Morning Briefing: White Supremacists Neo-Nazi Mass Shooter Fantasized About 'Noble War'
Morning Briefing: White Supremacists Neo-Nazi Mass Shooter Fantasized About 'Noble War'
The White Supremacist Neo-Nazi who killed 8 people in Allen, Texas left an online footprint full of evidence of extremist ideological beliefs including White Supremacy, antisemitism, and xenophobia.
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Morning Briefing: A White Supremacist neo-Nazi allegedly shot and killed 8 people at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, and the shooter, who was reportedly shot and killed by local law enforcement, had “multiple weapons on him and five additional guns in his car nearby.”
Analysis of the shooter’s online activities and extremist ideological views, including White Supremacy, antisemitism, xenophobia, misogyny, and anti-LBGTIQ rhetoric, “played a role in his decision to carry out this horrific mass attack.”
In social media posts online, the shooter made “to reference ‘the noble war,’ a phrase that many white supremacists use to describe their belief in an impending race war.”
Details about the shooter continue to be reported, including that he reportedly joined the U.S. Army in 2008 before being discharged for an “unspecified mental health issue.”
The shooter reportedly “maintained a profile on the Russian social networking platform OK.ru, including posts referring to extremist online forums, such as 4chan, and content from white nationalists, including Nick Fuentes, an antisemitic white nationalist provocateur.”
This is not the “first American to use Russian social media sites or obscure online platforms to connect with fellow extremists around pro-Russia narratives.”
Prior to the deadly attack, the shooter reportedly “posted photographs of the shopping center three weeks before the attack on a social media account where he fantasized about race wars and the collapse of society.”
The shooter reportedly wore a tactical vest with a “RWDS” patch on it, which “stands for ‘Right Wing Death Squad,’ is a popular insignia among white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and paramilitarists.”
The patch worn by the shooter appears to be identical to a patch sold by Anime Tobacco & Firearms, an online store that sold various types of sticker and patches associate with far right memes. The online store is currently offline, and associated Twitter and Facebook account have been deleted.
An anti-fascist researcher has apparently identified the individual behind the online store, and documented their online activities and promotion of White Supremacy and neo-Nazi content. Radical Reports has not independently confirmed the identity of the owner of the online store.
Must Reads
Branko Marcetic writes that “only two news outlets, the Associated Press (AP) and the Washington Post, mentioned that government informants were present within the Proud Boys’ ranks, even though this fact was among the most shocking revelations that came out in the course of the trial. That fact doesn’t just make the FBI’s failure to detect and prevent the Capitol riot even more baffling. Revelations from the trial suggested that the FBI’s historical and ongoing fixation on left-wing protests potentially blinded it to the threat of the far right, and that the bureau is even happy to collaborate with far-right groups as a way of neutralizing what it sees as a greater threat from the Left. The AP’s reference was perfunctory — contained in a single line about how ‘revelations of government informants in the group’ prolonged the trial — leaving the Post as the one and only news outlet that specified that Tarrio himself was a longtime informer for law enforcement in a wide range of groups beyond and before the Proud Boys.” [Jacobin]
Alan Feuer reports that “one day before closing arguments took place at the Proud Boys trial — fliers blaming Jews for ‘the rise in transgenderism’ were found in the driveways of several homes in suburban Atlanta. One week later, as the Proud Boys case went to the jury, a neo-Nazi group flying a swastika flag protested a drag show in Columbus, Ohio. The incidents were just two of the many such episodes in recent weeks. And they were a reminder that even after the hard-won convictions of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers on the most severe charges brought so far in the Justice Department’s inquiry into the Capitol attack, law enforcement agencies are still confronting threats from sometimes violent groups and individuals on the right. The end of the sedition trials, while a landmark moment, does not mean that far-right radicals have given up their ambitions to foment unrest or attack their enemies. Recent reports have indicated that far from abating, right-wing threats and acts of violence are actually on the rise. [The New York Times]
Philip Bump writes that “In reality, the idea that someone named Garcia might be sympathetic to white-supremacist views is unexpected but not inexplicable. The Post has previously explored the ways in which non-White Americans at times ally with extremists who would seem to be their natural enemies. But the point can be made succinctly by considering two things: ‘White’ is not as hard and fast a racial category as many assume, and ‘white supremacy’ is about power as much as it is about race. Particularly for most White people, ‘White’ isn’t complicated. The racial identity is a mix of skin color and heritage and seems concrete. For most White people, in fact, ‘being white is having the choice of attending to or ignoring one’s own whiteness,’ as Robert W. Terry wrote in 1981. ‘To be white in America is not to have to think about it.’” [The Washington Post]
What to expect from Radical Reports: Morning Briefing provides a daily round-up of reporting on the Radical Right; Extremist Links offers a weekly round-up of extremists activities including the white supremacist and militia movements; Narratives of the Right delivers weekly analysis of the current narratives in far right online spaces and promoted by right-wing media; and Research Desk provides monthly highlights research and analysis from academia on the Radical Right.