San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

You are here: Home / Search for "proud boys"

Search Results for: proud boys

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s Cameo in an Proud Boys Video: Fun Guy or Closet Extremist?

by

By the time most you of are reading this, the Federal Communication Commission will have changed the rules regarding regulation of the internet, despite a survey showing 83% of registered voters oppose such a move.

Critics say FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan allows service providers to control download speeds, limit or block access to certain websites, and charge consumers extra fees for broader access.

There may be a darker side to the FCC chairman, one surfacing early on Thursday via Twitter. I’m not sure what all this means, other than an indication Pai likes to play with some not nice people with a track record of aiming to suppress free speech and supporting patriarchy.
  [Read more…]

SD Sheriffs Stand By as Alt-Reich ‘Proud Boys’ Disrupt Impeachment Rally

by

There were rallies calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump in cities around the United States on Sunday. Supporters of the President turned out for counter protests in Austin, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York. Law enforcement officers in those cities worked to keep the groups separated, allowing each to express their First Amendment rights.

The situation in San Diego at the County Administration Building was different, as Sheriff’s Deputies initially stood by idly and watched as members of the ‘Proud Boys’ disrupted, threatened and harassed attendees and speakers.

The Southern Poverty Law Center called this group an “Alt-Right Fight Club” in an article following the April street fighting in Berkeley, California. Many of the disrupters came down from Orange County. Some wore helmets and appeared as though they were ready for combat; others kept their battle gear tethered to their belts or hidden under American flag capes they wore.   [Read more…]

A Tragedy in Charlottesville: What Will It Take to Stop the Neo-Nazis and Their Enablers?

by

Bigots of many flavors were encouraged by the campaign and election of President Donald J. Trump. In the 10 days following November 8, 2016, almost 900 hate and bias incidents were reported nationwide, with the victims typically being those populations demonized during the campaign.

What was slated for Charlottesville on Saturday, August 12, was a  “Unite the Right” rally including a variety of far-right and alt-right extremists, ranging from anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant hate groups to neo-Nazis, white nationalists, neo-Confederates, and members of the Ku Klux Klan, anti-government militias, and newer groups like the Proud Boys, American Guard and the Fraternal Order of Alt Knights.

The flash point enabling [white supremacist organizer] Jason Kessler, with help from alt-right celebrity Richard Spencer, was the upcoming removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a Charlottesville park. Statues of Confederate leaders nationwide have been removed in recent years as communities have come to view them as symbols of slavery.
  [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: July 2-8

by

This week’s edition of Looking Back at the Week features articles, commentaries, columns, and other work by San Diego Free Press regulars, irregulars, columnists, at-large contributors, and locally sourced writers on: Proud Boys disruption of Impeachment Rally, voter suppression commission, the end of public education, Barrio Logan’s community garden, losing the spirit of the revolution, and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s friendly, neighborhood, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

Hate Crimes in San Diego Don’t Just Happen in a Void

by

Today’s Union-Tribune has a front page article about hate crimes in San Diego County. There are lots of details about criminal/hate-inspired actions and almost no acknowledgement as to what motivates them.

Hate crimes are up, we’re told. While local prosecutions have increased in the past year, most hate crimes aren’t reported.

A majority (60%) of hate crimes are directed at people based on their race or ethnicity, followed by religion (20%) and LGBTQ (16%) orientation.   [Read more…]

Terror by Mail, Riots, and Refugees: Anxiety As a Political Weapon

by

I’ll say right up front that I don’t believe anybody with a direct connection to the Trump administration has anything to do with the bombs mailed to George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters, Eric Holder, and CNN.

I will instead direct readers to the definition of stochastic terrorism, namely the use of mass communications to stir up random lone wolves to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable.

  [Read more…]

Interim District Attorney Summer Stephan Did Nothing When I Was Assaulted By White Supremacists

by

My name is William Johnson. I’m an activist here in San Diego and have been a regular at protests since 2011. I go out to march, rally, protest, and demonstrate, because I care deeply about fighting for the civil and human rights of all people, and against institutional poverty, environmental degradation, and militarism. Nowhere in our greater San Diego/Tijuana Metropolitan area are these issues more intersectional than at our border.

This has drawn me to protest there many times, most recently to protest Attorney General Jeff Sessions when he announced his policy to separate all migrant children from their parents, to which I called him “evil”. (And he announced this policy at Friendship Park of all places… The nerve of that man! But I digress…) To many people’s amazement, I walked away from this protest like I do 99% of the protests I attend; unscathed.

This was not the case on December 9th of last year, where I, and some of my friends and allies, were attacked by a group of well-known San Diego-based white supremacists.   [Read more…]

Rightist Bordertown Patriot Provocateurs Plan Chicano Park Disruption

by

A right-wing group calling itself Bordertown Patriots has announced plans for a “Patriot Picnic” at Chicano Park on Saturday, February 3. While they have couched their intentions in innocuous language, disavowed rumors of provocative actions, and deny any racial animus, a history of confrontations involving their followers suggests otherwise.

The advertised goal of these reactionaries is to remove the symbolic Aztlan flag flying in the park and replace it with an American flag. Their make-me-a-martyr style of organizing requires them to claim the park is a “no-go zone” for “patriotic Americans” and the U.S. Flag is therefore banned.

A similar event in September, promoted as a Pizza Party by many of the same right-wingers, drew a handful of participants who left under police escort after one of their group acted provocatively, attracting the attention of hundreds of peaceful counter-protestors in another area of the park.   [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: December 10-16

by

This week’s edition of Looking Back at the Week features articles, commentaries, columns, and other work by San Diego Free Press regulars, irregulars, columnists, at-large contributors, and locally sourced writers on Jones winning in Bama, #MeToo in the White House, Kasparian having to go, Net Neutrality, California burning, Diane Takvorian, deported veteran Hector Barajas, and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s friendly, neighborhood, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

If Trump Is Impeached Will His Base Mobilize Against a ‘Liberal Coup’?

by

In one of the most provocative incidents involving self-styled neo-Nazis since Charlottesville, about 25 men in masks and bandanas descended on a progressive book fair in Houston, Texas, on Sunday, Sept. 24. They set off smoke bombs, shouted “Sieg Heil!”and “blood and soil!” and generally harassed folks at the event.

It was a story totally missed by mainstream media, but observed by reporters from AlterNet who filed a report, picked up by other progressive news sites:

They rushed the door of a multicultural community center [where children were inside], igniting a pair of smoke bombs. Together, they raised their arms in a salute of “Sieg Heil.” … After shouting “blood and soil” and other vulgar slogans for 15 minutes, they stole a handmade sign from the fair and fled the scene. They later posted photos of themselves defiantly clutching the cloth banner on social media. 

Police, who organizers claimed had appeared earlier in the day to intimidate the book fair’s participants, did not intervene. 

The masked men were part of a group called Patriot Front which is “loosely affiliated with Vanguard Front, a fascist organization” which includes James Alex Fields as a member, the man who murdered Heather Heyer at Charlottesville.   [Read more…]

A Powerful and Peaceful Chicano Park Solidarity Rally – Photo Gallery

by

Hundreds of people from communities throughout San Diego converged Sunday to show support for Chicano Park, in response to an SDFP story indicating local ultra-rightists were plotting to “take down” its historic murals in response to Confederate monuments being removed around the nation.

Rumors quickly spread through Facebook and other social media, escalating a what likely a reconnaissance mission into a full-blown white supremacist rally. A couple of folks decided it might be a good idea to have a picnic in the park as a gesture of solidarity and put it up as a Facebook event. Hundreds of people RSVP’d. Fortunately, the Chicano Park Steering Committee stepped in and took control of the event.

A PA system was procured, security was arranged, and speakers from the community were invited. The San Diego Organizing Project encouraged religious leaders from a variety of faiths to attend.   [Read more…]

Fear Mongering 101: Antifa as the New ACORN

by

Be prepared to be very scared. Mask-wearing people clad in black are reportedly coming to a neighborhood near you very soon. You’ll want to clutch your pearls as they snarl at puppies, menace children, and spray paint obscenities in the neighborhood. Fox’s Sean Hannity will curl his upper lip, calling on milquetoast mayors for law and order in the streets.

Somewhere in the United States as I’m writing this, faux documentarian James O’Keefe is undoubtedly planning his next ‘gotcha’ production. I’m sure it will involve implied violence with not-so-subtle overtones of racism.

Something called Antifa has made itself known to fright wing activists desperate for any counterpoint to the inanity of the Fearless Leader and his feckless followers.   [Read more…]

©2010-2017 SanDiegoFreePress.org

Code is Poetry

%d bloggers like this: