From Rose City Antifa:
One year after the infamous June 4, 2017 far-right rally held by Joey Gibson, he and his group Patriot Prayer plan a return to Terry Schrunk Plaza in downtown Portland with a rally scheduled for June 3rd, 2018.
The 2017 rally– staged days after white supremacist Jeremy Christian murdered two people and critically injured a third who stood in the way of his racist tirade against two young women on a MAX train– drew a wide selection of racists, fascists, and far-right bigots into the city. The community answered, surrounding Gibson’s group on three sides and demonstrating clearly that organized hate would not be tolerated in Portland. The Portland Police Bureau then attacked anti-fascist activists with chemical weapons and explosives to facilitate the racists’ escape.
In the year that followed, the city of Portland has extensively witnessed just what sort of crowd Joey Gibson draws to himself:
- MAX murderer Jeremy Christian attended Gibson’s march at Montavilla Park on April 29th, 2017, after being active in Patriot Prayer Facebook threads before hand.
- At the same event, Jacob Von Ott, organizer for Identity Europa, was present along with several members of the PDX Stormers. This marked the beginning of out-and-out fascists’ participation in Gibson’s events throughout 2017.
- The Hell Shaking Street Preachers have attended numerous rallies with Gibson, led by self-declared white nationalist Allen Puckett.
- On June 4th, 2017, a crowd of Identity Europa members was present lead by Jacob Ott, as was Traditionalist Workers Party member Matthew Brian Stafford, Identity Europa representative James Allsup, True Cascadia leader Andrew Harkins, fascist bonehead Raul Gonzalez, far-right III% militia members, members of the violent, misogynist Proud Boys hate group, and many other unaffiliated racists and fascists. Anti-Semite Tim Gionet was one of Gibson’s invited speakers, and was observed reciting racist slogans with Identity Europa members and others, including teenagers. After the rally, members of the PDX Stormers and the Traditionalist Workers Party hung an anti-Semitic banner over I-205.
- Later that summer at rallies on August 6th, 30th, and September 10th of 2017, fascists from Identity Europa and the PDX Stormers gathered at Gibson’s rallies. Among the many other recorded nazis in attendance at these rallies were: Jacob Von Ott, Steve Shallenberger and Kip Beebe, Jarl Rockhill, Alexander Becker, and a contingent of fascists and white supremacists coming from PSU, such as Liam Wynn, Matt Duffy, Ethan Devries, Cody Bussard, and Stephen Johnston. Patriot Prayer encouraged nazis to attack anti-fascist activists at these events, side by side with their own membership and the Proud Boys.
- On December 9th, 2017, Gibson staged an anti-immigrant rally. There, members of the PDX Stormers, Identity Europa, and the Proud Boys attacked anti-fascist counter-protesters. Additionally, 17 year-old hopeful Hammerskins member Noah Gunn attacked a Native woman, hitting her in the face with a stick. He later bragged about this on a Hammerskins forum.
It is no coincidence that Gibson is trying to come back into Portland on the anniversary of his previous defeat. As the widespread rise in far-right violence last year was met with fierce opposition from anti-fascists around the country, fascists and white nationalists have been forced into a retreat. While demoralized, they remain active. Many fascist groups have continued to grow in membership. Even now, white nationalists are planning to return to Charlottesville in August, on the anniversary of the fascist “Unite the Right” rally during which anti-fascist activist Heather Heyer was killed by a member of white nationalist group Vanguard America (since rebranded, they now operate under the name Patriot Front).
After being turned away from Portland time and time again by antifascists standing strong against his racist followers, Gibson began holding events elsewhere in Washington, and has begun a contentless campaign for the position of Senator in that state. While Gibson claimed he was done with rallies and ready to focus on “serious politics”, he has apparently now forgotten his ill-fated ventures into our city, and is testing the waters in Portland once again. Despite the fact that his run for the senate has received little attention from mainstream media, his ambitions continue to to make space for fascists and other violent reactionaries to march and organize, in a transparent bid to stoke his own ego and meager celebrity. He may hope that the people of Portland have forgotten his violent carnivals of 2017, and that the community’s guard has dropped and he might be celebrated by racists once again.
Joey Gibson and Patriot Prayer have short memories, but our community does not. Rose City Antifa knows now, just as we did last year: Gibson is a magnet for violent white supremacists and bigots. The time between then and now has only reinforced our resolve, and the evidence of Patriot Prayer’s racist ties has accumulated to undeniable quantities.
We will not allow racists and fascists to parade through Portland’s streets, threatening activists and targeting at-risk communities. No matter how many times they try to sneak back in, this city will stand united against them. We ask the community to join us at 4:00 pm on June 3rd in Terry Schrunk Plaza, to show Patriot Prayer, just as we showed them last year, that their violence and hatred has no place in Portland.
Signed,
Rose City Antifa
Pacific Northwest Anti-Fascist Workers Collective
Eugene Antifa
To sign on to our coalition, please email us at [email protected]
Should have known this would happen. The American Renaissance Conference has made this park their home for a number of years now, so now other hate groups are attracted as well. Two months after AmRen takes place, there will be a joint conference put on by the American Freedom Party and the Council of Conservative Citizens. Now there is some cross-pollenation with this conference and AmRen, as some of the same people will attend both (Jared Taylor of American Renaissance is a one time board member of the C of CC). But now we are also dealing with those who have more of an inclination towards violence, and that means a lot of people who are simply going to enjoy the the park are going to be hurt.
Needless to say, folks in Nashville are pissed, so there is going to be a call to oppose both AmRen and this latest thing. We will keep you posted.
ACT! For America doesn’t do anything that doesn’t involve demonizing and undercutting the rights of Muslims in this society, so naturally they are going to big up those they think are their shock troops in this endeavor. The event in Philly is being organized by one of their members, Scott Ryan Presler, who is also putting one together in St. Cloud, MN for the same day. His Facebook and Twitter account is basically nothing but fanboy adulation for Donald Trump, and that pretty much seems to be his life. But he hates Muslims and sometime finds to hate Hispanics from time to time, so yeah, he wants to hold rallies where he will find a lot of both and not too many Trump supporters.
OPPOSE HATE IN THE OCEAN STATE!
SHOW UP BEFORE 11AM AUG 4TH
Not kid friendly, not a speaking rally.
CALL TO ACTION:
Ocean State Against Hate, a coalition of anti-racist, anti-sexist, pro-LGBTQ, anti-fascist, socialist, labor, and community organizers will host a counter-demonstration to oppose a rally by a far-right umbrella group known as “Resist Marxism”. One might wonder what they could possibly do to resist Marxism that has been overlooked by the police, the FBI, the corporations and media, and the various intelligence and military agencies, but here we are.
Beyond the group’s moderately-right-wing veneer are various racist and fascist dog-whistles, and a nationwide history of organizing with violent hate groups and individuals. While the umbrella group “Resist Marxism” may assiduously avoid racist language in its promotional materials, it uses several dog-whistles (“cultural Marxism,” “globalism,” “nationalism,” etc) that have fascist, anti-semitic origins. The founder of the organization, Kyle Chapman (alias “Based Stick-man”) is a repeat violent felon with ties to fascist groups and individuals. At events held by the group’s Boston chapter, security was provided by American Guard, a neo-nazi paramilitary group from Indianapolis with possible chapters in New Hampshire. They are an extreme anti-immigrant and anti-refugee group with many members in designated hate groups. A posting about the August 4th rally on the /pol/ section of 4chan, a notorious neo-nazi internet hangout, promised that the August 4th event in Providence would be the debut of a local chapter of the Proud Boys, a “western chauvinist” fascist gang. Kyle Chapman, the “Resist Marxism” founder also founded a more extreme, violent group within the Proud Boys – the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights, who have committed multiple assaults with sticks and other weapons at protests. Another Boston “Resist Marxism” member, Chris Hood, is also a member of Patriot Front, an openly fascist hate group. This group split off from Vanguard America (which has a presence in Providence), a member of which is charged with the murder of Heather Heyer by a car that plowed into protesters (injuring 20 others) in Charlottesville, VA last year. There are more connections with other heinous groups and individuals, too many to list. These groups, along with other fascist, nationalist, and white supremacist formations, have a clear history of racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, homophobic, and transphobic violence. We as a community ignore them at our peril.
These groups and other far-right and white supremacist organizations have no place here in Providence. The community will not sit by idly while they organize to oppress and murder us. We will oppose them at every turn.
Coalition Points of Unity:
-Fascism is an existential threat to already oppressed and targeted communities.
-To oppose this threat, we must oppose all its facets
-White supremacy in all its forms
-Misogyny and violence against women (including trans-women) in all its forms
-Violence against immigrants and workers in all its forms
-Capitalist imperialism in all its forms
-Settler colonialism in all its forms
-Directly affected communities must always be at the forefront of all aspects of our political work, including anti-fascism
-Fascism cannot be debated, it cannot be coddled, it must be smashed aggressively and efficiently.
-A community’s ability to defend itself by any means necessary is crucial to combat fascism.
Their rally is reported to start at noon on August 4th. Join us by 11AM to oppose them.
ACT! For America doesn’t do anything that doesn’t involve demonizing and undercutting the rights of Muslims in this society, so naturally they are going to big up those they think are their shock troops in this endeavor. The event in St. Cloud is being organized by one of their members, Scott Ryan Presler, who is also putting one together in Philadelphia, PA for the same day. His Facebook and Twitter account is basically nothing but fanboy adulation for Donald Trump, and that pretty much seems to be his life. But he hates Muslims and sometime finds to hate Hispanics from time to time, so yeah, he wants to hold rallies where he will find a lot of both and not too many Trump supporters.
Patriot Prayer is a violent Neo-Fascist organization based in Washington State and the Proud Boys is a violent Neo-Fascist organization with chapters all over the country. They have made no bones about the fact that when they hold their regular rallies in Portland, OR, they intend to, as Proud Boy Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, put it, engage in a “physical fight, whatever kind of fight — we’re coming… and we’re gonna raise hell.” Those fights, by the way go beyond rallies. Toese and another Proud Boy Donovan L. Flippo were picked up by police for assaulting a Black man in the street who simply yelled back at them while they were driving down the street in a pickup championing Trump’s wall.
The violence they are bringing has increased with each rally, and that also meant a decrease in attendance for the neo-Fascist crowd until June 30, when fellow fash from around the country went to Portland to fight those countering the rally that day. Well, Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson announced another rally on Aug. 4, and this time antifa has said enough of this shit. Now THEY – including One People’s Project – are making it a point to be there for this latest outing. The hope is this will be the nail in the coffin, and if not it will be made clear that Portland, which has been seeing battles like this with Nazis in their town for decades, will not keep giving this crowd quarter.
For more information go to:
Rose City Antifa. Includes information about their local fascists.
Legal Fund Against Fascist Violence.
From the Facebook event page:
Last August (2017), groups of white supremacists, aided by police and politicians, attempted to take over Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Park in order to build a base in the Bay. A crowd of thousands—including students, unionists, faith-based activists, teachers, and other everyday people—was there to confront them. We worked together to shut down the fascists and send them packing. Nationally, we sent a message that hate will not be welcome in the Bay. (Photo essay of 8/27 here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/kellyjohnsonrevelationaryphotography/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1371548832961154)
Once again, a group of white supremacists, Trump supporters, and fascists has announced a rally in downtown Berkeley for August 5, 2018. This event is part of a week-long nationwide “commemoration” of the hateful acts that took place nearly a year ago in Charlottesville, in which DeAndre Harris was beaten and Heather Heyer murdered. It is our duty to loudly and publicly reject their hate and to redouble our efforts in building a truly just and liberatory world.
We are calling on all members of our community to assemble together to stop white supremacist and state violence from growing. As history demonstrates, regular maintenance is required by people of heart and conscience to shut down white supremacy and fascism, which are foundational violences of this settler-colonial state. We’ve got to tend to the relationships and values that fuel, nourish, and inspire us to build a vision of collective liberation.
Share widely!
EXPOSED: Far-right #Berkeley organizers linked to Unite the Right 2, funded by Alex Jones https://t.co/Q1vNe96n1h #ProudBoys #PatriotPrayer #August5 #August5th #BayArea #AltRight #Oakland #SanFrancisco #SF #UniteTheRight #AbolishICE #OccupyICE #AllOutBayArea
— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) July 23, 2018
On August 5, we will gather to maintain a Bay Area free of fascism and white supremacy, sweeping out those that seek to deport, cage, harm, or extinguish members of our communities. Attacks on immigrants, Black and Indigenous people and other people of color, Muslims, the un-housed, queer and trans folks, disabled people, and/or women are becoming more prevalent as fascism reasserts itself in governments, state agencies, and increasingly organized groups across the globe. In the US, law enforcement, ICE and other deportation agents, and the jails and prisons work to remind people that this country was built on Indigenous land, on the backs of enslaved people, and that the prison industrial complex currently functions to maintain racial capitalism. We are reminded of this every time police kill another Black, Brown, and/or trans person in the streets. This country was founded on white supremacy and we must rise up with others around the world in an international movement to resist the fascism of both government and vigilantes. It’s time to take out the trash.
This is a community-wide call for each of us to perform critical community maintenance by removing fascists and white supremacists from our community. This will be a festival of resilience starting in Ohlone Park at 2pm going to MLK park for August 5, 2018. Featuring local artists, activists, musicians, comedians and everyday people. Our rally will send a clear message: “No hate in the Bay.”
#TrashtheFash #FashFreeBayArea
From shutitdowndc.org:
Mass Mobilization Against The Alt-Right in Washington DC, August 10-12 from Matt Brown on Vimeo.
We are calling all anti-fascists and people of good conscience to participate in international days of action August 10 through August 12 and a mass mobilization in Washington DC.
This is for Heather Heyer, ICE abolition, open borders, dismantling the prison industrial complex, and ending the settler colonial system. We will confront fascism, antisemitism, islamaphobia, white supremacy, and state violence on August 10-12.
Our lives were forever changed on August 12, 2017, when neo-Nazis, KKK and militia members, and Alt-Right trolls from across the US and North America converged on the town of Charlottesville, Virginia.
White supremacists lit torches and attacked students as young as 17 last year while the police looked on and did nothing. The next day, people bravely confronted hundreds of armed racists. In the ensuing confrontation, one person gave her life, and many more were scarred forever. Tens of thousands immediately took to the streets. Suddenly the world would never be the same.
Now the white supremacists want to come back. On August 12, 2018, the Alt-Right will hold “Unite the Right 2” in Washington DC in front of the White House at Lafayette Square. Jason Kessler, Richard Spencer, and the Trump Adminstration are all implicated in the murder of Heather Heyer. The Alt-Right relentlessly harass and threaten people of color, women, sex workers, trans and non-binary people, and the undocumented.
Their rallies are all public displays of violence and calls for genocide. They are Brian Trainer and every killer cop. They are the ICE agents. They are the prison system that breaks up families. In Portland, DC, and Philly, the movement grows. We occupy ICE offices, confront racism, antisemitism, islamaphobia, xenophobia, and white nationalism.
Other Calls to Action
For the CrimethInc. international call to action
In Charlottesville: Community members are mobilizing to show that anti-racist, anti-fascist resistance continues regardless of whether Nazis actually show up. Join and support them on August 11-12.
Inside D.C.
Jason Kessler will find no rest, no refuge, no respite. Communities in DC will unite against hate, borders, prison, and the vision of Unite the Right.
Outside D.C.
If you can’t make it to Washington DC on August 10-12, take to the streets wherever you are. We call on our comrades to organize demonstrations and other actions for the night of August 12. Occupy an ICE office, shut down a police station, or demonstrate at the home of a local racist, ICE agent, or prison profiteer.
Outside the United States
If you are living outside the US, you can take action at US embassies, borders, or other symbols of colonial power. Our allegiance is not to “making America great again,” but to all of humanity and the planet.
Signed,
“Att röra sig i nazistiska kretsar har helt enkelt konsekvenser.” That’s Swedish for “Moving in Nazi circles simply as consequences.” It comes from the announcement from Anti Fascist Action (AFA) Research that the Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR) plans to have a rally in Stockholm on Aug. 25, which just so happenes to be the same day that the Strike Back Network – Defending Strike Rights will be in the streets as well protesting the government’s restrictions on striking workers. According to AFA, NMR will bring out Nazis and the like from Sweden and all over the Nordic Region to march on Kungsholmen, and the permit is for 30 to 30,000 persons. AFA will be out to document every last one of them that come out and plan to put them on blast in the future. So yeah, in Sweden, being a Nazi will have consequences.
During the Civil War, Tennessee was the last state in the Confederacy to vote for secession, Union soldiers from the south came from Tennessee more than any other state, and Johnson City, Tennessee in particular was a Union stronghold. One would not think that given its history of White supremacy since the war, up to and including now, and it definitely strikes funny how despite the fact that the latest Confederate monument came down at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC, the White Supremacist League of the South decided to protest that and other monuments to their lost cause going on the trash heap 200 miles away in Johnson City!
In a statement on their website, LOSer President Michael Hill called for a rally in Johnson City, condemning Chapel Hill’s “radical leftist students, including elements of Antifa and Black Lives Matter” as well as “law enforcement standing around watching as these terrorists demolished public property with impunity.” Johnson City Manager Pete Peterson confirmed through a spokesperson that the group has expressed an intent to hold something there, and do not need a permit, although city staff has “had conversations with them about doing so in a location that will help us best ensure public safety.”
But when people come out to counter this group, dialogue might not be the order of the day. After all, the LOSers made a deal with Charlottesville, VA to essentially not come back after their participation in the violence of last year’s “Unite the Right” rally. And they also were good for attacking people in Shelbyville, TN when they held a rally there in November. Needless to say, Antifa is already sounding the alarm for this little event.
League of the South planning a rally in Johnson City, TN on September 29! Archived source: https://t.co/baC6lgw5pi LOSers don’t know the South stopped fucking around since October 1859 (at least). #FWS pic.twitter.com/zRUPw41LrU
— Stop the Next ‘Unite the Right’ (@stopthenextutr) August 21, 2018
More info as it develops.