Morning Briefing: Reports of Multiple Incidents of White Supremacist Antisemitic Propaganda and Vandalism
Morning Briefing: Reports of Multiple Incidents of White Supremacist Antisemitic Propaganda and Vandalism
During recent weeks, there have been multiple reports of incidents of White Supremacists antisemitic propaganda and vandalism.
Morning Briefing: During recent weeks, there have been multiple reports of incidents of White Supremacists antisemitic propaganda and vandalism.
In California, “multiple bags containing antisemitic flyers were found at various locations across Calaveras County,” and local law enforcement is reportedly unsure if the if the incident is “connected to a similar incident that happened the same day in neighboring Amador County.”
At the University of Michigan, the university president has “condemned antisemitic vandalism at two off-campus fraternity houses,” and local law enforcement is reportedly actively investigating the "hate motivated vandalism.”
In Florida, local law enforcement is reportedly “investigating multiple apparent hate crimes, including one at the Pensacola Chabad Jewish Center, where leaders plan to make a brick, scrawled with swastikas, the cornerstone of their new community center of a new building.”
LGBTIQ advocates criticized city officials in Duvall, Washington for a “decision to take down a Pride-themed display downtown following the appearance of white supremacist symbols.”
In Connecticut, antisemitic flyers were reportedly “discovered in driveways in a residential neighborhood in Westport,” and local law enforcement described the flyers as “somewhat random and incoherent but was antisemitic in nature.”
Several unidentified individuals reportedly waved “antisemitic signs over a bridge last weekend along Valley Forge Road” near Valley Forge National Historic Park in Pennsylvania.
In Georgia, local law enforcement is reportedly “searching for individuals they believe are responsible for distributing flyers with racist and antisemitic messages around Henry County.”
U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar reportedly “promoted a website, using his official House.gov newsletter, that has shared antisemitic messages such as denying the Holocaust.”
Must Reads
Will Carless reports that “being affiliated with the U.S. military is the ‘single strongest’ predictor of violent extremism in America. That’s according to a report from researchers with the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, who analyzed a database of thousands of violent incidents going back to 1990 to reach their conclusions. People who served or are serving in the armed forces ‘are 2.41 times more likely to be classified as mass casualty offenders than individuals who did not serve,’ according to the START research. And the problem appears to be getting worse: The number of extremists connected to the military in the past decade more than quadrupled compared with the decade before, the research found. Most extremists connected to the military are veterans, but recent years have also seen high-profile examples of active-duty servicemen being ensnared in extremism.” [USA Today]
Daniel Walters reports that Branden Durst “an analyst for the right-wing Idaho Freedom Foundation with a degree in executive educational leadership, wants this district to more closely reflect the values of the parents in the ‘very, very conservative community.’ In his first month, Durst has replaced three district employees with his own temporary picks, hinting at what those changes might look like. That includes replacing the district’s business manager with Melissa Reilly, wife of Dave Reilly, one of North Idaho’s most infamous figures on the alt-right, a trollish network of internet savvy racist and antisemitic groups that arose during the Trump era. In 2017, Dave Reilly attended the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, sporting a pin with the logo of the white supremacist group Identity Evropa. Durst’s appointment represents an opportunity for Idaho’s more hardline conservatives to show what they’re capable of when they’re in charge.” [InvestigateWest]
Jessica Pishko writes that “despite the claims of far-right groups like the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), sheriffs cannot ‘nullify’ laws. Not only did former President James Madison explicitly repudiate nullification as a doctrine, the idea behind nullification was used by pro-slavery politicians like former Vice President John C. Calhoun to justify the enslavement of Black Americans just before the Civil War and by anti-segregationists resisting decisions by the Warren Court in the Civil Rights Era. Before the Civil War, Calhoun advocated before the South Carolina Legislature for nullification as a way to protect the rights of slaveholders. He lost, but continued to press the idea of nullification as a form of ‘concurrent government’ to protect the ‘different interests, orders, classes, or portions, into which the community may be divided.’ In other words, nullification remained a way for Southern planters to retain control when faced with a federal government that sought to end slavery as an institution. [Democracy Docket]
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.
