A man believed to be Norman “Trey” Garrison crouches near a table set up at Art Park in downtown Lancaster during a nighttime protest following the police shooting of Ricardo Munoz. The video was streamed live on Facebook. Norman Asa Garrison III once joked about the Holocaust, saying “nothing is better than throwing some Hebrews on the fire.” He scoffed at films starring Black actors in lead roles, describing the actors as “ridiculous coal-skinned, bootlips blue gums.” And he encouraged his supporters in the alt-right, a loosely connected group of white nationalists, to commit violence against women and smash journalists in the face with bricks. Now the long-time Texas resident, described by experts who study hate groups as a notorious white nationalist with a history of instigating harassment campaigns, has set up shop in Lancaster County. The 51-year-old former journalist, who does not reveal his name on his social media accounts or on his website, claims to be launching a conservative, weekly print newspaper called The Lancaster Patriot. Identifying himself only as “Trey,” Garrison has used his social media accounts and website to claim without evidence that members of antifa — far-left-leaning militant groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists — infiltrated the recent rallies against police violence in Lancaster. His posts focus disproportionately on civil unrest in Lancaster city and cast the Black Lives Matter movement in a negative light, playing on fears of racial violence among the primarily white and Republican population living in the suburbs and rural parts of the county. Reads one Lancaster Patriot headline: “BLM/Antifa Rioters Clash with Police in Lancaster After Police Shoot a Violent Knife-Wielding Felon.” Garrison’s web presence alarms local racial justice advocates, media experts and political analysts. Michael Hayden, who has reported on Garrison for the Southern Poverty Law Center and who also reports on the rise of extremism in America since 2016, said the partisan nature of Garrison’s writing stands out because it’s based in Pennsylvania, a top battleground state for the 2020 election. “It is certainly disappointing to see a Dallas-area conman, who for years lied and pretended to be a wealthy psychiatrist while living a double life, descend on a city like Lancaster and raise hell in it,” Hayden said. “Garrison is a white nationalist, a misogynist, a bully and a grifter.” While evidence does not show that partisan sites like this one actually sway votes, it has the potential to exploit confusion around the election or deepen tensions in the community, said Stephen Medvic, a government professor at Franklin & Marshall College.

via lancaster online: Who’s behind Lancaster Patriot? An alt-right podcaster from Texas, investigation shows