Tag Archives: proud boys

canada, International

Community Action: Anti-Trans Speaker with Ties to Soldiers of Odin and Proud Boys Set to Speak in Vancouver on June 23

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By Jeff Shantz

The University of British Columbia appears to be at it again. Mere months after hosting far-right speaker Ben Shapiro, and agreeing to host far-right figures Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern—an event that was eventually cancelled after community mobilization and outcry—the elite Vancouver university is going ahead with a talk by an anti-trans activist, Jenn Smith, with various ties to far-right groups like the Soldiers of Odin, Proud Boys, and Culture Guard. He event is scheduled for the evening of June 23, 2019. Smith has even used Soldiers of Odin as “bodyguards” at preceding events.

Smith’s talk is directed against the British Columbia educational system’s LGBTQ2-inclusive and supportive program SOGI 123 (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity). Smith, “a 54 year-old transgender identified male” who uses his identity to target the trans communities is slated to speak as well against “transgender ideology” and “transgender politics.” Smith has stated “that men cannot be women (and vice versa), no matter how much they pretty themselves up.” Transphobic, anti-trans politics, have been long connected to contemporary far Right movements and viewpoints.

In response, UBC says it will rely on the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the colonial police force that was recently involved in the racial profiling of a Black graduate student at a major academic congress on UBC’s campus). The RCMP is itself a force of settler colonial domination and white supremacy. Many people are not made to fee safe by its presence. This is in addition to the threat posed by the far Right groups who have accompanied Smith previously. The perspectives being pushed by Smith make communities, schools, and workplaces more dangerous and threatening, especially for transgender students.

As was the case for the Shapiro and Molyneux and Southern events, Smith’s scheduled appearance is being opposed by UBC Students Against Bigotry and other community members. Community outrage managed to get other scheduled Smith talks cancelled at Douglas College in Metro Vancouver and Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia.

Anti-Fascism, Counter Protest, Creeping Fascism, Uncategorized

Community Watch Takes Down Proud Boys in Nashville

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On New Year’s Eve the local chapter of the Proud Boys organized a public bar meetup of new old and washed up members. As a response we organized several actions such as doxx pieces, flyer-campaigns along the streets and bars they have been seen or located, video propaganda, and a “Community Watch” the day of their meetup.
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A social media flyer advertising “January Is Coming” was posted to an Instagram Account belonging to “Matthew Walter” a member of the local chapter.
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On December 31st a small group of locals met at an undisclosed location for a brief meeting about how to operate for the night. Being unaware of exactly how many Proud Boys where headed into the city, the overall goal of the watch was to gather as much information as possible to get whoever showed up in town fired from their jobs.
The initial plan for the watch was to have people form “survey teams” and be on standby in case of any violence. This plan was almost instantly scrapped after reports of FOX News host Tomi Lahren  being in a nearby bar. Given the Proud Boys allegiance to the 45th President of the United States it was undoubtedly clear that they would want to go associate with fellow xenophobes. A Tweet from Matthew Walter also confirmed their interest.
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Our group searched town for Wildhorse Saloon and staged outside the bar. We sent in an independent journalist to take pictures and search for any members that were featured in our doxx. After about an hour or so, no reports of any Proud Boy uniforms were spotted in the bar. The situation slowly began to seem more like a false flag and big talk with no action. That was until a screenshot of a Tweet by Twitter troll “@ProudGrittyBoy” was sent to us that indicated 5 Proud Boys were headed inbound to Wildhorse Saloon.
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Given that our group had been on the grounds for almost 2 hours now, most of the community watch had dispersed and was enjoying New Years. However an Anti Fascist spotted Proud Boy Jimi Long driving a Sliver Van pulling off the street that Wildhorse Saloon was on. Later a post by user @ProudGrittyBoy on twitter stated that a group of about 5 Proud Boys was dropped off at Wildhorse Saloon. Given the hashtags, location, and timing of the Tweet we were able to confirm that @ProudGrittyBoy on Twitter was actually Jimi Long. And he had been running a fake account used to harass Anti Fascists on social media. This revelation confirmed several suspicions our group had about the Proud Boys membership in Nashville. Such as where they organize, about how many are active in the city, and what their sock puppet accounts are. This gave us all the information that we needed for the night.
The following day after the “Community Watch” Matthew Walter  publicly declared that he was no longer involved with the group after discovering that his Chapter was tracked the entire night. This is just one of the many outcomes that we wanted to manifest and not turn into a massive street brawl. We were able to get members to quit before becoming highly active, without any injuries, arrests, or false news propaganda being spread in the process. Our very first “Community Watch” was successful and is just the beginning of the work that will be done in Nashville in 2019.

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Anti-Fascism, Militia Movement, Right Wing Politics

Survivors and Antifascists Confronting Misogynists, Proud Boys, and Patriot Prayer in Portland This Saturday

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The far-right formation Patriot Prayer, and its base of Proud Boys, are again descending on Portland to try and antagonize the community.  This time led by Alt Light internet personality Haley Adams, they are holding a #HimToo event in Downtown Portland on November 17th.  Created in response to the growing #MeToo movement to confront unchecked sexual assault, and highlighted by the blatant misogyny of the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination hearings, Adams created the #HimToo event to give men “a day to speak about how they feel, what they have gone through,” raising the specter that false rape allegations are ruining the lives of men, which neglects the fact that false reporting is almost complete non-existent.

In response an organized coalition has created a number of events intended to compliment each other, raise the voices of affected people, and then confront the far-right directly.

Starting at 12pm, at Chapman Square, Pop Mob has organized an event called “Survivors Are Everywhere: A Survivor Shout Out” to show open solidarity with ALL survivors of sexual assault.

Not everyone is able to share their story. Some survivors choose to stay silent for their safety, others are silenced by those around them. Some survivors refuse to be silent.

The alt-right is trying to silence survivors, erase trans identities, control the bodies of women and people of color, and criminalize families and individuals seeking safety. WE ARE ALL SURVIVORS. As Audre Lorde said, “there is no such thing as a single issue struggle”. People are suffering multiple attacks because they belong to more than one targeted group. We are stronger when we stand together and lift up all of our voices.

Join us November 17th, as one strong, fierce, community coming together to amplify the voices of survivors who break the silence and share their stories. Stand in solidarity with survivors as we show the country that we will not back down, we will not shut up, and we will not be erased!

#SURVIVORSAREEVERYWHERE

Survivor stories will then be shared, some anonymously.  The Portland Democratic Socialists of America will be having a pre-rally at 11:30 and marching over to join the Pop Mob rally.

They have produced a video to promote the event, breaking down the boundaries between survivors and showing that all will be welcome:

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Rose City Antifa will also be organizing people in support of the survivor rally, focusing on the lies perpetuated by Patriot Prayer and their supporters about the #MeToo movement and casting doubt on survivors.

Patriot Prayer are holding a rally that will again bring misogyny to the streets of our city. We as a city have to stand up and reject their attempt to cast doubt on the sexual violence that women and others experience in our society. This so called ‘himtoo’ rally is another attempt by this crew of misogynists to come into our city and attack our community.

This rally by Patriot Prayer attempts to cast men as victims of false accusations of sexual assault. Not only is this untrue, it attempts to form a backlash to survivors so that their stories and allegations can be discounted. Patriot Prayer is attempting to create a world where men can abuse and assault people with impunity.

As a community we must stand against this attempt by Haley Adams and Patriot Prayer, a group rife with misogynists and domestic abusers, to turn back the clock on how sexual assault is treated in our society. Join us in pushing this misogyny out of our city.

The #HimToo rally banks up against the survivor rally in the same location, Terry Shrunk Plaza.  The survivor rally will begin at 12pm, and Patriot Prayer officially starts at 2pm, yet antifascists, feminists, and community members will continue past that point to show that the far-right’s anti-feminism has no place in Portland.

Join the rally and the protest of Patriot Prayer on Saturday, November 17th, and let’s build a vibrant feminist antifascist movement.  We believe survivors, and we will stand with you!

Anti-Immigrant, International, Islamophobia

Anti-Fascist Mobilization Opposes Pegida, Soldiers of Odin, and Wolves of Odin in London, Ontario

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Jeff Shantz

Pegida, an anti-Islam group active in Canada and with connections to white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Europe (particularly Germany), has been holding regular rallies in London, Ontario. While Pegida have made few inroad on their own in London, they have made growing links with neo-fascist groups like Soldiers of Odin (SOO) and Proud Boys.

On Saturday, October 13, 2018, a rally of several Pegida members along with a dozen or so SOO and a few Wolves of Odin and other neo-fascist supporters was confronted by a much larger counter-mobilization of antifascists. With cops present the fascists held their ground outside the City Hall building.

London is the sort of city one might expect fascists to receive some reception in. It is a mid-size city in Canada known to be generally politically conservative with a sizeable white collar professional workforce with many company headquarters located there. It could well be a foundation for fascism as a conservative white collar middle strata feels squeezed by economic pressures from above (capital, ownership) and social demands from below. And clearly Pegida and SOO and others see it that way given their persistence in holding events there. On multiple occasions they have held events outside City Hall.

Of note, a SOO member gave a positive shout out to   local city councillor Phil Squire. That the mainstream politicians are open in working with fascists is something that bears attention and response in Canada as elsewhere. It appears to be a more common phenomena in Canada as witness in Edmonton where three United Conservative Party candidates openly partied with SOO, including taking photos with them at a campaign event. Perhaps more infamously, Rob Ford, Premier of the country’s largest province Ontario has taken photos with fascist Toronto mayoral candidate Faith Goldy and her entourage. When called out, Ford, unsurprisingly given his own politics, refused to apologize.   

On October 13th, the antifascists gave Pegida a reason not to come back. And showed that as their numbers remain small the opposition seems to be growing in size and confidence.

Anti-Fascism, Creeping Fascism, immigration, Militia Movement

Cops and Klan Go Hand in Hand in Toronto as Antifascists Try to Stop Fascist “9/11 Memorial” March

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Jeff Shantz

It has long been said that cops and klan go hand in hand. This holds in Canada as in the US. On Saturday, September 8, 2018, Toronto police provided a personal security detail to ensure that fascists were able to march through the streets of Toronto, the country’s largest and most diverse city. The march was the first of two slated to happen over the first weekend after Labor Day. Groups claiming attendance include PEGIDA, Soldiers of Odin, Wolves of Odin, Worldwide Coalition Against Islam, Proud Boys, Northern Guard, and III%ers, a veritable cross section of neo-fascist and white supremacist groups in Canada. About 65 fascists in total showed up.

Witnesses say Toronto Police Service (TPS) formed a wedge to force through groups of counter-protesters who came to oppose the fascsists. At one point, witnesses report, police punched an Indigenous woman in the face to clear a path for their kindred spirits.

PEGIDA put forward the call under a banner of the memory of 9/11 as the rallying cry for their march. Initial numbers put antifascists at at least 30 with PEGIDA et al at only 10. Cops formed a barrier protecting the fascists. At some point a larger group of 20 fascists showed up, with a dozen or so more joining later, and police moved against the antifascists. Toronto City bylaw enforcement officers supplemented TPS.

Antifascists held ground to stop the march from starting despite the aggressive actions of police. Of note, several non-participant members of the public cheered on the counter-protesters against the fascists. At least one antifascist was arrested on phony claims of assaulting prominent white supremacist Eric Brazeau.  These actions came after a series of confrontations between antifascists and the Soldiers of Odin, the white supremacist anti-immigrant patrol organization that started in the Nordic countries before expanding over to Canada.

It is worth pointing out that TPS actions came only two weeks after some of their members were photographed, in uniform, with neo-Nazi candidate for mayor Faith Goldy.

Anti-Fascism, Anti-Immigrant, populism, Right Wing Politics

#AllOutPDX Against Patriot Prayer on August 4th: What You Need to Know

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On Saturday, August 4th, there will be one of the largest actions against Patriot Prayer, and their acolytes the Proud Boys, in the two years they have been terrorizing the West Coast.  Coming from Washington and areas around Portland, they have been converging on the city to hold far-right rallies with deep anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, homophobic, transphobic, and incredibly violent rallies where they have been attacking leftists.  Patriot Prayer, while using the civic nationalist rhetoric of “independent Trumpism,” have made themselves a vessel for white nationalist groups, including the active support and participation of groups like Identity Evropa, the Traditionalist Workers Pary, Cascadian Legion, Operation Werewolf recruits, as well as members of neo-Nazi skinhead gangs and “Patriot” militia groups like the Oath Keepers and 3%ers.

The last several rallies and marches from Patriot Prayer have increasingly become centered on the Proud Boys, the civic nationalist street gang that is known for its violent attacks.  On June 30th, the Proud Boys brutally attacked counter-protesters, critically hospitalizing community members, and this came after several unprovoked street attacks from various Proud Boys in the weeks before.  This Saturday they will be holding another public rally, centered on founder, and Senate candidate in Washington Joey Gibson.  This event has a vague goal of “freedom” and other buzzwords, but the point is to attack the left.

This action is being countered by a massive coalition.  Pop Mob, which means “popular mobilization,” has organized a mass coalition to march and amass on Patriot Prayer.  Rose City Antifa and other militant organizations will be having a huge direct response to Patriot Prayer, and both projects are coming together in mutual aid to shut down Patriot Prayer.

Here are the critical things that every attendee on Saturday should know.

10:30am

There will be a rally at City Hall in downtown Portland made up of a number of community groups and labor unions to stand against Patriot Prayer’s hateful rhetoric.  This will include SEIU Local 503, the Western State Center, Portland Jobs With Justice, and others.

11:30

Converge on Tom McCall Waterfront Park at the Salmon Street Fountain.  This is where Patriot Prayer will be coming.  This action will be frontlined by militant antifascists, including Rose City Antifa, Eugene Antifa, PNW Antifascist Workers Collective, SHARP, and RASH NW.  This will be backed by Pop Mob, which makes up the large mass of participants.  This coalition has been endorsed by a range of groups, from the one’s listed on the 10:30am rally to other groups like KBOO, Black Rose – Rosa Negra, the Democratic Socialists of America, and many other churches, labor unions, and community groups.  This is one of the largest coalition actions of the year.  This means that there will be spaces for both type of participation, and the “green zone” behind the militants intended to be a space where protesters can be protected to speak their views and support the protest of Patriot Prayer.

People are no longer meeting at Chapman Square, that was a placeholder location until Patriot Prayer revealed their actual location.

Patriot Prayer will have the ability to carry guns, and many promise to be armed.  If they are in Terry Shrunk Plaza, where they often amass, they are banned from bringing in weapons because it is a federal park and their are regulations preventing that.  This is not the case for Waterfront Park, and they have been open about bringing guns.  The announcement of the guns is intended to frighten counter protesters, and in a recent video from Joey Gibson he included a young boy playing with a semi-automatic weapon.

Patriot Prayer is also saying that they are going to be putting upwards of 35 members of their own group, including Proud Boys, dressed in black bloc clothing into the antifascist crowd.  Those people can then attack counter protesters or try to catch them being foolish.  This groups is supposed to be run by Russell Schultz, one of the violent Proud Boys doxxed by Rose City Antifa.  This is likely bluster to create a sense of internal discord, but may be something to watch for.

The far-right side is raising money to bring in Proud Boys from other state, and they had between 60-80 at the June 30th rally.  They could be bringing even more this time, and they will all be coming in at least four busses from Vancouver, across the river in Washington.  Those busses will have armed security on them.  The Proud Boys are the most violent contingent, and will come in body armor specifically to fight.

Protocols

  • Go in groups, do not walk by yourself.  Stay with the large crowd of protesters.
  • Prepare for police repression, depend on antifascists for defense and not the police.
  • The large mobilization is safer when they are all together, and the militant bloc is prepared for community self-defense.
  • Rose Hip Medics will be there, they are street medics trained to provide support to protesters injured by far-right thugs and the police.
  • InfoWars “reporters” are going to be there to try and harass protesters on camera.  Gibson and Proud Boys have gone on InfoWars to celebrate brutalized community members and to erroneously claim antifa are bringing guns.
  • Reporters and photographers/videographers should respect boundaries, including avoiding close-up shots on masked protesters.  Movement photographers should be aware that PP members are going to be using cameras in your crowd, so make sure to check in with others in advance so they know what you are filming and you can get good boundaries.
Alt Light, Anti-Fascism, populism

Patriot Prayer Releases Their Rally Info, Meeting at Waterfront and Canceling Berkeley Rally

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Joey Gibson, the founder of Patriot Prayer, is finally putting out more information about his intentions for the August 4th rally, which is informing the antifascist organizing plans.

Joey Gibson is calling for people to be at the Fred Meyer on Columbia Way in Vancouver, WA at 10am if they want to take the busses down to Portland that he has secured.  He is promising to have armed security on each bus.  He is suggesting that everyone rides the shuttles, which he says are personally owned by attendees and not rented, so they will be there after the rally.  He is putting several teams on call for in and out transfer for people needing to get out, no matter at what point he feels his people will be at risk during the rally.

These are the same busses that were used when Joey came down to harass people at the ICE encampment, and gave them some cover to get out easily.

He has also announced that they will be at the Waterfront Park in Portland, though he has not released all the final details yet.  He promises that the full info will be out this weekend.

Though Joey tried really hard to keep everyone together for the August 5th rally in Berkeley, after the August 4th rally in Portland, though he did not organize it.  He suggested that people “back stabbed” him in regards to the rally.  The American Guard, founded by Klansman, had been a part of the organizing.  Gavin McInnis, the founder of the Proud Boys, eventually pulled the Proud Boys from appearing, and so Joey Gibson decided that he did not want to be a part of it.  In a recent video, Gibson expressed anger of the results of this rally, and blamed it on infighting and personal problems inside their movement, calling them “little demons” and suggested it was a “spiritual problem.”  Joey ended up doing a second video as well, discussing the growing infighting in their movement, especially between the people in Vancouver and Berkeley, and they are desperately trying to keep their movement together.  As far as we can tell, the August 5th rally in Berkeley is over and all of their attention will be on the Portland one.

The Portland rally he expects to be one of their largest, including better preparation and no coordination with the police.  Their position at the Waterfront means they will be out in the wide open space.  There is also some reporting that suggested that Gibson called the location so his people can bring weapons, which they could not do in the federal park like Terry Shrunk Plaza where they have held past rallies.  Rose City Antifa has changed the meeting location for their action to the Waterfront to meet Patriot Prayer, and Pop Mob is continuing their pre-protest rally at City Hall with the support of organized labor and community organizations.

Below is the information for Patriot Prayer’s rally, as put out by Joey Gibson.  This is the information they are giving to their rally participants.

The Portland Rally will start at Salmon Street Springs at the waterfront in Portland Oregon at 1000 SW Naito Pkwy, Portland, OR 97204.

It will be secured and ready for buses to drop off Patriots in large groups. Stay together and inside the security.

The bus will be picking people up at 108 Grand Blvd, Vancouver, WA 98661. If you look at the two satellite photos there is a red circle along the road and side walk where people will load onto the bus. There will be armed security on the public sidewalk and the Vancouver Police are aware that we are going to be there. As most of you know the Vancouver Police do not put up with masked criminals like they do in Portland.

Shuttles will start leaving at 10 am. Last shuttle to leave 11:35 am

It is highly encouraged to show up at 10 am to guarantee a seat.

Parking: There is a giant parking lot next to the drop off spot and is extremely busy so it will be hard for people to go after your car but it isn’t a guarantee. People with flags and other obvious items are parking about a mile away and taking Uber in or just get dropped off by a friend.

We have 5 fast buses with armed security on each bus. These are the best way to get in safe and to leave safe. Please come to Vancouver to catch a bus.

People not taking the Shuttle

Those coming into the water front on their own should not be wearing anything that identifies you are with the Patriots. Wear normal clothing and get to Salmon Street Springs from the multiple different ways in.

 

This is the flyer for the Pop Mob pre-event rally, afterwards that crowd will then join the larger antifascist block protesting Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys.

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Anti-Fascism, Antifa, Uncategorized

Pop Mob and Rose City Antifa are Organizing a Mass Antifascist Resistance to Patriot Prayer on August 4th

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Portland has become a center of antifascist resistance as civic nationalist, Alt Light organizations riding the Trumpian populist wave take to the streets in public displays of bigotry.  Following the far-right “free speech” rallies that Lauren Southern started in Berkeley after the cancelation of events for Anne Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017, Patriot Prayer formed by provocateur Joey Gibson to celebrate Trump and accost the left.  They started in violent fashion, and one of their attendees went on two murder two people in an Islamophobic attack on a Portland train.  Since then, Portland has been generally disgusted by Patriot Prayer and Joey Gibson, but he keeps coming back to the city to hold his rallies and attack counter-protesters.

Now, Patriot Prayer has basically merged with the Proud Boys, the “Western Chauvinist” crew that is known for its street violence.  On June 30th, Patriot Prayer came with dozens of Proud Boys from multiple states and brutally attacked counter protesters in one of the most savage, and unwarranted, attacks in recent history.

Antifascist organizations like Rose City Antifa, the Pacific Northwest Antifascist Workers Collective, and Eugene Antifa, have fought back against Patriot Prayer, continuing to stop them from doing full-scale marches and having free reign of public space.  In response to the violence of June 30th, many organizers from Portland wanted to form an additional coalition to support the existing antifascist work, and to increase the numbers to include people that have not been involved in the more militant antifascist actions against Patriot Prayer.  Pop Mob then will create multiple “zones” of protest, respecting a diversity of tactics while also creating a safe protest space for many people who have felt threatened by the Proud Boys violence at previous Patriot Prayer events.

“We tried ignoring them, and that didn’t work,” points out Effie Baum, from Pop Mob.

Our plan is to bring together a wide coalition of folks in as large numbers as we can to show Patriot Prayer and other groups that he is associated with that we are not going to continue to tolerate this kind of hate in our city.  This is why it is so important for as many folks as possible to come out.  When all of us are together it can stop their attempts at taking over the city while also keeping each other much safer.

Patriot Prayer has continued to escalate in the weeks after the June 30th event, including coming down to the Occupy ICE PDX encampment to harass protesters in the process of cleaning up amid police repression.  The video of Proud Boy Ethan Michael Nordean (Rufio Pan Man) punching a protester went viral in Proud Boy circles, and he went on Alex Jones’ show to celebrate the action.  Jones himself has seemed to ally with the Proud Boys, and may even make an appearance on August 4th.  This particular date is just the first of other events, and August 5th has Patriot Prayer returning to Berkeley where they were pushed out in 2017 by a coalition of labor unions and community groups.

Rose City Antifa has continued their great work of doxxing the Portland area Proud Boys involved in this violence, and is also calling for militant antifascist resistance against Patriot Prayer on June 4th.  They will be working along with other militant antifascist organizations to mobilize in direct opposition to Patriot Prayer, not a distance away, but directly across from their supposed rally.  According to the RCA spokesperson we spoke with, this is to stop the ability of the far-right to organize, and grow, in Portland.

The goal of our action on August 4th is to show that the community will not allow violent nationalist opportunists to threaten our city and target our people.  We will overwhelm them both by force of numbers and commitment to defending our community.  Whatever it takes, we won’t allow Patriot Prayer’s political violence to become the new status quo in this country.

This also relies on direct confrontation as a way of eliminating Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys’ ability to operate with impunity.

Without direct confrontation, PP and other white nationalist groups will feel entitled to threaten people wherever and whenever they like.  First they target antifascists and anti-ICE activists, then they target Pride, marginalized community spaces, minorities, and migrants.  They believe “might makes right,” and unless the community steps in to stop them, there is no telling who they will attack next for political gain.

All the antifascist groups, working in concert, get at different aspects of resistance, creates multiple fronts to push back on Patriot Prayer, and creates the space to get a huge wave of people involved.

“The entire purpose of [Patriot Prayer’s] event is violence.  From what I have seen, they have instigated the violence at all of the past rallies,” says Baum.

“Their speech has consequences, and we have the right to stand together against their hate in our city.”

Below we are posting the links to several of the FB event pages, starting with Pop Mob’s event page for the broad-based protest action that will be happening simultaneously.  Pop Mob will be having a large rally of unions and community organizations at 10:30 at City Hall, which will then, at 11:30, move to join the larger contingent at Waterfront Park.

Stop the Hate Event Page

Resist Patriot Prayer: Violent Alt Right Bigots Off Our Streets

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Anti-Fascism, Antifa, Counter Protest, Creeping Fascism, Organized Labor, Right Wing Politics, White Supremacist Violence

Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys Clash With Antifascists in Portland in Bloody Confrontation [VIDEO]

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Video by Daniel V. Media

On June 30th, far-right provocateur Joey Gibson brought his group, Patriot Prayer, back to Portland in an effort to stoke the anger of a city grieving from violent racist attacks.  On June 3rd, Patriot Prayer held a march whose sole purpose appeared to be to fight the left.  Lacking in political content, the repeatedly marched their crowd into counter-protesters, attacking them at will.  The Proud Boys, the Alt Light street-gang started by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnis, has become the dominant portion of Patriot Prayer’s base as the rest of their larger support by Trump republicans slowly recedes.  Over the past year many their key young participants have joined the Proud Boys, to the point that Patriot Prayer seems to be simply an extension of the regional Proud Boys crews.

On June 3rd they attacked people with increased brutality, though were fought back readily by a crowd of antifascists organized by Rose City Antifa.  They eventually were unable to continue their marching and were chased off the streets as their numbers dwindled.  They vowed to return to “stand their ground,” announcing the June 30th date.

On the day of, it was clear that they had dug into their connections across the country and had Proud Boys from crews in multiple states including, reportedly, California, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and others.  The crowd was dominated by Proud Boys in their yellow/black Fred Perry shirts, and after a school bus of additional Proud Boys arrived from over the river in Vancouver, they numbered around 80 participants. (Note, some people have listed the number closer to 60, some closer to 100.  For our part, we counted about 80.)

They held their typical round of speeches, with long-winded diatribes from Joey Gibson comparing himself to the “founding fathers.”  Then a Proud Boy rapper named Political Muscle, a white guy with clunky rhymes, did raps about Antifa.  Another speaker discussed the Book of Revelation and the Satanists that control the government, and who were communists, were going to install all of us with RFID chips (The Mark of the Beast).

Once it was time for their march they got into multiple, well-planned formations and put on body armor, preparing to attack.  They were open about this, mentioning that they were there to push back on the left and to fight if they deemed it necessary.  They were hit with bottles, eggs, and other projectiles right out of the gate as they turned the corner away from the park.  Two blocks later they took a left and were met, without obstruction by the police, counter-protesters.  After a short standoff the Proud Boys charged protesters and attacked in brutal fashion, often ganging up on individuals and beating them on the ground.  Several people went completely limp on the ground and had to be rescued by passersby, and could have died without that support.  Ambulances had to come through to pull out the critically injured, including one protester who had cranial bleeding and a fractured skull.

Once the Proud Boys were pushed back, the police declared their permit pulled and the scene a riot, amid the dozens of flash grenades and pepper-balls they were firing.  The Proud Boys continued their march despite this, yelling at the police even though it was clear that law enforcement had let them attack protesters without objection and had aimed their crowd-control weapons almost exclusively at antifascist protesters.  One local reporter wrote that they had heard the police talking in a coffee shop nearby and saying that they were tired of this and would “just let them fight.”

As the march continue there were more and more disruptions from antifascists that were swarming on all sides, resulting in dozens of street brawls.  In several of these situations, as is clear in the video, the Proud Boys were allowed by the police to continue their beatings, and sometimes even appeared encouraged to do so.  Eventually Patriot Prayer was forced back into their park under police protection, unable to complete their march.

The video below clearly shows the Proud Boys level of violence, which is only increasing.  This was one of the most brutal situations of far-right violence in a city that has been marked by skinhead attacks, and as it escalates it seems that the Proud Boys could easily become murderers.  Without the antifascists there, including Rose City Antifa, the Pacific Northwest Antifascist Workers Collective, and Labor Against Fascism, a lot more people would have been hurt.  They successfully pushed back their advance and denied them unopposed use of the space, a victory that has continued for two years now.

Joey Gibson will be returning on August 4th with a similar strategy, and antifascists will be out there to stop him.

Alt Light, Anti-Fascism, Anti-Fascist Prisoners, Videos, White Supremacist Violence

Donate to Support the Legal and Medical Costs of Antifascists Who Stood Against the Proud Boys in Portland

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On Saturday, June 30th, the far-right organization Patriot Prayer came out in Portland, Oregon to hold a rally and march.  The organization has been known for its allyship with white nationalist, patriot, and fascist organizations, and is now made up predominantly of violent Proud Boys.  Over the last two years, Patriot Prayer has repeatedly held their violent events in Portland while being rejected by the city at large.  Last June, after Patriot Prayer follower Jeremy Christian murdered two people in an Islamophobic rage on a Portland train, Patriot Prayer decided to still hold their public rally despite desperate pleas against it from the community.  They were met with 4,000 protesters from dozens of organizations, showing a unified voice against their hateful agenda.

 

Since then Patriot Prayer has only gotten more violent, even though its leader, Joey Gibson, believes he could be elected for Senate in Washington.  On June 3rd they came out to Portland with nothing on the agenda other than fighting people, and after antifascists pushed them back they were unable to complete their march.  On June 30th they came back to “stand their ground,” which meant bringing in Proud Boy crews from multiple states prepared for violence.  They pushed their march into counter protesters where they began attacking them in gang-style beatings, leaving many people in the hospital after cruel assaults.  Antifascists again stopped their march from continuing and overwhelmed their numbers, and several antifascists are also facing criminal charges for these defensive action.

Between the medical and legal costs, they need people’s support now!  Below is a fundraiser controlled by Portland Anarchist Black Cross that will go to support those protesters affected by what happened on June 30th from multiple organizations.  The money will go directly to their support, so you can count on it getting to the people that need it.

Please donate if you can and share widely!  They need our help!

Click Here to Donate to the Fundraiser for Portland Antifascists