https://www.adl.org/blog/six-months-later-white-supremacists-after-charlottesville
On August 11, 2017, the
world watched in horror as hundreds of torch-wielding white supremacists
descended on the University of Virginia’s bucolic campus, chanting, “Jews will
not replace us!” The next day, the streets of Charlottesville exploded in
violence, ringing with the hateful, racist shouts of the neo-Nazis, Klan
members and alt right agitators who put aside their internecine differences to
gather in an unprecedented show of unity. Their stated common cause: To protest
the removal of a
Confederate statue from a local park. Their true purpose: The
preservation and celebration of the white race, at any cost.
The
promise of Unite the Right brought white supremacists of all stripes
together for a weekend of protest that turned to deadly violence,
and left counter-protester Heather Heyer dead. The rally itself, which was
organized primarily by Jason Kessler, an alt right activist with ties to
notorious racist Richard Spencer, never actually happened. Instead, local and
state police converged on the chaotic scene, urging everyone off the streets
and away from the parks. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency,
and white supremacist leaders, from Richard Spencer to David Duke, while bemoaning the
lost opportunity to address the crowd, declared the event an overall victory.
But was
it a victory? Six months later, what’s happened to the far-flung and disparate
groups that make up America’s white supremacist movement?
It’s
been a period marked by seismic structural shifts and more than a few power
struggles. Divisions have deepened, and the spirit of solidarity
that animated the racist crowds in Charlottesville has long since dissipated.
And yet, by some measures, evidence of white supremacist activism and
engagement is more conspicuous than ever before.
1.
The Great Divide
Unite
the Right was a highly unusual event, in that it brought together white
supremacist groups that historically have avoided one another – people who
belong to racist skinhead gangs like the Hammerskins don’t tend to hang out
with clean-cut, khaki-wearing alt right types, or with
members of the Klan (who showed up in Charlottesville without
their robes).
Any
harmony was short-lived: In the days immediately after Unite the Right, those
divisions re-emerged, stronger than ever.
Today,
there is a pointed division between “hard right” National Socialists and the
American Nationalist contingent. It is worth noting that the groups share an
identical goal – a white ethno-state – but disagree on the best path forward.
For the foreseeable future, however, the differences will likely keep anything
on the scale of Unite the Right from happening again.
The
National Socialist segment of the movement, which includes the Traditionalist Worker Party, the National Socialist
Movement and Vanguard America, wants to secede from the United
States to form a National Socialist ethno-state. Optics are important; they
frown on swastikas and Klan robes, and encourage members to wear black military-style
gear. Events tend to feature Confederate flags, as well as the flags of the
various contingents. These groups are allied with The League of the South, a
southern nationalist group whose members want to establish an all-white South.
The
American Nationalists, including Patriot Front, Identity Evropa, Daily Stormer followers and the Rise Above Movement (RAM), are not interested in
seceding, and instead want to reclaim the American government for their own
purposes – the eventual creation of a white ethno-state. They make an effort to
dress in a clean-cut way that appeals to mainstream America, often wearing polo
shirts and khakis.
A few
examples of this type of cooperative effort between disparate factions:
·
The single event organized by Operation Homeland, a new group
created in December by Richard Spencer and Eli Mosley, aka Elliot Kline, was
attended by Matthew Heimbach, the founder of the hard right Traditionalist
Worker Party.
·
Matthew Heimbach is a scheduled speaker at the
March alt right conference in Detroit.
·
Mike Enoch and Sacco Vandal, both active on the alt right,
spoke at Nationalist Front rallies this year.
2. The Fallout
Unite
the Right showed America – and the world – that hundreds of white men were
willing to show their faces in broad daylight as they chanted racist and
anti-Semitic slogans. And in the days and weeks that followed, a number of
white supremacists who were on the ground in Charlottesville learned that
actions have consequences. This was the inevitable fallout of a movement
moving from the virtual world to the real world, but it seems that some Unite
the Right participants were unprepared for the blowback.
Some
lost their jobs or were ostracized at school after they were identified in
photographs of angry tiki torch marchers, or other photos from the event.
Neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, which posted a derogatory story about
murdered counter-protester Heather Heyer, was dropped by web hosting company
GoDaddy.
White
supremacists were doxxed, their identifying information shared with the world.
A Twitter account called @YesYoureRacist called on members of the public to
help “out” Unite the Right attendees, with some success.
3.
Modest Goals
Despite
the discord that emerged in its wake, Unite the Right did establish common
ground among participants, and six months later, white supremacists of all
types not only organize their own events, they also show up at protests and
marches organized by other groups. These gatherings tend to be small,
attracting less than two dozen people.
Among
the issues that inspire them to collective action:
·
The removal of Confederate monuments, which they claim is an
attack on “white” culture.
·
Pro-choice legislation and court rulings, as well as other
issues affecting women’s health.
·
Feminism, or any iteration of a women’s march.
·
LGBTQ rights (civil or otherwise).
·
Anything other than hardline anti-immigration policies.
·
Muslims.
·
The perceived mistreatment or murder of white people, especially
by minorities.
4. Increased Violence
The
violence at Unite the Right followed an unusually violent spring and early summer,
marked by the proliferation of “street fighting” tactics – and a variety of
offensive and defensive gear. A significant number of white supremacists and
militia members came to the Unite the Right rally openly carrying firearms.
But in
the months following Unite the Right, some white supremacist groups have
embraced the “fight club” mentality, most notably the Rise Above Movement
(RAM). Patriot Front and Atomwaffen Division also demonstrate an escalating
propensity for street fighting and other forms of violence. Violent language
continues to be a mainstay of white supremacist message boards. Atomwaffen
Division, in particular, is using Charlottesville as a rallying cry for an
all-out race war and has since issued a propaganda video of members firing guns
and screaming “gas the kikes” and “race war now.”
Among the violent incidents in the six months following Unite the Right:
·
Florida League of the South member Christopher Rey Monzon was
arrested in late August for allegedly charging into a crowd of demonstrators
with a flag pole. The attack took place outside a Broward County Commissioners’
meeting, where officials were considering renaming streets named for
Confederate generals.
·
In September, several dozen Patriot Front associates organized a
“flash mob” demonstration outside Houston’s Anarchist Book Fair, unfurling a
“Blood and Soil” banner, detonating smoke bombs and chanting phrases like
“Blood and Soil,” “F**k you, faggots,” and “anti-White.” They repeatedly
challenged people at the book fair to come out and fight.
·
Three white supremacists were arrested after a shooting incident
in Gainesville, Florida. No one was injured in the incident, which followed
Richard Spencer’s October speech at the University of Florida.
·
Seventeen-year-old Nicolas Giampa shot himself in Reston,
Virginia, after allegedly killing his girlfriend’s parents, who had warned
their daughter of Giampa’s white supremacist social media postings. Prior
to the December murders, Giampa reportedly praised Siege, a book linked to
Atomwaffen Division.
·
In December, white supremacist David Atchison disguised himself
as a student, took a gun into a high school in Aztec, New Mexico, and killed
two students before killing himself.
·
Sam Woodward, who is accused in the January 2018 murder of Blaze
Bernstein, appears to have been influenced by Atomwaffen Division’s
hyper-violent rhetoric.
While public displays of violence – and violent language – has
increased in some segments of the white supremacist population, a number of
groups are making a concerted effort to tone down their public messaging,
avoiding physical confrontations and any identifiably “white supremacist” logos
or symbols. They’re planning “under the radar” events – making unannounced
appearances in the form of flash mobs or torch marches. This dramatically
limits white supremacists’ interactions with counter-protesters, undercutting
the potential for violence.
Meanwhile,
infighting within the white supremacist movement has diminished the potential
for large rallies and events – the types of gatherings that typically attract
counter-protesters who may be more prone to violence.
And
finally, since Unite the Right, law enforcement departments across the country
have gotten much better at planning for potentially violent events and
controlling opposing crowds.
5.
On Campus
While
the public fallout from Unite the Right may have dissuaded many white
supremacists from attending major public gatherings, it seems to have
energized the contingent that distributes racist literature on college
campuses. These are target-rich environments for white supremacists,
who are always trying to recruit new members, and who view increasingly diverse
and inclusive campuses as anathema to their racist goals.
Since
September 2016, the Center on Extremism has recorded at least 354 cases of
white supremacist fliering on college campuses nationwide. More than 160
of those incidents took place after the Unite the Right rally.
Matthew
Heimbach launches his “National Socialism or Death” college speaking tour in
mid-February at the University of Tennessee’s Knoxville campus.
Meanwhile,
Richard Spencer continues his speaking tour at public universities. After an October 2017 speech at the University of Florida, Spencer
booked an appearance at Michigan State University in March. He’s also hoping to
hold an event at Kent State University on May 4, the 48th anniversary of the
murder of four students there by National Guardsmen.
Each of
Spencer’s proposed on-campus appearances has sparked arguments between his
supporters, who say any attempt to stop the speech violates their First
Amendment rights, and those who believe Spencer’s presence increases the risk
of violence on campus. Spencer, predictably, seems delighted by the uproar, and
uses the publicity to promote his favorite cause – himself.
6.
Online Migration
After
Unite the Right, tech companies launched a concerted effort to remove white
supremacist individuals and groups from widely used social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook) and crowdfunding sites (GoFundMe). In many cases, this
meant the companies only had to enforce their existing terms of service, but in
others, those terms needed to be tweaked. Some tech companies, wary of charges
of censorship, had previously resisted removing problematic content.
Among
the high-profile sites and platforms that reacted swiftly to the events in
Charlottesville:
·
Bumble announced it would suspend accounts associated in any way
with the alt right.
·
GoDaddy (among many other companies, including CloudFlare)
refused to provide hosting services to the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website.
·
WordPress, in an unusual move, suspended service to Vanguard
America, one of the groups that helped organize Unite the Right.
·
PayPal reaffirmed plans to cut off services to hate groups, and
to disrupt any efforts to solicit donations that will be used to promote
violence and/or racial intolerance.
·
Kickstarter and Indiegogo announced they were taking a stand
against right-wing extremists using their services.
This expulsion resulted in a mass migration of white supremacist
activity from “mainstream” websites to less rigorously monitored platforms like
GAB and Voat. These sites were already popular with fringe groups before
August 12, and increased scrutiny from Twitter and others made the less
regulated platforms even more attractive.
