There is massive overlap between the people identified here (Diamond + Silk, Presler, Straka, Bongino) and the “Charter Class” of Parler users from Oct-Dec 2018.
We need to stop taking these people at face value and look at their funding and origins.
nytimes.com/2020/11/23/tec…
We need to stop taking these people at face value and look at their funding and origins.
nytimes.com/2020/11/23/tec…
These are the accounts that joined Parler prior to February 2019; just a few thousand, but note you see these same people in this cohort.
Who pays someone like Scott Presler to stir things up? How about “Jim Jones Lite” Brandon Straka and his silly WalkAway campaign?
Who pays someone like Scott Presler to stir things up? How about “Jim Jones Lite” Brandon Straka and his silly WalkAway campaign?
Here is Straka at his lightly attended rally in Baltimore in July. Who paid for all this? Who paid for Joy Villa to fly in from Los Angeles so she could wear a vinyl Trump dress in the 100 degree heat? Straka is a former hairdresser, from Nebraska.
He lived in NYC and organized a couple of odd “resistance” events before pivoting to running the #WalkAway campaign, which would seem to cost far more to execute than it likely takes in.
The pattern with these LARPs is they engage marginal characters who can build audiences.
The pattern with these LARPs is they engage marginal characters who can build audiences.
The fact that these characters consistently spout rhetoric aligned with Russian interests suggests that Russia benefits from their existence.
That doesn’t mean Russia is funding them directly; it’s just as likely a web of connected US interests and self-funding.
That doesn’t mean Russia is funding them directly; it’s just as likely a web of connected US interests and self-funding.
But we MUST stop assuming that people who seek to be identified as “far right” actually believe what they say.
They adopt these roles for the EFFECTS they are trying to have on society.
Cassandra Fairbanks is the prime example of this; she flipped from left to right in 2016.
They adopt these roles for the EFFECTS they are trying to have on society.
Cassandra Fairbanks is the prime example of this; she flipped from left to right in 2016.
Lisa Clapier is another. She ran comms at Occupy LA and was at Standing Rock praying for water keepers. Now?
She is @SnowWhite7IAM and a major character and leader inside QAnon, pushing all manner of right wing new age Q woo.
She, like all these critters, is playing a ROLE.
She is @SnowWhite7IAM and a major character and leader inside QAnon, pushing all manner of right wing new age Q woo.
She, like all these critters, is playing a ROLE.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. If one is encountering these characters for the first time without knowledge of their history, it’s hard to understand their motivations. Disinformation and division is their goal and they are very effective at it. Platforms should take note.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
