‘I Am Not a White Supremacist’: Active Members of Neo-Confederate Group Who Are Linked to Politics and the Military Say They Just Like History and Aren’t Racist

Currently-serving military members, elected officials, and a national security expert claiming to have Department of Defense security clearance are among the members of the neo-Confederate group Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), leaked data shows. The Guardian, which broke the news of the leak, says the membership data was provided to it by a “hacktivist” whose identity the outlet is shielding, and the information includes the names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of almost 59,000 past and present members of the organization. The anonymous hacker said they noticed the website was misconfigured in a way that made membership lists, recruiting data and other information public. An activist with a Confederate flag gathers at the Gettysburg National Military Park on July 1, 2017 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The U.S. Park Service issued protest permits for three groups, including Sons of Confederate Veterans, and Real 3% Risen, on the 154th anniversary of the battle. The data includes 91 individuals who listed addresses associated with government agencies as their contact email and 74 people who used addresses associated with different branches of the U.S. military.
According to The Guardian, active members of the group were included in those who listed addresses associated with government agencies and members of the military. Atlanta Antifa, previously reported on the data and said Georgia lawmakers were listed as current members of the group. SCV, a group for male bloodline descendants of Confederate veterans, is headquartered in Tennessee. According to the website, the organization is “strictly patriotic, historical, educational, fraternal, benevolent, non-political, non-racial and non-sectarian,” and “neither embraces, nor espouses acts or ideologies of racial and religious bigotry.” Members of the group have advocated to keep Confederate monuments from being taken down. Among the high-profile members of the group include Scott Wyatt, who from the 97th district in Virginia’s House of Delegates, which represents counties north of the former Confederate capitol of Richmond.

via atlantablackstar: ‘I Am Not a White Supremacist’: Active Members of Neo-Confederate Group Who Are Linked to Politics and the Military Say They Just Like History and Aren’t Racist

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Ludwig Guttmann: Google celebrates Jewish doctor who fled Nazis and founded Paralympics

Ludwig Guttman was honored by the International Olympic Committee by being awarded the Sir Thomas Fearnley Cup for the social and human value derived from wheelchair sports. “Let’s not forget that the Paralympics, just like the Olympics, are built on a rich history,” comedian, journalist, and disability rights activist Stella Young once wrote. The founding father of the iconic sporting event which was first organized in 1948 on the day of the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games – is being honored by tech giant Google on July 3. It’s a celebration of the Jewish, German-born British neurologist Professor Sir Ludwig “Poppa” Guttmann, founder of the Paralympic movement. Guttmann was born 122 years ago on this day and a Google Doodle commemorated the day with a fitting tribute The illustration by Baltimore-based artist Ashanti Fortson sees Guttman at the fore in his signature spectacled look with a barely-there but endearing smile and wheelchair-bound archers, basketball players, and gymnasts in the back.

via meaww: Ludwig Guttmann: Google celebrates Jewish doctor who fled Nazis and founded Paralympics

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Report finds extremist right-wing rhetoric in the US is going down a darker path

Because the right-wing media are so competitive, countless pundits are resorting to increasingly over-the-top rhetoric in the hope of juicing their ratings or traffic. The conservative pundits of the 1970s and 1980s — most famously, George Will and the late National Review founder William F. Buckley — were downright tranquil compared to the far-right extremism one finds on Newsmax TV or One America News on a daily basis. And journalist Adam Gabbatt, in an article published by The Guardian this week, reports that critics of this inflammatory rhetoric fear it will lead to violence at a time when political tensions are extremely high in the United States. According to Gabbatt, “The extremist rhetoric from right-wing news networks and some elected Republicans is ‘intensifying,’ experts have warned, after a Republican congressman compared Democrats to Nazis and a hard-right news host suggested tens of thousands of Americans should be executed. Right-wing TV personalities, including Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, and Republican politicians have seized every opportunity to rail against Democrats and liberals in recent months, with race increasingly coming to the fore.” Gabbatt notes that Fox News’ Tucker Carlson has said that Democrats want the U.S. to “become Rwanda,” and Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania compared Democrats to Nazis and said, “They are not the loyal opposition…. They want to destroy the country.”
Chris Matthews talks to Raw Story: Who would you bet on in 2024, Trump or Kamala? Gabbatt quotes Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, as saying, “The rhetoric is both intensifying and it’s more widespread. It’s not like this is the first time right-wing media has had moments or flare-ups of intense or inflammatory rhetoric. But typically, it would have been limited to one show or personality. What happened, especially without (former President Donald) Trump having social platforms, is that it did create this pretty big vacuum.” Carusone continued, “What you’ve seen is jockeying to get as much of that audience share, but also, influence share. Everyone is kind of scrambling right now to grab as much as they can. That’s why they hit as many themes as they possibly can; you’re not just going to get more racial inflammatory rhetoric — there’s more conspiratorial stuff.”

https://www.rawstory.com/right-wing-extremism-2653647160/via rawstry: Report finds extremist right-wing rhetoric in the US is going down a darker path

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Rassismus-Eklat um Frankreich-Stars: #Griezmann und #Dembélé verhöhnen Asiaten – #StopAsianHate

Dem EM-Aus folgt der Eklat: In den sozialen Netzwerken kursiert ein Video der französischen Fußballstars Antoine Griezmann und Ousmane Dembélé. Die beiden Kicker des FC Barcelona verhöhnen darin Asiaten. Unklar ist, von wann das Video stammt. Am Montag schied die französische Nationalmannschaft im EM-Achtelfinale gegen die Schweiz aus. Anschließend offenbarte sich großer interner Zwist, unter anderem zwischen Superstar Kilian Mbappé, Mittelfeldspieler Adrien Rabiot und Stürmer Antoine Griezmann. Letzterer erschüttert die Grande Nation nun mit einem weiteren Eklat. Dem Spieler des FC Barcelona und seinem Teamkollegen Ousmane Dembélé (ehemals Borussia Dortmund) wird Rassismus vorgeworfen. Auslöser ist ein Video, das in den sozialen Netzwerken kursiert. Der 24-jährige Dembélé soll es aufgenommen haben, Griezmann ist darauf zu sehen. Die beiden beobachten in einem Hotel eine Gruppe Männer, bei denen es sich wohl um Asiaten handelt, wie sie einen Fernseher instandsetzen, auf dem die beiden offenbar das Videospiel Pro Evolution Soccer spielen wollen. Dembélé macht sich über die Männer lustig. “All diese hässlichen Gesichter”, sagt der Flügelstürmer und mokiert sich dann über deren Sprache. Griezmann grinst und lacht. Griezmann und Dembélé: Rassismus-Vorwürfe unter Hashtag #stopasianhate Das Video ist offenbar nicht neu, entstand vermutlich nicht während der EM. User in den sozialen Medien gehen davon aus, dass das Video vor zwei Jahren aufgenommen wurde – Dembélé und Griezmann weilten damals zur Saisonvorbereitung mit Barcelona in Japan. Neu oder nicht – das Video löst unter dem Hashtag #StopAsianHate Empörung aus. Es werden Stellungnahmen des französischen Fußballverbands gefordert, dazu Konsequenzen für die beiden Kicker.

via focus: Rassismus-Eklat um Frankreich-Stars: Griezmann und Dembélé verhöhnen Asiaten

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#Drohbriefe an #Politiker und #Moscheeverein – #NSU-Helfer sollen gegen rechtsextreme #Heilpraktikerin aussagen – #terror #wohlleben #andreemminger

Im Prozess gegen die mutmaßliche Rechtsterroristin Susanne G. lädt das Oberlandesgericht München Ralf Wohlleben und André E. vor. Die Frau hatte die Nähe der verurteilten NSU-Unterstützer gesucht. Sie schrieben sich Briefe und trafen sich mehrmals persönlich: Im Prozess gegen eine mutmaßliche Rechtsterroristin aus Bayern vor dem Oberlandesgericht München sollen nun zwei verurteilte Helfer des »Nationalsozialistischen Untergrunds« (NSU) aussagen. Das Gericht lädt die beiden auf Antrag der Nebenklage vor. Ralf Wohlleben und André E. müssen am 15. Juli vor dem gleichen Gericht erscheinen, das sie vor drei Jahren wegen ihrer Unterstützung der rassistisch motivierten Mordserie des NSU verurteilt hatte. Die Urteile sind noch nicht rechtskräftig, am Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) in Karlsruhe läuft die Revision. Im Prozess gegen die Heilpraktikerin aus Franken sollen die beiden über ihr Verhältnis zu der Frau aussagen, die Morddrohungen samt Munition in Briefen an Politiker und einen Moscheeverein verschickt haben soll. Später sei sie abgetaucht, um Anschläge vorzubereiten, so die Anklage. Dabei handele es sich um die »Vorbereitung einer schweren staatsgefährdenden Gewalttat«. Wohlleben und André E. sollen im regen Austausch mit der Angeklagten gestanden haben, könnten die Aussage aber verweigern. Die Verteidiger der Frau vertraten auch Wohlleben und gelten als Szeneanwälte. Die in der Neonazi-Szene verwurzelte »Sieg-Heil-Praktikerin« hatte laut Zeugenaussagen zu den beiden Kontakt aufgenommen, als diese bereits im Gefängnis saßen. Im Rahmen der sogenannten Gefangenenhilfe kümmerte sich die Frau um inhaftierte Rechtsextreme. Das legen Erkenntnisse des Bayerischen Landesamts für Verfassungsschutz nahe.

via spiegel: Drohbriefe an Politiker und Moscheeverein – NSU-Helfer sollen gegen rechtsextreme Heilpraktikerin aussagen

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Believers in QAnon and other conspiracy theories reveal how they climbed out of the rabbit hole

For two years, Jitarth Jadeja spent most of his time in the darkest corners of the web reading about conspiracy theories. Mr Jadeja, 33, was an avid follower of QAnon — a baseless, far-right theory that started by alleging then-US president Donald Trump was fighting against a secret group of elites who ran a global child sex trafficking ring. For hours each day, Mr Jadeja devoured cryptic predictions shared by an anonymous online poster called Q on the imageboard website 4chan. Mr Jadeja clung to the shadowy figure’s updates until he started noticing that Q was getting things wrong — a lot.  In early 2018 for instance, an anonymous poster on 8chan (now known as 8kun) requested Q to ask Mr Trump to say “tip top tippy top” as a shout-out to the QAnon community. Four months after the post, Mr Trump mentioned the phrase in his Easter Egg Roll speech at the White House. The coincidence was almost enough to lay Mr Jadeja’s doubts to rest, but if Q had really told Mr Trump to say the phrase, why did it take him four months to mention it? “I thought, if this can be debunked, then that’s it,” says Mr Jadeja, who lives in Sydney. It only took a quick Google search to find a YouTube video showing clips of Mr Trump saying the phrase on several other occasions.  In minutes, Mr Jadeja realised that he had spent two years being led down a rabbit hole of false information. (…) QAnonCasualties – a Reddit community for those impacted by QAnon and former believers — has grown to include 158,000 members since it was created in July 2019. And ReQovery — another Reddit support group geared towards ex-QAnon followers — has attracted almost 9,300 members in less than a year. Like Mr Jadeja, Leila Hay, 19, knew that it was time to break up with Q when she realised none of their predictions had come to pass. “I knew that a lot of the predictions had never come true, but I didn’t realise how many had not come true,” says Ms Hay, who lives in northern England. “I was quite embarrassed.”

via abcnet.au: Believers in QAnon and other conspiracy theories reveal how they climbed out of the rabbit hole

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NJ National Guardsman Charged in Neo-Nazi ‘Ghost Gun’ #Conspiracy – #atomwaffendivision #awd #terror

A bizarre gun trafficking case involving three U.S. Marines and a male porn actor—all with alleged white supremacist ties—now includes a New Jersey National Guardsman who hoped to become a state trooper one day. Joseph Maurino, a 21-year-old infantryman known on the now-defunct neo-Nazi message board Iron March as “Bishop,” was indicted this week by a North Carolina grand jury for allegedly supplying untraceable “ghost guns” and silencers to other members of the conspiracy “with the intention they be used unlawfully in furtherance of a civil disorder,” the 15-page indictment states. In a May 2020 text message FBI agents recovered from Maurino’s phone, he allegedly told an associate known as “Gentile” that he could provide an “untraceable Glock” for $600. Maurino is also accused of attending a desert training camp in Idaho last year with alleged co-conspirators Liam Montgomery Collins, aka “Disciple;” Paul James Kryscuk, aka “Deacon;” Jordan Duncan, aka “Soldier;” and Justin Wade Hermanson, aka “Sandman.” Videos showed the men in Atomwaffen masks and firing assault rifles, according to court filings.

via daily beast: NJ National Guardsman Charged in Neo-Nazi ‘Ghost Gun’ Conspiracy

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