Trying to do something the same time Dick Spencer will be speaking at Michigan State University, his attorney and MSU alum Kyle Bristow and his group the Foundation for the Marketplace of Idiots…sorry Ideas (actually we’re not sorry, FMI) want to hold some sort of conference in the Detroit area. This is its second  outing, the last one being in summer 2016 just after the Republican National Convention, and similar to when neo-Nazi concerts whenever they are put on, they aren’t disclosing where it is and those who want to attend have to be “vetted”. That means the venue might not even know they have this thing happening at their spot, and won’t know until the last minute, so consider this a heads up to hotels and restaurants in the Detroit area to check out their scheduled events for Sunday, March 4, and Monday March 5.

Here’s something else. According to their schedule. Among the speakers are Bristow, Spencer, Cameron Padgett, Elliott Kline, aka Eli Mosley, and Matthew Heimbach, so basically you have the folks involved with leading the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia last summer coming to Detroit. More to the point, with Heimbach speaking and his partner and National Socialist Movement leader Jeff Scheop living in Detroit, their umbrella group the Nationalist Front will be there. Even more to the point, all attendees are asked to go to Dick Spencer’s speaking engagement at MSU in Lansing. Being that they have been about attacking people and were the instigators of the violence in Charlottesville, not to mention in Shelbyville, TN last November, we should all be mindful that this might be what they are looking for in Detroit and Lansing. That’s something both venues and residents are going to have to deal with. But look at it like this: if the Foundation for the Marketplace of Idiots have to hide from us, they’re afraid of us!

So it seems that Dick Spencer has himself another speaking gig, and it is at the alma mater of his attorney Kyle Bristow, who while a student there worked to get white supremacists to speak on campus. After much wrangling around Spencer will be at Michigan State University (MSU), per the terms of an agreement per the settlement of a lawsuit filed by Bristow on Spencer’s behalf – that agreement including the stipulation that Spencer never tries to hold anything else at the University ever again! We can’t help but be reminded of how this is kind of what Creativity Movement leader Matt Hale was doing with his public library appearances back in the early ’00s, and he is one of many examples of that crowd pushing and pushing people until they push back because his ass is in federal prison for 40 years. Will that happen to Spencer? Who knows? Considering the last time he held one of these things three of his people ended up in jail for shooting at people, it’s probably only a matter of time before Spencer sees the pushback tailor-made for him!

And we can’t always fault the universities for allowing Spencer and his ilk to infest their campuses. They are indeed trying to keep these things from happening. Kent State University, for example, was able to shut him out from a planned event on May 4 – the anniversary of the 1970 “Kent State Massacre” when the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine.

It is only by pure coincidence that we are posting this on the one year anniversary of the day White Supremacist Jason Kessler assaulted someone at Charlottesville, Va’s Downtown Mall. He got in trouble for that and pled guilty to a misdemeanor. Now it would have been nice if they charged him with perjury then for saying that he punched back in self defense when video shows otherwise, as opposed to after his so-called “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12. We probably all could have avoided the tragedy that we would eventually see that day. But it is what it is, and he did indeed get charged. He has a motion hearing for Jan. 30, but if all goes as it is currently planned, two-day trial is set for March 20. We don’t think Kessler is going to fare well in this or any of the other things that may be coming his way to take him down, and this will be the first shot at him that serves as a comeuppance for his bullshit over the past year. If the dates change, we will note it here.

From the Oppose ‘Generation Identity’ website:

**CALL OUT TO ALL DECENT HUMAN BEINGS**

BUY YOURSELF A TRAVELCARD AND KEEP YOUR CALENDER CLEAR – STOP THE FASCIST ‘GENERATION IDENTITY’ CONFERENCE ON SATURDAY APRIL THE 14TH!

The frightened little snowflakes think they can keep us from figuring out where they’re gonna be hosting all their filthy little fascist mates from across Europe for their “European Reunion” conference, setting up ridiculous amounts of security just to get a ticket – but that hasn’t stopped us, so follow the @OpposeGI handle on Twitter for updates and locations on the day 😉

WHO ARE ‘GENERATION IDENTITY’ AND WHY SHOULD WE OPPOSE THEM?

‘Generation Identity’ (to be referred to as ‘Generation Snowflake’ from here on in) are a fascist group for the 21st century, using the language of liberal identity politics to argue that white Europeans, rather than being aggressive imperialists who have raped and pillaged the entire globe, are in fact victims of some great conspiracy, using terms like ‘the Great Replacement’ as code for the popular fascist conspiracy theory that ‘liberal’ world leaders are orchestrating ‘white genocide’ in the West. This movement, which began in France and is strongest in Germany and Austria, targets university campuses with its carefully worded propaganda in an effort to normalize hateful and racist discourse in mainstream education. The ultimate goal of this movement? Ethno-pluarlism. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Pluralism is a good thing, isn’t it? Well, no, not in this context – ethno-pluralism means apartheid, racial segregation and the creation of states along racial and ethnic lines. So in simple terms – ‘Generation Snowflake’ wants to ethnically cleanse all people of colour from Europe to create a series of white ethnostates.

The most high profile stunt so far by ‘Generation Snowflake’ was the failed ‘Defend Europe’ project in summer 2017, which saw ‘Generation Snowflake’ members take to the seas and try, unsuccessfully, to block the boats of NGOs from coming to the rescue of migrants drowning in the Mediterranean. The UK chapter of ‘Generation Snowflake’ launched in the autumn with a *super dramatic* banner drop on Westminster bridge. Their actions have largely been confined to stunts like this – giving out (pork) dinners to the (British only) homeless in branded hi-vis tops an taking some pics, coming onto university campuses, putting up stickers or handing out a couple of leaflets, getting some pics for the all important social media. Then fucking off as quick as they can. So far, this has meant that they have been easy to miss –  until an attempted banner drop at Birkbeck University last week, which led to the ‘Generation Snowflake’ banner being quickly seized and disposed of by students and the fascists being chased off the campus with their tails between their legs. But these aren’t just students playing pranks – the recent revelation that ‘Generation Snowflake’ member Jacob Bewick was a member of now banned Nazi terror group ‘National Action’ shows that they are attracting members who are deadly serious about their goals.

WHY STOP THEIR CONFERENCE?

There isn’t just one good reason to shut down fascist gathering like this one. There. Are. Shitloads. Firstly, of course, it sends a message of solidarity to those people being targeted by their hateful rhetoric. It is also to demonstrate to those that hold such dangerous views as the desire for a white-only Europe that they will not be tolerated in society and any attempts that they make to organise with others to execute those ideas will be resisted by any means necessary. Make no mistake, this is what the ‘Generation Snowflake’ conference is – a meeting of like minded people from across the continent, seeking to work together to organise and execute the ethnic cleansing of Europe. We cannot – we will not –  let this happen. We’ll see you on Saturday the 14th.

NO PASARAN

#OpposeGI

#FuckGenerationIdentity

The Proud Boys are saying they are commemorating the anniversary of the 1775 start of the American Revolution, but let’s be real. That other anniversary three days from this date, where 168 people, many of them children lost their lives in Oklahoma City at the hands of a bomber who had the same kind of ideals that the Proud Boys have is more akin to what you are going to see them represent. One of the rally organizers is John Medlar, the guy who tried to hold a rally in Boston last summer just after Charlottesville’s Unite the Right rally and was met by over 40,000 angry counter-protesters. This time around he is saying he doesn’t want to rile up the opposition noting of his little rally, “We’re here to celebrate a battle, not fight one.” That might be news to Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman, who is one of the speakers and is always looking to fight someone. In fact, the Proud Boys themselves are a organization formed out of the need for political violence. At one point in their two-year existence, they required you to engage in some act of violence against someone you politically disagree with to gain full membership. So we hope they understand if the “We’re not here to fight a battle” sentiment rings a little hollow with most folks. Expect the opposition to be thick.

It’s that time of year again. On Hitler’s 129th birthday, his followers will come out to remind everyone why he didn’t live long enough to see his 57th. The National Socialist Movement (NSM) is putting on their conference and rally for 2018 in Temple, Ga. Per their announcement, the opposition is organizing. What the plan for that weekend is still not known as of this time, but it will more than likely go the same way it always goes. There will be some sort of conference the evening of the 20th, and a rally at the local courthouse on the 21st where NSM members and their supporters will stand behind a phalanx of police officers and dare everyone opposing them to cross over and fight that fight. Of course since then Charlottesville has happened and these are the guys that popped all the violence off. So it remains to be seen how stupid they get. The timing could not be better either because the following weekend, Nashville, which is only four hours away, has to deal with the American Renaissance (AmRen) Conference, so basically antifa will be particularly busy that week! So be it!

One People’s Project endorses the action against the NSM Conference. From Atlanta Antifascists:

During last year’s American Renaissance (AmRen) Conference the website’s publisher Jared Taylor said that the conference might have outgrown the Montgomery Bell Park Inn that they have held this event for the past six years and may have to find a larger venue for 2018. Of course, the fact that the largest opposition to the conference was right outside as he said this could have made him thought that it might be time to go. But something must have changed because they will be back once again to infest this park just outside Nashville, and they are having it again in the spring as opposed to the summer outing of 2017.

Now last year’s conference took place just two weeks before the Unite the Right rally Charlottesville, Virginia, and that event, which left one person dead at the hands of a fascist, saw many that also attended AmRen 2017. Charlottesville also galvanized people around the world to be more proactive against this scum, and in the weeks and months that followed we saw not only more people coming out to oppose them at their events, some of their events being shut down beforehand, and a purge on Twitter of hatemongers to include Jared Taylor, we have also seen the neo-fascists become increasingly violent in response. “Our movement has seen dramatic progress but also startling setbacks,” AmRen says in their announcement. “We must take inspiration from the progress and learn from the setbacks.” So if the beautiful people of Middle Tennessee thought this might be over…nope.  They are still feeling their oats, and it is up to society to make oatmeal out of them! You can bet there will be opposition, and it will be larger than last year’s!

Josh Steever of Aryan Strikeforce might be coming to the end of his tenure as a perennial Nazi nuisance when he goes into court to face trial for on weapons and drug charges – basically being a part of a meth ring. Last Spring, he and several others were snatched up by the feds and they were supposed to face trial on July 10, and then on March 5, but another continuance has him in court on May 8, 2018. This is the fifth time it has been continued, the other dates being Sept. 11 and Dec. 4, so we shall see if this date holds. It is likely those he was arrested with will also face trial either that day or somewhere around that time, and we will let you know when that is.

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.