Anti-Communist Action | |
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Founder | Seth Vitco |
Founded | 2016 |
Ideology | Alt-right Anti-communism Neo-fascism Neo-Nazism White nationalism |
Political position | Right-wing to far-right |
Party flag | |
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Part of a series on |
Neo-fascism |
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Anti-Communist Action, also shortened to Anticom, is a right-wing to far-right [lower-alpha 1] political organization based in the United States and Canada. [1] [2] [3] The group has described itself as "the right's response to antifa." [4] Anticom has espoused neo-Nazi ideology and members have attended neo-Nazi events. [5] [4] [6] The group has done security for various alt-right and white supremacist rallies. [6] Anticom has overlapping membership with the neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwaffen Division and has shared information on combat and bomb-making. [6]
The group was a lead organizer of the 2017 White Lives Matter rally alongside the neo-Nazi groups National Socialist Movement, Traditionalist Workers Party and Vanguard America as well as the Southern nationalist League of the South and the Ku Klux Klan. [7] [8] [9] The group was also a lead member of the Unite the Right rally. [2] [10] In September 2017, members planned an event similar to the Unite the Right rally titled "March Against Communism" in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 28, 2017, with speakers including white nationalists such as August Sol Invictus and Richard B. Spencer as well as a representative of the white supremacist organization Vanguard America. [11] Anticom later cancelled the event due to safety concerns. [12]
According to the Seattle, WA Patch , the organization is not specifically aligned with white supremacists. [13] While the group has stated that it accepts members of all races, [14] leaked chat logs included violent rhetoric against minorities in the organization. [6] A chat log from the 2017 Berkeley protests promised the event would turn into a "bloodbath". [6] Some members of the movement have promoted mass killing against minorities and the overthrow of the government. [6] In 2017, ProPublica estimated the organization as having 1,200 participants in its chat room. [6] The organization uses yellow and black flags and symbols as a reference to libertarianism in the United States. Some flags also depict people being thrown from helicopters, a reference to executions during Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990). [2] [6] A ProPublica report detailed leaked chat logs from the organization calling for violence. A representative for the group stated that the report was true, but that it was not encouraged by leaders of the organization. [6]
Vanguard America, Anti-Communist Action and The Right Stuff also are white-supremacist, far-right groups, all with strong xenophobic and anti-Semitic messages.
Right-wing extremists communicating in confidential online chats in recent months have shared scores of documents detailing the manufacture and use of bombs, grenades, mines and other incendiary devices. ... Anticom openly embraces fascist ideology and imagery, and the group's members have engaged in hate-filled talk involving Jews, Muslims, immigrants and African Americans.
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: CS1 maint: others (link)Participating right-wing organizations include the League of the South, the Traditionalist Worker's Party, National Socialist Movement, Vanguard America, and Anti-Communist Action. Each of those organizations has espoused views and policy positions that are either racist, anti-Semitic or openly pro-Nazi.
Anti-Racist Action (ARA), also known as the Anti-Racist Action Network, is a decentralized network of militant far-left political cells in the United States and Canada. The ARA network originated in the late 1980s to engage in direct action and doxxing against rival political organizations on the hard right to dissuade them from further involvement in political activities. Anti-Racist Action described such groups as racist or fascist, or both. Most ARA members have been anarchists, but some have been Trotskyists and Maoists.
American Renaissance is a white supremacist website and former monthly magazine publication founded and edited by Jared Taylor. It is published by the New Century Foundation.
The League of the South (LS) is an American white nationalist, neo-Confederate, white supremacist organization that says its goal is "a free and independent Southern republic".
Matthew Warren Heimbach is an American white supremacist and neo-Nazi. He has attempted to form alliances between several far-right extremist groups.
The Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) was a neo-Nazi political party active in the United States between 2013 and 2018, affiliated with the broader "alt-right" movement that became active within the U.S. during the 2010s. It was considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center's list.
The 2016 Sacramento riot was a civil disorder at a neo-Nazi and alt-right rally outside the California State Capitol in Sacramento, California on June 26, 2016. Alt-right and neo-Nazi groups including the Traditionalist Workers Party and other white supremacist groups were involved. Counter-protestors arrived at the rally to oppose the neo-Nazis and white supremacy. This included Antifa and their allies. Ten people were hospitalized for stabbing and laceration wounds with the majority of those hospitalized being counter-protesters.
Daryle Lamont Jenkins is an American political activist, best known for founding One People's Project, an organization based in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Jenkins serves as its executive director.
Identity Evropa was an American far-right, neo-Nazi, neo-Fascist, and white supremacist organization established in March 2016. It was rebranded as the American Identity Movement in March 2019. In November 2020, the group disbanded. Leaders and members of Identity Evropa, such as former leader Elliot Kline, praised Nazi Germany and pushed for what they described as the "Nazification of America".
The Atomwaffen Division, also known as the National Socialist Resistance Front, is an international far-right extremist and neo-Nazi terrorist network. Formed in 2013 and based in the Southern United States, it has since expanded across the United States and it has also expanded into the United Kingdom, Argentina, Canada, Germany, the Baltic states, and other European countries. The group is described as a part of the alt-right by some journalists, but it rejects the label and it is considered extreme even within that movement. Atomwaffen has been described as "one of the most violent neo-Nazi movements in the 21st century". It is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and it is also designated as a terrorist group by multiple governments, including the United Kingdom and Canada.
The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and far-right militias. Some groups chanted racist and antisemitic slogans and carried weapons, Nazi and neo-Nazi symbols, the Valknut, Confederate battle flags, Deus vult crosses, flags, and other symbols of various past and present antisemitic and anti-Islamic groups. The organizers' stated goals included the unification of the American white nationalist movement and opposing the proposed removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville's former Lee Park. The rally sparked a national debate over Confederate iconography, racial violence, and white supremacy. The event had hundreds of participants.
Antifa is a left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States. It consists of a highly decentralized array of autonomous groups that use nonviolent direct action, incivility, or violence to achieve their aims. Antifa political activism includes non-violent methods such as poster and flyer campaigns, mutual aid, speeches, protest marches, and community organizing. Some who identify as antifa also use tactics involving digital activism, doxing, harassment, physical violence, and property damage. Members of antifa aim to combat far-right extremists, including neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
Jason Eric Kessler is an American neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist. Kessler organized the Unite the Right rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11–12, 2017, and the Unite the Right 2 rally held on August 12, 2018.
The Nationalist Front is a loose coalition of radical right and white supremacists. The coalition was formed in 2016 by leaders of the neo-Nazi groups National Socialist Movement (NSM) and Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP). Its aim was to unite white supremacist and white nationalist groups under a common umbrella. Originally the group was named the Aryan Nationalist Alliance and was composed of neo-Nazi, Ku Klux Klan and White power skinhead organizations.
Vanguard America is an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi, neo-fascist organization. The organization is also a member of the Nationalist Front. The group gained significant attention after it was revealed that James Alex Fields had marched with them at the Unite the Right rally before being arrested on murder charges. The group has its roots in the alt-right movement.
Patriot Front is an American white supremacist and neo-fascist hate group. Part of the broader alt-right movement, the group split off from the neo-Nazi organization Vanguard America in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally in 2017. Patriot Front's aesthetic combines traditional Americana with fascist symbolism. Internal communications within the group indicated it had approximately 200 members as of late 2021. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group generated 82% of reported incidents in 2021 involving distribution of racist, antisemitic, and other hateful propaganda in the United States, comprising 3,992 incidents, in every continental state.
The Rise Above Movement (RAM) is a militant alt-right Southern California-based street fighting group which has variously been described as "a loose collective of violent neo-Nazis and fascists", white nationalists, white supremacists, and far-right persons. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), it "is inspired by identitarian movements in Europe and it is trying to bring their philosophies and violent tactics to the United States." Its members are primarily located in the areas of Orange County and San Diego, and as of 2018, have been variously numbered at 20 to 50. Individual RAM members are also members of other organizations, such as the self-described Identitarian Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement, the "Western chauvinist" Proud Boys, and the neo-Nazi skinhead Hammerskin Nation, according to Northern California Anti-Racist Action (NoCARA).
Paul Nicholas Miller, better known as GypsyCrusader, is an American white supremacist internet personality. Described as antisemitic and racist by various advocacy groups and the United States Department of Justice, he frequently broadcasts himself on the internet cosplaying as various contemporary popular culture personas. In June 2021, Miller pleaded guilty to charges related to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, leading to a 41-month-long imprisonment. He is known to have cosplayed as the Joker, the Riddler, Mario, and others while video chatting with strangers on the now defunct website Omegle. He is known for his advocacy for a race war, espousing white supremacy and neo-Nazism. He has been tied to multiple alt-right and far-right organizations, including the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo movement.
Since its foundation in 2016, members of the Proud Boys, a far-right, neo-fascist, and exclusively male organization, have been involved in a number controversial and violent events. This list contains a number of those events, some of which have resulted in criminal charges being filed against participants.