Mediaboss Marketing

The car that allegedly plowed through a crowd of protestors marching through a downtown shopping district is seen after the vehicle was stopped by police several blocks away August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Getty Images

James Alex Fields Jr. was arrested Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia, suspected of being the driver of the Dodge Challenger that plowed into a crowd of peaceful protesters on Saturday, killing one person and injuring 19 people in the process. Shortly after his mugshot was released some were quick to recognize the Maumee, Ohio man from photos taken earlier in the day. The New York Daily News photographed Fields on the front lines of a volatile rally about 10:30 a.m.flanked by other white men in polo shirts and tan slacks clutching the racially charged black-and-white insignia of the Vanguard America hate group.

A Facebook page that appears to belong to Fields includes the Othala rune, an image popular among Neo-Nazis, as part of the banner image, revealed the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Vanguard America is a racist right wing group that helped organize the Unite the Right rally that descended into violence and chaos on Saturday. The Anti-Defamation League explains the group has increasingly taken a Neo-Nazi turn lately:

The group, however, released a statement saying that Fields was not an official member. All our members are safe and accounted for, with no arrests or charges, wrote Vanguard America on Twitter.

The suspects family also didnt seem to know about his white supremacist views. Fields mother, Samantha Bloom, told the Toledo Blade that her son had told her he was headed to an alt-right rally in Virginia. I told him to be careful, Bloom said. [And] if theyre going to rally to make sure hes doing it peacefully. Fields mother didnt know her son was going to a white supremacist rally. I thought it had something to do with Trump. Trumps not a white supremacist, Bloom told the Associated Press. He had an African-American friend so ..., she went on to say before her voice trailed off. Fields mother said she would be surprised if her sons political views were that extreme but also recognized she tried to stay out of his politics. I try to stay out of his political views, she said. I dont really get too involved.

Reporters appear to have been the ones who told Bloom about her son's involvement in the violence in Charlottesville and her reaction was all caught on camera.

Even as his mother said she didnt know about Fields political views, it doesnt seem he made much of an effort to hide them. The Facebook page that appears to belong to Fields included lots of photos and references to Nazism and white supremacy, including swastikas and a baby photograph of Adolf Hitler. He also had lots of memes that are popular with supporters of President Donald Trump, including Pepe the Frog. The Facebook page was deactivated at around 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

Fields, a registered Republican, has been charged with one count of second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count related to leaving the scene of the crash. A bond hearing is scheduled for Monday.

View original post here:
White Supremacist Group Disavows Ties to Driver Who Plowed Into Protesters - Slate Magazine (blog)

Many Americans watched transfixed as members of those groups marched down the street, barked out anti-Semitic chants and openly displayed the symbols of Nazi Germany and the secessionist South.

And many looked on in horror as a speeding car crashed into other vehicles on a crowded street Saturday afternoon, resulting in the death of a 32-year-old woman and injuries to at least 19 other people.

Though President Trump, in his comments, declined to single out the white supremacist movement, many mainstream conservatives were appalled. Senator John McCain called the white supremacists traitors on Twitter.

The House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, called them repugnant.

The Justice Department announced late Saturday that it was opening a civil rights investigation. The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated.

Some left-leaning Charlottesville organizers like Laura Goldblatt, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Virginia, said that the full airing of such ideas would eventually lead more Americans to reject them. I think this is the beginning of the end for this spectacularized part of the movement, Ms. Goldblatt said.

But some key far-right leaders say the outcome was exactly what they had hoped for.

We achieved all of our objectives, Matthew Heimbach, a founder of the Nationalist Front, a neo-Nazi group that bills itself as an umbrella organization for the white nationalist movement, said in an interview Saturday. We showed that our movement is not just online, but growing physically. We asserted ourselves as the voice of white America. We had zero vehicles damaged, all our people accounted for, and moved a large amount of men and materials in and out of the area. I think we did an incredibly impressive job.

Jason Kessler, a Charlottesville conservative and the main organizer of Saturdays rally, has been fighting for months against the City Councils plan to remove a statue of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee from Charlottesvilles Emancipation Park, which once bore Lees name.

Although he is a relative newcomer to the white nationalist movement, Mr. Kessler is well known in his hometown. He has attacked the citys status as a sanctuary for immigrants and has waged a public battle against Wes Bellamy, the black vice-mayor of Charlottesville and one of its city councilmen.

For weeks, a flier for the Unite the Right meeting made its way around the internet. It featured Pepe the Frog-styled soldiers bearing Confederate battle flags, and promised featured speakers like Mr. Spencer and Michael Hill, president of the Southern pro-secession group League of the South.

In Charlottesville, established groups like the local chapter of Black Lives Matter, as well as liberal and anarchist groups, started planning their response in June when activists learned that the Ku Klux Klan would be marching in the city and that Mr. Kesslers rally would follow quickly after it, said Nathan Moore, who sits on the steering committee of Together Cville, a resistance group that formed shortly after the presidential election.

It was all these different affinity groups that came together in the same place even if they didnt know each other before, Mr. Moore said. Its been a real summer of hate here.

Heidi Beirich, who runs the intelligence project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors far-right groups, was among those who watched with alarm as the online excitement over the gathering grew. It was astounding to see it go from 100 people saying they were going to go, to 300, to 500, to 700, to raising money on online platforms to facilitate that, she said.

Over the weekend, far-right groups poured into town, representing long-established racist organizations and the newer alt-right movement. It was not the first time these two strains had met up for a rally in recent months members of both had appeared at a pro-Confederacy rally in New Orleans in May but it was the latest example of a new bridging of two generations of hard-right sensibilities.

George Hawley, a University of Alabama political science professor who studies white supremacists, said that many of the far-right members he had interviewed did not inherit their racism from their parents, but developed it online. Many of them had never heard of, say, David Duke, the former Louisiana politician and former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

But this weekend, Mr. Duke arrived in Charlottesville, along with an array of old-school and new-school white supremacists. They included organizations like Vanguard America, whose Nazi-era motto Blood and Soil was chanted by the marchers on Friday night, and the Rise Above Movement, a loose collective of California neo-Nazis, formerly known as the DIY Division, who train to fight at political events. Members of the League of the South showed up, as did their more recently radicalized colleagues from Identity Evropa, a white separatist group that endorses racial segregation.

On Friday night, hundreds of far-right sympathizers bearing torches marched across the University of Virginia campus, chanting You will not replace us, and Jews will not replace us. There was a brawl with counterprotesters, and at least one arrest.

Mr. Kessler said that the movements torch-lit rally Friday night was especially successful. It was a beautiful moment that no one will ever be able to take away from people who were involved.

The next morning, the trouble started early. Mr. Spencer recalled driving to Emancipation Park with Mr. Kessler. They arrived around 10:15 a.m., and were almost instantly met with dissent.

As we were going in, I was sprayed with Mace, Mr. Spencer said. Someone jumped out of the crowd and I got it in the face.

The counterprotesters included members of the local Charlottesville clergy and mainstream figures like the Harvard professor Cornel West. As the rally erupted into violence Saturday morning, the First United Methodist Church on East Jefferson Street opened its doors to demonstrators, serving cold water and offering basic medical care.

Dr. Hawley said he believed the far-left activists, known as antifa, were welcomed by the white nationalists. I think to an extent the alt-right loves the antifa because they see them as being the perfect foil, he said.

But Ms. Goldblatt, while not addressing those leftists who resorted to violence, said that some kind of response in the street was necessary. History, she said, has shown that ignoring white supremacy, in terms of shutting your doors and not coming out to confront them, has been a really dangerous strategy.

The scenes of violence were already dominating cable television news by 1:42 p.m., when a gray Dodge Challenger sped down a narrow street choked with counterprotesters. The driver, identified by the police as James Alex Fields Jr., had been seen at the protests alongside members of a right-wing group. He was charged with second-degree murder.

The organizers of the event distanced themselves from the crash and Mr. Kessler disavowed any knowledge of Mr. Fields. I dont know anyone who knew, Mr. Kessler said. Everyone in my circles was like, Who is this guy?

Lawrence Rosenthal, the executive director of the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies at the University of California, said that Mr. Spencer appeared to welcome this level of violent, street-level politics. He noted an audio recording Mr. Spencer made after similar skirmishes in April in Berkeley. Mr. Spencer called them a pitched battle between two polarized, political vanguards that reminded him of political upheavals, presumably in Germany, that took place in the 1920s and 1930s.

This is a very different dynamic than Im used to, Mr. Spencer said. I thought that political violence had just become impossible, that wed never see it again.

Mr. Kessler was scheduled to address the news media Sunday. When he appeared, he was shouted down by protesters, and someone punched him.

After widespread criticism of Mr. Trumps remarks, an anonymous White House spokesperson on Sunday said in a statement that the president condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred. Of course that includes white supremacists, K.K.K. neo-Nazi and all extremist groups.

Preston Wiginton, a white nationalist from Texas, announced this weekend that he would hold a White Lives Matter rally at Texas A&M on Sept. 11 with Mr. Spencer as a guest speaker. And on the neo-Nazi site the Daily Stormer, a post promised: There will be more events. Soon. We are going to start doing this nonstop. Across the country.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Hawes Spencer and Alan Blinder contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on August 14, 2017, on Page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: Claiming Moral Victory, Far-Right Groups Blaze Into National View.

Read the original:
Far-Right Groups Surge Into National View in Charlottesville - New York Times

By Fernando Ramirez, Chron.com / Houston Chronicle

Explainer: The Alt-Right movement

A Texas middle school assistant principal recently published a children's book with "Pepe the frog" as a character, a controversial meme that has been labeled as a hate symbol.

Click through to read more about the Alt-Right movement in the U.S.

Explainer: The Alt-Right movement

A Texas middle school assistant principal recently published a children's book with "Pepe the frog" as a character, a controversial meme that has been labeled as a hate

Click through to learn more about the Alt-Right.

Click through to learn more about the Alt-Right.

Slightly amorphous and definitely controversial, the "alt-right" has become the newest political hot button in Donald Trump's run for the White House.

But, how did it start and what does it mean? Here's a few things to know about the alt-right.

EXPLAINER: What is the "alt right?"

The alt-right, a collection of hard line conservatives, white supremacists, anti-immigrationists and others, have become a political hot button in Donald Trump's presidential run.Keep clicking to see the 15 things you need know about this movement as it takes center stage during the presidential race.

Slightly amorphous and definitely controversial, the "alt-right" has become the newest political hot button in Donald Trump's run for the White House.

But, how did it start and what does it mean? Here's a few

The alternative right is relatively new to the American political scene. The Southern Poverty Law Center pegs the start of the alt-right to 2008, when a white nationalist named Richard Bertram Spencer coined the term to describe a loose confederation of ideologies and ideas.

The alternative right is relatively new to the American political scene. The Southern Poverty Law Center pegs the start of the alt-right to 2008, when a white nationalist named Richard Bertram Spencer

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's "America first" campaign pitch has drawn support from the alt-right, who like his pledges to deport the estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally and to temporarily bar foreign Muslims from the U.S. Trump also has retweeted a number of messages from Twitter users with questionable profiles, including one with the handle @WhiteGenocideTM.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's "America first" campaign pitch has drawn support from the alt-right, who like his pledges to deport the estimated 11 million

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton says voters need to be concerned about Donald Trump's brand of "alt-right" conservatism, and that his appeal to the fringe says all people need to know about the GOP nominee.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton says voters need to be concerned about Donald Trump's brand of "alt-right" conservatism, and that his appeal to the fringe says all people need

A key piece of the alt-right philosophy is an opposition to immigration. Alt-right backers have not only opposed illegal immigration, but legal border crossings as well.

A key piece of the alt-right philosophy is an opposition to immigration. Alt-right backers have not only opposed illegal immigration, but legal border crossings as well.

Followers

The alt-right movement also has some ties to white supremacists, anti-Semitic groups and neo-Nazis, who appear drawn to the anti-political correctness and anti-immigration strains in the movement.

Followers

The alt-right movement also has some ties to white supremacists, anti-Semitic groups and neo-Nazis, who appear drawn to the anti-political correctness and anti-immigration strains in the movement.

Paleoconservatives, a largely isolationist, anti-immigration group led by people such as Pat Buchanan, are the closest ideological cousins to the current alt-right. Paleoconservatives generally found traditional Republicans to be lacking in how conservative they were.

Paleoconservatives, a largely isolationist, anti-immigration group led by people such as Pat Buchanan, are the closest ideological cousins to the current alt-right. Paleoconservatives generally

Roots, Part I

Some of the thinking on the alt-right is traced to the Libertarian philosophies pushed by former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. Paul is a long-standing critic of federal monetary policy as well as the country's military posture.

Roots, Part I

Some of the thinking on the alt-right is traced to the Libertarian philosophies pushed by former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. Paul is a long-standing critic of federal monetary policy as well as

Roots, Part II

Other concepts behind the alt-right philosophy have also been traced to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Duke has long pushed the concept of "white rights" and "European-Americans" standing up for their heritage. Both are points consistently made by the alt-right. Duke, a former state lawmaker in Louisiana, in a speech Wednesday noted that Trump speaks like an alt-right adherent. Duke is now running for U.S. Senate in Louisiana and causing Trump heartburn by publicly supporting his campaign.Trump initially said he didn't know enough about Duke to disavow him, a point Democrats have been making in ads every since.

Roots, Part II

Other concepts behind the alt-right philosophy have also been traced to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Duke has long pushed the concept of "white rights" and "European-Americans" standing

Who's Out

Alt-righters tend to reject the current crop of politicians, particularly those who have held office, such asSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, and others such as, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas.

Who's Out

Alt-righters tend to reject the current crop of politicians, particularly those who have held office, such asSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, and others such as, from left, Sen.

The website 4chan gave the alt-right the first really big break when it served as a channel for adherents to discuss ideas, plot protests and generally have a place to gather.

The website 4chan gave the alt-right the first really big break when it served as a channel for adherents to discuss ideas, plot protests and generally have a place to gather.

Spreading the Word

Many on the alt-right use social media platforms such as Reddit and Twitter to promote their ideas and exchange thoughts with other alt-right adherents.

Alt-right adherents have organized online campaigns around hashtags such as #WhiteGenocide, a reference to the belief that white people are being subject to an orchestrated eradication campaign and #ISaluteWhitePeople.

Spreading the Word

Many on the alt-right use social media platforms such as Reddit and Twitter to promote their ideas and exchange thoughts with other alt-right adherents.

Alt-right adherents have organized

Alt-right and Trump

Steve Bannon, who runs Breitbart.com, recently joined Trump's campaign as chairman.Last month, Bannon told Mother Jones magazine that Breitbart was "the platform for the alt-right" but he insisted the movement wasn't racist even if it has attracted some people who are.

Alt-right and Trump

Steve Bannon, who runs Breitbart.com, recently joined Trump's campaign as chairman.Last month, Bannon told Mother Jones magazine that Breitbart was "the platform for the alt-right" but he

GOP Pushback

Traditional Republicans and conservatives disavow some of what is seen as racism and anti-Semitism on behalf of the alt-right. Conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat pegged the alt-right as "racist pro-Trump Twitter accounts and anti-P.C. provacoteurs."

GOP Pushback

Traditional Republicans and conservatives disavow some of what is seen as racism and anti-Semitism on behalf of the alt-right. Conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat pegged the alt-right

Defenders

Some long-standing backers of the GOP have defended the alt-right movement. A Fox News correspondent said the alt-right is more than a place for racists and anti-Semites. Talk show host Rush Limbaugh told a caller questioning the alt-right: "There is a thriving, youthful conservative emergence happening in this country. They may be borrowing from what's going on in Europe."

Defenders

Some long-standing backers of the GOP have defended the alt-right movement. A Fox News correspondent said the alt-right is more than a place for racists and anti-Semites. Talk show host Rush Limbaugh

Political movements come and go in America, sometimes petering out, other times being absorbed or overtaking a mainstream party.What will happen with the alt-right once Trump's campaign is done? Trump could bring followers along if he follow through on talk of creating his own media company.

Political movements come and go in America, sometimes petering out, other times being absorbed or overtaking a mainstream party.What will happen with the alt-right once Trump's campaign is done?

Texas assistant principal writes 'Pepe the Frog' children's book

A Texas middle school assistant principal is defending himself from claims that his new children's book uses an Alt-Right hate symbol.

Eric Hauser with Denton ISD recently self-published "The Adventures of Pepe and Pede," a children's book with conservative themes. According to itsAmazon descriptionit's "an adventurous tale for all ages packed with patriotic prominence."

Hauser's book features "Pepe the frog," an internet meme that in recent years has been co-opted by the Alt-Right.

"Pede," the other character inHauser's book, is a centipede, a term that some Donald Trump supporters refer to themselves as.

THE LATEST: Organizer of 'pro-white' rally disavows violence

While Pepe the frog's origins are innocent a comic series started by artistMatt Furieturned meme its newfound use in certain dark circles has resulted in it being labeled as a hate symbol by The Anti-Defamation League.

Hauser told The Dallas Morning Newshe didn't know the character was a hate symbol until after the book came out.

"I think people will take that and then just assume negative, just assume bad things," Hauser told the paper. "That's unfortunate. I hate that."

BACKLASH: Police official resigns after posting racist meme

Mario Zavala, a spokesperson forDenton ISD, said the school district is aware ofHauser's new book.

"The book was written on his own time, using his own resources and is not affiliated with our curriculum or instruction," Zavala said in a statement. "Mr. Hauser's book and its contents belong to him and are not tied to our district."

Click through above to learn more about the Alt-Right movement in the U.S.

Continued here:
Texas assistant principal writes 'Pepe the Frog' children's book - Chron.com

Dallas Stars Are First Pro Franchise to Publicly Oppose Texas Bathroom Bill. Dallas welcomes all, and we welcome all, President Jim Lites said. Take notes, Jerry, though rumor is the bill is going down the toilet.

The Fight Over Dallas Confederate Statues Continues.During a small rally at Pioneer Park Cemetery yesterday, protestors calling for the removal of confederate monuments clashed with a group called Sons of Confederate Veterans (one of whom is named Festus Allcock, obviously).

Denton Assistant Principal: Alt-Right Nationalist or Idiot? An assistant principal at Rodgriguez Middle School, Eric Hauser, published a childrens book on August 1 in which Pepe the Frog and his friend Centipede overpower a bearded alligator named Alkah to restore law and order, and bring freedom back to Wishington Farm. Now, centipedes are a Trump thing, which Hauser doesnt deny, but he claims to have not known that Pepe is a meme appropriated by the alt-right. Thats a pretty tremendous feat of ignorance, because when I google Pepe the Frog, the first three things that come up are the memes listing on the Anti-Defamation League website, a Wikipedia page with a lengthy section about Pepes alt-right history, and an LA Times article titled How Pepe the Frog went from harmless to hate symbol.

Highland Park ISD Asks Residents If Teachers Can Park In Their Driveways. The middle schools underground parking lot is still under construction. But were talking about Highland Park, here. Why give up driveway space, when residents can just loan out their spare car lifts?

Here is the original post:
Leading Off (8/11/17) - D Magazine

WASHINGTON (AFP) Silicon Valley is finding itself entrenched in battle with the far right over ground rules for the digital world, a conflict that mirrors the polarization of American politics in recent years.

The recent firing of a Google engineer for questioning the internet giants diversity efforts, which ignited a backlash from the alt-right and fueled charges of hypocrisy, is just one example.

Facebook has been accused of suppressing conservative voices and skewing information presented in its news feed. Twitter has banned accounts from far right activists for violating its terms on hate speech. Paypal refused to transmit donations to a group in Europe seeking to turn back refugees, claiming it does not support activities that promote hate or violence. And even Airbnb canceled accounts ahead of a white nationalist rally for promoting discrimination in violation of the terms of the home-sharing platform.

Activists on the extreme right have responded with an outcry against the tech giants and have begun migrating to alternatives for social networking and money transfers. The conflict has caught Silicon Valley off-guard, amid a political onslaught from critics as online platforms grow in importance.

A Donald Trump supporter holding a poster of Pepe the Frog, a symbol of the alt-right movement, at a campaign event in Bedford, New Hampshire, Sept. 29, 2016. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images/JTA)

In Silicon Valley, youve got a bunch of people who are interested in technology who would prefer to be apolitical, said Bob ODonnell, consultant for Technalysis Research. They are being dragged into these decisions and being put into a difficult spot.

ODonnell acknowledged that the big tech firms may allow bias to filter into their business operations because Silicon Valley and northern California are heavily Democratic and heavily focused on political correctness.

The flare-up of tensions come with the tech sector roiled by accusations of discrimination, sexual harassment and a lack of diversity despite the idealism espoused by its leaders.

Alan Rosenblatt, a digital strategist for left-leaning groups, said alt-right activists are frustrated because they have been unable to exploit online platforms as much as they would like.

It traces back to the whole fake news issue starting in the 2016 election campaign, Rosenblatt said.

Rosenblatt said social networks such as Facebook and Twitter were correctly working to crack down on disinformation, such as the erroneous report about a child sex ring in a Washington pizza restaurant in an effort to tarnish candidate Hillary Clinton.

It was appropriate, Rosenblatt argued, to suspend accounts pushing alt-right messaging that is either hateful or disinformation.

President Donald Trump, he argued, is the greatest enabler of the alt- right. He gives political coverage to their attacks on diversity and workplace fairness.

Tensions have flared at Google over the firing of engineer James Damore, who published a manifesto which claimed biological differences were a key factor in the low percentage of women in technology jobs.

This photo taken on December 28, 2016 in Vertou, western France, shows logos of US multinational technology company Google. (AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCE)

Google said Damores memo went too far in advancing harmful gender stereotypes but his dismissal fueled criticism that the tech giant was ignoring diverse viewpoints.

Damore said in an essay Friday that Google had become an echo chamber intolerant of open debate.

How did Google, the company that hires the smartest people in the world, become so ideologically driven and intolerant of scientific debate and reasoned argument? he wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

Elaine Ou, an engineer at a financial technology company, offered a similar comment in a column for Bloomberg: Silicon Valley wont solve its gender issues if political correctness shuts down every conversation.

In a sign of the fractious atmosphere, Google canceled a town hall meeting intended to air viewpoints on diversity, sexism and free speech, citing worker safety concerns.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said in a memo to staff that despite the cancellation he wants a frank, open discussion and that all of your voices and opinions matter.

Some analysts argue a small group of activists are trying to impose their will on the tech sector.

A small group of social terrorists have hijacked the rational discourse led by societys most accomplished, intelligent, and promising organizations, said a blog post by John Battelle, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and journalist.

Thomas Main, a political science professor at the City University of New Yorks Baruch College, said the latest developments reflect a realization that the internet may not be the utopia for political discourse that some had imagined.

In some ways the internet is an ideal speech situation, he said.

But extremist trolls, Main said, are polluting the environment and you need some gatekeeping function.

Main said the gatekeeping function is a big problem because we dont want government going in and its not clear if the digital companies are positioned to handle this.

Im searching for a better solution, he said.

ODonnell said social networks and other digital companies may end up splintering along political lines in the same manner as the media industry.

We may see over time an evolution where one social network is more left leaning and another is right leaning, he said. It has become so challenging to remain in the middle.

The rest is here:
Silicon Valley's accidental war with the far right - The Times of Israel