Street Fighter
Far-right groups favor street-level action, as the so-called "alt-right" bickers over tactics.
The early months of 2017 saw a major shift in the racist 鈥alt-right鈥 presence, as white nationalists took their ideological battles off the internet and into the streets, protesting on college campuses and around Confederate monuments. The August 12 鈥Unite the Right鈥 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was the culmination of this effort, intended by leaders to supercharge their momentum. Instead, the violent, shocking and lethal display was a stumbling block that complicated their advance.
In the aftermath, there was little the disparate blocs of the alt-right could agree on. Retreating from their disastrous real-world debut to their online comfort zone, faction leaders took to their forums and blogs to pass blame and quarrel over how to move forward.
These ongoing debates are not about taking responsibility for violence in the movement or appealing for a kinder, gentler alt-right. No one is proposing an existential reckoning. Instead, the infighting surrounds disagreements over public perception and recruitment strategies. Most alt-right leaders just call it 鈥渙ptics.鈥
Should groups be planning major rallies or just focus on small, surprise 鈥渇lash mobs?鈥 Should white supremacists dress like frat boys or street fighters? Should offensive symbols be allowed on signs, clothing or flags? And how much energy, if any, should be expended duping the 鈥渘ormies鈥 into believing the alt-right is founded on more than just white bigotry?
In a widely discussed post a few weeks after Unite the Right, Andrew Anglin of the Daily Stormer argued that the alt-right should start using the American flag exclusively at events. This serves the dual purpose of using an innocuous symbol while simultaneously reinforcing their racist message that America is by and for white people. His suggestion drew the ire of Brad Griffin, 鈥淧R chief鈥 for the League of the South (LOS), neo-Confederates who in many cases are openly secessionist, so by definition object to marching under Old Glory. In December, Vincent Law of AltRight.com argued that white supremacists can infiltrate the mainstream if they act as normal and approachable as possible.
鈥淲ould a regular American want to get a beer with an average Alt-Righter or not? That is what is going to make our opinions 鈥榥ormal鈥 or not,鈥 he wrote.
Griffin, again, takes the opposite view, arguing that appealing to 鈥渘ormies鈥 is useless when you should be targeting the 鈥渄isaffected.鈥 In fact, he wrote that he would like LOS members to look as intimidating as possible. Matt Heimbach, leader of the Traditionalist Worker Party, also rejected any strategy that resembled watering down a more explicitly National Socialist message to appeal to American nationalist sensibilities.
鈥淚f you want bulls to charge toward you, wave a red cape,鈥 he quipped. 鈥淚f you want c---- to charge toward you, wave an American flag.鈥
But superficial tactics aside, the overall strategy remains what it was before Charlottesville. In 2017, the alt-right became visible. They were active and present on American streets. Despite (and for some, perhaps because of) the growing violence, that trend has continued.
Taking to the streets
Groups primarily focused on street-level activism have been emerging on the alt-right since 2016. Richard Spencer, for example, announced in early December a new group called 鈥淥peration Homeland,鈥 an umbrella for 鈥淚dentitarians鈥 that Spencer promised would 鈥渢ake activism to the next level.鈥 Allies Cameron Padgett, Evan McLaren and Elliott Kline (alias 鈥淓li Mosley,鈥 formerly of Identity Evropa), are joining Spencer in this new endeavor, which he said would, 鈥減lan and carry out bold demonstrations,鈥 among other things.
While Operation Homeland is just kicking off, there are a few prominent groups currently in existence. Like the greater alt-right, these organizations diverge in their preferred optics. But there鈥檚 one thing they share: Whether they spend most of their time talking about it or actually doing it, these groups love beating up 鈥渓eftists.鈥
Rise Above Movement
A Southern California group that claims to have 50 members, Rise Above Movement (RAM) is an explicitly violent, racist, right-wing fight club that attends rallies around the country to openly brawl with counter-protesters. In October, ProPublica released an in-depth that supplied most of the details now known about RAM鈥檚 activities. The report identified RAM leadership and catalogued violence perpetrated by the group at four different rallies in 2017. ProPublica鈥檚 investigation revealed that many of the group鈥檚 leaders have felonies on their records, and that RAM has recruited members from Hammerskin Nation, the largest skinhead gang in the U.S.
In an interview with ProPublica鈥檚 reporter, an anonymous RAM leader said the group was not racist. It鈥檚 not uncommon for a group like this to make that claim, but in RAM鈥檚 case it rings particularly hollow. Members are on video referencing David Lane鈥檚 neo-Nazi catchphrase the 鈥14 Words,鈥 and just a sample of leaders鈥 social media accounts reveals ugly, racist memes and posts riddled with bigoted sentiments and racial slurs.
Their recruitment strategy, including promotional videos featuring their workout and training routines, is targeted toward men who find the idea of a real world fight club appealing. White supremacy supplies the justification for violence, but ultimately this group has been about street fighting. They鈥檝e won praise from far-right media outlets that applaud the zeal with which they assault political opponents.
Their intentions for 2018 are unclear, as the anonymous RAM member told ProPublica the group is taking a break from rallies, and declined to discuss their future plans.
American Guard
From a branding standpoint, the American Guard is one of the tamer options on the scene. That may seem like somewhat of a contradiction for an organization founded by Brien James, a veteran skinhead who back in 2003 started the Vinlanders Social Club, one of America鈥檚 most violent skinhead gangs. And it鈥檚 not just James 鈥 many active members in the group were once members of racist skinhead gangs, including his co-founders Joshua Long and Ryan Ramsey, both formerly in the gang The Hated. In some cases, members are still involved with their old crowd.
The group doesn鈥檛 emphasize its skinhead ties. James has said that he left the openly white nationalist scene because his beliefs had evolved into what he described in 2013 as 鈥淐onstitutional Libertarianism,鈥 and he no longer believed racism was compatible with that worldview. In his estimation, the American Guard is race neutral. Membership is open to everyone, including both minorities and racists.
The group is governed by a philosophy they call 鈥淐onstitutional nationalism.鈥 Their online platform promotes a libertarian worldview with an isolationist, anti-immigrant bent. In essence, they are precisely the kind of 鈥渃ivic nationalists鈥 that so irritated Matt Heimbach in the weeks following Charlottesville. They idealize 鈥淲estern culture,鈥 they indulge nativist animosity toward immigrants, Muslims, liberals and any other person or group deemed sufficiently un-American, but they appear to draw the line at suggestions of biologically rooted racial superiority.
Even so, their imagery, two crossed cleavers, is unabashedly nativist. The cleavers are a reference to Daniel Day-Lewis鈥 character Bill the Butcher in the film Gangs of New York, a crime boss who runs a gang, the 鈥淣atives,鈥 which attacks Irish immigrants.
The American Guard has been present at rallies and demonstrations of the alt-right and so-called alt-lite alike. Brien James and some of his American Guard comrades were pictured attending Unite the Right in Charlottesville. Outside of rallies, the group has chapters in 13 states, and focuses on local organizing in a manner akin to an anti-communist neighborhood watch. In most cases, their street level presence is more muted than an explicit fight club like RAM.
James has not cut ties entirely with his skinhead past, appearing at the Vinlanders Social Club annual meeting this year wearing his Vinlanders jacket. On December 8, 2017 he honored neo-Nazi terrorist Robert Jay Mathews in a post to Facebook. Mathews was the leader of the murderous white supremacist group The Order, who died in a shootout with federal law enforcement in 1984.
Of Mathews, James wrote, 鈥淪o I would have to disagree with him on some things now ideologically, only because I have the benefit of seeing how things have played out 鈥 If actions speak louder than words, he wasn鈥檛 a white supremacist at all. He fought tyranny. He was [a] f------ alpha warrior against the tyranny and decline he saw coming.鈥
Anti-Communist Action
The most nebulous of all the groups on this list, Anti-Communist Action (Anticom) is very tight-lipped about its internal organization and its true values. The website, which was recently taken down, consisted only of a merchandise shop peddling patches and stickers with violent memes, an out-of-date blog, a screed on Cultural Marxism and an online application form.
Based on the number of active social media accounts, the group has chapters in 15 U.S. and Canadian cities, and purports to be open to all members, regardless of race or ideology, as long as they hate communism and antifascists, or 鈥渁ntifa.鈥 The group鈥檚 website homepage boasts, 鈥淣ot affiliated with any organization.鈥 Despite this, they marched alongside avowed white supremacists and neo-Nazis at Charlottesville, and some members reportedly provided security for Richard Spencer when he spoke at the University of Florida in Gainesville in October.
Apparently undeterred by the deadly violence that unfolded at Unite the Right, Anticom attempted to organize a 鈥淢arch Against Communism鈥 protest in Charlotte for December 28, featuring Richard Spencer as a speaker. They promoted the event on social media in September, telling members to 鈥渂ring your torches, guns, armor, gear and flags,鈥 adding, 鈥渟tay nonviolent, and we鈥檒l have a great time.鈥 They cancelled the rally a week later, after Spencer pulled out of the event amid controversy.
In November, the left-wing media group Unicorn Riot released online chat records from Anticom, shared from an encrypted Discord server. The logs suggested that Anticom鈥檚 public position about accepting all ideologies was just a front, as many members posted bigoted, racist and hateful statements or openly espoused fascist views. But far more troubling was the revelation that Anticom chat group members were exchanging documents about how to make and use bombs, grenades and other explosives. After the logs were released, ProPublica reporters reached out to Anticom representatives, who confirmed the conversations were authentic.
Anticom鈥檚 recruitment pitch is simple. It鈥檚 not about what they believe in, it鈥檚 about what they don鈥檛. They share memes focusing on the horrors perpetrated by communist dictators like Josef Stalin, and suggest that groups like antifa and Black Lives Matter are somehow attempting to commit similar atrocities. So, when they use a meme praising Chilean right wing death squads, it鈥檚 about self-defense. Keeping the focus squarely on a boogeyman of their own invention means they never even need to open a discussion about what they stand for.
Patriot Front
Patriot Front was born from a schism in the leadership of Vanguard America. As an offshoot of Vanguard America, Patriot Front has its roots in the neo-Nazi organizing message board IronMarch.org, a website that also bred AtomWaffen Division, a small neo-Nazi group that gained notoriety last summer when one member murdered two of his roommates. A fourth roommate, Brandon Russell (also of AtomWaffen Division), escaped the rampage and was later arrested when police discovered two rifles, rounds of ammunition and a pair of binoculars in his truck. Law enforcement believed he might have been planning a sniper-style terrorist attack.
The man who led the Vanguard America split and now heads up the new group, Thomas Rousseau, is only 18 years old. In his August 30, 2017 announcement, he was clear about his intentions for Patriot Front to engage heavily in street-level activity.
鈥淵ou will be expected to work, and work hard to meet the bar rising,鈥 he wrote. 鈥淚nactivity will get you expelled, unwillingness to work and contribute in any capacity will as well.鈥
For the time being, most of that activity has been flyering and displaying banners bearing the group鈥檚 favorite slogans, like, 鈥淲ill Your Speech Be Hate Speech?鈥 and 鈥淔ascism: The Next Step for America.鈥 They鈥檝e also participated in rallies and held a couple of protests of their own, the first outside a Houston bookstore in September where they demanded a fight with antifascists they said were inside the shop.
Patriot Front is openly, unapologetically fascist. The group鈥檚 website domain is bloodandsoil.com, and they even put the word 鈥渇ascism鈥 in the title of their manifesto. Promotional materials take a serious tone, without the winking, 鈥渇or the lulz鈥 irony that some other organizations employ to 鈥渞ed pill鈥 the uninitiated. But they鈥檙e still hoping to draw new recruits who haven鈥檛 yet been radicalized.
鈥淭he new name was carefully chosen, as it serves several purposes,鈥 Rousseau said in the post introducing Patriot Front. 鈥淚t can help inspire sympathy among those more inclined to fence-sitting, and can easily be used to justify our worldview.鈥
He and his followers also advocate something they call 鈥淎merican Fascism,鈥 promoting figures like George Washington, General George Patton and Andrew Jackson as heroic ideals, largely passing over fascist mainstays like Benito Mussolini or Adolf Hitler.
In the white supremacist movement, splinter groups spawn as often as they fizzle out, so there鈥檚 no telling which of these will thrive or perish in 2018. But one thing is clear: The need for visibility isn鈥檛 going anywhere. Pandora鈥檚 box has opened on the internet鈥檚 racist, fascist fringe, and the demons are none too eager to be shoved back inside. America can expect direct, physical action to grow in popularity and frequency in the coming year.
