Morning Briefing: Proud Boys Indicted for Seditious Conspiracy
The U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictments of five members of the right-wing Proud Boys for 'conspiring to use force to oppose the presidential transfer of power.'
Morning Briefing: The U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictments of five members of the Proud Boys, the right-wing gang, “with conspiring to use force to oppose the presidential transfer of power.”
The indictment accuses the defendants of encouraging “other Proud Boys to come to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021; raising money to buy bulletproof vests and other tactical gear; and directing crowd members into the Capitol and assaulting police once the attack was underway.”
Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, who is affiliated with the right-wing constitutional sheriffs movement, is being investigated by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and Michigan State Police for “his actions surrounding a probe of the 2020 presidential election that former President Donald Trump lost.”
Recent threats from right-wing extremists targeting the LGBTQ community “have raised fears of how Republicans in state legislatures have enabled an environment for anti-LGBTQ violence and emboldened far-right extremists.”
Must Reads
Kathryn Joyce rites that “for most of those who've turned ‘classical education’ into a buzzword or a franchise in recent years, it basically means exalting Western civilization, American exceptionalism and the notion that America was founded on ‘Judeo-Christian’ principles. Hillsdale College's classical education offerings, for instance, include its ‘1776 Curriculum,’ a right-wing answer to the ‘1619 Project’ that declares the U.S. ‘an exceptionally good country,’ casts slave-owning founding fathers as covert abolitionists and calls progressivism ‘a rejection of the principles of the Declaration of Independence as well as the form of the Constitution.’ Among the classical public charter schools Hillsdale has helped found, some proclaim their unapologetic focus on the works of white men, which are said to represent the best of Western thought and the foundational heritage of any American student, no matter their racial or ethnic background.” [Salon]
Laura Jedeed writes that “Moms for Liberty seems uninterested in promoting specific local initiatives. Instead, its media page focuses on the abstract problems of parents’ rights and critical race theory. The ‘Resources for Parents’ section of its website concentrates primarily on conservative organizations and civic engagement. One link points to the Leadership Institute, which offers courses on how to run for school boards. Another leads to America First Legal—Stephen Miller’s low-rent answer to the ACLU—which tells parents how to use the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment to sue school districts that refuse to cave to right-wing demands. With the midterms looming, what better way to get parents to show up to vote than by convincing them that leftist school boards are grooming children with pornographic novels and cultural Marxism?” [The New Republic]
Peter Smith and Deepa Bharath write that “scholars generally define Christian nationalism as going beyond policy debates and championing a fusion of American and Christian values, symbols and identity. Christian nationalism, they say, is often accompanied by a belief that God has destined America, like the biblical Israel, for a special role in history, and that it will receive divine blessing or judgment depending on its obedience. That often overlaps with the conservative Christian political agenda, including opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage and transgender rights. Researchers say Christian nationalism is often also associated with mistrust of immigrants and Muslims. Many Christian nationalists see former President Donald Trump as a champion despite his crude sexual boasts and lack of public piety.” [Associated Press]
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; Research Desk provides monthly highlights research and analysis from academia on the Radical Right; Field Notes delivers research on key organizations and analysis of the strategies and tactics of the Radical Right.