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Groups across Texas head to Texas Capitol for "mostly libertarian" demonstration - ArkLaTexHomepage

The Boogaloo Bois is a recently formed decentralized armed movement comprised of loosely knit cells scattered throughout the United States. Boogaloo participants have also been involved in several attacks and plots, including the attempted kidnapping of Michigans governor, an attempt to sell weapons to Hamas, and a deadly attack on a federal security officer in northern California. The movement is centered on participants belief that the U.S. government has become excessively tyrannical. Participants, therefore, have concluded that a second civil war is unfortunate, but inevitable, in order to obtain true liberty. The movement refers to this idealized second civil war as the Boogaloo (Spotify [Buck Johsnon], July 2020). Occasionally, the word Boogaloo is exchanged for slang terms, however, such as the big luau, the Bungalow, or the Big Igloo.

Boogaloo, Internet Culture, and Black Lives Matter

Boogaloo cells contain a mix of civilians and former military personnel. These participants call themselves boojahideen, a linguistic spin-off of mujahideen (Liberty Actual, Boojahideen Shop). They have also been forced to utilize secondary online public forums like Reddit, Gab, and Parler because mainstream platforms like Facebook and Twitter have prohibited their content. (Reddit [RealRhettEBoogie]; Parler [Boojahideen Outfitters]). Despite this deplatforming, they are still able to circulate their ideology and connect with boojahideen in different regions of the United States.

This internet culture plays a key role in amplifying Boogaloos ideology. Many Boogaloo participants accordingly first connect with one another online (Sofrep.com, December 24, 2020). Similarly, a fundamental component of Boogaloo internet culture is utilizing memes, which became a method of propagandizing Boogaloo perspectives of civil war. One Boogaloo flag even has meme-based insurgency inscribed on it (Onlyfeds.com, January 2021). Boogaloo propaganda also enables a more violent ideology to become palatable and communicable to both existing boojahideen and the general public.

The Boogaloo movement is not, however, racialist. Instead, Boogaloo cells congregate around a libertarian political ideology that deviates from traditional right and left positions. Boogaloo cells across the United States have participated in and supported leftist-led Black Lives Matter rallies since the death of George Floyd (Youtube/Black Lives Matter757, August 10, 2020). Boogaloo participants believe Black Lives Matters is Disneyfied and its supporters consist of some Marxists and white Karens who are not supported by Boogaloo, but Boogaloo participants hope to win them to Boogaloo ideology and have Blacks and whites walk arm-in-arm against the feds (Spotify [Buck Johsnon], July 2020).

In some instances, Boogaloo cells have provided security for protesters during Black Lives Matter events. (Twitter.com/ryanteeter98, August 27, 2020) In addition, a Boogaloo participant, Ivan Hunter, was arrested for contributing to the burning down of a Minneapolis police precinct after George Floyds death and screaming Justice for George Floyd (startribune.com, October 24, 2020). Hunter was also affiliated with Steve Carillo, another Boogaloo participant who killed a California federal protective security officer after George Floyds death (justice.gov, October 23, 2020). However, Boogaloo is also a vociferous proponent of the typically right-leaning view that Americans are entitled to an entirely unrestrained second amendment right to bear arms, open carry, and form well-regulated militias.

FBI Prevention of Boogaloo Attacks

Boojahideen insist they are not radicals, seek a peaceful revolution, and kick out any white supremacists on the margins of society if they try to participate (Spotify [Buck Johsnon], July 2020). However, multiple Boogaloo participants are facing serious charges following both attempted and executed attacks on law enforcement and public officials. The FBI has played a crucial role in deterring these boojahideen plots often through the use of inside informants and undercover officers infiltration of Boogaloo cells.

In September 2020, boojahideen Benjamin Teeter Michael Solomon, who were in the communication with Ivan Hunter, were charged with attempting to provide material weapons support to Hamas (justice.gov, September 4, 2020). Believing Hamas was a mutual enemy of the United States, these two boojahideen considered themselves to be in alignment with Hamas. They, therefore, offered to manufacture unmarked firearms and firearm accessories for Hamas.

Unbeknownst to Teeter and Harrison, they were, in fact, attempting to deal arms to one of the FBIs undercover informants. Following an initial meeting with the informant, these boojahideen later delivered five firearm suppressors and a drop in auto sear firearm converter to the undercover FBI agent who they believed to be a senior Hamas official. At that time, they even offered to provide automatic weapons to Hamas and work as Hamas mercenaries in the future. Their actions, however, resulted in prompt charges from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (justice.gov, September 4, 2020).

Multiple Boogaloo Bois are also facing charges in Michigan after plotting to kidnap the states Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and lay siege to the state Capitol building (justice.gov, October 8, 2020; see Militant Leadership Monitor, January 5). While the militia responsible called itself Wolverine Watchmen, individuals within that militia referred to themselves as boojahideen. In addition, a leader of the Whitmer kidnapping plot, Joseph Morrison, used the online nickname Boogaloo Bunyan in digital forums (Michigan.gov, October 2020).

Morrison and other plot participants were interviewed by a local TV station prior to their arrest during a second amendment gun rights rally. In the interview, Morrison sported a trucker hat with the Boogaloo flag patch on the front. His co-conspirators also donned Hawaiian shirts, a fashion trademark of Boogaloo participants (Youtube/Target8News, October 9, 2020).

The kidnapping plot was launched in response to what the participants called government tyranny stemming from Whitmers COVID-19 lockdown orders. The cell had been developing detailed plans to kidnap Whitmer, try her for crimes, and lay siege to the Michigan state capitol building. Confidential FBI informants were able to leak plot information, meeting audios, and chat room conversations with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (Michigan.gov, October 2020). This collaboration led to the arrest of everyone involved in the plot.

Boogaloo Responses to the Biden Administration

With the Joseph R. Biden-Kamala Harris administration transitioning into the White House, new dynamics will emerge between the Boogaloo movement and the U.S. government. Some Boogaloo cells have a history of seeking unity and offering aid to peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters (Youtube/Black Lives Matter757, August 10, 2020; Youtube/UnicornRiot, August 26, 2020). The Biden-Harris administrations criminal justice policy is expected to address Black Lives Matter protesters demands (joebiden.com/justice, January 2021). Thus, it is likely the Boogaloo movement will support these agenda items.

However, Boogaloo participants still have a rigid stance that U.S. citizens must maintain unimpeded constitutional second amendment rights, including the right to carry firearms in all capacities (Youtube/MatthewRodier, October 17, 2020). The Biden-Harris administration, however, aims to eliminate the sale and import of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines (joebiden.com/gunsafety, January 2021). It is highly likely the Boogaloo movement will push back against these changes.

In the past, boojahideen have voiced their discontent with firearm restrictions. On August 18, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia, for example, a large group of Boogaloo participants marched in full tactical gear while open-carrying weapons. During the event, Boogaloo participant Mike Dunn read an open letter that stated any gun legislation proposed and passed will be seen as a direct act of war against the free people of Virginia. This includes any firearms ban and magazine capacity limitations (Youtube/News2Share, August 18, 2020). It is highly likely that the Biden administrations gun control laws will be viewed as a direct act of war in the eyes of the Boogaloo movement.

While the rallies Boogaloo militias have attended in 2020 remained peaceful, it is impossible to ignore the multiple terrorism-related incidents in which its participants have planned and participated. The attempted kidnapping of Governor Whitmer, attempt to provide material support to Hamas, and attack on federal building personnel display the willingness of boojahideen to attack government officials to advance their political agenda. While it is likely Boogaloo cells will support Joe Bidens decision to reform policing operations, the Biden administrations restrictions on select firearms will likely trigger rebellious activity from boojahideen nationwide.

More here:
American 'Boojahideen': The Boogaloo Bois' Blueprint for Extreme Libertarianism and Response to the Biden Administration - The Jamestown Foundation

Journal-Courier staff, dbauer@myjournalcourier.com

Letter to the editor: There are options to political dissatisfaction

To the editor:

The Non-Aggression Principle is a central philosophy of Libertarianism. It is defined that any aggression initiated by force, threats or coercion to make any forceful interference with either a person or their property is inherently wrong. It does not forbid forceful defense.

There are several arguments around the principles definitions and philosophy, which is encapsulated within each of the different caucuses of the Libertarian Party. Like both major parties, we have many competing ideologies. It can sometimes lead to the frustrations we commonly see in the world of politics and to the gridlock that slows down the machinations of government. We are not a perfect party, but we do have a large tent to welcome all who wish to join.

Like the rioting and burning that took place in several major cities across the country this past summer, the Morgan County Libertarians condemn any and all acts of violence and destruction, especially those that occurred in our nations capital this week. We are against the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals. There are real grievances on both sides of the political spectrum that need to be earnestly and honestly addressed in the highest echelons of our government. Both sides have exploited the government to their own benefit and have disregarded and disenfranchised others. Those loopholes and deficiencies in our laws must be stopped and things must be changed. Libertarians wish to see a very different government and set of public policies that listen to all grievances and petitions with equality and fairness. Libertarians are committed to achieving that end peacefully by persuasion, peaceful protest and demonstration, and through winning elections at all levels of government.

It is time for you, dear reader, to decide if you wish to continue the madness of voting against your own self-interests through re-electing Democrats and Republicans or if you are willing to try something more principled.

If you are a Republican that is shocked and angered by your party giving succor to an authoritative, seditious tyrant wishing to overthrow the general tenants of our democracy, inciting a cult-mob to acts of violence to retain power, or are a Democrat that feels that socialism is a failed economic philosophy that will only take more of your money and expand the size of government and debt your grandchildren will owe or are simply a common citizen that is tired by the response from both parties saying more government is the solution to all of the nations ills, there is another way. If you want a party that follows the Constitution and wants to leave you alone to live your life as you see fit as long as you are not hurting anybody else, please reach out to the Morgan County Libertarians or the Illinois Libertarian Party.

Even if you are not convinced, simply ask questions you may be surprised by the answers.

Ben Cox

Jacksonville

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Letter to the editor: There are options to political dissatisfaction - Jacksonville Journal-Courier

(Paris) Wikipedia is still the greatest digital common good that the internet has delivered to us: the free online encyclopedia, one of the last dinosaurs of the libertarian and participatory internet, celebrates its 20 years with several challenges to overcome.

Posted on January 15, 2021 at 8:55 a.m.

Yassine KHIRIFrance Media Agency

A small miracle at the time of the triumph of the GAFAM and the Internet merchant, as described to AFP the historian Rmi Mathis, ex-president of the association Wikimedia France.

Founded on January 15, 2001 by the American Jimmy Wales with a non-profit goal, Wikipedia aims to bring together the knowledge of the planet on a single online platform thanks to millions of voluntary contributors.

The success was immediate. The first site was developed in English, German and Swedish Wikipedia followed in March 2001, and soon after ten more including French, Italian, Chinese, Russian and Catalan.

Looking to the future, Jimmy Wales hopes Wikipedia will spread to developing countries: It is really important that the next billion people coming on the internet want to contribute. The founder, interviewed by AFP, dreams of an institution that lasts so long [] than the University of Oxford.

PHOTO DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS, AFP

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

The seventh most visited site in the world, Wikipedia has more than 55 million articles published in 309 languages. The content of each site is independent: no translations, but original contributions, sometimes supplemented by robots from public data.

Contrary to the traditional encyclopedia written by recognized experts, this collection of knowledge compiled by amateurs, often anonymous, has attracted innumerable criticism and hostility from certain academic circles.

When we know in more detail how Wikipedia is monitored, the articles are written, and the community exchanges, we can still consider that there is an overall level of reliability which is important, estimates Lionel Barbe, master of conferences at Paris-Nanterre University.

There remains a problem of diversity in the sources and themes addressed, with blind spots on subjects linked to developing countries. In question, the profile of contributors, mainly from the United States and Western countries.

The fact of wanting to build an encyclopedia does not attract just anyone and the people who are there are often CSPs, urban, graduates, supports Rmi Mathis, author of Wikipedia: Behind the Scenes of the Worlds Largest Encyclopedia (First Editions).

80%, or even more, it is white men who write Wikipedia articles, explains to AFP Marie-Nolle Doutreix, lecturer at the University of Lyon 2.

We went from 15% to 18.6% of biographies of women in French Wikipedia, says Natacha Fault. Founder of the Les sans pages project, aimed at combating gender imbalances.

But the gender gap will never be filled, because the reality is that the achievements of women have been very little documented throughout history.

Despite everything, at a time of the triumph of GAFAM, the online encyclopedia is a rare survivor of the participatory utopia of the libertarian web, conceived as a decentralized network of exchange and knowledge, recalls Lionel Barbe, for which Wikipedia is after all the greatest digital common good that the Internet has delivered to us.

Jimmy Wales assures us: We are not diverted from our mission for the sake of making more income, so we are not faced with these problems that we see today, this question of algorithms designed in such a way as to encourage engagement in order to increase advertising revenue.

The commercial Internet also has an interest in Wikipedia continuing, nuance Marie-Nolle Doutreix. Google has promoted the visibility of Wikipedia, but in return it uses its articles in its search engine and has significant traffic thanks to this encyclopedia.

Some would also like to draw inspiration from the encyclopedias original model of community moderation in the face of the massive circulation of false information on social networks.

We must not believe either that Wikipedia is going to save us from our own demons. It remains a tool. If we love conspiracy, I doubt that Wikipedia can discourage you, explains Lionel Barbe.

So Wikipedia faces two great challenges: to continue to encourage vocations as encyclopedias, and to moderate its own content and internal debates, on the basis of voluntary work.

All of this, as Lionel Barbe explains, in a context of very strong growth in collective fantasies.

More here:
Wikipedia 20th anniversary | The libertarian internet dinosaur has become the worlds largest encyclopedia - Inspired Traveler

The frequent appeals to personal liberty made by anti-maskers and lockdown sceptics make a depressing addition to the Covid debate for anyone on the left who believes inliberty.It isnt just that those appeals dont add up to a very good argument. Its that a small group on the libertarian right (and assorted contrarian types who havejoined their ranks) have claimed the word liberty for themselves, degrading its meaning to suit their own ends.

But we've been here before.Duringthecholera outbreaks of the 19th century,therewasalsoastrident minority resisting the rules brought in to save lives, often by means of invoking liberty. (There were conspiracy theories then, too, one of which claimed that elites had released cholera to cull the poor;thisisprobably worth rememberingevery time you read about 5G or mysterious Chinese labs.)

What's interestingisthat the basisfor the public health measures put in place at the end of that century and afterwards was provided in part by John Stuart MillsOn Liberty, whichbecameaclassic text on the subject.According to Mills harm principle, liberty may be suspended if its expression harms someone else. TheDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which laid out the values of the French Revolution, said much the same thing 70 years before.But though the lockdown sceptics arguments have beendiscredited,we still find ourselves in a semantic muddle. Andthereason for this is that many on the left have granted those self-described libertarians the exclusive right to define liberty, by forgetting or neglecting the libertarian strands of their own tradition, as well as their defenders.

[See also:Why lockdown sceptics should accept the overwhelming case for restrictions now]After all, libertyisn't the preserve ofthe right.Manygreat thinkersonthe left Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Herbert Read fuseda respect for liberty with a concern for social justice. You might even mention Gore Vidal, or Christopher Hitchens, whose libertarian leanings stayed with him throughout his political life.Defending (and, indeed, demanding) civil liberties was once a defining principle of the left.Bound up with itwas aleftist defence of liberty that differs starkly from the absolute variant on themodernlibertarianright. Orwell, invoked by the right whenever absolute free speech is questioned, wrote that there always must be, or at any rate there always will be, some degree of censorship, so long as organised societies endure. According to the leftist tradition, liberty may be (and often is) put to one side in pursuit of another cause: Freedom without equality is exploitation, as Rosa Luxemburg put it. To defend liberty, in other words, is not to give up your critical faculties, your common sense, or your regard for others. It isnt to become an evangelist for unbridled individualism.It's just to respect personal freedom and agency in the context of wider society.

And yet, turned over to sundry contrarians and the fringes of the libertarian right, inside and outside parliament, untrammelled individualism is what the word is now associated with. Liberty a political construct, used synonymously with but distinct from freedom is coming to mean a kind of absolute, do-whatever-you-like autonomy that has no regard for the harm that autonomy might do to others. On that view, being told you're not allowed to swing an axe into someone's face would be an attack on liberty. This is obviously ridiculous, but the fact is thatthe left has allowed a small group on theright to give liberty whatever meaning it likes.This isnt just an academic point. The lefts desertion ofliberty as an idealhas some dispiriting real-life consequences. There has been weak opposition from the left to the roll-out of warrantless mass surveillance as well as its means, much of it fraught with bias thathas very real consequences for social justice. The news over the summer that the right to peaceful protest might be restricted was met with little more than a shrug. (The architect of thatplan, theHome Secretary, Priti Patel, described the Black Lives Matter protests as currently unlawful due to Covid-19.) And one cant help but feel that the news the government has reportedly dropped its plans to let people define their own gender might have provoked a stronger reaction if a zeal for social justice could have been fused with an appeal to liberty.As for the pandemic,a nuanced critique of the Coronavirus Act from across the spectrum has been lacking.Those who would think of themselves asliberalhave been silent, despite the criminalisation of many forms of human behaviour without real debate, to be ratified retrospectively. Perhaps this is necessary in this case, but the lack of opposition sets a dismal precedent.As it is, the word liberty has been left to those who gleefully tweet photos of themselvessansmasks. That's something the left should findoff-putting. Compassion and a real emphasis on the common good are necessary during a crisis such as the pandemic. But that doesnt condemn the idea of liberty to meaninglessness or irrelevance.

[See also: Richard Seymour on why the hard right fought against lockdown]

Harry Readhead is a member of the advocacy group Liberty.

The rest is here:
How the right claimed liberty and made it a toxic word - New Statesman