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Proud Boys, the American Guard + Trump supporters are still attacking counter-protesters + journalists while law enforcement sits by or even coordinates with the far-Right. Meanwhile, the FBI's relationship with the Proud Boys echoes Greensboro. A thread. https://itsgoingdown.org/this-week-in-fascism-107/
Since January 6th, the US had been bombarded with non-stop coverage of the attempted pro-Trump coup in DC. However in the months since, far-Right groups and Trump supporters have only continued to build coalitions that includes open white nationalists + sections of the GOP.
Last Saturday in #Salem, over 100 people rallied in a park in support of the #2A. Armed Proud Boys did security and closed the park to the public and even threatened journalists; forcing them out of the area. https://www.thecentersquare.com/oregon/far-right-groups-hold-gun-rights-rally-in-oregon-park-threaten-media/article_71a0e616-aaf9-11eb-a215-7bc97cb46857.html
The event was unpermitted, yet despite threats to journalists and the closing of the park to the public by armed members of the Proud Boys, police stood by and did nothing. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/salem-police-respond-to-complaints-of-inaction-at-riverfront-park-second-amendment-rally/ar-BB1gkqgy
"The rally was supposed to be headlined by Republican Rep. Mike Nearman, but he did not speak. Nearman was charged Friday with official misconduct in the first degree" for opening doors at the Oregon capitol to far-Right militants in December.
Contrast this to what is happening in #ElizabethCity in #NorthCarolina, where the city has put in place a curfew and declared that all protests must have an approved permit, as the town of 20K takes to the streets over the police killing of #AndrewBrown. https://www.wavy.com/andrew-brown/aclu-civil-rights-groups-elizabeth-city-protest-permit-requirement-curfew-violate-1st-amendment-and-other-rights/
A week before in Yorba Linda in Orange County, California, Proud Boys, the American Guard, and Trump supporters violently attacked a smaller Black Lives Matter counter-protester. Attackers later bragged online that they were armed and coordinated with local enforcement.
It's no surprise that the far-Right side included several ex-LEOs and current local law enforcement has a history of involvement in violent far-Right politics - including the recent attempting pro-Trump coup in DC. https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2021/03/04/ocsd-employee-suspended-capitol-riot-related-investigation/
"Despite the months of tough rhetoric from Democrats, media + the intelligence agencies, this open relationship between the fascist Right and rank-n-file law enforcement remains just as strong as it ever was and results in the violent suppression of grassroots organizing."
Couple this with recent news that the FBI has a network of informants within the Proud Boys that it has been paying money to in exchange for information about antifascists. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-before-jan-6-fbi-collected-information-least-4-proud-boys-2021-04-26/
This relationship - which apparently hasn't stopped the Proud Boys from engaging in numerous violent attacks + assaults - mirrors the State's relationship to KKK + neo-Nazis in the late 1970s - when fascists killed 5 anti-Klan activists in Greensboro, NC.
The Greensboro Massacre was the result of various KKK + and neo-Nazi groups - which including several police and State informants which encouraged the violence - planning to attack an anti-Klan march. https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/14/us/greensboro-historic-apology-trnd/index.html
It seems that the FBI is cultivating a similar relationship within groups like the Proud Boys, in order for them to act as an independent vehicle for violence against the State’s enemies: autonomous social movements from below.
All of this is even more of a reason to reject calls from Centrists and the State for a new 'war on terror' against 'violent extremism' which will only result in a continued assault against popular social movements as the far-Right continues to grow. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/4/30/2028393/-Biden-s-DOJ-eyes-new-federal-code-to-tackle-white-nationalist-terrorism-but-it-may-be-a-bad-idea
