Morning Briefing: Tennessee GOP Lawmakers Introduce Legislation Targeting 'Nazis or Antifa'
Tennessee GOP state lawmakers responded to the increased activities of White Supremacists in the state with a bill whose sponsor claims would target 'Nazis or Antifa.'
Morning Briefing: Republican state lawmakers in Tennessee have introduced legislation that would purportedly strengthen the state’s laws against hate crimes, after there was a significant increased in the activities of White Supremacists in the state. However, the legislation never mentions hate crimes, appears to give expansive powers and authority to state and local law enforcement, and the bill’s sponsor said the legislation could be used to target “Nazis or Antifa.”
HB 55, the Protecting Everyone Against Crimes and Extremism Act (PEACE), would create criminal penalties for activities including for anyone who “intentionally refuses to give the person's name to a law enforcement officer,” or for anyone who places a “sign, signal, or marking over a highway or to affix or attach a sign, signal, or marking to a bridge, overpass, or tunnel without written authorization.”
Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth signaled that the bill could be used to target other groups besides White Supremacists. Lamberth told WTVF that the the law is intended to keep several types of groups out of Tennessee. "Whether it's Nazis or Antifa or any type of hate group that's out there, we're not going to put up with that here," Lamberth said. "We simply don't want those groups here.”
Capitol Riot defendants are now reportedly “asking courts for permission to return to Washington, D.C, on Jan. 20 to attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump,” and several Republican members of Congress have reportedly “invited January 6 accused as their guests at the inauguration.”
Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney who led the investigation into the Capitol Riot, announced that he’s “resigning his post as U.S. attorney days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.”
FBI reportedly seized “one of the largest stockpiles of homemade explosives they have ever seized when they arrested a Virginia man on a firearms charge last month,” and “investigators seized more than 150 pipe bombs and other homemade devices when they searched the home of Brad Spafford north-west of Norfolk in December.”
Must Reads
Nick Turse writes that “From 1990 to 2010, about seven persons per year with U.S. military backgrounds committed extremist crimes. Since 2011, that number has jumped to almost 45 per year, according to data from a new, unreleased report shared with The Intercept by Michael Jensen, the research director at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, at the University of Maryland. Military service is also the single strongest individual predictor of becoming a ‘mass casualty offender,’ far outpacing mental health issues, according to a separate study of extremist mass casualty violence by the researchers. From 1990 through 2023, 730 individuals with U.S. military backgrounds committed criminal acts that were motivated by their political, economic, social, or religious goals, according to data from the new START report. From 1990 to 2022, successful violent plots that included perpetrators with a connection to the U.S. military resulted in 314 deaths and 1,978 injuries — a significant number of which came from the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.” [The Intercept]
Jason Wilson writes that “Curtis Yarvin is hardly a household name in US politics. But the ‘neoreactionary’ thinker and far-right blogger is emerging as a serious intellectual influence on key figures in Donald Trump’s coming administration in particular over potential threats to US democracy. Yarvin, who considers liberal democracy as a decadent enemy to be dismantled, is intellectually influential on vice president-elect JD Vance and close to several proposed Trump appointees. The aftermath of Trump’s election victory has seen actions and rhetoric from Trump and his lieutenants that closely resemble Yarvin’s public proposals for taking autocratic power in America. Trump’s legal moves against critics in the media, Elon Musk’s promises to pare government spending to the bone, and the deployment of the Maga base against Republican lawmakers who have criticized controversial nominees like Pete Hegseth are among the measures that resemble elements of Yarvin’s strategy for displacing liberal democracy in the US… The growing parallels between the incoming administration’s actions – especially Vance’s views – and Yarvin’s suggestions raise questions about his influence.” [The Guardian]
Karl Bode writes that “a healthy media ecosystem and diverse, well-funded independent journalism is the bulwark against right-wing propaganda. Instead of addressing the problem head on, policy leaders rubber-stamped problematic mergers, treated media policy as an afterthought, paid empty lip service to quality journalism, and normalized Republican propaganda. As a result, corporatist media has lost the trust of the public thanks to feckless, ad-engagement-chasing ‘view from nowhere’ journalism. This is journalism that prioritizes clicks, access, and the interests of the ownership class, while a right-wing disinformation machine, built over the last 45 years, convinces impressionable Americans to celebrate their self-immolation. Both problems have taken a hatchet to the fading vestiges of informed consensus, sending the already-shaky American experiment reeling into a new post-truth, facts-optional reality. As the last election made clear, artifice, vibes, gut feelings, and the incoherent ramblings of c-tier comedian podcasters now trump anything resembling informed debate. To be clear, millions of Americans adore the racism, sexism, and authoritarianism Donald Trump is selling.” [Dame]
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.
Oh Tennessee, when will you ever see? How deep the rot goes?
Trump and his followers are a major threat to our Democracy! Please WAKE UP and STOP bowing to his every wish. AND STOP electing him!
He is NOT the solution to ANY
of our problems….he is the CAUSE of them
and will destroy it!
Virginia Jones.