popularity among white nationalists. As Trump’s campaign continues to polarize the US and embolden white supremacists, Anti-Fascists will have to step it up on information gathering of these groups and individuals as well as strengthen networks with students on campus to build a culture of resistance that shuts down these events before they even start. No platform for fascism.

The following is a partial list of individuals and some background on organizations that were in attendance at the fascist rally at UC Berkeley.

The Prep Kid Fascist

Our dream is a new society, an ethno-state that would be a gathering point for all Europeans. It would be a new society based on very different ideals than, say, the Declaration of Independence.

– Vice, October 2013

I think we should have a new Roman empire…a grand ethno-state for all Europeans to come together.

–The Tab, May 2016

Richard Bertrand Spencer, resident of Whitefish, Montana, is no dummy, in fact, he’s a doctor, but like all white nationalists, Spencer proposes the creation of an all white “ethno-state” in which people of color would not be welcomed. This new government would be organized along fascist and authoritarian lines, of course. Growing up in Boston, he went on to attend St. Mark’s School in Texas (a private prep school), get his BA in Virigina, and then on to get his Humanities MA in Chicago and then his doctorate at Duke University. After getting out of school, Spencer went on to edit the American Conservative magazine and later the webzine Taki’s (both with white nationalist ties) before being fired for his racist views (guess he really went tor it). Taki’s, which is politically paleoconvservative (‘we were fascists before it was cool’), also drew fire due to the articles written by other writers. Salon wrote:

The site has come under fire in the past for promoting racist content. During the Trayvon Martin trial, it published an article by John Derbyshire that instructed white parents to encourage their children to stay out of predominately black neighborhoods and warned them to scrutinize black politicians more than whites. (The conservative magazine National Review fired Derbyshire after he wrote this screed.)

Richard Spencer watches as Jared Taylor gives a talk at an NPI conference.

In 2011, Spencer took over heading the National Policy Institute after the death of long time white nationalist Louis Andrews. NPI hosts conferences in the DC area several times a year and is aimed at young people (people under 30 get a discount), those on the outside of the right wing establishment, academics, and the rank and file of the white nationalist movement. In doing so, NPI has helped to increase the visibility of the “Alternative Right” along with providing a space for movement heads to meet and network. Milo Yiannopoulos, a BreitBart reporter recently has pushed the Alternative Right along with the NPI, even further into the spotlight by covering their conferences and has become a bad boy in the movement in his own right. As Raw Story wrote:

The National Policy Institute was founded in 2005 by William Regnery II who, in the words of the Southern Poverty Law Center, is a “prime mover and shaker” within academic white nationalist circles. As an heir to the conservative Regnery Publishing, which brought us Trump’s campaign screed Time to Get Tough in 2011, Regnery has thrown his fortune behind a number of white nationalist causes. In 2001, he founded the Occidental Quarterly, whose pseudo-scientific agitprop makes it “sort of the Nature of academic racism,” according to Mother Jones.

Matt Forney and Roosh V attend an NPI Conference. 

The NPI conferences has also been a place where the white nationalist and Alternative Right movements have been able to link up with Men’s Rights Activists (although many fascists objected to Roosh being non-white), including Roosh V (also a Trump supporter) of the Return of Kings website. Roosh V, who along with other MRA’s has spoken at NPI conferences, recently created controversy for advocating legalizing rape on private property as a means to further cement the second class citizenship of women to men. His attempt to hold meetups across the world was a bitter failure, but also shows the degree in which the Alternative Right is attempting to get off the internet and into the streets. This connection between Spencer and the pro-rape Men’s Rights Movement goes back to his days at Taki’s:

Contributors ranged from Matt Forney, who now writes for the men’s rights activism site, Return of Kings, to Aleksandr Dugin, a Russian fascist, writer, and academic who provided much of the intellectual foundation for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s incursion into Ukraine.

After AC and Taki’s, Spencer then began publishing the Alternative Right journal and then went on to produce Radix Journal as well as oversee Washington Summit Publishers. This publishing house publishes and re-publishes works such as:

[S]cientifically bogus works as a 2015 reissue of Richard Lynn’s Race Differences in Intelligence and screeds by other white nationalists, including Jared Tay­lor, editor of the racist Amer­i­can Renais­sance journal, and Sam Francis, the late editor of the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens’ newsletter.

Salon wrote:

The [NPI] organization’s editorial unit publishes “scientifically-based” books like “Race Differences in Intelligence” and “The Perils of Diversity.” “Our goal is to form an intellectual community around European nationalism,” [Spencer] wrote in an email.

The late Samuel Francis mentioned above, who is being republished by Spencer (who’s writings also helped influence the rising white nationalist, Matthew Heimbach located in Paoli, Indiana, of the Traditionalist Workers’ Party) was once much like Richard Spencer in his own early days, holding down a day job working as a columnist for The Washington Post before he was fired for railing against everything from interracial sex to desegregation. After his firing, Francis continued to head deeper into the white nationalist movement, playing a key role in the Council for Conservative Citizens, which grew out of the White Citizen’s Councils that were formed in the Jim Crow era South and acted as a kind of citizens auxiliary to the KKK, and were often referred to as the “Uptown Klan.”

Dylann Roof, white nationalist serial murderer.

Currently, the Council for Conservative Citizens is best known for helping to inspire the young mind of Dylann Roof, the white supremacist that massacred African-American church goers in Charleston, SC. Spencer’s long-time pal and American Renaissance organizer Jared Taylor is also currently part of their organizing body and has helped conduct robo-calls urging white people to vote for Trump. Taylor was also close with Francis, who himself presented and spoke at AmRen conferences.

Central to Francis’s vision, was that he saw the white working and middle classes as moving towards becoming Middle American Radicals, or MARs; a growing body of people and consciousness that rejected a multi-racial society and moved farther and farther towards the Right but also rejecting corporate capitalism. Over the years, Francis maintained a close friendship with Pat Buchanan, who at one time was a part of the Reform Party along with Ross Perot and David Duke, the ex-Klansman and KKK leader. Ironically, Donald Trump, then a former Democrat, quickly exited the Reform Party after sticking his toe in, refusing to be associated with anti-Semites and Neo-Nazis. While Buchanan would go on to campaign unsuccessfully as a Republican Presidential candidate in 1996, after his failure he continued to keep ties with the white nationalist movement and has made several appearances on The Political Cesspool podcast, which is sponsored by the Council for Conservative Citizens and the Institute for Historical Review (linked to the now defunct OG suit and tie Nazi outfit, the Liberty Lobby), a holocaust denial organization that promotes warm and fuzzy feelings of Third Reich.

American Freedom Party’s promotional material for Trump.

While they have all kept their distance from each other, Duke, Buchanan, and Trump have also all relied (Duke especially) on white nationalist muscle, act as delegates, organize support, and staff offices. At the same time, white nationalists, KKK members, and Neo-Nazis, also saw the success of their own movement in their activity within these campaigns, as many of their predecessors did in the runs of Barry Goldwater and George Wallace. Those that attended the NPI event at UC Berkeley were no different, as many wore Trump hats and Spencer himself has talked openly about his support for Trump’s campaign. As Spencer was quoted in a recent article saying, “Thank god for Donald J. Trump!”

Richard Spencer panders to the camera.

But support for Trump is only part of a bigger struggle to create an all white fascist state. Spencer fashions much of his support for an ethno-state on the same logic that the Confederate elites, such as Vice President Alexander Stephens articulated, who Spencer drew from in his 2014 essay, The Metapolitics of America, by calling for the removal of all non-whites on the basis that whites are superior. Spencer writes for Radix:

A century and a half ago, Alexander Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate States of America, was faced with the prospect of the victory or annihilation of his nation and fledgling state in what is now referred to as the American Civil War.

In his greatest address, “The Cornerstone of the Confederacy,” he did not speak (mendaciously) about “states rights” or any kind of Constitutional legality. He instead cut to the heart of the social order he was opposing. He stressed that the Confederacy was based on the conclusion that Thomas Jefferson was wrong; the “cornerstone” of the new state was the “physical, philosophical, and moral truth” of human inequality.

Ours, too, should be a declaration of difference and distance—”We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created unequal.” In the wake of the old world, this will be our proposition. [Our emphasis added.]

But while Spencer sees this as a far off goal, in the meantime he’s happy to push for mass deportations, exclusions, and forced sterilizations of people of color in the here and now. As Salon wrote:

“We are undergoing a sad process of degeneration,” [Spencer] said, coming back to minority births in the U.S. “We will need to reverse it using the state and the government. You incentivize people with higher intelligence, you incentivize people who are healthy to have children. And it sounds terrible and nasty, but there would be a great use of contraception.”

He didn’t mean the government should encourage people to use birth control pills and condoms. He was advocating for some type of government-forced sterilization.

“They could still enjoy sex. You are not ruining their life,” Spencer said.

During the American Renaissance conference in April, Spencer was quoted as saying:

“Today, in the public imagination, ‘ethnic-cleansing’ has been associated with civil war and mass murder (understandably so).  But this need not be the case.”

Spencer and the NPI represent the intellectual and academic wing of the white nationalist movement, much as the Futurists did in Italy as they threw their support behind Mussolini. Others though, come from much different backgrounds.

The Youth Organizer Convicted of a Hate Crime

We are coming @UCBerkeley! The conversation about a positive European identity will be had. #BerkeleyBound

— Fashy Haircut (@NathanDamigo) May 4, 2016

Like most of those within the white nationalist movement, while Spencer promotes a clean, nicely dressed, and WASPy appearance, his associations show the links between the broader fascist movement and himself. For instance, a key contributor and presenter at National Policy Institute Conferences has been Kevin MacDonald, a former 60’s Leftist and professor in Long Beach, California, and a participant in the American Freedom Party, which was founded by white power skinheads. MacDonald has made a name for himself as the leading ‘academic’ of Anti-Semitism, traveling across the US preaching how the Jews run the government and are trying to destroy the white race.

Nathan Damigo, youth organizer for Identity Europa, formerly known as the National Youth Front, the youth wing of the American Freedom Party. From Damigo’s Twitter account, ‘Fashy Haircut.’

The National Youth Front (NYF) was the youth wing of the American Freedom Party, until it recently changed its name to Identity Europa. One of its key organizers who was also at the UC Berkeley event, is Nathan Damigo, a former veteran and convicted felon who in 2007 drunkenly pulled a gun on a cab driver. As Anti-Fascist News wrote:

Damigo is running the organization Identity Europa…[and w]hen it was still the National Youth Front it had a back and forth relationship with the fascist and populist American Freedom Party, where they automatically registered NYF members with the AFP when they turned 35.

Nathan is an example of the kind of middle ground that the Alt Right has always been on. Good looking, well spoken, dresses and combs his hair like a hip Banana Republic model; he is a good advertisement as he looks far from a Klansman (looks a lot like Richard, to be exact). He is an Iraq war veteran, but he is also a felon for a hate crime. Several years ago, after he returned from Iraq, he brutally attacked a Muslim man on the street, and robbed him.

Though Identity Europa seems to be little more than his brainchild and attempt to coordinate with young people, they seem to attempt to be largely the same project that Youth for Western Civilization, the Traditionalist Youth Network/Workers Party, and the various White Student Unions are. They wish to make whiteness an identity battle, and present white advocacy as the same as Black and Latino rights organizations, including reaching out to communities of color to find “allies of color” who think that whites are being discriminated against on college campuses.

Damigo’s face helps promotes the Neo-Nazi National Youth Front.

Identity Europa represents an attempt by smart and nicely dressed young people to reach out and attempt to bring in others likes them that are attracted to the look, appeal, and ideas of the Alternative Right. At the same time, IE also shows the clear link between the wider, much more openly Neo-Nazi white nationalist movement as well as their rich-kid PhD cousins at the NPI, no matter how much Spencer slags them off. As Salon quoted him saying:

“We have to look good,” Spencer said, adding that if his movement means ”being part of something that is crazed or ugly or vicious or just stupid, no one is going to want to be a part of it.” Those stereotypes of “redneck, tattooed, illiterate, no-teeth” people, Spencer said, are blocking his progress.

But much like earlier fascist movements, there are many parts to them. For instance, Hitler used the SA or brownshirts to beat up communists and break up union meetings of workers who were the bulk of resistance to the Nazi Party. At the same time, the SA was made up largely of unemployed men who were paid for their “services” by rich industrialists who wanted them to smash the communists. Towards this end, they were given a place to live, beer to drink, and food to eat. In many ways, the claims by Trump that people will “Win so much they’ll get tired of it!” and that their incomes will double and beyond, work much in the same way in the minds of dispossessed and angry white workers.

We have received a massive amount of interview applications over the last few days. If you have not heard back from us please be patient.

— IDENTITY EVROPA (@IdentityEvropa) May 13, 2016

After Hitler took power, he had no use for the SA, and slaughtered their leaders in the “Night of the Long Knives,” along with much of the left-wing of the Nazi Party. This history still is a point of reference for some fascists, such as the white nationalist band, Death in June, who takes their name and imagery from this history of the Nazi Party. Thus, while Spencer represents the segment of movement “thinkers,” not far behind him are the more rough and tumble elements which have no qualms of flying swastika flags or screaming “seig heil!”

In many ways, Damigo represents the coming together of both of these worlds, through his connection to the American Freedom Party and IE. Currently, Damigo according to his twitter account “Fashy Haircut” lives in Northern California. His current tweets show pictures of wine country and him playing a game at a bar located in Sonoma. Also, Identity Europa is growing and the event at UC Berkeley seems to be its big coming out party.

White nationalist poster pasted up in Downtown Berkeley shortly after the rally. Was quickly ripped down. 

But Damigo wasn’t the only person from Northern California or even the bay area to attend the fascist event at UC Berkeley.

Johnny Ramondetta, aka Johnny Monoxide of IBEW Local 6

In late April, hundreds of people blocked the streets of Burlingame, a town located south of San Francisco, in protest of Trump speaking at a gathering of Republicans in California. Among the protesters were about 20 or so Trump supporters, many of them high school students. One of the older supporters there, a shorter man with black hair and a large bear, was Johnny Ramondetta, aka, Johnny Monoxide, editor and producer of “The Current Year Tonight” podcast which is broadcast on the Neo-Nazi, “Right Stuff” online site.

A promotional image for a Red Ice Radio program, featuring Johnny Monoxide.

John currently works as a union foreman electrician through Local 6, located in San Francisco. Johnny can also clearly be seen live streaming the UC Berkeley event at the rally as well as wearing a hoodie with the logo of his podcast that bears a meme of “Pepe the Frog,” (how original).

Ramondetta on his facebook account. 

According to our sources, Ramondetta was pulled to the Left during Occupy Oakland and also took part in protests against the killing of Trayvon Martin and in the wake of the Ferguson verdict, however decided instead that he’s actually a fascist anti-Semite and entered the world of spending most of his time while not at work making a shitty podcast and posting things on twitter, which you can view here.

“Just think how much better this game will be son after we ethnically cleanse the team!”

Ramondetta currently has a tweet-mance with Spencer and Damigo, and we only can expect that this relationship between himself and the rest of the white nationalist movement will continue to grow.

Watch this… pic.twitter.com/xbDOthOoHW

— Johnny Monoxide (@johnnymonoxide) May 8, 2016

We also encourage everyone to contact IBEW Local 6 in San Francisco and voice your displeasure with Ramondetta’s fascist (which supposedly bars one from IBEW membership) and racist views. IBEW Local 6 is located at: 55 Fillmore St #2, San Francisco, CA 94117. Feel free to call (415) 861-5752.

Some say the Jews need to take a good look in the mirror…but what good would that do, vampires don’t have reflections.

— Johnny Monoxide (@johnnymonoxide) May 15, 2016

The Neo-Nazi From Arizona

John Hess from Arizona. Seen here sporting a Golden Dawn shirt. GD is a fascist and Neo-Nazi party in Greece, known for attacking immigrants, refugees, and anarchists. 

John Hess, just like Damigo, comes out of the National Youth Front that is now called Identity Europa. Hess hails (all the time!) from Arizona, where he gained about 5 minutes of fash fame for going after professors on campus he deemed to be “anti-white.” According to one blogger:

NYF member named John Hess of Phoenix, Arizona…Hess’s Facebook page is on lockdown, because he doesn’t want you to see what he’s apparently all about, and by that, we mean Nazi idolatry. Hess’s page is peppered with videos filled with Nazi themed content, a strange coincidence considering claims by the NYF that they are not racists, and that there are no Neo-Nazi members of their group. Very odd indeed! The account has since been locked down.

From John Hess’s facebook account. 

Hess’s online facebook page contains his likes, which include predictably such things as Mein Kampf and bands such as the UK neo-nazi outfit, Skrewdriver and good ol’ Final Solution. Here’s a pictures of Hess doing the movement proud out in Arizona, protesting along with the National Socialist Movement. According to his facebook, he currently lives in Arizona. Come say hi!

Counter-Currents Publishing

Counter-Currents Publishing is a publishing house that has a PO Box listing in San Francisco and Greg Johnson is currently the editor-in-chief. In the past, people have claimed to have busted out its windows and picketed the establishment, however it appears that Counter-Currents is now back in the bay area.

Regardless, a writer and associate with CC was at the UC Berkeley rally, even going so far as to title it, “The Battle of Berkeley,” (quite the imagination, yes?), and give praise to Damigo and Spencer for showing a way forward for future white nationalists. Donald Thoressen writes:

…[T]he “Battle of Berkeley…” [a]fter all, it takes far more courage to show oneself publicly as a pro-white advocate in an area internationally famous for being hostile to white interests than it does to sneak, under cover of darkness, into an urban area with a mask and a bat and join many dozens of other human failures in various acts of “vandalism for the establishment.” Not one of us in attendance knew what to expect. Anything could have happened. There is a formidable antifa presence in the Bay Area, and that so few of them showed up is not our fault. A battle easily won is no less a battle.

I wanted to add my physical presence to the mix to show support and to help in case things got ugly, which I was almost certain they would. To my surprise and, to be quite honest, an equal amount of relief and disappointment, the event was peaceful. But this is a credit to Mr. Damigo, Mr. Spencer, and the caliber of supporters in attendance, each of whom was smart, confident, and composed. I do not believe there was a single supporter in attendance who would not have been prepared to physically defend the group if necessary, but due to the deftness with which the organizers handled the crowd and the affability of the supporters in attendance, we gave them no opportunity to get violent.

He goes on to state:

There will come a day when keyboard warriors will be forced to hit the streets and when they do it will not be the autistic nitpickers who will be leading the charge.

Let this be the first of many such events across the entire country and let us all hope that the next battle has men like Mr. Spencer and Mr. Damigo front and center. I want to thank both the organizers and the supporters I met that day for engaging in this action. I look forward to many more

A Tactic That Will Spread

Anti-Fascists are going to have to contend with fascist groups organizing on campus in the future, period. A way in which this might have been avoided is simply, we already should have been up on the local fash. While looking back a week ago, it seemed ludicrous that Spencer and Damigo would ever come to Berkeley, both in the sense that they would encounter too much resistance and also because there doesn’t seem to be much of a support base (ie, fascists) to come out to something like this. Obviously we were wrong, and looking at the cast of characters in attendance, this was a pretty big showing for the white nationalist movement.

As with Nazi and fascist rallies in the past, these groups rely on already established networks to come out in force, not promote ahead of time and hope for the best. With even a day’s more notice (as opposed to a few hours of finding out about the event) a much bigger and more militant response could have been mustered. We encourage everyone to create the means to follow and track groups such as the NPI, IE, American Freedom Party, and Traditionalist Workers’ Party and use the information gathered from social media to your advantage. Don’t wait to get intel from someone else, be organized, be vigilant, and be smart.

We also need to put in place networks for something like this before it happens. Have a plan made. Have a phone tree on hand. Have a group text set up that is connected through Signal, an encrypted text messaging service just for instances like this. Do not be caught off guard. A quick and physical response to the fascists at UC Berkeley would have been an easy victory for us had we been able to pull it off. Let’s make sure the next time they show their faces, we do just that.

FashSplaining

“I’m not a Nazi, I’m a…,” so goes the saying. There are a million ways that these people identify themselves politically. White Nationalists, National Socialists, Identitarian, Alternative Right, Traditionalist, etc. They key for them is to get away from the term “white supremacist” and “Neo-Nazi.” Spencer told The Tab: 

“I think alt right is a really good term to use…It’s something different than conservatives, it’s something different than Republicans. I also like to use the word ‘identitarian’…I think it’s a very good term because what is most important is European identity.”

Anyone that looks at the white nationalist movement can see that there is overlap and connections in all of these groups, from the skinheads, to the intellectuals, to the suit and tie racists. Those that run fast from the Nazi label are also just as quick to link up with hardcore Jew haters such as Kevin MacDonald and Neo-Nazi based groups like the American Freedom Party.

It is important to remember how this shift in terms came out, which was largely out of the trial of Randy Weaver in the wake of the Ruby Ridge incident in 1992. Weaver was a participant in the Neo-Nazi Ayran Nations formation in Idaho, whom the FBI thought they could turn informant. As an armed standoff began, the FBI ended up horrifically murdering members of Weaver’s family, and had to be brought down from his mountain encampment by Bo Gritz, then a candidate for the Populist Party, a fascist group backed by the Liberty Lobby. After talking to Weaver, Gritz returned and told some of the skinheads that came out to support, “He told me to give you a message,” and then proceeded to do the right arm Nazi salute.

During the trial in which Weaver was found not guilty, the defense argued that Weaver was not a “supremacist” but instead a “separatist.” While obviously we have no love for the courts or the FBI or the fascists, the point here is that the rhetoric stuck and worked. Neo-Nazis were now branded “separatists” and “nationalists.” “We just want to be left alone!” “Stop the hate and separate!” Many Neo-Nazis and KKK groups also began to point towards other right-wing formations such as the Nation of Islam as a mirror of themselves. This shift in language benefited the movement, as it portrayed itself as the “white” version of parallel black and other national identity groups.

But anyone who cares to look at the ideology of these groups can see that it is all based around the notion of the white race being above others. While those like Spencer may claim to disown violence, the only way to create a fascist society and maintain it is through massive amounts of violence. For instance, in The Tab article, Spencer dances around the question of if he supports Hitler until finally breaking down and stating that he does. From the article:

After [Spencer] saying “I think Hitler is misunderstood” and telling me he does condemn violence, he finally answers whether or not he condemns Hitler, saying, “No, I don’t. The idea that someone would want a country of their own, that someone would want a country that’s defined by their ancestors and their people, I do not condemn that.” He is so skillful at making white supremacy sound like a nice fairy tale that he can almost make Hitler sound like someone who just wanted a quaint little Germany with his extended family – almost.

In many ways, this is a smoke and mirrors game, where certain terms are used and then dropped only to be picked up by new ones. This is also muddled by white nationalists’ idea of the “ethno-state” which is sometimes described as an America that is broken up into separate parts so that every race gets a piece. Only certain groups don’t see it that way. Some want all of America, while others want to move blacks, Jews, and others into ethnic reservations. Others, are quite open about their plans for genocide. On a video interview, leading white nationalist Matthew Heimbach discussed how non-whites would be pushed out of white areas by using a variety of “incentives” such as taxes, etc. Perhaps even gold stars to identify them?

There obviously is a lot of disagreement in the movement about this. Heimbach wants to force all blacks to live in Detroit while this is currently the home base of the National Socialist Movement, which doesn’t want any non-white, Jew, or gay person to live within the borders of the US. It seems after the white nationalists have defeated their enemies, they can look forward to fighting amongst each other.

Post-Script: White Nationalists From the UC Berkeley Rally and Beyond

“Walther” was photographed at the rally did a lot of talking along with Spencer. Stated, “I work construction.” He hates Mexicans and blacks but loves his mom. Check out his twitter below.

Love you, Mama! You are and always will be my number one gal. #happymothersday #whitemothersaremagic pic.twitter.com/9T9pRnYZqf

— Walther Karamazov (@karamazovppk) May 8, 2016

Many of the people pictured below were at the rally on Friday the 6th, however several more were not. Place where pictures were taken is not yet known. In second picture we can see John Hess and Johnny Ramondetta along with several others.

“Karlin” posted this picture from The Tab article and based on their twitter account appears to be a student at UC Berkeley and a fascist.

The Tab covers Alt Right Safe Space at UCB. It was very vibrant and diverse! https://t.co/eigArE1kZG pic.twitter.com/9O0Kx4hUa6

— Anatoly Karlin (@akarlin88) May 7, 2016

“Trump Hat Man” holding NPI sign, identity unknown, other than racist dumb-ass.

Video from Radix Journal documenting the entire rally.

@richardbspencer at Berkeley!

May 6 / 3 PM
UC Berkeley / Sproul Plazahttps://t.co/EZPkYQr1Sc

— Radix Journal (@RadixJournal) May 5, 2016

“The Muscle,” left after about hour and half. Stated, “This went great.” Seen here talking with Damigo.

“Leave it to Hitler,” was soft spoken but a part of the rally. Seen here talking with other fascists and was also present for the racist get together later.

“John Hess,” Neo-Nazi from Arizona. Made a name for himself organizing protests with fascist and Nazi groups against various professors.

“The Silent Jock,” [pictured in sunglasses] smiled as he walked up to the rally and spent the whole time with the other supporters. When asked if he was with the fascists, he cried, “I’m not with them!”

“Racist Smurf,” explains the finer points of a fascist dictatorship.

“Johnny Ramondetta,” the union electrician foreman hates Jews and immigrants but loves jobs. Guess when his union is shut down for being “Marxist” he can get a job in the propaganda department making a crappy podcast. Also, another fascist to the right of Johnny, wearing brown shirt and tie with hat. Dressed for 45′, guess he didn’t get the memo everyone is SOOOO hip now. Last photo is of Johnny supporting Trump in Burlingame only several weeks prior.

“Nathan Damigo,” the lil’ Nazi with a heart of hate.

“Richard Spencer,” asks the crowd if anyone has seen the silver spoon he grew up with. He can’t seem to find it.

Also of interest is Mark Bidwell. We are currently looking for a picture of Mark to place him at the event, but Bidwell is a guest on such white power podcasts as “Fash the Nation” and his twitter account says that he lives in San Francisco and links himself to the Radix journal. We are guessing that he was in attendance. Below is a picture from his twitter account.

Where to Go From Here

1. Start mapping the fascists in your area. Start with the big names and groups on facebook and twitter and get going. See who follows who. Make maps, follow accounts, find out when events are happening. Organize and tell others.
2. Make life interesting for Damigo, Hess, and Spencer. Salon wrote: Spencer says he has no desire to advertise his views to his neighbors. “I don’t want to get in big disputes with anyone in Whitefish,” he says. “I would like this to be a place where I have a little bit of an anonymous status.” He lives in Whitefish, Montana and hangs out at the Red Caboose Cafe. The town has a population of under 7,000. He shouldn’t be hard to find. Damigo appears to be in Sonoma county, Hess in Arizona. Get on social media and do your homework.
3. Have a plan for when these groups will hold an event on campus. What can you do with 5 people? With 10? With just yourself? Let this be a building exercise.
4. Watch out for Johnny Monoxide in the bay area. He will sure to be seen at upcoming events, live streaming for his own projects and also attempting to get on InfoWars and other right-wing establishments.
5. Get ready to shut down the National Policy Institute Conference on November 19th in Washington DC at the Ronald Reagan Building, 9 AM – 11 PM. More info here.
6. Get ready for Sacramento on Sunday, June 26th. The Golden State Skinheads, Traditionalist Workers’ Party, the KKK, and other groups are holding a rally at the State Capitol. Be there. More info here. This is shaping up to be the largest white power rally on the west coast in some time.