Hint: it’s not good.
Thread incoming.
The Patriot Prayer death has prompted calls for the Insurrection Act and vows for revenge.
Militias have gained a substantial veneer of legitimacy for those on the fight.
The Patriot euphemism has been successful in branding militias and alt-right orgs as in league with the state.
There is a troubling “legitimacy” given to their presence.
Let’s think through this.
Weber’s point here about a state’s monopoly over the application of legitimate violence is key.
This is different from “anti-government” militias writ large.
The police openly work with several of these groups (receipts are everywhere; you can find this on your own).
The state has tacitly accepted them.
The militias and alt-right are organized and mimic “legitimate” (the Weberian sense) components of the state apparatus.
Antifa doesn’t.
And it will come from organized groups that coopt and mimic (visually and in rhetoric) what the much of the population views as signs of state legitimacy.
Media framing does not help.
- allows for the normalization of leftist opposition as “terrorist” (acting outside the state)
- entrenches a view of such groups as “legitimate” arms of the state
What’s the Insurrection Act for?
To quell rebellion, civil unrest, and restore the full authority and power of the state.
They have with Patriot Prayer.
This shows a vastly different perception of the latter’s relationship to the state and associated image as legitimate.
It’s easier to accept, in this situation, the emergence of Brownshirt / basij (Iran) / baltagiyyas (Egypt)-like forces.
Where Heather Heyer was murdered.
Marching with the alt-right, outright neo-Nazis, and other fascist groups.
Back soon.
/Break
Here’s a window into how the Portland dynamics play into Trump’s strategy for staying in power (no, I don’t mean just the election)]
My points about Patriot Prayer and Portland are not just about Trump.
These strands are connected to the thread of a broader political movement on the right.
Flashback by a couple years with me to Mr. Steve Bannon.
We saw this coming. No one listened.
It historicizes and contextualizes this broader thread on political violence, Portland, Patriot Prayer, institutional transformation & state legitimacy.
Right before an election that is already contested, and pre-framed by the incumbent as illegitimate if he loses.
“The more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence [that] reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who’s best on public safety and law and order.”
Don't forget - none of this is just about an election. None of this is just about Trump.
It's about a broader movement to reshape the nature of the state itself.
Examine the differential perceptions out there of the armed men who took over Michigan's capitol building.
Now examine the prevalent discourse on BLM.
As early as 2016, militia groups were organizing for Trump against 'far-left agitators.'
It's been building and you haven't paid attention. So start.
Portland, Patriot Prayer, alt-right organizations, and militias appropriating the veneer of state legitimacy / the governmental apparatus' monopoly over coercive force.
Not when the state's tacit acceptance, combined with their mimicry of state legitimacy symbolism, has already worked magic on much of the populace.
Expect more iterations of Portland, Patriot Prayer, etc.
And please FINALLY pay attention to the context and history behind where we are, and where we're going.
Here you are - precisely what my thread shows.
There's no need for an official relationship between organizations like Patriot Prayer (et. al) and the administration - not with the state's tacit acceptance and open embrace.
Senator Ron Johnson is embracing vigilantes on behalf of the state, encouraging violence, and legitimizing militias.
Deputizing mobs is a tinderbox.
The president just deputized citizen solider vigilantes from the White House podium.
And the administration can claim plausible deniability in the future because no official ties to them exist nor are necessary.