Okay, I'm gonna rant about "the fascists want violence; don't give it to them."
It is correct that they want violence, but incorrect that they will fail to find it if no one counters them. Fascists will always find violence because they will attack the targets of their hate. 1/
If you give fascists the run of city, they will assault Black people, transgender or gender nonbinary people, and other groups they hate.
To a less degree (but sometimes) they will even attack anyone the peg as "liberal." Some people got attacked in DC just for wearing masks.
While I agree they want violence, what fascists definitely do *not* want is to be humiliated by overwhelming opposition which pins them into a single location and prevents them roaming the city attacking people.
In an ideal world, anti-fascist would always have the numbers to isolate and pin fascists in. Unfortunately, we don't always have those numbers but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
If everyone who opposed fascism and was able to take the streets did so, I believe we'd always have those numbers.
The final outcome would be less violence because the fascists are trapped and/or hiding behind cops.
Additionally, fascists gain momentum from displays of force. It validates their ideology and makes newer recruits or 'normies' radicalize further so they too can gain a warped sense of strength and respect.
So when we fail to contain fascist groups, they don't disappear; they'll only come back stronger next time.
If they're defeated, yes they will play victim and portray anti-fascists as violence. But from their standpoint, that is the weaker recruiting position.
If you break fascist morale by surrounding/isolating them and screaming over them so they cannot be heard, a lot of them won't want to repeat the experience.
This is a generalization and unfortunately there are always dregs, but you can at least bust momentum.
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Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino is going full Nazi. This is a purposeful allusion to Nazi slogan "6mwe" ("6 million wasn't enough," in reference to the Holocaust)
Jeremy knows Nazis will get it but is trying to maintain plausible deniability with 'normies'
Proud Boys were recently spotted wearing the genocidal slogan on t-shirts.
On Saturday, I went to DC to join the Black Lives Matter protest &oppose the Proud Boys' fascist hate rally.
I'm going to thread some thoughts on how DC's Metropolitan Police Department bled anti-racists' numbers & made it easier for PBs to roam the streets assaulting people. 1/
I decided not to live tweet because friends who were watching fascists' livestreams tipped me off that a couple of them said they were looking for me. We were outnumbered, so I didn't want to give hints of my position.
Nonetheless I hope this retrospective will be useful 2/
For most of the day, the Black Lives Matter protest remained in BLM Plaza. Cops soft-kettled us for extended periods of time. Usually, there was one exit where anti-racists could leave, but no entrance to get back in. So if you left, you'd be deprived of safety in numbers. 3/
I am attending a Zoom meeting for Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Council. Provost Bob Blouin is going to speak about UNC's re-opening plans. I will try to live tweet some updates.
Allen Buansi starts by summarizing a proclamation honoring the anniversaries of the 15th Amendment and Voting Rights Acts. He discusses current attacks on the right to vote. See social media channels for full proclamation.
Mayor Pam Hemminger says only 3% of Chapel Hill residents have filled out the census so far.
Weird name for this case considering UNC and the white supremacists are on the same side. Nonetheless, I'm here to live tweet the latest hearing in the #SilentSham scandal.
Recall that the judge in this case, Allen Baddour, is personally involved in some shady shit. Baddour was in frequent contact with UNC BOG lawyers *before* the case was filed. wbtv.com/2020/01/29/jud…
SCV lawyer mentions "ill-advised" email from Kevin Stone of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Claims this was "bragging and puffing" and shouldn't be taken seriously. "He did not state the issues very clearly." Those issues being SCV using UNC's payout to build a racist clubhouse
UPDATE. On 11/16/19, my friends & I were arrested after being assaulted by white supremacists who were rallying under the flag of neo-Nazi hate group League of the South. My charge was dismissed today on the grounds that I acted "in self-defense of others." 1/
The state had charged me with simple assault (a worse charge than the racists who attacked us, who were given simple affray). They pursued the false charge against me for months until my lawyer subpoenaed their evidence, which proved my innocence. 2/
Before the assaults that day, the racists had hurled the n-word and other epithets at Black counter-protesters. They mocked my late brother (who was killed in a train accident) by blowing train whistles and shouting graphic details of his death over a megaphone. 3/