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If you’re interested in the Capitol events, you might want to read up on the sedition / conspiracy case against the Order in 1988.
Reagan’s DOJ was wholly uninterested in prosecuting white supremacist attacks until they started killing cops.
Just may be instructive.
Reagan’s DOJ was wholly uninterested in prosecuting white supremacist attacks until they started killing cops.
Just may be instructive.
The Order had ties to other white supremacist groups and leaders, including Louis Beam - who pioneered “leaderless resistance,” as well as “Tom Metzger,” who started advocating infiltration of establishments like police, law, and government in the early 1980s.
Ignored history.
Ignored history.
This period in American history is forgotten, downplayed, and ignored - when it’s much more influential than you know.
David Duke, for example, of the Third Klan, is the Richard Spencer / alt-right’s predecessor in leveraging “articulateness” and charm for media.
Purposeful.
David Duke, for example, of the Third Klan, is the Richard Spencer / alt-right’s predecessor in leveraging “articulateness” and charm for media.
Purposeful.
The absolutely garbage #Resistance takes mocking Trump supporters as uneducated, poor southern rednecks are so dangerous and counterproductive.
They accomplish two, and only two, things:
1) let liberals feel superior
2) mask the depth of the threat https://twitter.com/msentropy/status/1348823573054459910
They accomplish two, and only two, things:
1) let liberals feel superior
2) mask the depth of the threat https://twitter.com/msentropy/status/1348823573054459910
This isn’t Steve Bannon’s home. https://twitter.com/msentropy/status/1348826715510824960
White supremacist leaders and ideologues from William Pierce to Richard Spencer have been quite well educated.
Not only is this kind of smug, self-satisfied take wrong, it’s extremely dangerous. https://twitter.com/msentropy/status/1348843281560576000
Not only is this kind of smug, self-satisfied take wrong, it’s extremely dangerous. https://twitter.com/msentropy/status/1348843281560576000
Keep mocking the “poor dumb Trump supporters” and you’re the reason for Capitol Siege, Part II.
These assumptions launder white supremacy so it can be ignored as long as it’s the rich, elite “civil discourse” crowd.
This history is available; you’re responsible for it now.
These assumptions launder white supremacy so it can be ignored as long as it’s the rich, elite “civil discourse” crowd.
This history is available; you’re responsible for it now.
Thread added to the Capitol thread master list now: https://twitter.com/MsEntropy/status/1349500292400783361
One last point (for now) on the Order’s seditious conspiracy trial in 1988.
Guess how the leaders defended themselves?
By arguing free speech - and making the case that the entire right wing movement would suffer for the “actions of a few bad apples.”
Guess how the leaders defended themselves?
By arguing free speech - and making the case that the entire right wing movement would suffer for the “actions of a few bad apples.”
There are extremely instructive parallels between far-right mobilization in the time of the 1988 Order sedition conspiracy, and that of the 2021 Capitol.
I highly suggest you study up on that overlooked history; it carries considerable weight on the present - and future.
I highly suggest you study up on that overlooked history; it carries considerable weight on the present - and future.
I need you to pay attention to these details from the Order seditious conspiracy trial in 1988 as you think about the Capitol insurrection of 2021.
(Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream, Leonard Zeskind - 2009)
(Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream, Leonard Zeskind - 2009)
Speaking of white supremacists, sedition, incitement to violence, and free speech debates between the Order in 1988 and the Capitol in 2021...let me add:
Ever wonder why Glenn Greenwald loves to downplay the Nazi threat?
Here’s a master explainer from our own @DavidNeiwert https://twitter.com/davidneiwert/status/1130534973902020608
Ever wonder why Glenn Greenwald loves to downplay the Nazi threat?
Here’s a master explainer from our own @DavidNeiwert https://twitter.com/davidneiwert/status/1130534973902020608
I want to update this thread on the Order’s seditious conspiracy trial in 1988; the parallels with the Capitol are remarkable.
It’s not just the organization’s actions or legal defense at trial.
The mid to late 80s context is eerily familiar, and there are lessons to learn.
It’s not just the organization’s actions or legal defense at trial.
The mid to late 80s context is eerily familiar, and there are lessons to learn.
The political climate of the late 1970s enabled a group like the Order to emerge - and it also explains why the not guilty verdict occurred.
Take only one example: David Duke.
Take only one example: David Duke.
David Duke was a former Klan leader who used media as a way to mainstream white supremacist ideas.
He was helped, in no small part, by media hunger to interview the curiosity of a "charming, intellectual, well-dressed" white supremacist.
Kind of like...Richard Spencer.
He was helped, in no small part, by media hunger to interview the curiosity of a "charming, intellectual, well-dressed" white supremacist.
Kind of like...Richard Spencer.
The "America First" Reagan era marks a point in US history where white supremacy laundered as conservatism really takes root in public consciousness.
It's much harder to root out when anchored in seemingly inoffensive language.
On this, see: Pat Buchanan, among others.
It's much harder to root out when anchored in seemingly inoffensive language.
On this, see: Pat Buchanan, among others.
Wonder why the alt-right and QAnon fielded so many political candidates?
Flashback, early 80s.
Robert Miles and Louis Beam saw elections as a key way to raise the white supremacist profile beyond a vanguard, and disseminate their ideology, alongside clandestine mobilizations.
Flashback, early 80s.
Robert Miles and Louis Beam saw elections as a key way to raise the white supremacist profile beyond a vanguard, and disseminate their ideology, alongside clandestine mobilizations.
Louis Beam also emphasized the incipient technology of computer connectivity and the Internet as a key way to organize and recruit; later, Tom Metzger and other white supremacists took that much further.
There are so many contextual parallels between the early 80s and the 2016-2021 period that I'm just going to bullet-point them:
-fear-mongering concerning immigration and the threat of demographic displacement
-attacks on the media as an unfair, elite, and biased institution
-fear-mongering concerning immigration and the threat of demographic displacement
-attacks on the media as an unfair, elite, and biased institution
-a desire to mainstream extreme ideas by appealing to shared values like Christianity
-panic about moral breakdown for youth
-expressly populist movements that disdained conservatism
-leveraging media desires for sensationalism
-panic about moral breakdown for youth
-expressly populist movements that disdained conservatism
-leveraging media desires for sensationalism
-anti-elitism; suspicion of schools, conservative politicians, media figures, etc.
-founding of fringe media outlets
-alternative health activists who rise to political power (take Maureen Salaman as an example); new-age/anti-vax style crossovers
-founding of fringe media outlets
-alternative health activists who rise to political power (take Maureen Salaman as an example); new-age/anti-vax style crossovers
-spike in racist incidents all over college campuses
-fear-mongering about 'a war on Christianity' over prayer in schools (etc.)
-debates about the Confederate flag and statues as 'heritage under attack'
-DOJ disinterest in prosecuting white supremacist attacks
-fear-mongering about 'a war on Christianity' over prayer in schools (etc.)
-debates about the Confederate flag and statues as 'heritage under attack'
-DOJ disinterest in prosecuting white supremacist attacks
(bit later but still relevant - drawing on late 80s-90s here)
-FBI completely misunderstands white supremacist organizational patterns (as hierarchical pyramid vs. cells)
-practice of recording police brutality emerges
-racial tensions/riots over police racism
-FBI completely misunderstands white supremacist organizational patterns (as hierarchical pyramid vs. cells)
-practice of recording police brutality emerges
-racial tensions/riots over police racism
-'freedom of speech' is the ideological angle white supremacists exploit to justify hate speech and incitement: even as a way to defend against sedition charges
-white supremacists begin to embrace anti-capitalist positions and critiques of the 'working man's' betrayal by state
-white supremacists begin to embrace anti-capitalist positions and critiques of the 'working man's' betrayal by state
Honestly, there are so many parallels I could write a book on the resemblance between the late 70s and the lead-up to 2016, 2021 (and, sadly, it's likely - beyond).
For now, key to the Capitol case is the Order's seditious conspiracy trial in 1988. https://twitter.com/MsEntropy/status/1349494892217581569
For now, key to the Capitol case is the Order's seditious conspiracy trial in 1988. https://twitter.com/MsEntropy/status/1349494892217581569
If and when the events at the Capitol on January 6 go to trial, the government absolutely needs to study up on the 1988 sedition conspiracy trial of the Order.
Mistakes were made in spades.
And similar contextual factors are at play today.
Mistakes were made in spades.
And similar contextual factors are at play today.
One mistake with the sedition conspiracy trial in 1988:
The prosecutors lumped all kinds of criminal charges into one overarching, singular conspiracy.
Without the above, the case "consisted mainly of 'speech' (protected by the First Amendment" (Zeskind).
The prosecutors lumped all kinds of criminal charges into one overarching, singular conspiracy.
Without the above, the case "consisted mainly of 'speech' (protected by the First Amendment" (Zeskind).
Also the judge deemed evidence related to white supremacist affiliations as prejudicial, which allowed defendants like Louis Beam to paint himself as a sympathetic, freedom-loving Vietnam veteran outraged by flag burning...
...when Beam's entire ideology was opposing the state.
...when Beam's entire ideology was opposing the state.
The trial (with an all-white jury) resulted in:
Not guilty verdicts for 13 white supremacists accused of plotting to overthrow the United States government and killing federal officials.
They called it a "victory for free speech." https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/08/us/13-supremacists-are-not-guilty-of-conspiracies.html
Not guilty verdicts for 13 white supremacists accused of plotting to overthrow the United States government and killing federal officials.
They called it a "victory for free speech." https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/08/us/13-supremacists-are-not-guilty-of-conspiracies.html
Yes, you read that correctly.
Here's a snapshot of the white supremacists' post-verdict celebration outside the courthouse in 1988:
Praising the "free speech victory" in front of a Confederate memorial they felt was being attacked.
Here's a snapshot of the white supremacists' post-verdict celebration outside the courthouse in 1988:
Praising the "free speech victory" in front of a Confederate memorial they felt was being attacked.
Thread on the 1988 sedition conspiracy trial of white supremacist group The Order (and political context), then and now, is added to the Capitol Siege master thread list: https://twitter.com/MsEntropy/status/1349771049680789505
One last, quick thing before I hop offline - the Order sedition conspiracy trial’s aftermath:
Post-1988 saw an increasing emphasis on Christian families and abortion as white supremacist issues.
Pretty key to underestimating the threat we see but more on that tonight! https://twitter.com/msentropy/status/1349598792614514688
Post-1988 saw an increasing emphasis on Christian families and abortion as white supremacist issues.
Pretty key to underestimating the threat we see but more on that tonight! https://twitter.com/msentropy/status/1349598792614514688
Those who asked for source material on white supremacy and LEOs/military/policing, Christian Identity, The Order (etc.), I added links to a drive of gov. docs for you.
No need to subscribe; it's all open.
Misc Government Files Related to the Far Right https://www.patreon.com/posts/government-files-46225033?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=postshare
No need to subscribe; it's all open.
Misc Government Files Related to the Far Right https://www.patreon.com/posts/government-files-46225033?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=postshare
