On October 2nd, as has been widely reported in the media, four members of the violent neo-Nazi gang known as Rise Above Movement (earlier known as DIY Division) were arrested and are now facing federal rioting charges that could land them behind bars for years if convicted. The criminal complaint brought against members of RAM by the FBI references and quotes the work of Northern California Anti-Racist Action (NoCARA) on RAM which was published in July 2017. In light of this development, we believe it’s important to examine and clarify a number of important points relating to RAM, the FBI, state repression, and anti-fascist research and organizing.
Weed Nazi Bethany Sherman Employs White Supremacist Lawyer William Daniel Johnson to Abuse Court System
In 2017, Eugene Antifa revealed that Bethany Sherman, owner of cannabis testing lab OG Analytical in Eugene, OR, was a Nazi with a large online presence of fascist and racist Twitter posts. Sherman was forced to close her business as a result. Now, Sherman, with the help of white supremacist attorney William Daniel Johnson, is attempting to abuse the court system in order to subpoena Eugene Antifa’s former web host to reveal personal information about members of Eugene Antifa and visitors to their website. There is no legal basis for these subpoenas, according to the Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC), and the entire case is nothing more than an attempt to target anti-fascist activists and intimidate them in order to prevent the truth about these Nazis in our community from being known.
Bethany Sherman, the “Weed Nazi”
Bethany Sherman, here representing her former company, OG Analytical.
Matthew Heimbach Joins the Nat’l Socialist Movement
via Idavox.com
The currently incarcerated Bill White is probably killing himself watching all the fash do what he was doing when he was on the street, but now he can see Matthew Heimbach returning, and taking his old job!
Matthew Heimbach, who’s Traditionalist Workers’ Party (TWP) fell apart after he was arrested for assaulting his wife and father-in-law after the two of them caught him in an affair with his father-in-law’s second wife, has announced he has joined the National Socialist Movement (NSM) invoking memories of another who had taken on a similar role that he currently fills.
According to a press release, Heimbach is joining the NSM as its Director of Community Outreach, which is supposed to handle public and international relations as well as a number of community outreach programs. This is a continuance of the relationship Heimbach has had with the organization, which has been building ever since the NSM and TWP with other groups, many of them Klan based, formed the Nationalist Front. It was that coalition that observers say sparked the violence during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA on Aug. 12, 2017, that cost the life of counter-protester Heather Heyer.
The Proud Boys in Berkeley’s City Hall
Ryoga Vee (front, center in Spider-Man outfit) poses for a photo with Bay Area Proud Boys and allies on April 27, 2017
NoCARA recently received an anonymous submission of documents disclosing communications as well as a meeting that took place between Berkeley City Councilman Ben Bartlett, conservative activist Ryoga Vee, and Bay Area Proud Boy Jarod Flores. This news comes at a time when Councilman Bartlett is under fire for abusing his authority on multiple occasions in order to avoid traffic tickets, and the Berkeley City Council and Berkeley police are facing backlash from the community after Berkeley PD doxxed counter protesters opposing a far-right rally in MLK Park on August 5.
While the records we received don’t comprehensively lay out the exact contents of the meeting Bartlett had with Ryoga Vee and Jarod Flores, we believe the timing of their communications and additional comments elsewhere by Vee provide insight and context into what happened and why. A link to the original PDF we received can be found at the bottom of this article after the analysis below.
White Supremacist Proud Boys Assault Antifascist Dance Party, Get More Than They Bargained For
On September 15, 2018 Major League Liberty (MLL), an alt-right lunatic fringe propaganda outlet operating on the agenda of spreading conspiracy theories while attempting to normalize racism and ultra-nationalism, held a permitted event “Rally to Protest Internet Censorship of Conservatives” at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
The event was organized by local fascist shithead “Louie Huey”, we don’t know his real name yet, but he’s down with the rest of the MLL clowns, and up until August 29th, was a member of the Colorado Proud Boys.
These grown men, who seem rather fond of referring to themselves and each other as “Boys”, have engaged nationally in acts of violence against minority communities, are vocal Islamophobes, rabidly anti-immigration, support austerity economics, transphobia, pro-imperialism, and pro-colonialism, which led to being classified as a hate group by SPLC.
Part of the PB “rebranding” is to deny that they are white supremacist fascists; instead, they are claim to be “Western Chauvinists”.
Colorado members of the Proud Boys frequently align themselves with other white nationalist groups in Colorado, including the Three Percenters, TPUSA and the now disbanded Traditionalist Workers Party. It should also be noted that Proud Boys and affiliates fought side-by-side with fascists at the August 2017 “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville,which resulted in 35 people being injured and the murder of Heather Heyer.
The Proud Boys denied attending #Charlottesville however visible tattoo seen from inside the #UniteTheRight rally #proudboys pic.twitter.com/uJYgNiAGlQ
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) August 16, 2017
Antifascists: East Ellijay (Georgia) Police Department Spins Implausible Tales to Clear Klan-supporting Officer
Today, Monday, September 17, the East Ellijay Police Department cleared Officer Thomas Dwayne Long of any wrongdoing over Long’s online support for the Ku Klux Klan. During 2016 and 2017, Tommy Long “liked” explicit Klan materials posted to Facebook profiles for two United Northern and Southern Knights of the KKK leaders, Imperial Wizard Charles Geoffrey Denton and Georgia Grand Dragon Justin Stephen Owens.
Tommy Long has been on paid administrative leave since Thursday, September 6, the day after Atlanta Antifascists exposed Long’s pro-KKK Facebook activity. Early the next week, EEPD Chief Larry Callahan was already signaling that he would clear Long. This Monday, Callahan made that decision official.Continue reading →