Thread by @reveal

1/ Leaked chats from the #Charlottesville organizers show a group trying to control bad impulses for good publicity. revealnews.org/article/in-cha…

2/ The murder of counter-protester Heather Heyer showed that those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.

3/ In a conference call, an organizer advised attendees it was okay to think all non-whites should be killed, but don’t tell that to media.

4/ Organizers said KKK members were allowed in, but only if they left their robes and hoods at home:

5/ Organizers knew their presence in town would be controversial, so they took steps to cover their tracks.

6/ They were obsessed with the opposition. “Antifa” was used 702 times in the chats.

The goal: goad #antifa into throwing the 1st punch.

7/ In one post, organizer Jason Kessler asked people to “help bait antifa into attacking the Proud Boys,” a far right group.

8/ By provoking #Antifa violence, they could look reasonable by comparison – and potentially convert mainstream white conservatives.

9/ Fights were anticipated, which is why there was lots of talk about how to source shields and body armor ...

10/ On the day of the Unite The Right rally, the mood in the chats was triumphant – until news of the automobile attack broke.

11/ Chat participants shared memes mocking Heyer’s death + spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about the driver having a Jewish parent.

12/ But generally, there was a realization that, if Unite The Right was a battle for hearts and minds, they had just lost the fight.