There is now a fully-realized fascist social movement in this country. It is not anchored in one party or organization, and it is still amorphous, diverse, and in formation. But it is fully here now.
In this last astonishing week alone we have seen a white supremacist murder in Maryland, and a double-murder in Portland. There was a racist knife attack in Northern California, and two members of the Quinault nation were run down by a truck in Washington, killing one. Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor was just forced to cancel public talks because of over fifty death threats.
The targeting, threatening, and mobilized doxxing of organizerss, activists, professors, and others has been building steadily for over a year now - gaining momentum through various circuits: internet bulletin boards, public talks by white nationalists, right-wing and libertarian campus organizations, militia groups, the traditional resonance machine of cable television and talk radio, and the GOP itself.
This is - and has been since before the election - one of the most dangerous aspects to Trump’s rise.
We have to stop dismissing talk of neo-fascism as hysterical, overblown, or somehow more European than American. It is nourished by deep strains in US political culture, and made possible by the current arrangement of political, institutional, and economic forces. And we will now be forced to deal with it whether Trump stays or goes.
“Crawford is the second high-profile Ferguson protestors to be found dead of gunshot wounds in recent months. Darren Seals, a well-known activist in the community, was found shot dead in a burning car on September 2016. His case remains unsolved. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a member of the Missouri Senate, tweeted her belief that Ferguson protestors are being hunted.”
“Crawford’s father Edward Sr. told the Post-Dispatch that he died of a gunshot wound, which police are treating as self-inflicted. Crawford Sr. told the newspaper that his son had been in “good spirits,” recently, and was in the midst of training for a new job and moving in to a new apartment.”
Here is a brief explanation from the artists that we thought would be good to share. The picture was sent to us by The Third Rabl!
“The woman depicted is Doña Margarita dressed in her Mayan Ipil. She was first of four generations of women of her family to live in this apartment complex, now her great granddaughter, Totis, is growing up here (that’s Totis’ teddybear). Beside her is a Saber-tooth Tiger that lived in the area long ago whose bones were found in a nearby cenote. Only 50 years ago the land of Cancun was dense jungle, inhabited by Mayans for thousands of years. The painting is about the ever changing nature of where these apartments sit and the life that has dwelled there.”
More terrible, deeply triggering news from Chechnya in Russia: Reports indicate that gay men are not only being abducted, but held in concentration camps, where they are being tortured and a few have been killed.
The claims follow reports last week that 100 gay men had been rounded up and imprisoned in Chechnya, with at least three people allegedly murdered. The allegations were made by a Russian newspaper and human rights campaigners. “In Chechnya, the command was given for a ‘prophylactic sweep’ and it went as far as real murders,” independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta claimed. […]
Speaking to the MailOnline, Svetlana Zakharova from the Russian LGBT network, said: “Gay people have been detained and rounded up and we are working to evacuate people from the camps and some have now left the region.
“Those who have escaped said they are detained in the same room and people are kept altogether, around 30 or 40. They are tortured with electric currents and heavily beaten, sometimes to death.”
I don’t have words. Amnesty International is circulating a petition seeking justice. Hold these people in your hearts. Truly, I’m speechless.
UPDATE: I’m told the Russian LGBT Network is collecting donations here to help evacuate LGBTQ people from the area and support the survivors. Big thanks to @ruinsplume for the tip.
A YouTube video surfaced Wednesday depicting an altercation between what appears to be predominantly Latino youth and an off-duty Los Angeles police officer. In the exchange the officer attempts to drag one boy to his property before firing a gun during the scuffle.
In a Facebook post the Anaheim Police Department said that it is aware of numerous videos concerning the officer-involved shooting that occurred around 2:45 p.m in the vicinity of Euclid Street and West Palais Road. Film documents police arriving and immediately arresting the child.
The Anaheim Police Department provides a full-time Public Information Officer (PIO) to coordinate the release of information to the public via the media. Media inquiries should be directed to Sgt. Daron Wyatt at - office (714) 765-1521, mobile (714) 497-5633 or via email at dwyatt@anaheim.net
Rest in Peace to this beautiful human being. My condolences to his family and friends. He is a defender of trans-rights and true hero and will always be remembered as such. RIP Luiz Carlos Ruas.
She should be celebrating her birthday today and rooting for the quarterblack to win the Super Bowl. She shouldn’t even be a household name, well, not for the reason she is anyway. She should be living life, but she’s not.
She was murdered. They tried to silence her but only made her louder.
Her life still matters. Happy birthday Sandra Bland! #SayHerName
