#unitetheright

State by State Pending and recently passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Missouri

HB 355: New penalties for protests near gas and oil #pipelines

Creates new potential penalties for protests near gas and oil pipelines and other "critical infrastructure." The law--which was substituted by a Missouri Senate committee for a House bill on sentencing guidelines--heightens the penalties for trespass occurring on critical infrastructure property. Trespass with intent "to damage, destroy, vandalize, deface, [or] tamper with" a facility or intent to "impede or inhibit the operations" of a facility is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Protesters seeking to peacefully demonstrate against construction of a new pipeline, for instance, with the intent to disrupt that construction, could be prosecuted under the law. The law also newly criminalizes "damage" to critical infrastructure, broadly defined to include vandalism, and makes it a Class C felony, punishable by 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The law also newly and broadly defines "critical infrastructure" to include oil and gas pipelines, refineries, cell phone towers, and railroad tracks whether operational or under construction.
Full text of bill: https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB355&year=2019&code=R

Status: enacted
Introduced 18 Apr 2019; Approved by Senate as amended 17 May 2019; Approved by House 17 May 2019; Signed by Governor Parson on 11 July 2019

Issue(s): Infrastructure, Trespass

HB 1413: Limiting #PublicEmployees' ability to picket

***Note: A Judge of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County found HB 1413 unconstitutional in its entirety and granted a permanent injunction against the enforcement of the law on January 27, 2020. ***

Bars certain public employees from picketing. The law requires that all labor agreements negotiated between a "public body" and a labor organization "shall expressly prohibit all strikes and picketing of any kind." The law further mandates that such agreements provide for the "immediate termination" of "any public employee who...pickets over any personnel matter." "Public body" is broadly defined in the law to include "the state of Missouri, or any officer, agency, department, bureau, division, board or commission of the state, or any other political subdivision or special district of or within the state"; accordingly, the law may apply to many labor agreements. While "picketing" is not defined under the law, Missouri Code elsewhere refers to "picketing or other organized protests" as "constitutionally protected activity," indicating that picketing as used in HB 1413 includes protests and demonstrations unrelated to labor strikes.
Full text of bill: https://house.mo.gov/bill.aspx?bill=HB1413&year=2018&code=R

Status: enacted
Introduced 3 Jan 2018; Approved by House 12 February 2018; approved by Senate 16 May 2018; Signed by Governor Greitens 1 June 2018

HB 601: Heightened penalties for #masked #protesters

Would increase the penalty for any offense if committed by someone wearing a mask or other device that concealed their identity. The bill does not require that someone intended to conceal their identity in order to facilitate a crime. The bill also does not provide exemptions for masks worn for medical or any other purpose, nor does it limit the enhanced penalties to violent crimes. As such, a peaceful protester who committed a nonviolent offense while wearing a mask—whether a medical mask to avoid contagion, a mask to avoid retaliation for their political speech, or a mask worn for any other reason—could face steep penalties. For instance, peaceful demonstrators in Missouri may be charged with “disturbing the peace,” a minor misdemeanor, if they make too much noise or obstruct a sidewalk or road in the course of a protest. Under the bill, a masked protester charged with that offense could face up to one year in jail and $2,000 for the first offense and a felony penalties (up to four years in prison and $10,000) for subsequent offenses.
Full text of bill: https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB601&year=2025&code=R

Status: pending
Introduced 8 Jan 2025.
Issue(s): Face Covering

#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #AntiMaskLaws #HeatherHeyer #UniteTheRight #DrivingDownProtestors

State by State Pending and recently passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Minnesota

SF 1501: Heightened penalties for protesters who block #traffic

Would heighten penalties for protesters who intentionally “interfere with” or “disrupt” traffic that is entering, exiting, or on a freeway or a roadway on airport property. Under the bill, intentional traffic disruption on freeways or airport roadways would be a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $3,000 fine. The relevant provisions are identical to HF 329 / SF 728.
Full text of bill: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=Senate&f=SF1501&ssn=0&y=2025

Status: pending
Introduced 17 Feb 2025.
Issue(s): #Traffic =Interference

SF 1363: New penalties for pipeline protesters and supporters, and protesters who block traffic

Would create new civil and criminal liability for funders and supporters of protesters who peacefully demonstrate on pipeline or other utility property. Any person or entity that "recruits, trains, aids, advises, hires, counsels, or conspires with" a person who trespasses onto a “critical public service facility, utility, or pipeline” would be civilly liable for any damages committed by the trespasser under the bill. They would also be guilty of a gross misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $3,000, if they fail to make a reasonable effort to prevent the violation. Additionally, the bill would make the person who trespasses onto the critical public service facility, utility, or pipeline strictly liable for civil damages. Similar provisions were introduced as SF 1493 in the 2023-2024 session. The bill would also make it a gross misdemeanor to obstruct traffic on a freeway or on a public road within airport property, with intent of obstructing or otherwise interfering with traffic. As written, the offense could cover protesters who even momentarily delayed cars on a freeway while demonstrating on the side of the freeway or on an overpass. Similar provisions were introduced as SF 1285/HF 1967 in the 2021-2022 session.
Full text of bill: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=Senate&f=SF1363&ssn=0&y=2025

Status: pending
Introduced 13 Feb 2025.
Issue(s): Civil Liability, #ProtestSupporters or Funders, Infrastructure, Traffic Interference, Trespass

HF 329 / SF 728: Heightened penalties for protesters who block traffic

Would heighten penalties for protesters who intentionally “interfere with” or “disrupt” traffic that is entering, exiting, or on a freeway or a roadway on airport property. Under the bill, intentional traffic disruption on freeways or airport roadways would be a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $3,000 fine. A nearly identical bill was proposed as HF 1967 / SF 1285, introduced in 2021.
Full text of bill: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=HF329&y=2025&ssn=0&b=house

Status: pending
Introduced 13 Feb 2025.
Issue(s): Traffic Interference

HF 367 / SF 180: New civil liability for street protesters

Would allow third parties or the government to sue protesters if they interfere with traffic on certain public roads. Under the bill, someone who intentionally “interferes with” or “obstructs” passage on any “public highway” would be civilly liable for damages and attorneys fees. Any injured person, private entity, or state or local government could bring such a lawsuit, though the bill provides that the government cannot bring both a civil suit and criminal charges for the same conduct. “Highways” in Minnesota include many two-lane roads with stop signs and stoplights. As such, protesters whose demonstration paused or delayed traffic on certain roads could face costly litigation by, for instance, a company that claimed it was “damaged” by the delay.
Full text of bill:
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=House&f=HF367&y=2025&ssn=0

Status: pending
Introduced 13 Feb 2025.
Issue(s): Traffic Interference

SF 708: BARRING PUBLIC BENEFITS FOR PROTEST-RELATED OFFENSES

Would broadly disqualify a person convicted of an offense during a protest from receiving #PublicAssistance. Any "offense related to the person's illegal conduct at a protest, demonstration, rally, civil unrest, or march" would disqualify the person from a range of benefits, including #FoodAssistance, education #loans and grants, and #unemployment assistance. Under the bill, a person convicted of even a misdemeanor that is deemed somehow "related" to their participation in a peaceful protest could face permanent disqualification from such benefits. The same bill was introduced as SF 935 in 2023.
Full text of bill: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=Senate&f=SF0708&ssn=0&y=2025

Status: pending
Introduced 27 Jan 2025.
Issue(s): Limit on Public Benefits

SF 702 / HF 2808: New civil immunity for drivers who hit protesters

Would shield from civil lawsuits drivers who hit street protesters in certain situations. The bill provides that anyone who unlawfully obstructs a roadway cannot sue a driver for any injury, loss, death or damage they suffered if the driver was seeking to “retreat or escape” from the roadway obstruction and believed they were in immediate danger of injury. An identical bill was introduced as SF 5500 in 2024.
Full text of bill: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=Senate&f=SF0702&ssn=0&y=2025

Status: pending
Introduced 27 Jan 2025.
Issue(s): Driver Immunity

#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #HeatherHeyer #UniteTheRight #DrivingDownProtestors

State by State Pending and Recently Passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Louisiana

HB 737: #Vague ban on #ResidentialProtests

Broadly criminalizes participating in a protest within 50 feet of a residence that “threatens to disrupt, or harasses” an individual’s “right to control or use” their residence. The law does not make exceptions for protests that take place in #PublicParks or on #sidewalks—traditional public forums—that may be within 50 feet of residential buildings. Nor does the law require any intent on the part of protesters to target a specific residence or to harass or disturb specific residents. The law also does not require that a protest actually disrupt an individual's right to use their residence, only that it "threaten" to do so. It is also unclear what would constitute "harassing" an individual's right to use their residence, for the purpose of the law.

Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=24RS&b=HB737&sbi=y

Status: enacted

Introduced 18 Mar 2024; Approved by House 9 April 2024; Approved by Senate 20 May 2024; Signed by Governor Landry 18 June 2024

HB 383: Civil immunity for drivers who hit protesters

Limits the civil liability of drivers who injure or kill protesters who were unlawfully in the street. The law provides that if a driver hits someone who was illegally “blocking a roadway,” the driver cannot be sued for any injury, death, or damage if he “reasonably believe[d]” that he was in immediate danger of injury and was trying to “retreat or escape.” The sponsor cited a rise in protests across the country as motivation for the bill.

Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=24RS&b=HB383&sbi=y

Status: enacted

Introduced 29 Feb 2024; Approved by House 8 April 2024; Approved by Senate 20 May 2024; Signed by Governor Landry 11 June 2024

Issue(s): #DriverImmunity, #TrafficInterference

HB 205: New #racketeering penalties for protesters

Adds nonviolent protest-related offenses to the underlying crimes that can be prosecuted under Louisiana’s racketeering law, which carries steep penalties. Offenses that are now covered by the racketeering law include “simple #obstruction of a #highway of commerce,” “#riot,” “inciting to riot,” "institutional #vandalism," and “aiding and abetting others to enter or remain on premises where forbidden.” As such, individuals in a protest that merely makes movement on a #highway “more difficult” (a minor misdemeanor offense) could be charged with a violation of Louisiana’s racketeering law if they did so more than once and as part of an enterprise with others. Louisiana law defines “riot” broadly, requiring no actual violence or damage but three or more people engaged in a “#PublicDisturbance” that creates a “danger of injury or damage” by an “imminent threat of tumultuous and violent conduct,” so individuals who participate in tumultuous protests could likewise be charged with racketeering. The law also adds “criminal damage to a critical infrastructure” to the racketeering law, such that certain #CivilDisobedience actions near #pipelines and other #infrastructure, including sites under construction, could be covered as well. Racketeering violations are punishable by up to 50 years in #prison with #HardLabor and a one million dollar fine.

Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=245811&sbi=y

Status: enacted

Introduced 26 Feb 2024; Approved by House 2 April 2024; Approved by Senate 14 May 2024; Signed by Governor Landry 10 June 2024

Issue(s): #ProtestSupporters or Funders, Infrastructure, Riot, #Trespass

HB 127: Heightened penalties for #StreetProtesters and organizers

Increases existing penalties for impeding traffic and creates a new offense that could cover individuals who plan or organize protests that would impede traffic. Under prior law in Louisiana, engaging in conduct that makes movement on any road “more difficult” was a misdemeanor, punishable by six months in jail and $200. The law adds an offense of “#conspiracy” or “aiding and abetting” of others to engage in such conduct. As written, the new offense does not require that that the protest or other act actually take place or that it actually impede traffic. The law also increases the fine for both offenses to $750.

Full text of bill:
https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=24RS&b=HB127&sbi=y

Status: enacted

Introduced 22 Feb 2024; Approved by House 15 April 2024; Approved by Senate 16 May 2024; Signed by Governor Landry 10 June 2024

Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Traffic Interference

HB 727: NEW PENALTIES FOR PROTESTS NEAR GAS AND OIL PIPELINES

Targets protests around gas and oil #pipelines by expanding the definition of "critical infrastructure" and providing for the offense of "unauthorized entry of a critical infrastructure." Under the law, "critical infrastructure" is amended to include "pipelines," "any site where the construction or improvement of [pipelines or any other listed infrastructure facility] is taking place," as well as "all structures, equipment, or other immovable or movable property located within or upon" such facilities. Unauthorized entry onto critical infrastructure property as defined above is punishable by imprisonment with or without hard labor for up to five years and a fine of $1,000. As originally introduced, the law included a new crime of "conspiracy to engage in unauthorized entry" of a critical infrastructure facility, punishable by imprisonment with or without hard labor for up to five years and a fine of $10,000, such that individuals who only planned to hold a peaceful protest on infrastructure property could be prosecuted. The amended and enacted version of the bill removed the provisions on conspiracy, however. In addition, prior to the law's enactment, provisions were added to mandate that the law would not apply to "[l]awful assembly and peaceful and orderly petition, picketing, or demonstration for the redress of grievances or to express ideas or views regarding legitimate matters of public interest."

Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=18RS&b=HB727&sbi=y

Status: enacted

Introduced 26 Mar 2018; Approved by House 12 April 2018; Approved by the Senate 8 May 2018; Signed into law by Governor Edwards 30 May 2018

Issue(s): Infrastructure, #Trespass

#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #HeatherHeyer #UniteTheRight #DrivingDownProtestors

State by State Pending and Recently Passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Iowa

SF 342: Heightened penalties for protesters convicted of "riot," "unlawful assembly," or blocking traffic, and immunity for #drivers who injure them

Introduces felony penalties for the offense of "riot," previously an aggravated misdemeanor, such that the offense is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and $7,500. Preexisting law defines "riot" as a group of three or more people assembled "in a violent manner," at least one of whom uses any unlawful force or violence against another person or causes property damage. The law also converts "unlawful assembly" from a simple to an aggravated misdemeanor. Preexisting law defines "unlawful assembly" as a group of three or more people, any of whom are acting "in a violent manner," and who intend that any of them will commit an offense. Under the law, it is a serious (rather than simple) misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail and a $1,875 fine, to "obstruct" a sidewalk, street, or "other public way" with the intent to hinder its use by others. If an individual obstructs a sidewalk or street while "present during an unlawful assembly," it is an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by 2 years in jail and a $6,250 fine. If an individual obstructs a sidewalk or street while "present during a riot," it is a Class D felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $7,500 fine. Under the law, a driver who injures someone who is participating in a "protest, demonstration, riot, or unlawful assembly," engaging in "disorderly conduct," and blocking traffic, is immune from civil liability as long as the driver was exercising "due care" and the protester did not have a permit to be in the street. The law would also allow law enforcement who experience a physical or other injury while on duty to pursue civil damages from a person, group, or organization. Finally, the law creates a new felony offense for "defacing" public property, "including a monument or statue." The offense, a Class D felony, is punishable by up to 5 years in prison, a $7,500, and mandatory restitution for any property damage. This law was introduced and passed by the Senate as SF 534, but passed by the House as an amendment to SF 342.

Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89&ba=SF%20342

Status: enacted

Introduced 1 Mar 2021; Approved by Senate 10 March 2021, Approved by House 14 April 2021, Signed by Governor 16 June 2021

Issue(s): Civil Liability, Protest Supporters or Funders, Driver Immunity, Riot, Traffic Interference

HF 952: Requiring state permission for protests in the capitol and on capitol grounds

Would require organizers to have a government sponsor in order to hold protests in or near the Iowa capitol. Under the bill, organizers cannot hold “events” in capitol buildings or on capitol grounds unless they have a “recommendation” either from a statewide elected official or by both a member of Iowa’s state senate and its house of representatives. The bill would also prohibit the same person from holding more than six “events” per year in or around the capitol. Neither the bill nor the relevant provisions of Iowa law define “events,” such that they could seemingly include public protests and demonstrations. As such, the bill would effectively give elected officials authority to allow or disallow protests near the capitol.

Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=HF%20952
Status: pending

Introduced 12 Mar 2025.

HF 25: Heightened penalties for #MaskedProtesters

Would increase the penalty for any offense if committed by someone wearing a mask or other device that concealed their identity for the purpose of facilitating the offense. The bill provides #exemptions for masks worn in a number of contexts, including holiday costumes, medical masks, and “#hood[s]” or other “disguise[s]” worn by members of “a society, order, or organization while engaged in any parade, ritual” or “ceremony.” As such, for instance, members of the #KluKluxKlan would seemingly be exempt from enhanced penalties for illegally blocking traffic while parading in the street wearing hoods. The bill does not exempt masks worn during public protests, nor does it limit the enhanced penalties to violent crimes. Accordingly, a peaceful protester who committed a nonviolent offense while wearing a mask could face steeper penalties. A masked demonstrator engaged in a vigil who failed to disperse after being ordered to do so by police, for instance, could face up to a year in jail, rather than 30 days.

Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=hf25

Status: pending

Introduced 14 Jan 2025.

Issue(s): #FaceCovering

#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #TrafficInterference #MaskBans #HoodsAreOK #HeatherHeyer #UniteTheRight #DrivingDownProtestors #LimitingProtests #RedTape

It's almost like none of these people actually care in the least about fighting antisemitism.

===

But while showcasing his media appearances and sharing other pro-Trump viewpoints on X, Terrell also re-posted two accounts with a history of promoting antisemitism earlier this week.

First, on Wednesday, Terrell re-posted a comment by Patrick Casey, the former leader of the now-defunct white nationalist group Identity Evropa, whose members chanted, “Jews will not replace us,” during the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va.

Casey’s post nested a video of President Trump calling Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) “a Palestinian.” Trump’s comment has drawn condemnation from both Muslim and Jewish groups for using the word “Palestinian” as a racial slur.

“Trump has the ability to revoke someone’s Jew card,” Casey added in the post shared by Terrell.

Whether or not he is familiar with Casey’s background, in a January 2020 appearance on Fox News, Terrell mentioned “white nationalists” in Charlottesville “chant[ing] hateful [anti-] Jewish comments.”

Terrell directly followed the Casey re-post on Wednesday by sharing a post by the Hodgetwins podcast. Keith and Kevin Hodges, the podcast hosts, have been called out by the group Stop Antisemitism for being “purveyors of blatant antisemitism, regularly platforming and promoting hateful rhetoric.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20250315023317/https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/leo-terrell/

#Antisemitism #PatrickCasey #Hodgetwins #KeithHodges #KevinHodges #LeoTerrell #MahmoudKhalil #Trump #Schumer #Palestinian #UniteTheRight

Chris Cantwell, the "Crying Nazi" who got famous for his actions during and after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA, in 2017, has now been charged with charges stemming from an incident in which he allegedly strangled a guy in the boarding house where Cantwell has been living.

Also, a fun fact that I learned: Cantwell's dad was apparently one of the air traffic controllers who Reagan fired in 1981 for daring to go on strike. My little brain is all aflutter with "what if" scenarios right now...

===

“But more than that, he has a history of trying to play the victim when being caught in his violent acts,” Gorcenski told The Independent . “He did this when he was convicted in federal charges for extortion, he did this when he was sued for participating in a violent conspiracy against civil rights in Charlottesville, and he did this when I swore a complaint against him for violently assaulting me with pepper spray at the University of Virginia.”

From Cantwell’s perspective, Gorcenski went on, “his frequent violence is always just and his victims are always liars.”

“Unfortunately for him, there is rarely much overlap between Chris’s world and the real world,” she said. “I hope one day he learns to take accountability for his actions.”

https://www.newsbreak.com/the-independent-517119/3841629725860-crying-nazi-who-became-infamous-after-unite-the-right-rally-is-back-in-legal-hot-water-with-strangulation-charge

#ChrisCantwell #UniteTheRight #UTR #fascism #CryingNazi #WhiteNationalism

Data on #DomesticTerrorism investigations indicate #FarRight #extremists have been a rising threat to Americans over the past half decade….The rate of increase in domestic-terrorism-related cases is eye-popping: A Feb 2023 Govt Accountability Office report found the #FBI tallied 9,049 such cases in 2021, up from 5,557 in 2020; 4,092 such cases in 2019; & 3,714 in 2018. In 2017, the year of #UniteTheRight, there were 1,890 domestic-terrorism-related cases, nearly equivalent to the preceding 4yrs.

#WhiteSupremacist renounces extreme beliefs after taking ‘love drug’ #ecstasy as part of study

By Isabel Keane
Published June 18, 2023

"A former white nationalist leader said he changed his extremist views after taking the 'love drug' ecstasy as part of a scientific study, according to researchers.

"The man, only identified as Brendan, took the psychoactive drug MDMA in February 2020 as part of a University of Chicago study about whether its use increased the pleasantness of social touch, wrote Rachel Nuwer, author of 'I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World,' for the BBC.

"After completing the study, Brendan left a cryptic message at the bottom of a survey for the researchers.

"'This experience has helped me sort out a debilitating personal issue. Google my name. I now know what I need to do,' he said.

"The researchers looked up Brendan and discovered he had been the leader of a US Midwest faction of Identity #Evropa, a notorious white nationalist group rebranded in 2019 as the #AmericanIdentityMovement.

"Brendan had led the white nationalist group up until two months earlier, when activists exposed his identity and he lost his job.

"Researching Brendan further, the scientists also discovered he had attended the deadly '#UniteTheRight' rally in #Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.

"They later reached out to Brendan asking him to clarify what he meant by his comments at the bottom of the survey.

"'Love is the most important thing,' he told them. 'Nothing matters without love.'

"'This is stuff you can’t really put into words, but it was so profound,' Brendan said of his experience with the drug.

"Brendan took MDMA in February 2020 as part of a University of Chicago study.

"'I conceived of my relationships with other people not as distinct boundaries with distinct entities, but more as we-are-all-one. I realised I’d been fixated on stuff that doesn’t really matter, and is just so messed up, and that I’d been totally missing the point. I hadn’t been soaking up the joy that life has to offer.

"'There are moments when I have #racist or #antisemitic thoughts, definitely,' he said. 'But now I can recognise that those kinds of thought patterns are harming me more than anyone else.'

"Brendan said he had leaned left while growing up but became more right after joining a conservative fraternity at the University of Illinois.

"He described feeling encouraged by #DonaldTrump, noting, 'His speech talking about Mexicans being rapists, the fixation on the border wall and deporting everyone, the Muslim ban – I didn’t really get white nationalism until Trump started running for president.'

"He said he joined Identity Evropa to meet others who shared his views and quickly rose in the ranks, eventually traveling around the US and Europe to huddle with other white nationalist groups. He likely would have continued along this path had his identity not been exposed, Nuwer noted in her article.

"Harriet de Wit, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at the University of Chicago who led the experiment, was still astonished by its results nearly two years later when speaking with Nuwer for her book.

"'Isn’t that amazing?' de Wit said. 'It’s what everyone says about this damn drug, that it makes people feel love. To think that a drug could change somebody’s beliefs and thoughts without any expectations – it’s mind-boggling.'

"The use of MDMA and other #psychedelics have gained traction in the medical community as they have shown positive results for treating some disorders such as #PTSD and #alcoholism.

"Brendan told Nuwer that the drug helped him 'see things in a different way that no amount of therapy or #antiracist literature ever would have done.'

"'I really think it was a breakthrough experience,' he said.

"Still, he said he knew of other white supremacists who had previously used MDMA but had not changed their minds.

"According to Nuwer, MDMA 'does not seem to be able to magically rid people of prejudice, bigotry, or hate on its own.

"'But some researchers have begun to wonder if it could be an effective tool for pushing people who are already somehow primed to reconsider their ideology toward a new way of seeing things,' the researcher wrote.

"'While MDMA cannot fix societal-level drivers of prejudice and disconnection, on an individual basis it can make a difference. In certain cases, the drug may even be able to help people see through the fog of discrimination and fear that divides so many of us.'"

https://nypost.com/2023/06/18/white-supremacist-renounces-beliefs-after-taking-ecstasy-as-part-of-study/

Here's an article with more details on Augustus Invictus' sentencing. Yesterday I left out an important detail from Emily Gorcenski's initial post: most of his five-year sentence is suspended, and he's only slated to spend 9.5 months in jail. He has, of course, already said he'd appeal (in his usual grandstanding style, he's promising to take it to the Supreme Court), but it sounds like he doesn't have much of a case (he's actually a lawyer, but he's also a violent kook, go figure).

https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-courts/goats-blood-drinking-florida-man-gets-9-1-2-months-for-role-in-torch-carrying/article_1a26be9e-ceb1-11ef-919b-2fccf28af730.html

#UTR #UniteTheRight #AugustusSolInvictus #NeoNazis #fcknzs #fascism #FuckThatGuy

Emily Gorcenski, who is way more clued into this than I am, has posted on Bluesky that neo-Nazi and goat's blood-drinker Augustus Sol Invictus has been sentenced to five years for using fire to intimidate during the tiki torch march in Charlottesville on August 11, 2017. However, she also points out that he won't actually go to jail just yet pending appeal. [Edit: Most of his sentence will be suspended, and he's only set to serve 9.5 months at the moment.] Make of it what you will.

#UTR #UniteTheRight #AugustusSolInvictus #NeoNazis #fcknzs #fascism

https://www.flyingpenguin.com/?p=63934

The American response proved particularly telling. Within months of Nice, while counterterrorism experts were still analyzing implications, seven U.S. states introduced nearly identical legislation providing legal immunity to drivers who targeted pedestrians. North Dakota’s HB 1203 explicitly protected drivers “exercising reasonable care” when using vehicles as weapons. Florida’s SB 1096 went further, shifting the burden of proof to injured pedestrians.

This wasn’t mere reaction to civil unrest – it represented systematic effort to codify private vehicular force as state-sanctioned crowd control. The normalization, rooted in 1930s racist jaywalking laws, created a permissive atmosphere where boundaries between accident and attack, between self-defense and aggression, became deliberately blurred to favor vehicles.

Media outlets played a crucial role in this normalization. Major platforms including Fox News and The Daily Caller published, then quietly deleted, articles encouraging drivers to strike protesters. Social media filled with information warfare campaigns promoting vehicular violence as political action.

#massmurder #MAGA #charlottesville #unitetheright #fascism #nazis #dailycaller #foxnews #farright #USPol #classwar #protest #vehicularattack #stochasticterrorism #stochasticviolence #propaganda #elonmusk #trump

…aaand Augustus Sol Invictus has, in fact, been defeated: for the first time, a Virginia jury has found someone guilty under that state’s anti-cross-burning law, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

===

The goat’s blood-drinking White supremacist and failed Senate candidate who participated in the torch-lit march across University of Virginia Grounds before the infamous Unite the Right rally-turned-riot in 2017 was convicted Friday.

Augustus Sol Invictus was found guilty in Albemarle County court for violating a Virginia law that prohibits the use of fire to racially intimidate. He could face five years behind bars.

https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-courts/torch-toting-unite-the-right-participant-convicted/article_b1c7280c-8824-11ef-8d09-8b76156f839f.html

#UniteTheRight #AugustusSolInvictus #UVa #fascism #WhiteSupremacy #fcknzs #racism #antisemitism

On a related note, Augustus Sol Invictus still exists, and he has taken his "using a burning object to intimidate" charge to trial. His lawyer tried, and failed, to argue that a torch isn't a "burning object" because "all that's being burned is the oil" and oil somehow isn't an object. Go figure.

Anyways, Sol Invictus (who wasn't given that name at birth, but picked it I guess because it's the most absurdly pompous thing he could think of) is a lawyer himself, but his track record isn't so hot. He has also admitted to drinking goat's blood and, while he was found not guilty on some really horrible domestic violence charges, there's really nothing about his personality or other public statements to make me think that he's not exactly the kind of person who would do what he was accused of.

https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-courts/judge-greenlights-trial-for-florida-man-who-participated-in-2017-march-at-uva/article_f465d98c-81d1-11ef-baf6-d393667f9456.html

#AugustusSolInvictus #UniteTheRight #UTR #fascism #fcknzs

Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau has pleaded down to a disorderly conduct conviction in his tiki torch trial in Charlottesville. He's now the third participant in the big march on the weekend of Unite the Right to have done so (several others have been convicted, but I've lost track of how many). All were charged under Virginia's anti-KKK statute that bars using fire to intimidate.

The judge accepted the plea "because of Rousseau's lack of a criminal record and the fact that he didn't make physical contact with any counterprotesters" at the Rotunda on the University of Virginia campus on the night of the march. It's true that Rousseau has never been convicted. But he (along with Patriot Front at large and several of its members) has a trial pending in Boston for an assault that took place when they marched there a couple of years ago, and he was lucky to get his personal "conspiracy to riot" charges dropped in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, late last year (although a bunch of other PF members were convicted, including one for having child porn on his phone). It's not a coincidence that the assault in Boston targeted a Black man and the march they were plotting in Coeur d'Alene was targeting a pride event. So sure, Rousseau has a clean record, but it seems completely bonkers for a judge to pretend they don't know that he's obviously going to go out and keep doing the same shit. This is what he does. It's actually his full-time job.

It's not that I'm a fan of putting people in cages. It's just the logic at work here is, well, foolish.

https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-courts/patriot-front-leader-takes-no-jail-disorderly-conduct-plea-after-torch-charge/article_3e872f70-84f7-11ef-87af-6b2701fc6862.html

#PatriotFront #ThomasRousseau #fascism #UniteTheRight #UTR #NeoNazis #fcknzs

This fashy professor and Unite the Right veteran is now unemployed.

From the article:

Days after his name was tied to white-supremacist propaganda accounts, Logan Smith has left Austin Peay State University. The exit comes after protests by students and community members in Clarksville. Smith joined APSU’s Department of Psychological Science and Counseling as an assistant professor in August.

Michael Licari, APSU's president, announced the decision in a letter on Monday.

“I am writing to inform you that on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, Austin Peay State University and Dr. Logan Smith mutually agreed to end employment, effective immediately,” writes Licari.

Smith was identified in April 2023 as the person behind multiple propaganda accounts publishing a broad range of hate speech, including praise for Adolf Hitler, attacks on minorities and support for the nuclear extermination of humanity. Sunlight Anti-Fascist Action, a self-identified “collective of anti fascist researchers,” posted extensive documentation tying Smith to these accounts, which operated under the pseudonym “Levi” Smith.

https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind/apsu-white-supremacist-professor-allegations/article_60f3c6e6-79e3-11ef-aa07-6fd03080bb81.html

#UniteTheRight #fascism #racism #Hitler #antisemitism #LoganSmith #APSU #RacismInHigherEd #FascismInHigherEd

Vasillios Pistolis has been arrested. It would be hard to overstate what a colossal pile of shit this guy is. He went to Unite the Right with a Confederate battle flag that he carried on a wooden pole with the stated intention of using it to draw blood from antifascists.

He later joined Atomwaffen Division and was eventually court martialed and then kicked out of the US Marine Corps for being a giant Nazi who bragged openly about inflicting physical violence without the Corps' blessing

Now he's the latest to be arrested for his participation in the tiki torch march (he was apparently indicted back in February of last year). Like the others, he's being charged with using fire to intimidate.

I don't know how much evidence there is of his participation in the march, but he was deposed on video for Sines v. Kessler a few years ago (the civil suit against the UTR organizers), which was before people started getting arrested for the torch march. So he may well have spilled something without realizing that he might one day get popped for this. It'll be pretty interesting to see whatever happens here.

#fascism #UniteTheRight #VasilliosPistolis #AtomwaffenDivision #NeoNazis #fcknzs

https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-courts/north-carolina-man-charged-for-participating-in-2017-torch-march-at-uva/article_584f1c66-7510-11ef-88aa-4b0786bc3a49.html

From the article:

Austin Peay State University is investigating Logan Michael Smith, a recently hired assistant professor of psychology, for allegedly spreading racist, antisemitic, transphobic and xenophobic propaganda via prominent social media accounts.

Sunlight Anti-Fascist Action, a self-identified “collective of anti fascist researchers,” posted detailed documentation tying Logan Smith to far-right hate groups in April 2023. The group updated Smith’s information page on Sept. 10 to include his post at APSU. Smith joined the APSU Department of Psychological Science and Counseling after completing his Ph.D. at Oklahoma State University in 2024.

“We cannot confirm the allegations circulating online,” reads a statement from APSU posted on X on Sept. 11. “Leadership is aware of the situation and assessing validity.”

https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind/apsu-white-supremacist-allegations/article_b187d710-752d-11ef-b392-ef072c47a30e.html

#UniteTheRight #APSU #Tennessee #fascism #WhiteSupremacy #Racism #Antisemitism #Transphobia #Xenophobia

Update on Unite the Right attendee and /pol/ News Network operator Logan Michael Smith: he's been hired as a psych prof. at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.

From the article:

It has recently been brought to our attention that Logan Michael Smith, previously of Stillwater, Oklahoma, completed his Ph.D. in clinical psychology and has been hired as an Assistant Professor at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. Out of concern over him having access to impressionable students (and possibly patients), we have updated the original post to include his current location.

Logan Smith was actively posting hateful content to his ‘PNN’ account until his identification in 2023. The original thread identifying Logan can be found on Twitter.

https://sunlight161.noblogs.org/logan-michael-smith-of-clarksville-tn-white-supremacist-behind-pol-news-network/

#UniteTheRight #Pol #Tennessee #Clarksville #APSU #LoganSmith

I'm learning about Father Charles Coughlin and the Christian Front and ... wow, we've been here before.

Quick profile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Coughlin

#fascism #nazis #trump #maga #tuckercarlson #nickfuentes #kkk #unitetheright #christiannationalism #guns #gunnuts #america #usa #uspol #politics

Well, the judge in the case against Unite the Right tiki torch marcher Jacob Dix has definitively dismissed the charges. Dix is a free man.

Dix had actually been put on trial for "burning an object with the intent to intimidate," a felony in Virginia under a 2002 law that replaced an older anti-KKK law against cross burning. That prior law had been ruled unconstitutional.

The jury in Dix's case came back hung three months ago.

I generally don't regard putting people in cages as an effective solution to social problems. But the judge's rationale for dismissing this case is just atrocious. According to the article below, Judge Thomas Padrick said in court that "this is akin to flag-burning. It's distasteful, and I don't agree with it, but the Supreme Court has defended it. It is Constitutional free speech."

Uh-huh.

Attacking and deliberately traumatizing a group of people in the name of an explicitly violent, misanthropic ideology with a none-too-obscure history of actual genocide is totally the same thing as burning a piece of cloth. So free speech. Much Constitution.

The judge also expressed misgivings about his own instructions to the jury in Dix's trial. He had invoked the idea of "concert of action," which is a legal doctrine that holds people liable for criminal activity when they only abet it, rather than actually committing it. In dismissing the case, he asked "Every one of them committed a felony? Every one of them just because they carried a lit tiki torch and marched in formation and uttered hate speech?"

Is that even a real question? Virginia law defines "burning an object with the intent to intimidate" as a felony. So yes. Yes they did. When that march happened, I wasn't even in the crowd at the rotunda. I was across the street, just off campus, and I felt intimidated. And I'm a fairly large, relatively inconspicuous white male gentile.

Just think for one moment about the effect of that spectacle: the fire, the booming voices, the constant swirling motion, the smell of burning butane. Nobody had the luxury of hindsight then. There was no way to know what kind of harm might come from that. People were getting bits of lighter fluid on their clothes from torches being swung at them, sometimes actually hitting them. And while we can mock the marchers for using bullshitty Walmart tiki torches, there was actual fire involved, and it was coming at people from all directions.

Oh, but the actual, literal fascists merely carried lit torches, marched in formation, and uttered hate speech? Is that all? Good point, judge. Good fucking point.

Judge Padrick also raised an issue that's been brought up by both Dix's attorney and every pissant nazi twerp from sea to shining sea, namely that "we're talking about something that happened seven years ago and no prior commonwealth's attorney would prosecute." Well, that's because the prosecutor in that county in 2017 simply declined to prosecute. When the current prosecutor ran against him in 2020, he specifically promised to go after these people and -- guess what? -- he got elected. Correlation doesn't equal causation, but to me, that at least suggests that there's a good chance that people who live in that county disagreed with the old prosecutor's approach and did, in fact, want to see the "justice system" hold these people accountable.

Lastly, the implication that these cases should just be dropped and forgotten because so much time has passed is just disgraceful. Dix claims he doesn't hold the same beliefs anymore, but he remains unapologetic. During the torch march, he was wearing a t-shirt with a big "88" on it (for the uninitiated: in context, that's *definitely* a Nazi symbol). Now he's whining that the trial cost him "tens of thousands of dollars" while claiming he no longer has that shirt. He says "that was more of a radical time for me. I don't want to apologize for any past mistakes, but I don't hold those same values."

Sure, man. Cool. Refusing to apologize for your "mistakes" is an excellent way to convince the world that you've changed.

The one real upside to all of this is that Jacob Joseph Dix (29) of Clarksville, Ohio, has effectively been doxxed in a big way. I mean, his case has by now gotten significantly more coverage than the other "intimidation by fire cases," though that may no longer be the case once Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau gets his day in court for this. Dix is going to find it rather difficult to get work, a date, or probably even friends who aren't also nazis. He will be celebrated as a hero in some circles, but ultimately, that's a fairly small world, and he is going to find it rather difficult to move beyond its borders. But then treating borders as sacrosanct is kind of a big deal to people like him, so maybe that's no loss after all.

#UTR #UniteTheRight #Charlottesville #JacobDix #NeoNazis #fcknzs #fascism

https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-courts/case-against-participant-in-2017-uva-torch-march-dismissed/article_4a426148-60cd-11ef-a6b5-3bb238cf2f82.html