Category Archives: Antifa

Bob Mackin

As the anti-Israel protest camp at the University of B.C. continues for a second month, a B.C. Supreme Court judge has weighed-in on a lawsuit against the universitys 2019 cancellation of a conservative authors lecture.

Cover of Portland writer Andy Ngos book on Antifa.

The Free Speech Club promoted a January 2020 appearance at the Robson Square campus by Portland writer Andy Ngo, a critic of Antifa protests that often feature intimidation and violence. But, in November 2019, UBCs vice-president of students cancelled the Ngo event due to safety and security concerns and returned the clubs deposit. The Free Speech Club and members Noah Alter, Cooper Asp and Jarryd Jaeger sued UBC for breach of contract and a declaration that the university and provincial government both violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In a June 4 written decision, Justice Christopher Greenwood ruled the province would be struck from the claim. Greenwood wrote that neither the province nor any of its employees had any direct involvement in the cancellation and the plaintiffs cannot succeed against the province based on the facts or the law.

Greenwood also said the plaintiffs face strong headwinds in convincing the court that the Charter applies to UBC, due to previous decisions that say universities are not equivalent to government.

The judge pointed to two 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decisions about mandatory retirement that said the University of Guelph and University of B.C. were not covered by the Charter. He also cited a 2016 B.C. Court of Appeal decision against the Youth Protecting Youth anti-abortion group at the University of Victoria.

Both the Chambers judge and the Court of Appeal found in [the UVic case] that regulating or prohibiting space controlled by the university from being used for expressive purposes was not sufficient to constitute the performance of a government function, Greenwood wrote.

The appeal decision said [universities] manage their own affairs and allocate government funds, tuition revenues and endowment funds to meet their needs as they see fit. The complex nature of the relationship between the university and the provincial government did not alter the traditional nature of a university as a community of scholars and students enjoying substantial internal autonomy.

In 2013, Youth Protecting Youths space-booking privileges were revoked for a year after it disobeyed the universitys orders against holding an outdoor event where photographs of fetuses were displayed. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association and group leader Cameron Cote accused the university of illegally censoring peaceful pro-life opinion on campus.

Ngo, who is not a party to the Free Speech Club lawsuit, authored Unmasked: Inside Antifas Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy in 2021. The senior editor with the conservative Post Millennial news outlet sued the far-left Rose City Antifa in 2023 for injuries suffered at a 2019 protest. Two people were found not liable. When three other defendants did not appear, a judge awarded Ngo $300,000 in damages by default.

Protesters against Israel and its war on the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza arrived April 29 and erected barricades and tents on MacInnes Field at UBCs main Point Grey campus. They demand UBC divest from Israel-related stocks, cut ties with Israeli universities and abolish police from campus. UBC President Benoit-Antoine Bacon has not agreed to the demands of protesters, nor has he ordered them to be removed.

Protesters have also staged sit-ins at the university presidents office building and the bookstore. Police thwarted their attempt to occupy a building where NDP re-election campaign workers were meeting June 1.

Charlotte Kates of Samidoun on May 29 (CASI)

On May 29, campers and supporters blocked a major intersection near UBC hospital. Charges are being considered against Susan Bibbings, who defied orders to leave the intersection. The West Vancouver mother pleaded guilty in 2022 for blocking highways in environmental protests professionally organized by associates of the California-based Climate Emergency Fund.

The UBC protest camp started with help from 44-year-old Charlotte Kates, international director of the pro-Hamas Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.

Prosecutors are considering whether to charge Kates for inciting or promoting hatred after Vancouver Police arrested her on April 29.

On the Vancouver Art Gallery steps April 26, Kates called Iran-backed Hamas heroic and brave for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and she urged followers to support those inside and outside Gaza who are fighting to end the state of Israel. Kates also said Hamas and its allies do not belong on Canadas terrorist list.

Police released Kates on an undertaking to not attend protests, demonstrations or assemblies until a tentative Oct. 8 court date. Samidoun has organized or promoted most, if not all, Lower Mainland anti-Israel protests since Oct. 7.

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Judge strikes province from Free Speech Club's lawsuit over UBC cancellation of Antifa critic's lecture - theBreaker

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Welcome, to This Is America, March 8th, 2024.

On todays episode, we feature an interview first with Jeremy White, a long-time community organizer in Southern California who is currently facing felony charges stemming from a counter-protest against violent far-Right gangs in San Diego in 2017. We talk about how Jeremy and other activists were selectively targeted by the State and law enforcement, while fascist groups like the Proud Boys and American Guard were allowed to run wild and openly attack members of the public.

We then talk to folks in Austin, Texas about the upcoming Smash By Smash West counter-summit. Finally, we speak with long-time anarchist media maker Franklin Lopez, who has now completed a new book for kids. We speak about anarchist media and the need for more engaging content geared at young people and parents alike.

All this and more, but first, lets get to the news.

Photos from vigils in memory of Aaron Bushnell across the US. SOURCE: Facebook / Various

Across the world, people held vigils in memory of anarchist Aaron Bushnell, the 25 year-old active duty member of the Air Force who in late February, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC in what he called an extreme protest against the USs continued support of the war and ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine. In Portland, as Alissa Azar reported, in a moving act of solidarityVeterans [burned] their uniforms at a vigil for Aaron Bushnell, hosted by Veterans Against War.

Protests, mass marches, and blockades against the US backed war in Gaza continue. In New York, a militant marches took the streets, in San Francisco, thousands marched on the Israeli consulate and were attacked by police, in Chicago, street blockades shut down intersections, several defense contractors in New Hampshire were recently hit with vandalism, in Ontario, over 400 pro-Palestinian protesters mobilized to shut down a speaking event featuring prime minister Justin Trudeau in honor of [the] Italian prime minister, a protest encampment sprang up outside of the home of US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and in Oakland, middle school students organized a walkout.

In Berkeley, California, hundreds shut down a speaking event featuring the deputy director of a far-Right Israeli think-tank, heavily involved in the states current trajectory. Protesters rallied outside of the event, windows were broken, and the speaker was evacuated out of the building.

Blockades of weapons manufactures also continued. In Plymouth, Minnesota, demonstrators blockaded Northrop Grumman, which manufactures weapons that Israel uses against Palestinians. Meanwhile, pickets and blockades also took place outside of Lockheed Martin offices in Vancouver, Quebec City, Calgary and Toronto.

A call in the Pacific Northwest has also been made for a mobilization against the upcoming Aerospace and Defense Supplier Summit at the Seattle Convention Center. According to the call posted to Puget Sound Anarchists:

On March 12th to 14th Seattle will host the 2024 Aerospace and Defense Supplier Summit at the Seattle Convention Center. This conference will bring together suppliers and subcontractors from around the world, including Boeing, to network and show off products that will be used to build weapons that will murder people in wars of colonial expansion in Palestine and around the world.

Read the full call here.

Vigils were also held across the US in memory of Nex Benedict, an Indigenous non-binary student who died after being attacked in a bathroom at a school in a district that had been targeted by gender fascists. In Los Angeles, California, people took to the streets to mourn the violent murder of Nex and also call for an end to attacks on the LGBTQ+ community.

Crowd rallies outside of St. Cloud prison in Springvalle, Alabama. SOURCE: Instagram

As we reported on in our recent In Contempt column, various groups have been rallying in solidarity with the call from the Free Alabama Movement for strike and protest action. One person wrote on Instagram, stating:

Today, we protested again for the fourth week in a row in solidarity with the Free Alabama Movements 90-day prison shutdown. In honor of the international day of action for Rafah, the Young Palestinians of Birmingham (@yp.bham) joined us in solidarity where we united in chants about Palestine, Alabama, Congo, and more.

Incarcerated people in America are forced to produce a wide range of products and services, including the bombs and weapons that are killing Palestinians and other innocent people all over the world. When incarcerated people refuse the forced labor, they are subjected to beatings and solitary confinement.

Currently, incarcerated people in the U.S. do all the work to maintain the jails and are forced to work to make profits for the state and for companies like Raytheon. The same companies profiting from the occupation and genocide in Palestine are the same companies profiting from the exploitation and genocide of incarcerated people here.

As long as the ADOC and companies like Raytheon can use prison labor they will and as long as they can profit from genocide they will. Prison work stoppages shut down the entire economic system and get directly into companies pockets.

Cargill Tenants Union rallies in support of rent strike in Putnam, CT. SOURCE: Cargill Tenants Union Instagram

A rent strike organized by the Cargill Tenants Union in Putnam, Connecticut has continued into February and March, as tenants face threats of eviction as they continue to demand that landlord address health and safety concerns over lead, mold and beyond. Most recently, the rent strike has pushed the attorney general of Connecticut to launch an official inquiry. From a recent statement from the CTU:

Our rent strike and tenant union organizing has been building pressure to remediate this mill for our members. This is a major development directly resulting from attention on our rent strike. We still face retaliatory evictions, but the tide is turning in our favor. Organizing gets the goods.

Resistance to Cop City in so-called Atlanta and beyond continued across the so-called US. According to communiques recently posted to Scenes from the Atlanta Forest, an office in Santa Cruz, California of a subsidiary of Nationwide, an insurance provider to the Cop City project, was vandalized with graffiti slogans and had their locks glued. In Brooklyn, New York, police cars and buses had their tires punctured and the slogan, For Tort, was left behind. On Lenapehoking territory, three Nationwide offices were covered in anti-Cop City slogans and posters. A video of the communique was released:

Supporters of Jack, who was recently arrested in raids against the movement in Atlanta, rallied at a recent court hearing, complete with a hardcore band who played outside of the court house. A rally was also recently organized outside of the home of the Atlanta Mayor in protest of the Cop City project.

Rally with hardcore band playing in support of Jack in so-called Atlanta, Georgia. SOURCE: Unicorn Riot

In the Pacific Northwest, action continued against a proposed Cop City in Lacey, WA. A communique posted to Puget Sound Anarchists wrote:

In the earliest hours of Saturday morning, a small crew spiked various trees in the woods that are currently being logged, a well-known eco-defense practice to prevent or at least delay the logging of these precious trees. We need forests, not cops. Hours later, a separate crew dropped a banner that read Stop Lacey Cop Complex #stopallcopcities at the Olympia/Lacey pedestrian bridge over Pacific Avenue that will hopefully bring more awareness to the project

In Houston, Texas, a judge has ruled that police must temporarily stop the ticketing of the local Food Not Bombs chapter. According to one report:

Food Not Bombs have been operating in Houston, Texas since 1994 and after nearly three decades in 2023, they started getting tickets for serving free meals outside of the citys Central Library. So far theyve received 96 tickets which made them file a lawsuit against the city authorities who claim that their meal service was a constitutionally protected protest.

Graffiti and broken windows at Army recruiting station in Chicago, IL. SOURCE: Chicago Anti-Report.

In Chicago, a communique posted to Chicago Anti-Report claimed credit for breaking out windows and covering an army recruitment center in paint and anti-war graffiti slogans. According to the communique:

One week ago, Aaron Bushnell self-immolated outside the zionist embassy in so-called Washington DC. He follows an unnamed self-immolation outside the zionist embassy in so-called Atlanta. In addition, in 2023, a man self-immolated in Kinshasa, DRC in protest of the genocide in Congo over capitalist green and resource extraction of cobalt and copper for the worlds technology.

As such, comrades took the following actions against the recruitment center for the 33,000+ Palestinian martyrs since October 7, for Aaron Bushnell, and for all those struggling against the US imperialist machine:

Finally, following a successful week of action against the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), direct actions and protests continue in Appalachia, with various lock-downs and disruptions of pipeline construction shutting down work sites for hours. Be sure to check out Appalachians Against Pipelines for updates on ongoing resistance.

Forest defenders shut down construction for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. SOURCE: Appalachians Against Pipelines

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This Is America #194: Jeremy White on San Diego 'Antifa' Case, Smash by Smash West, Franklin Lopez on New ... - ItsGoingDown.org

In the latest rash of conspiracy theories about the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, social media users are claiming a video of two black-clad men attempting to bash in a window shows anti-fascist activists leading the charge. This is false; the two rioters have been charged in the assault, and there is no evidence they have ties to Antifa.

"Suspected ANTIFA trying to break windows at the Capitol on #january6th," says a November 29, 2023 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from a self-described "January 6 survivor."

The roughly one-minute video shows two men dressed in black repeatedly hitting a Capitol window, one with a flag and the other with what appears to be a baton. Former Republican congressional candidate Chuck Callesto, who has previously spread other disinformation about the Capitol riot, amplified the clip.

The claims add to a deluge of posts recycling long-debunked conspiracy theories about undercover federal agents and left-wing activists infiltrating the mob of Donald Trump supporters on January 6, 2021. The allegations resurged across platforms after new Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered hours of security footage released in November.

But the latest video does not show members of Antifa, a loose coalition of anti-fascist activists that US conservatives commonly blame for unrest, and who typically wear head-to-toe black clothing.

Court documents have identified the men as Jonathan Munafo of Albany, New York and William Lewis of Burbank, Illinois. The former pleaded guilty to two felony charges and was sentenced in September, while the latter was arrested in November for assaulting a law enforcement officer and other charges (archived here and here).

The two are among more than 1,200 people who have been arrested in connection with the violent attempt to halt Congress's certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory. Former president Trump himself is slated to go on trial in March on charges of conspiring to overturn those results.

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Keven Ruby, a senior research associate with the Chicago Project on Security and Threats, told AFP his team has found no evidence of Antifa involvement -- echoing statements the FBI made shortly after the riot.

"We currently have data on over 1,100 individuals charged by the FBI, DC Police or US Capitol Police for their role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. None have ties to Antifa," Ruby said in a December 1 email, adding that court documents show several rioters have personally refuted claims that Antifa was involved.

The man on the right in the video shared online -- seen brandishing a flag reading "Don't Tread on Me" -- is Munafo, identified in court documents by the black hooded jacket pulled over his hat.

A judge sentenced Munafo in September to 33 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release (archived here). He had pleaded guilty to felony charges of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers (archived here).

While outside the Capitol, Munafo punched a police officer twice before stealing his riot shield, according to court documents (archivedhere and here). He later struck the building's window approximately 13 times with the flagpole.

The court's sentencing memorandum from September shows a screenshot from what appears to be the same footage being misrepresented. Prosecutors said another rioter recorded and uploaded it to YouTube (archived here and here).

"As it begins, Munafo is smashing on the windows of the Capitol. He continues until another rioter comes and stops him," prosecutors said of the video.

Far from being a member of Antifa, Munafo was an ardent Trump supporter, his attorneys wrote in a court filing (archived here).

"During the 2020 election season, Jonathan was a 'Front Row Joe,' camping at rally locations, waiting in lines to show support for President Donald J. Trump's reelection," they said.

At the time he went to Washington, Munafo was not taking mental health medication and lacked stable housing, employment and income, his attorneys said.

The man to Munafo's left in the video is Lewis, identifiable by his backpack and black jacket with sleeves bearing a US Army logo and an American flag.

Lewis was arrested in November on felony charges of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, as well as several misdemeanors, including destruction of government property.

Court documents allege Lewis blasted officers with a wasp and hornet spray three times before throwing the empty canister at them and moving to the window, where he used what resembled a police baton to break at least three glass panels (archived here).

The case against Lewis had not been resolved as of December 1.

Other clips on X and YouTube appear to show different angles of Munafo and Lewis striking the Capitol window. News outlets have published similar footage (archived here, here, here and here).

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the Capitol attack here.

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January 6 rioters who broke windows falsely tied to Antifa - Yahoo News UK

Donald Trump has just been found liable for sexual battery against journalist E. Jean Carroll. After a civil trial that lasted two weeks and under three hours of deliberation, the jury found Trump not liable for rape but liable for sexual abuse and defamation. They have ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in compensatory damages.

In New York state, sexual battery is any sex act performed without one partys consent, while rape is sexual intercourse performed under forcible compulsion. The slightly ambiguous verdict is oddly fitting for the E. Jean Carroll-Trump case, which has been in a confusing position from the beginning. In one sense, its deeply important. Its the first time a former US president has been accused of rape in a court of law. Its the other shoe finally dropping after the long wait that began in October 2016 with the arrival of the Access Hollywood tape, on which Trump can be heard bragging about grabbing unconsenting women by the pussy, because when youre a star, they let you do it.

This trial speaks directly to one of the issues that made Trump such an upsetting presidential candidate to begin with: He was not only inexperienced, incompetent, and bigoted, but it also looked extremely likely that he was an unrepentant sexual predator. When Trump nevertheless claimed victory over the woman widely expected to become Americas first female president, despite the Access Hollywood tape and despite accusations of sexual misconduct coming from at least 26 women, the irony was vicious and heartbreaking. Carrolls lawsuit presented one possible remedy. In that sense, this case is vital.

In another sense, next to Trumps other legal problems and alleged crimes, the Carroll case can seem to pale a little. It doesnt touch on any of the damage Trump did during his time in office. Its in no way relevant to Trumps blatant corruption, his lies, the malicious mess he made of the onset of the Covid pandemic. It has nothing to do with the violence of the Capitol riot of January 6 or any of the rest of Trumps public attempts to overthrow the results of an election. As a civil case, the Carroll trial doesnt even come with the threat of potential jail time carried by New Yorks Al Capone-like swing against Trump for financial crimes. Now, while Trump has been found guilty of sexual assault, the verdict stops short of actually tarring him with the word rapist.

There is the open question of how this trial will affect Trumps chances in the upcoming 2024 presidential campaign. Prior to Trumps norm-breaking and successful 2016 campaign, this question would not be open: The mere fact of the trial, regardless of the verdict, would render most aspiring presidents unelectable.

Trumps perversely intense connection to his base, however, has survived plenty of scandals. For the Trump faithful, is anything up to and including a sexual battery liability verdict enough to move the numbers?

One possible read of Trumps absence at the trial is that he thinks it isnt. While Trump publicly threatened to show up in New York to confront this, apparently referring to the trial, he never appeared in the courtroom. (During jury deliberations, Trump falsely claimed hed been barred from speaking in his own defense, which he was not.) Trumps attorney, Joseph Tacopina, who initially planned to call a psychiatrist to the stand as an expert witness for the defense, ended by calling no witnesses for the defense at all, leaving Carrolls argument essentially unrebutted.

Im here because Donald Trump raped me, Carroll said at the beginning of her remarkably clear three-day testimony. She went on to describe in graphic detail her encounter with Trump in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the early 1990s.

Carrolls time on the witness stand gave way to testimony from friends, who confirmed that she told them about the encounter shortly after it happened; from a psychiatric expert witness, who said Carrolls decision not to scream during the attack and not to press charges afterward was common among rape victims; and from two other women who say Trump attacked them in similar ways.

Perhaps most damningly, Carrolls team showed the jury videotaped excerpts from Trumps deposition. There, he can be heard apparently doubling down on his infamous comments on the Access Hollywood tape, saying, Historically, thats true, with stars. Well whats what if you look over the last million years, I guess thats been largely true, not always, but largely true, unfortunately or fortunately.

Jurors were also shown a clip of Trump saying that Jessica Leeds, who accused Trump of groping her, would not be my first choice. (Hes made similar claims about most of the women who have accused him of sexual assault, including Carroll.) You wouldnt be a choice of mine, either, Trump informs Carrolls attorney in the clip from his deposition. I hope youre not insulted.

Meanwhile, Tacopina confined his argument to cross-examinations, in which he attempted to make much of the fact that most of the plaintiff witnesses shared a well-documented dislike of Trump. What they want is for you to hate him enough to ignore the facts, Tacopina told the jury in his closing statement. He also suggested that noted Trump hater George Conway was secretly masterminding the suit, and argued that Carrolls testimony was so unbelievable it didnt require a counter case, saying, He didnt tear apart her story. She tore apart her story.

We dont know why Trump and Tacopina so showily declined to make a case of their own in Trumps defense. Its plausible, however, that Trump decided he didnt need a case. If he lost, he faced no risk of jail time. He could hold off on paying the damages while tying up the case in appeals. As for politics well, by this time, after the Access Hollywood tape, after 26 women have already accused him of sexual misconduct how much could a pesky little thing like being found legally liable for rape actually hurt him?

Now, in a triumph of hair-splitting, hes been found not liable for rape, but only for sexual battery. What are such nuisances for a figure as bulletproof as Trump?

Recently, though, an unexpected tremor felled another apparently immortal giant of the right-wing media ecosystem, possibly indicating that such a verdict is something that might hurt Trump.

In April, Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, one of the networks biggest stars, apparently due to concerns that a text from Carlson might become public. In the text, Carlson describes watching a video of several Trump supporters attacking someone he referred to as an Antifa kid.

Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. Its not how white men fight, Carlson allegedly said in the text.

As far as anyone can tell, thats the line that got Carlson fired: the simple explicit racism of the sentence, Its not how white men fight.

For many, the line Fox apparently drew between that racist text and all the other racist things Carlson has said live on air was puzzling. Its certainly a terrible sentiment (and a false one), but is it any worse than mainstreaming the great replacement conspiracy theory developed by white supremacists? writes Voxs Zack Beauchamp, summarizing the popular consensus on the left. Is it more offensive than saying immigrants make America poorer, and dirtier, and more divided? Is it more racist than downplaying the killings of unarmed Black men by the police, or accusing Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson (who is Black) of putting on a fake sharecropper accent?

The text isnt meaningfully more racist than the rest of what Carlson regularly said on his show, but it did do something important. As Beauchamp lays out, the text removed the fig leaf that allows Carlsons fans to comfortably lie to themselves that they and Carlson are not actually racist.

A core part of Tucker Carlsons message is that he, and his viewers, are colorblind: that they are standing up for the ideals of Martin Luther King Jr. against liberals who want to polarize America along racial lines for their own nefarious purposes, Beauchamp writes. The sentence Its not how white men fight makes it much harder for Carlson to keep pretending that hes colorblind.

Its possible that by finding Trump legally liable for sexual battery, the jury has handed him his own version of the secret Tucker Carlson text. They have removed the last shred of plausible deniability that Donald Trump is not a sexual predator.

I doubt that this verdict will matter to the hardcore Trumpists. They can say that the trial was fixed; that the swamp has it in for Trump; that everyone knows New York courts are a joke; and that anyway, it wasnt even real rape. They will stay loyal to the end, in the same way that Carlsons diehard fans are now clinging to his every word on Twitter.

There are people who voted for Trump in 2016, though, for whom this verdict may matter. The people who have been telling themselves that its all gossip, that nothing has been proven in court, that all of Trumps accusers were just lying for the attention and the fame, that the Access Hollywood tape was just locker room talk. The people who tell pollsters that while they support Trump, they do have some worries about the rape case. Those worries are now justified.

We know that America is a country capable of choosing a president who very likely committed sexual assault. Were a long way away from Election Day 2024, and theres a lot that can happen between now and then. But when Election Day comes, well at last find out whether America is a country capable of choosing a president who was found liable for sexual abuse in a court of law.

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Donald Trump has been found liable for sexual abuse. Will it change anything? - Vox.com

A military veteran who espoused antisemitic views was sentenced to four years in prison Monday on felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the Capitol riot.

Hatchet Speed of Vienna, Virginia, a former Navy reservist who had a top secret security clearance and worked for a defense contractor on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced in Washington, D.C., for obstructing Congress' certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden also ordered 36 months of supervised release, a $10,000 fine and $2,000 in restitution, the Justice Department said in a news release.

According to a sentencing memo, Speed, 42, joined the Proud Boys around June 2020, praising perceived parallels between the far-right extremist group and pro-Nazi paramilitary forces used during Adolf Hitler's rise to power. He claimed that both groups were used to stop antifa, which he believed was controlled by the Jewish community.

Hatchet Speed. (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)

Speed referred to Hitler as one of the best people thats ever been on this earth and described "Mein Kampf" as "incredible," according to the memo, which detailed his conversations last year with an undercover FBI employee.

"It is not clear why this military veteran with a [security] clearance became enamored withHitler, began to embrace street fighting, and call for the execution of the countrys entire Jewish population," prosecutors wrote.

In the Naval Reserve, Speed was assigned at one point to Naval Warfare Space Field Activity at the National Reconnaissance Office, part of the U.S. intelligence community, an FBI special agent said in an affidavit filed with the court.

The Navy said Speed was not with the National Reconnaissance Office on Jan. 6 and was instead assigned to a reserve unit with the Navy Criminal Investigative Service.

A spokesperson for the Navy also said Speed's enlistment contract ended in November. "He was not in classified spaces due to a loss of his clearance from not complying with the COVID Vaccine mandate," the spokesperson said in an email.

Story continues

Speed also left his contractor job with Accenture Federal Services last year. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.

Prosecutors said in court documents that in the months leading up to the Capitol riot, Speed took part in several Stop the Steal rallies with the Proud Boys.

After he attended the Stop the Steal rally at the Ellipse in Washington on Jan. 6, Speed went to the Capitol, where he was seen wearing a tactical backpack and a reinforced Make America Great Again hat during the riot, the sentencing memo said.

After he breached the Capitol, prosecutors said, Speed stood shoulder to shoulder with other rioters who shouted: Traitors! 1776 motherf---er! and They cant stop us!

Speed later told an undercover FBI employee that he viewed then-Vice President Mike Pences actions in the certification process as a betrayal, adding that we all went in and we took control, according to court documents. He also said it was impressive how the throng of rioters had overwhelmed police, court documents showed.

He further argued that more people should have joined the pro-Trump mob that breached the Capitol, an effort he said might have prompted then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to have "resigned out of fear for her life," according to the sentencing memo.

Speed, who is serving a sentence in a separate case related to unlawful possession of unregistered silencers, could not be reached for comment Monday. The defense attorneys who were involved in his case are no longer representing him.

Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,000 people in connection with the Capitol attack, with hundreds more who have been identified but have not yet been arrested.

Last week, a federal judge imposed the longest sentence for a Jan. 6 defendant to date 14 years in prison to Peter Schwartz, who prosecutors said was first to throw a folding chair at officers protecting the Capitols Lower West Terrace.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

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Former Navy reservist who admired Hitler is sentenced to four years over Jan. 6 riot - Yahoo News

Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch avoided mentioning former anchor Tucker Carlson by name in the first earnings call since the popular host's ousting from the network.

On Tuesday, Murdoch acknowledged the recent shake-up involving Carlson at the news network but stopped short of speaking directly about him, saying, "There's no change to our programming strategy at Fox News."

"It's obviously a successful strategy, and, as always, we are adjusting our programming and our lineup and that's what we continue to do," the CEO said, according to entertainment news outlet The Wrap. "We are pleased with the strength of the advertising demand throughout our schedule but particularly in prime time."

Murdoch's remarks came two weeks after Carlson's abrupt departure from Fox News, where he had been the network's top host, averaging 3.25 million viewers every night at 8 p.m. for Tucker Carlson Tonight. Many observers speculated that Carlson himself was caught off guard by the decision since he signed off on his final program by saying, "We'll be back on Monday."

Since Carlson's April 24 departure, the network's ratings have plummeted. Anchors Brian Kilmeade and Lawrence Jones, who have temporarily replaced Carlson in the prime time slot, have drawn roughly 1.7 million viewers a night, a little over half of Carlson's viewers.

Nonetheless, Murdoch touted Fox's first-quarter ratings on the call without mentioning that those ratings were recorded before Carlson's firing and without addressing the recent drop in numbers, journalist Brian Stelter reported.

Newsweek reached out to Fox News via email for comment.

On Tuesday, Murdoch also addressed Fox's net loss of $50 million in the first quarter of 2023, which he largely attributed to the $787.5 million the company must pay Dominion Voting Systems following the recent settlement of a defamation lawsuit that was about to go to trial.

Despite reporting an 18 percent increase in total quarterly revenues from the first quarter last year, the settlement cost Fox its third-quarter profits. Still, Murdoch defended Fox News' 2020 presidential election coverage and the settlement with the voting machine company, saying Fox "made the business decision to resolve the dispute to avoid the acrimony of this trial and a multiyear appeal process."

He went on: "We always acted as a news organization reporting on the newsworthy events of the day. Now we have been and remain confident in the merits of our position that the First Amendment protects a news organization's reporting and allegations being made by a sitting president of the United States. However, the Delaware court severely limited our defenses and trial through pretrial rulings."

Dominion had sued Fox for $1.6 billion, arguing that Fox News damaged the company's reputation by airing a conspiracy theory that claimed its equipment caused election fraud in the 2020 election. Text messages from Carlson were made public as part of the lawsuit, and the host was expected to be one of the first witnesses called to the stand.

Among these texts was one message in which Carlson expressed sympathy with the mob that attacked "an Antifa kid" during the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

"Suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they'd hit him harder, kill him," Carlson wrote to one of his producers. "I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it. Then somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn't good for me. I'm becoming something I don't want to be."

At one point in the message, he also said, "It's not how white men fight."

That text "alarmed" the Fox board, which "grew concerned that the message could become public at trial when Mr. Carlson was on the stand, creating a sensational and damaging moment that would raise broader questions about the company," according to The New York Times.

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Fox CEO Avoids Mentioning Tucker Carlson by Name - Newsweek

Fox News

Fired Fox host allegedly described Trump supporters assaulting a man, while finding himself rooting for the mob

A racist text message allegedly sent by the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson set off alarm bells at the top of the network and ultimately contributed to his firing, the New York Times reported.

The text, which remains redacted in court filings in Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against Fox News but which the Times published in full, included the line: Its not how white men fight.

The message allegedly shows Carlson describing how he saw a group of Trump supporters beat up an Antifa kid, or anti-fascist counter-protester.

Carlson allegedly described the encounter as three against one, at least and added: Jumping a guy like that is dishonourable obviously. Its not how white men fight.

Carlson allegedly wrote that he initially found himself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping theyd hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it. He then noted such thoughts were not good for him.

Carlson was fired last week, in the aftermath of the $787.5m settlement of the Dominion case, brought over the broadcast of Donald Trumps election fraud lies.

The Times said the Fox board had been concerned the Carlson text could be made public at trial, and its discovery led to a law firm being hired to investigate the host.

The paper also said the message would not necessarily have been revealed in court. It and other organisations are trying to persuade the Delaware judge in the Dominion case to release some redacted messages.

Fox has not revealed the reason for Carlsons departure, or commented beyond thanking Carlson for his service.

Last month, the Times and the Wall Street Journal reported Carlson was fired after executives discovered vulgar text messages, including one in which he called a top executive a cunt.

Last week, a person close to Carlson disputed that, telling the Guardian: An elderly Australian man the Fox News owner, Rupert Murdoch, 92 fired his top anchor with no warning because he was so offended by a dirty word? Stupidest explanation ever. Please. A big decision requires a powerful motive. Naughty words in text messages dont qualify.

There were also concerns among Fox management that Carlson was behaving as if he were above the network, reported the Journal, also owned by Murdoch.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that the firing was in connection to a lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, Carlsons former senior booking producer, who said she operated in a sexist and misogynistic working environment.

We will vigorously defend Fox against all of her legal claims which have no merit, Fox said.

The Dominion lawsuit revealed depositions, emails and text messages collected from the networks top stars as evidence.

Carlson text messages that came to light disparaged Trump (I hate him passionately); Fox management (Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust weve lost with our audience?); and Sidney Powell, a lawyer and Trump ally who was a key figure spreading election lies on Fox (Sidney Powell is lying, fucking bitch). In another text, Carlson called Powell a cunt.

The progressive watchdog Media Matters for America has published a series of leaked videos of Carlson talking off-air.

In videos released on Tuesday, the host was seen to make crude remarks about women and attempting to discuss sex with the British TV host Piers Morgan.

On Wednesday, Media Matters released video in which Carlson discussed his deposition in the Dominion case, complaining of a slimy little motherfucker sitting across from me.

Carlson described the hate he felt for his questioner, adding: I dont want to feel that way. I think its wrong. Its bad. Its totally bad for you to feel that way. But that guy, he triggered the shit out of me.

Carlson has not commented about the videos, or about the message reported by the Times.

The text was allegedly sent to a producer soon after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.

Unredacted messages show Carlson and his producer expressing their concern over the president and the lies and worrying what Trump might do to put rights in jeopardy in the final two weeks of his presidency.

The text that was redacted allegedly shows Carlson describing the violent assault of an Antifa kid by Trump supporters and finding himself rooting for the mob before changing his mind.

The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as Im sure Id hate him personally if I knew him, I shouldnt gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed, Carlson allegedly wrote.

The text did not mention the race of the protester being attacked.

Last year, however, the Times published an in-depth analysis of Carlsons prime-time show, which it said may be the most racist show in the history of cable news and also the most successful.

On Tuesday, the Times said: For years, Mr Carlson espoused views on his show that amplified the ideology of white nationalism. But the text message revealed more about his views on racial superiority.

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Not how white men fight: Tucker Carlson text reportedly worried Fox bosses - The Guardian

As thousands of Donald Trump supporters arrived in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, to protest Congressional certification of President Joe Bidens victory, Aaron Whallon Wolkind, vice president of the Philadelphia Proud Boys, watched from afar brimming with anticipation for what he expected to unfold that day.

I want to see thousands of normies burn that city to ash, he wrote in an encrypted chat channel that members of the right-wing group were using to coordinate their movements that day. The state is the enemy of the people.

Across Pennsylvania, another Proud Boys leader watching remotely John Charles Stewart of Carlisle responded, using a term members used to refer to Trump backers who were not directly affiliated with the Proud Boys movement.

Its going to happen, he wrote. These normiecons have no adrenaline control. They are like a pack of wild dogs.

That exchange was among thousands recovered by FBI agents and presented as evidence in the seditious conspiracy trial of four of the groups top leaders including Zach Rehl, president of the Philadelphia chapter who were convicted Thursday of helping to orchestrate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

But it was just one of the dozens of exhibits that demonstrated that the Proud Boys culpability for the chaos to come on Jan. 6 extended well beyond Rehl and his codefendants especially in Pennsylvania.

READ MORE:For Philly Proud Boys president Zach Rehl, sedition conviction for Jan. 6 attack rests largely on his own words

Testimony and evidence presented throughout the four-month trial showed that Proud Boys from the state played an outsized role in shaping the groups plans for that day and preparing for its march on the Capitol.

Here are four takeaways from what the trial revealed:

Pa. Proud Boys were heavily involved in the planning for Jan. 6

Much of the evidence presented during the trial arose from the encrypted chats Proud Boys leaders used to prepare for their presence in Washington on Jan. 6 many arising from a channel on Telegram dubbed the Ministry of Self-Defense.

Initially, the channel was only open to handpicked leaders within the organization, including Rehl, who went by the handle Captain Trump, and some of his codefendants like Proud Boys national chairman Henry Enrique Tarrio; Ethan Nordean, of Washington state; and Joe Biggs, of Florida.

But Wolkind, 39, and Stewart, 45 both Proud Boys from Pennsylvania, who were not charged alongside the other leaders were also early and frequent participants in the chats, according to evidence presented at the trial.

READ MORE:Proud Boys trial: Zach Rehl, the right-wing groups Philly leader, and three others convicted in Jan. 6 sedition case

Neither man was in Washington during the Capitol riot, but it was Stewart using the handle Johnny Blackbeard in the chats who initially suggested in a voice memo in the channel that Proud Boys should focus their efforts in Washington at the front entrance to the Capitol building.

Tarrio responded the next day: I didnt hear this voice note until now, you want to storm the Capitol.

Wolkind, the vice president of the Philadelphia chapter who used the online moniker Aaron of the Bloody East, raised the suggestion as early as Jan. 1 that the Proud Boys should avoid wearing the black and gold shirts they typically wear to rallies a tactic he credited to antifa counterprotesters dressed in all black they often clashed with.

We should start adopting [antifa] black bloc style tactics not all black like antifa, but make efforts to hide identifies in public, he wrote.

Wolkind also suggested early on that the Proud Boys disposition toward the police needs to be reevaluated.

Traditionally, the group had seen itself as allied with law enforcement throughout the May 2020 racial justice protests that arose after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

However, after a December 2020 rally in Washington that saw violent clashes with counterprotesters, several Proud Boys members stabbed, and the arrest of Tarrio for burning a Black Lives Matter banner, members of the group began to turn on authorities.

Prosecutors at the sedition trial said that shift in attitude shaped the Proud Boys willingness to fight with police defending the Capitol building and cited communications in the Ministry of Self Defense chats.

We could have ran police the f over in DC and they wouldnt have been able to do sh, Stewart wrote in the chat channel on Jan. 1, referring to that disastrous rally in December.

Another member responded: #ftheblue.

Agree, Stewart shot back. They chose their f g side so lets get this done.

As Proud Boys gathered in Washington early on Jan. 6, Stewarts rage toward police appeared not to have abated.

I will settle, he wrote to the others, with seeing them smash some pigs [police] to dust.

Several Philadelphia Proud Boys were on the ground in Washington on Jan. 6

Though Rehl was the only member of the Philadelphia Proud Boys charged in the sedition case that wrapped up this week, several other members of the local chapter have been accused of playing a role in the riot.

Stewart, who was charged separately, has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to obstruct Congress on Jan. 6, a lawyer for Tarrio said at a hearing leading up to the sedition trial. That case remains under court seal.

It is unclear whether Wolkind has been charged. FBI agents raided his Newark, Del., home in October 2021.

READ MORE:FBI raids home of Philadelphia Proud Boys vice president to gather info about Capitol attack plans

Meanwhile, many of the Philadelphia Proud Boys who traveled with Rehl to Washington have been charged with various crimes, including illegally demonstrating on Capitol grounds. They include Isaiah Giddings, 31, and Freedom Vy, 37, both of Philadelphia, and Brian Healion, 33, of Upper Darby.

Each is accused of following Rehl into the building, where they were photographed carousing in the office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.)

Giddings has pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge and awaits sentencing.

During his guilty plea, he told authorities that as he advanced with Rehl and the others through the chaos unfolding on the Capitol steps, Rehl asked others in the crowd whether they had brought any bear spray. But Giddings said he didnt think Rehl ever obtained any.

About that bear spray...

In the initial indictment, prosecutors did not accuse Rehl of personally carrying out any acts of violence during the riot. However, that changed as he chose to testify in his own defense.

On the witness stand, Rehl sought to portray himself as a staunch supporter of law enforcement who had no idea how violent the Capitol riot had become until it was over.

But during days testifying under sympathetic questioning from his attorney Carmen Hernandez, prosecutors uncovered new police bodycam footage that appeared to show Rehl spraying what looked like pepper or bear spray at an officer.

Confronted with that footage during cross-examination, Rehl at first insisted that he couldnt be sure the man in the video was him. Then, he said that the object in the mans hand looked to him more like a recording device than a spray can.

Eventually, he told Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson, that he did not recall attacking any officers that day.

Still, at least one juror said the video proved decisive in his decision to convict Rehl.

Rehl really got caught on cross examination after he was adamant that he never sprayed a police officer, juror Andre Mundell told VICE News in an interview published Friday. On cross that all fell apart when the video came out and it showed that he was spraying towards the cops.

The evolution of the Proud Boys Philadelphia chapter

During his time on the witness stand, Rehl testified that when he became the groups leader in 2018 hed hoped to turn the chapter from a group that primarily operated as a mens drinking club into a more regimented organization one involved in political activism and better about weeding out hotheaded recruits prone to causing trouble.

However, prosecutors confronted him with several text messages between him and Wolkind, the Philadelphia chapters vice president, to counter his suggestion that violence wasnt an integral part of the Philadelphia chapters operations.

I dont buy the whole PBs are too violent, too degenerate, etc., to be effective at political organizing, Wolkind wrote to Rehl in June 2019 as they discussed a video showing a Proud Boy punching a counterprotester. I think people see [the attacking Proud Boy] knock that antifa the f out and it inspires them. They see that and secretly want to be him Thats why people flock to us in droves.

Rehl responded that the punch was awesome.

I love what he did in that video, he said. It motivates people to join, but I think it gives the wrong impression I think rallies and running for office and making an actual difference will make or break us. Throwing down from time to time helps It just cant be the only thing were about.

Prosecutors also presented texts in which Rehl referred to a recruit as a beast and ready to crack skulls or expressed a desire for all members of the Philadelphia chapter to be jacked.

On the witness stand, Rehl brushed off the insinuation that the most important qualification for becoming a Philadelphia Proud Boy was a penchant for throwing punches.

I was looking for guys who could hold their own in a fight, he said. Doesnt mean I was looking for violence.

Read the original here:

Pennsylvania Proud Boys played a big role in Jan. 6 planning: Key takeaways from Capitol riot sedition trial - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Lawyers for Fox News have drafted a series of threatening letters following the leaking of text messages and unaired footage regarding the network's recently fired host Tucker Carlson.

Attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems, who settled a defamation lawsuit with Fox for a massive $787.5 million last month, were sent letters on Friday that complained about the leaking of previously redacted Carlson text messages uncovered as part of the trial. The unredacted texts, published by multiple media outlets this week, feature Carlson using a sexist slur and making racially charged remarks.

In two letters obtained by Newsweek, four different Dominion lawyers are warned that the disclosures are in violation of a court order and the terms of the settlement. The Fox lawyers demand that Dominion launch an "investigation" into the leaks and report back with their findings by Monday.

"Fox requests that you and your clients immediately make an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this inexcusable release of confidential discovery material and report back to Fox by the close of business on May 8, 2023," Fox attorney Katharine Mowery writes in one of the letters.

"Fox takes these improper disclosures seriously and requests that you and your clients investigate and confirm that you are not the source of these improper disclosures," writes attorney Dan Webb in the other letter. "By close of business on May 8, 2023, please let me know the nature and conclusions of the investigation you conducted."

In a statement to Newsweek, a Dominion spokesperson said that "nobody associated with Dominion shared these confidential materials with the press."

In addition to the demands to Dominion, a Fox lawyer also sent a cease-and-desist letter to progressive media watchdog group Media Matters for America on Friday. The group has recently obtained and published a series of unflattering videos of Carlson on the set of his canceled popular opinion show Tucker Carlson Tonight.

A copy of the letter emailed to Newsweek features lawyer Christopher Chiou asking Media Matters President and CEO Angelo Carusone to "clarify any misunderstandings" about the footage, while demanding that he put an end to the publishing of "Fox's misappropriated proprietary footage."

Carusone responded to the demands in a statement that rejects the demands while mockingly suggesting that the conservative-leaning news network would be less concerned if the footage had involved the laptop of President Joe Biden's son Hunter.

"Reporting on newsworthy leaked material is a cornerstone of journalism," Carusone said. "For Fox to argue otherwise is absurd and further dispels any pretense that they're a news operation."

"Perhaps if I tell them that the footage came from a combination of WikiLeaks and Hunter Biden's laptop, it will alleviate their concerns," he added.

The behind-the-scenes videos published by Media Matters show Carlson making a series of questionable comments to female colleagues, while also disparaging the network's own streaming platform Fox Nation and complaining that he had been "triggered" by a Dominion lawyer he described as a "slimy little motherf*****."

In a video showing Carlson pondering whether he thinks a woman is "yummy," the then-host seemingly anticipates that the footage would later be leaked to Media Matters, making an obscene gesturing while telling the watchdog to "go f*** yourself."

Of the leaked text messages, one particularly eyebrow-raising moment features Carlson coming to the conclusion that his wish for an "Antifa kid" to be beaten to death by a group of "Trump guys" was wrong. Carlson also said that beating the "Antifa kid" would be "dishonorable" because it is not "how white men fight."

Original post:

Fox News Fires Off Warning Shots Over Tucker Carlson Leaks - Newsweek

In this episode of ourTwo for Tea podcast, editor-in-chief Iona Italia talks to the indomitable Claire Lehmann ofQuilletteabout the magazines place in the intellectual landscape, its biggest controversies, the audience capture of the Intellectual Dark Web and the Australian perspective on world politics. You can also listen to this podcast on Spotify and iTunes.

Areo Magazineand theTwo for Tea podcast are made possible by the generosity of our Patreon supporters. If you enjoy the magazine and its accompanying podcast, we hope you will join us at http://www.patreon.com/areo.

General:Claires writing for Quillette:quillette.com/author/clairelehmann/And for The Australian:www.theaustralian.com.au/author/claire-lehmann

Follow:Instagram:www.instagram.com/clairelehmann/Facebook:www.facebook.com/clairequillette/

References:Eoin Lenihan on Antifa:quillette.com/2019/05/29/its-notheir-cheerleaders/On the Weinsteins and Ivermectin:quillette.com/2022/03/22/on-darkvaccine-hesitancy/Ionas Substack:drionaitalia.substack.com/Information on contributing to Quillette:quillette.com/contribute/

Timestamps:1:20 Introductions. Claires background studying forensic psychology and why she left academic life and founded Quillette.5:12 The psychology of political views.10:10 Quillettes place in the political landscape. The publications most controversial pieces; Antifa, Ivermectin, the heritability of intelligence.21:35 What happened to the Intellectual Dark Web?30.28 The capture of the heterodox sphere by American culture and politics. How and why Australia, the UK and Canada differ from the US.41:35 Claires pushback against the use of Australias covid policies as a political football in the American culture war.47:22 Quillettes controversial reporting on the role of genetics and intelligence.53:52 Claires admiration of Camille Paglia and critiques of post-structuralism.57.12 The positives and negatives of Substack.1:02:00 Claires decision to leave Twitter and how that has benefited her.1:05:22 Summing up and outro.

Sound engineering by Justin Ward.Shownotes by Nicola Muir.

Read more:

Claire Lehmann: Riding Out the Media Storm - Areo - Areo Magazine