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I've spent years tracking + fighting against foreign disinformation campaigns. But after discovering self-described fascist groups like this, I feel the need to re-prioritize a bit. Gen-Z isn't going to save us. Trump losing won't make nazis disappear. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/patriot-front-preparing-after-trump
Patriot Front, a gang of masked kids that credits its success in red-pilling and recruiting Gen-Z white boys on platforms like @tiktok_us, is an @instagram-filter-era nightmare led by a 22-year-old Thomas Rousseau of Grapevine, TX.
It wasn't until @BuzzFeed reached out to @Twitter within the last 24 hours or so that this platform finally booted @pfthomas1488, who was tweeting stuff like veiled threats against the police who arrested him in August.
#PatriotFront has been using a secure communications app called @RocketChat as their primary means of sharing their own activities around the country (which is mostly just putting up propaganda stickers with their website on it).
I recently spoke to RocketChat's chief security guy. Because it's an open-source platform, they say they lack the means to knock PatriotFront offline. I imagine that an app update to sabotage the server "bloodandsoil[.]org" is a thing they could do though.
This Brazil-based company is looking to set stronger roots in the US, where they've got a shot to make a lot more money. However, I'm not sure that being the app that neonazi kids use to privately communicate is a good way to get investors.
So, what do we do about these neonazis? Everything within the bounds of the law to make being a fascist in the US as uncomfortable and expensive of an experience as possible.
How do we do that? Just like I got my degree: Google EVERYTHING.
How do we do that? Just like I got my degree: Google EVERYTHING.
How do we do that? Well, as anti-fascists (let's stop using the Fox News / Trump-promoted branding term "Antifa activists") our first priority needs to be safety.
In order to make sure that everyone is safe, we need to make sure that people know when one of their neighbors idolizes Hitler, believes in genocide, and is a member of the rebranded terrorist group that killed Heather Heyer at the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville.
My friend @amyspitalnick of @IntegrityforUSA has been taking on nazis in court. If you don't have the time to investigate and unveil your local nazi, whatever resources you've got would be well spent if thrown their way: https://twitter.com/amyspitalnick/status/1321101985702121473?s=20
Back to school: what do we get when we Google the leader of Patriot Front, Thomas Ryan Rousseau's name? Well, we see that he's been arrested recently in Texas. The state of Texas makes mugshots, arrest records, and jail records publicly available... so...
Folks like @nickmartin of The Informant have been keeping tabs on these guys for a while now. https://www.informant.news/p/patriot-front-founder-arrested
The arrest records of Thomas and the other two nazis who were arrested with him are available online. From there we have dates of birth and full names. With DOB and full names, we can go to the county website and find unredacted records, incl addresses. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7013053-Thomas-Ryan-Rousseau-Arrest-Report.html
Records indicate that these three nazis are from Grapevine, Texas, and Midway, Utah. From there, we want to make sure that their local TV news and newspapers get those arrest records, and documents putting their activity into context.
Part of the problem with these guys is that Patriot Front isn't a household name yet, so when local media produce short articles saying a neonazi group was arrested for putting up stickers that say "Reject Poison" (meaning alcohol/drugs) it makes them sympathetic.
They then use those very same local-news pieces to recruit and build their brand. Reporters need to cover Patriot Front like @JaneLytv did: show alongside their propaganda, their hateful, racist, anti-Semitic messages. Every report on these guys needs to be clear and damning.
