Patriot Front chats released to Buzz Feed News
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/patriot-front-preparing-after-trump
Excerpt:
“[S]ome of the hundreds of messages exchanged by the members of Patriot Front, a 3-year-old white supremacist organization that has grown into one of the most active hate groups in the US … reveal a sophisticated network of extremists who are training for violence.
“The men, who believe the United States is a nation that belongs only to white people, wear uniforms made up of bomber jackets, face coverings, and beige khakis, mandate weight loss and intense workouts, and regularly practice hand-to-hand combat. Some openly call themselves “supremacist” and revere Hitler and Mussolini.
“BuzzFeed News has received a cache of hundreds of messages exchanged by Patriot Front members on Rocket.Chat, an encrypted group messaging app. In logs of the chats, all from this year, around 280 members of the group discuss grandiose goals — creating a white ethnostate from the existing United States. The group wants to expel immigrants, people of color, and Jews, remaking the fabric of America.
“And while what Patriot Front does in the meantime — putting up stickers bearing their logo in cities and college campuses, covering pro–Black Lives Matter billboards with their own propaganda, and marching in the middle of the night through empty streets — may seem small, it has recruited 21 new members in the last 30 days.
“Unlike extremist organizations like the Proud Boys that seek headlines, Patriot Front has a sparse aboveground presence. New members are carefully vetted and are given strict instructions on social media use.
“The vetting takes place first online and then in person. New members undergo a rigorous process, in part because the group has been frequently infiltrated. One member, Michael IN, said he had to drive for four hours for his interview. Another was vetted by Patriot Front members carrying concealed weapons.
“The chat is also a place they share videos of themselves that they also share on Twitter, Telegram, and TikTok, where a recent propaganda video received more than 1 million views.”
The Patriot Front crowd criticize the Boogaloo Boyz for being too chummy with Black Lives Matter and antifa, and reject the Proud Boys for calling themselves Western chauvinists and being afraid to declare proudly that they are racists. But despite these differences and divisions, all these reactionary white nationalist forces represent an armed and present danger and threat to all progressive forces, communities resisting colonialism and oppression, organized labor, women, differently abled people and the LGBTQIA community.
This material is courtesy of the ARA E News, a weekly compendium of anti-racist and anti-fascist news and analysis from Anti-Racist Action-Los Angeles/People Against Racist Terror (ARA-LA/PART). To subscribe free to receive the digital update every Friday, go to https://antiracist.org/subscribe-to-our-e-newsletter/
