Archive for the ‘Alt-right’ Category

Right-wing Twitter rival Parler removed from online platforms – DIGIT.FYI

Social media platform Parler has been taken down by Amazon Web Services amid claims that the site is a hotbed of violent content.

Apple and Google have also taken it off of their app stores, effectively removing it from the internet. Amazon said it acted after finding several posts promoting violence in the wake of the Washington riots last week.

Parler has become increasingly popular since its inception in 2018 and has become a haven for Trump supporters, free speech activists and members of the so-called alt-right.

Many view the platform as an alternative to traditional social media sites that enables them to air opinions freely.

However, though users see it is a platform for free speech, it is believed it is also being used to spread misinformation and hate speech in the run-up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20th.

Examples of such speech include posts calling for the killing of Muslims, Black Lives Matter leaders, mainstream media journalists and Democrat supporters and leaders.

Speaking to Fox News, Parler chief executive John Matze said on Sunday that every vendor from text message services to email providers to our lawyers have ditched us.

Were going to try our best to get back online as quickly as possible, Matze said, but were having a lot of trouble because every vendor we talk to says they wont work with us because if Apple doesnt approve and Google doesnt approve, they wont, he added.

The popularity of social sites like Parler has spiked since Donald Trump was sworn in as president four years ago.

Since the removal of Parler, another social site pushing free speech, Gab, has seen a huge jump in users. In a tweet, the platform says it has gained more users in the past two days than we did in our first two years of existing.

Rhetoric circulating since the November 3rd, 2020 presidential election, where Trump has consistently accused Democrats of stealing the election, has fuelled anger with his supporters and right-wing hate groups.

This led to the storming of the US Capitol building on Wednesday last week (6th January) as US lawmakers met to certify the electoral college votes and officially declare Joe Biden as the next president.

Before the protests, Trump held a rally at the White House where he continued to claim, without evidence, that the election was stolen from him and his supporters, and that he would join them in a protest down to the capitol building. You will never take back our country with weakness, Trump stated.

During the riots, activists smashed windows, invaded the house chambers, and caused lawmakers to shelter in their offices. Five people were also killed, including a police officer.

In response, social media giants Facebook and Twitter locked Trumps accounts on their platforms and took down a previous contentious post, with the Facebook vice-president of integrity Guy Rosen Tweeting: We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to, rather than diminishes, the risk of ongoing violence.

Commenting on the potential repercussions of pushing right-wing voices to the fringes and off mainstream platforms, social media and influence specialist, Unsah Malik, told DIGIT: I think this is more about consequences as opposed to repercussions. What we are witnessing with the US is horrific.

Given the percentage of the population using social media as their main form of both communication and information consumption, it is absolutely up to social media platforms to take action in order to prevent a wider spread of violence. If Parler was a platform which incited such behaviour, then Parler is the platform to go.

Of course this opens the debate on free speech, but if you cant trust an individual or a specific group of people to maintain human decency and you have the power to protect millions of others for the right cause in the name of humanity then some sort of control needs to be enforced.

If right-wing voices didnt behave as such, no accounts would have been removed and no platforms would have revoked access.

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Right-wing Twitter rival Parler removed from online platforms - DIGIT.FYI

If you’re trying to make sense of the Capitol riot, read these books – CNN

While seeing Confederate and Trump 2020 flags draped all over the Capitol was a shocking sight for some, others were not surprised.

"It was simply the culmination of the past four years under Trump's presidency," said librarian Djaz Zulida.

Zulida is a job information resource librarian for the Brooklyn Public Library system. Soon after the riot, the library set out to compile books that would help put this insurrection into perspective.

"While a book list is not the end all, be all as far as resources, this felt like a place where we could begin, a place where we could encourage a conversation, and to filter out some of the noise and give people a little bit of a framework, focusing on a number of different issues," Zulida said.

Zulida combed through the library's resources and learned that the library could use more books that discuss the 25th Amendment, which lays out a process for orderly transition of power in the case of death, disability, or resignation of the President. They included "Birch Bayh: Making a Difference," a book about the man that authored the amendment.

"I assumed, of course, that the amendments are written by politicians," Zulida said. "But I had no idea that there was one person so specifically, wrapped up in the details of putting together the language and the idea and turning that into a constitutional amendment."

"Stupid Wars: A Citizen's Guide to Botched Putsches, Failed Coups, Inane Invasions, and Ridiculous Revolutions" by Ed Strosser and Michael Prince

A humorous look at epic fails in historical upheavals, putsches, and coups. Looking through a sardonic lens can help us process events that were quite serious and devastating.

"How to Get Rid of a President: History's Guide to Removing Unpopular, Unable, or Unfit Chief Executives" by David Priess

From the calumny and chaos of John Tyler's presidency to Andrew Johnson's drunken swearing-in, the conduct of several Presidents have been less-than stellar.

"Will He Go?: Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020" by Lawrence Douglas

This book by legal scholar Lawrence Douglas, published in May 2020, addresses what turned out to be the very real fear of a less-than-peaceful transition of power by the 45th president.

"Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump" by David A. Neiwert

This 2017 book reports on the beliefs and conspiracy theories of the so-called 'alt-right,' offshoot of conservatism that mix racism, white nationalism, anti-Semitism and populism.

"We Should Have Seen It Coming: From Reagan to Trump A Front-Row Seat to a Political Revolution" by Gerald F. Seib

The trajectory of the modern conservative movement and how it evolved into a populist movement that Trump rode to power, written by the executive editor of the Wall Street Journal.

"American Sanctuary: Mutiny, Martyrdom, and National Identity in the Age of Revolution" by A. Roger Ekrich

A detailed look at political crisis and national identity in the early years of the United States.

"The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents" by Corey Brettschneider

A detailed primer on the important parts of constitutional law dealing with the office of President by a professor of political science at Brown University who teaches constitutional law and politics,

"American Government 101: From the Continental Congress to the Iowa Caucus, Everything You Need to Know About US Politics" by Kathleen Sears

A wide-ranging primer on the actual workings of US government and politics.

"Burning the Reichstag" by Benjamin Carter Hett

This book examines the many accounts of the German Reichstag fire of 1933 that helped solidify Adolf Hitler's power in Germany. It disputes claims that the fire was perpetrated by one individual as it investigates Nazi involvement as well as looking at how the fire was used to boost the Nazi Party and discredit the Communist Party.

"Birch Bayh: Making a Difference" by Robert Blaemire

A three-term Indiana senator, Bayh helped write the 25th Amendment on presidential disability and succession and the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18. He is the only non-Founding Father to author two constitutional amendments.

"Hitler's First Hundred Days: When Germans Embraced the Third Reich" by Peter Fritzsche

Documents the suppression of dissent and dissenters and the ascendance of Nazi power that turned Germany from a divided republic into a one-party dictatorship.

"Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics" by Lawrence O'Donnell

The MSNBC host details the political upheaval, assassinations, and dirty tricks in the 1968 elections.

"Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today" by Cynthia Levinson and Sanford Levinson

From gerrymandering to presidential succession, a husband-and-wife team break down some important pieces of the Constitution, examines its flaws and offer some potential solutions.

"A Most Wicked Conspiracy: The Last Great Swindle of the Gilded Age" by Paul Starobin

An examination of the political corruption and greed of party bosses, elected officials and robber barons in America at the turn of the 20th century.

"Surviving Autocracy" by Masha Gessen

"Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump's War on the World's Most Powerful Office" by Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes

"The Fixers: The Bottom-Feeders, Crooked Lawyers, Gossipmongers, and Porn Stars Who Created the 45th President" by Joe Palazzolo and Michael Rothfeld

Two Wall Street Journal reporters document questionable actions by Trump before and during his presidency.

"If This Be Treason: The American Rogues and Rebels Who Walked the Line Between Dissent and Betrayal" by Jeremy Duda

"American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery" by Craig Unger

This book explores the kompromat, or compromising information, that Russia may have amassed on major political figures and how Russia may have attempted to target Donald Trump when he was a New York businessman.

"Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House" by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz

The story of Spiro T. Agnew, Nixon's vice president, and the bribery and extortion ring he ran while in office.

"The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation" by Brenda Wineapple

A recounting of President Andrew Johnson's abuse of executive orders that led to him becoming the first US president to be impeached.

"The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President" by Jill Wine-Banks

The Watergate scandal and Nixon impeachment as told by Jill Wine-Banks, a trial lawyer on the special prosecutor's Watergate task force.

"An Artist in Treason: The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkinson" by Andro Linklater

Gen. James Wilkinson was charismatic and complicated soldier who fought for the United States in its earliest days yet repeatedly acted against the country and even spied on it.

"Night of Camp David" by Fletcher Knebel

A 1965 novel about an American president coming unhinged and ranting about conspiracies, it was republished in 2018.

"Impeachment: A Citizen's Guide" by Cass R. Sunstein

An accessible primer on impeachment's past, present, and future.

"The Case for Impeaching Trump" by Elizabeth Holtzman

Attorney, politician, and author Elizabeth Holtzman lays out the requirements for an impeachment and the necessity of one.

"How Did We Get Here?: from Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump" by Robert Dallek

A historian looks at the personalities and politics from the early 20th century until now and how we've arrived in our current political milieu.

"The Presidents: Noted Historians Rank America's Best - and Worst - Chief Executives"

A survey of leading historians and presidential biographers on the best and worst of America's presidents.

"Richard Nixon: The Life" by John A. Farrell

The life and political career of Richard Nixon, the 37th President who resigned before he could be impeached over the Watergate scandal. He remains the only president ever to resign the office.

"The Trial of Adolf Hitler" by David King

The book recounts the arrest, trial, and imprisonment of Adolf Hitler and others for treason after a failed coup attempt in Germany that became known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler turned the 1924 trial into a launching pad for himself and the Nazi Party.

"It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis, with an introduction by Michael Meyer and a new afterword by Gary Scharnhorst

Lewis's 1935 novel about fascist presidential candidate Berzelius Windrip and how a US president turns into a dictator.

"1876" by Gore Vidal

Vidal's historical novel is written in the form of a journal detailing the life of character Charles Schermerhorn Schuyler in the 1870s with a focus on the disputed presidential election of 1876.

"Rutherford B. Hayes" by Trefousse L. Hans

A historian chronicles the disputed 1876 election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden.

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If you're trying to make sense of the Capitol riot, read these books - CNN

The Discord messaging app is now reportedly worth $7 billion – Quartz

Earlier this week, my 10-year old daughter asked if I would let her join Discord, an app that combines group messaging with voice and video chats. Yesterday, TechCrunch reported Discord is about to close a funding round that would value the startup at as much as $7 billion.

I dont think those two events are coincidences.

Discord has surged in popularity this year, doubling its monthly active users to 120 million and with 800,000 downloads a day, according to TechCrunch. Created in 2015 as a platform for Internet gamers, its growth has been fueled first by Fortnite and more recently the mega-hit Among Us, a game where groups of players band together in an outer-space version of Survivor.

But much of its popularity is due to its power to connect communities at a time when so manyparticularly those of young peopleare isolated from each other. As founder Jason Citron noted in a July blog post, Discord leapt from the gamer world to connecting all sorts of groups, so the company consciously redesigned its interface to be less game-oriented. There are now 13.5 million serversDiscord speak for channelsactive every week and its the social media app of choice of teens and even preteens, like my daughter (Im still on the fence about letting her join).

Amid those millions of servers are some nasty ones, and for a while Discord became the preferred venue for members of the alt-right. The 2017 Unite the Right March in Charlottesville, Virginia, was organized on Discord. Misogyny and homophobia were also allowed to fester as its founders took a laissez-faire approach to moderation. That has changed as Discord triesto broaden its appeal. It purged dozens of servers linked to white supremacists, and now 15% of its employees are on a Trust and Safety team dedicated to weeding out bad actors, Forbes reported.

Despite that stain, Discord has raised $379.3 million in venture capital to date, according to Crunchbase, including $100 million in a June funding round which valued the company at $3.5 billion. The new round would double that valuation.

At some point those investors would like to get paid back, and its not obvious how that will happen. The app is free to use, but sells a premium product for $100 a year called Nitro that allows users to customize their profiles and gives them better performance. Forbes estimates Nitro will generate about $120 million in revenue this year.

The obvious exit for Discords founders would be a sale to an existing tech giant, which could swallow it wholelikeWhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and Skype before it. Tech site Protocol runs through the possible reasonsfinancial, legal, and politicalwhy that hasnt happened yet, but as Discords millions of users potentially turn into billions, it may be too tempting a prize for Big Tech to pass up.

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The Discord messaging app is now reportedly worth $7 billion - Quartz

How long will Swedens nationalists be excluded from power? – The Economist

TWO YOUNG men, Andreas Palmlov and Julian Kroon, sit in a bar swapping anecdotes about their native Sweden. The welfare system is so lax that an immigrant drew benefits while serving as the defence minister of Iraq. A lecturer was suspended because students complained that a lesson about fatherhood was heteronormative. And 1m kroner ($116,000) of taxpayers cash was lavished on art intended not for human eyes but those of birds and beetles.

Some of the details are disputed. The Iraqi politician, Najah al-Shammari, a Swedish citizen, denies committing benefit fraud. But stories like these help explain why Mr Palmlov and Mr Kroon are members of the Sweden Democrats, a nationalist party. They believe that Sweden is under threat: from immigrants who drain the welfare state, from radicals who undermine traditional values and from an establishment that stigmatises voices of common sense like their own.

Storytelling matters in politics. Voters remember a good yarn more easily than any statistic. And the Sweden Democrats tell a simple, emotive one: that non-European immigrants are ruining Sweden, and a left-wing government is letting them.

In 1988, when it was founded, the party was dismissed as a rabble of neo-Nazis. But since the 1990s it has purged overt racists and cleaned up its image. It gained momentum in 2015 when Sweden opened its doors to refugees, letting in over 160,000 (1.6% of the population), mostly from culturally distant places such as Syria and Afghanistan. The government mishandled the influx, showering the newcomers with handouts but making it hard for them to work. (For example, the de facto minimum wage in shops, hotels and restaurants is nearly 90% of the average wage in those industries, pricing newcomers who are still learning Swedish out of entry-level jobs.) The open-door policy was quickly reversed. But the sight of so many jobless Muslims lent credibility to the Sweden Democrats message. At an election in 2018, the party won 17.5% of the vote. To keep it out of power, mainstream parties have had to form unstable coalitions.

An upsurge in violence between ethnic gangs (see article) has given the Sweden Democrats another boost. The majority society is losing control over areas of Sweden, says Mattias Karlsson (pictured, with waistcoat), an MP and the partys unofficial chief ideologue. He wants to hire more police, pay them better and swiftly deport foreign criminals. When an Afghan commits a crime in Sweden, he says, human-rights people say we cant guarantee his safety in Afghanistan, so they let him out on the streets again.

An increase in recorded sex crimes is to a large extent cultural, says Mr Karlsson, noting that Sweden took in many refugees from sexist countries. Reality is more complicated. Sweden expanded its definition of rape in 2013, and counts it differently from other countries. If a woman says her boyfriend assaulted her daily for a year, Sweden records 365 offences; other countries might record only one. So the claim, common on alt-right websites, that immigration has made Sweden the rape capital of the world, is nonsense.

Still, crime rates among refugees really are higher than among native-born Swedes, partly because so many are jobless. Other parties approach the topic gingerly, for fear of sounding racist. The Sweden Democrats have no such hang-ups. We say what you think, is their slogan.

The party is planning for the long term. Its leaders swap notes with American Republicans. Mr Karlsson has set up a think-tank. Mr Kroon runs a fast-growing federation for students. Many are tired of political correctness, he says, and need a new home outside the opinion corridor of socially acceptable (ie, left-liberal) views.

At the national level, centre-right parties have resisted the temptation to cut a deal with the Sweden Democrats, though it would give them a swift path to power. But the taboo is fading. Local politicians have already taken the plunge. The Sweden Democrats enjoy power or a share of it in several towns, especially in the conservative south. Some of their local leaders are risibly incompetent. But others are eager to show that they are not scary and can handle the humdrum tasks of government.

The partys showcase is Solvesborg, a town of 17,000. The mayor, Louise Erixon, is the ex-partner of the partys national leader, Jimmie Akesson. She is popular, pro-business and unashamedly populist. She boasts of hiring more security guards, banning begging and barring visits to nursing homes to protect the elderly from covid-19. She favours drug tests in schools, and repatriation for immigrants who refuse to be a part of [Swedish] society. She accuses the mainstream parties of weakening good old Swedish togetherness. She is thought to have national ambitions.

Ms Erixon came to power thanks to a deal with the centre-right Moderate party, whose national leaders opposed it. But a local one, Emilie Pilthammar, went ahead, for bread-and-butter reasons. Ms Pilthammar says she wanted to bring down a cronyist left-wing administration, boost local business and provide more choice in child care. However she later fell out with Ms Erixon, who she says would give councillors only a few minutes to read key documents before making a decision on themsomething she says was bad for democracy. (Ms Erixon denies this.)

Mr Karlsson is very optimistic that the Sweden Democrats will gain a share of national power, perhaps after an election in 2022. Nils Karlson (no relation) of Ratio, a research institute, predicts that the centre-right will not join a formal coalition with them but might form a looser arrangement, whereby the Sweden Democrats consent to a centre-right government in exchange for policy concessions. That scares me a lot, he adds.

Meanwhile, the mainstream parties have all but adopted the Sweden Democrats policies on shutting out new refugees. Mattias Karlssons suggestion that Sweden does not send Afghans back to Afghanistan would come as news to Jacob (not his real name), who was deported last year. His claim to asylum appeared watertight: he arrived in Sweden as a 14-year-old orphan and a member of a persecuted minority. He had fled Afghanistan after his father disappeared (and was probably murdered by the Taliban). He has studied hard, learned Swedish and stayed out of trouble. He is now back in Kabul taking maths classes. Yesterday when I was in school, a rocket exploded outside. And again today. Its hard, he says. The Swedish family who took him in while he was in Sweden, the Winbergs, have found him a permanent job at a trendy vegetarian restaurant in Stockholm. In theory, he should get a work visa and be allowed to return. But Hans Winberg, an academic, frets that the government is doing everything it can to keep refugees out. The climate has changed, he says. This is painful to me as a Swede. But many Swedes welcome it.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "On their way in"

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How long will Swedens nationalists be excluded from power? - The Economist

Ex-Proud Boy on life inside the far-right group’s ranks – 9News

On the night of a recent Million MAGA March in Washington DC, a large man in a Proud Boys polo shirt runs at a Black woman from behind and punches her in the head. She falls to the pavement.

Russell Schultz sent video of the episode to CNN, saying the puncher should go to jail.

The sentiment is a bit of a shift for Mr Schultz, a former Proud Boy who's been filmed in street brawls himself and who often shows up at protests in Portland, Oregon, with a giant black flag that reads, "F--- ANTIFA."

Some have been filmed getting into street fights.

"Most of it is just to fight," Mr Schultz said.

"They want to join a gang. So they can go fight antifa and hurt people that they don't like, and feel justified in doing it."

Last year, he was indicted for rioting after a brawl between far-right protesters and anti-fascists in Portland.

He pleaded not guilty, and with another activist involved in the brawl - Joey Gibson of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer - he's filed a federal lawsuit against the Multnomah County district attorney, claiming they're being unfairly prosecuted because of their political beliefs.

Mr Schultz, 51, joined the Proud Boys in the fall of 2017 and left in May 2019. He says he quit, but the Proud Boys say he was "kicked out".

His exit should not be interpreted as a total repudiation of all the Proud Boys stand for, or a new enlightened state opposed to all political violence.

Mr Schultz still shows up at rallies, and he's still motivated by antipathy toward antifa.

The blurred line between what's ironic and what's sincere is a feature of the new far-right that was born on the internet in the Trump era. (Schultz said the word "joke" about three dozen times in the couple hours CNN interviewed him.)

It's harder for someone to be held accountable for what he believes if it's not clear what, exactly, he believes.

And it allows him to try on a persona with the safety valve of being able to say later it was all fake.

In person, Mr Schultz is mild-mannered and polite. In his old Proud Boys videos, he's menacing.

He now says he was just emulating the promo videos of professional wrestlers.

In 2017, Mr Schultz was at a free speech rally with Patriot Prayer.

"All (of a) sudden fights are breaking out all over the place, and here come marching across a field are these guys in black-and-yellow-striped polos," Mr Schultz said.

"And it, to me, it just looked like something from Braveheart."

They were the Proud Boys.

The "first degree" of membership in the Proud Boys is to declare you are one, which Mr Schultz later did.

The second degree is to be punched while reciting the names of five breakfast cereals, which he did, too.

"It was just a joke. No one hits hard," Mr Schultz says.

"The five breakfast cereals is a joke that's supposed to emulate getting beat into a gang.

"You know, it is just a spoof, a parody, but it got taken too far."

Here's another supposed joke: An ex-member recently said on the encrypted messaging app Telegram that he was staging a coup so Proud Boys would no longer capitulate to the left: "We recognise that the West was built by the White Race alone and we owe nothing to any other race."

Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio said there was no coup. Then both sides said they were just joking.

New wingmen and social media swagger

Mr Schultz is Jewish and says he voted for Barack Obama twice before voting for Mr Trump twice.

He liked the Proud Boys' joking and the drinking. But he began to notice some patterns among those who joined.

"They join the group now because it gives them a sense of belonging. They have this inner-person side that they want to be, but they're afraid to be.

"They're men who've never had wingmen before," he says.

"They're afraid to say what's on their mind for fear of getting into a fight. But if they have that guy or that group behind them, they're more bold in saying what they think, because they think someone has their back. ... The Proud Boys are the vehicle that attracts those people and accepts them in."

In the fragments of his social media presence left behind from his Proud Boys days (he got kicked off Facebook and Instagram), Mr Schultz's on-screen presence suggests he'd found the confidence to be quite outspoken.

Ahead of what he called a "pro-Jesus march" in December 2018, Mr Schultz posted a video warning antifa not to disrupt it. He says, in part:

"At the last rally I nearly ran over you with a car and I didn't feel bad about it one bit. You're lucky I didn't kill you because I wouldn't feel any remorse. ...

"You shoot me with faeces - I can't prove - you can't prove you didn't put something in it like HIV. ...

"I am going to shoot you. And here's where the best part of the odds is, I still have a chance to fight for my freedom in court. You don't have a chance to fight for your freedom cause you're f------ dead. See I'm going to shoot you in the chest or your head. Center mass. ...

"It might be in your best interest not to show up with faeces infested with HIV, whatever it is, and live, live so you can see what we're planning in 2019. Cause if you shoot us with faeces there's a good chance you might not survive to see 2019."

When CNN said these looked like violent threats, Mr Schultz defended them.

"They are violent threats and it's for good reason, too," he said.

"Antifa was saying they were going to come over and start throwing urine and faeces on us. And so that was my way of saying, 'OK, if you do that, that's a threat.' I don't know if it was AIDS-tainted. And I made that threat so they wouldn't come over. And they didn't come over. So, it worked."

Singled out by anti-fascist opponents

CNN reached out to Rose City Antifa, the Portland-area anti-fascist group, about these allegations.

"No one from our organisation threatened to throw poop at the Jesus thing. ... Rose City Antifa has never put AIDS in poop. Nor am I certain how one would do so."

This video had, in fact, been downloaded and posted by Rose City Antifa, which has been tracking Mr Schultz for years.

Though public protests are what get the most attention, most of what anti-fascists do - and Mr Schultz agrees with this - is online.

They research and document far-right activists they deem fascist and make that information public.

This resulting document is called a doxx - which can be a simple collection of biographical details but often functions as a kind of indictment, listing specific acts of racism or misogyny, as well as associations with other people deemed fascist.

In Mr Schultz's case, they made fliers about him and posted them around his neighborhood and his local bar.

"Violent Alt-Right Organiser In Your Area," the flier's headline reads.

"He was just one of the dudes in the crowd at rallies," explained A., an activist with Rose City Antifa who would not give a full name. (The vast majority of anti-fascist activists are anonymous, they say out of fear of far-right violence.)

"But outside of that context he's much more vocal, especially on social media."

Mr Schultz's social media presence was one of the most remarkable things about him, A. said, in that he made explicit threats.

Mr Schultz, in A.'s view, has "this 'I'm an operator' mindset that older right-wing men have. They get really into the idea (that) this is like their war - and thinking through and trying to get into the mind of the opposition.

"It's "very Rambo-y, but it also descends into a misogynistic and creeper vibe by listing all the terrible things they're going to do to you."

Included in Rose City Antifa's doxx of Mr Schultz is one of his old Facebook posts, which says, "Feminism only works on and when there are guys willing to f--- you."

Mr Schultz said this, too, was just a joke, just trolling.

In fact, he had a reputation for being "good at trolling," at saying things that would make antifa upset, Mr Schultz said.

"Like what you just mentioned, about women only have power as long as there's men willing to - you know - which, coming from me, with two beautiful daughters, you know, it's contrary to my whole life."

He explained all of his past commentary by saying: "Anything I ever did that was incendiary was so that (antifa) would see it and react to it."

He says he wanted more antifa activists to show up at right-wing rallies - not for the street battle, but for the more important media battle.

"I'm not baiting them into doing violence. I'm baiting them into showing up in enough numbers. Because when you see enough people in Black Bloc, people get scared," Mr Schultz said, referring to the activist tactic of wearing black clothes and face coverings to avoid identification.

"The people that aren't involved in (the protests), that don't think about it -- they see all these people looking like ISIS."

Consequences of an abandoned joke

A., of Rose City Antifa, said they did monitor the videos Mr Schultz and his comrades made as a way to gauge how many would turn out at their rallies and what their emotional state would be.

They took note when a far-right activist would give away a little more operational detail than he should have.

"I think a lot of people assume the end goal of doxxing is to get Nazis to not be Nazis anymore by convincing them of the flaws of their ideology," A. said.

"That's not necessarily the case."

There are other organisations that help deradicalise people. The main goal, A. said, is to provide a community resource to people directly affected by activists like Mr Schultz and "then present clear obstacles to their continued organising".

Before speaking to CNN, A. said, Rose City Antifa went through their old doxxes.

They see them as successful, particularly for the less prominent activists they've targeted.

"The older and slightly more marginal types - they really do not come around anymore."

Mr Schultz says he quit the Proud Boys in 2019 for a couple of reasons.

One, the men who wanted to climb the ranks of leadership were taking it too seriously, he says.

They were making a more formalised national hierarchy, Mr Schultz says, and he thought that would bring more intense scrutiny from law enforcement and reporters - and he worried that if one member committed a crime, they could all be liable for it.

Mr Schultz also felt pressure from one of his daughters to quit, he says.

The Proud Boys chairman says Mr Schultz was "kicked out," namely because he would "make a complete ass of himself" in videos on social media.

"Scorned ex-girlfriends are the worst. As soon as you break up with them, they want to lie to the world and say how small your equipment is," Mr Tarrio told CNN, in reference to Schultz.

"Currently there is no criminal activity happening in the Proud Boys."

Asked what Mr Tarrio would say about him, Mr Schultz said, "Oh, he'll probably talk crap about me. I don't care. ... Enrique always deflects."

As we watched the video of the man in the Proud Boys polo punch the woman in Washington, we asked Mr Schultz: Did he feel like he helped bring the nation to this point, with his propaganda?

"Yeah. Honestly, I had a role in it. I never advocated for the violence to come out of it, though."

In other words, he still says it was just a joke.

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Ex-Proud Boy on life inside the far-right group's ranks - 9News