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Re: Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jew

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 12:59 am
by admin
First Amendment Lawyer Defending Neo-Nazi Website Publisher
by Michael Kunzelman
AP
June 09, 2017

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A Las Vegas-based lawyer specializing in free-speech cases is representing the publisher of a leading neo-Nazi website who has been sued for orchestrating an anti-Semitic online trolling campaign against a Montana family.

Marc Randazza told The Associated Press on Friday that his law firm is defending The Daily Stormer’s founder, Andrew Anglin, against a federal lawsuit that real estate agent Tanya Gersh filed against him in April.

“Everybody deserves to have their constitutional rights defended,” Randazza said. “Nobody needs the First Amendment to protect Mr. Rogers. That’s not what it’s there for.”


Meh, I’m not about to let that annoy me. She’s emotionally lashing out at people who are saying shitty things about her husband. You can’t really fault her for that. That said, Chas should have a little stronger pimp hand and tell her to shut the fuck up, because the only people saying dumber things than him at this point are his wife and daughter.

-- Marc Randazza at The Legal Satyricon, June 18, 2012 @ 9:03 pm


Gersh is represented by attorneys from the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

Gersh’s suit claims anonymous internet trolls bombarded her family with hateful and threatening messages after Anglin unleashed a “campaign of terror” by publishing their personal information, including her 12-year-old son’s Twitter handle and photo.

In a string of posts, Anglin accused Gersh and other Jewish residents of Whitefish, Montana, of engaging in an “extortion racket” against the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer.

Anonymous @ aliensinthefamily.wordpress.com: Come for the spanikopita; stay for the tax evasion and the fascist meathead beating on lady leftists. Alienproofing your house. Charles Carreon: if there’s an equine proctologist on board, please ring your flight attendant call button, June 14, 2012. This is a first. I have mutual acquaintances with a shyster attorney who has been publicly shamed by Ken at Popehat. For purposes of plausible deniability, I won’t describe these mutual acquaintances, other than to say this: holy junkyard in the sky, the living arrangement in question is a motherfucking Ashland classic. That’s all I have to say on the matter. It wasn’t me. Before Ken helped publicize his recent extortion attempt, what I had heard about Charles Carreon was that he was a hippie attorney who had defended pornographers. He sounded like a principled First Amendment litigator who wasn’t ashamed to stand up for the seedy in defense of freedoms that the censorious would infringe. This is a popular public stance to take in Ashland, but oddly, Mr. Carreon chooses to present his representation of sex.com on his own website in some of the crassest mercenary terms imaginable. The self-absorption isn’t unusual for Ashland, but bragging about whoring oneself out to the highest bidder as a business litigator is. Normally, I would be hesitant to go on the warpath against an Ashlander without giving him a pseudonym, as a way of presumably keeping shit from raining down on both of our asses, but this is case is different. Mr. Carreon is a brazenly pompous ass in his public life. Instead of being ashamed of his behavior or self-aware enough to recognize that what he’s doing is sleazy but lucrative, he devotes a section of the website for his own legal practice to bragging in very pleased terms about his representation of sex.com by way of pitching his memoir about the case. If I don’t make an ass of Charles Carreon, Charles Carreon will. At Popehat, Ken has written about Mr. Carreon’s extortion attempt better and with more detail than I will. His posts on the case are very much worth reading in their entirety, but here’s a summary of the main points: (1) A highly unscrupulous online content aggregator, Funny Junk, brazenly ripped off an independent online cartoonist, Matthew Inman, aka The Oatmeal. (2) The cartoonist publicly criticized the aggregator for stealing his work. (3) The aggregator retained an attorney, Charles Carreon, who sent the cartoonist a letter demanding that he remove defamatory material about his client and pay his client $20,000. (4) The cartoonist, Mr. Inman, responded to this extortion attempt (which is exactly what it would be considered in most circumstances if a layman did it, unless one could weasel out of responsibility by claiming to be acting as pro se counsel) by publishing the letter demanding the money and using it as the impetus for an impromptu charity drive to raise money for bear habitat conservation and cancer research. The kicker was that Mr. Inman promised to take a picture of the $20,000 that he hoped to raise and send it to Mr. Carreon, along with a cartoon of Mr. Carreon’s mother seducing a Kodiak bear. (5) After Mr. Inman had far surpassed his fundraising goal and gotten Mr. Carreon’s face covered in egg, Mr. Carreon went on MSNBC to express his shock that he had stirred up a hornet’s nest and to accuse Mr. Inman of not playing fair by launching an online PR campaign. He accused Mr. Inman’s followers of having sent him harassing communications, which is entirely plausible loose cannon behavior, and unacceptable if true. He also expressed his offense that Mr. Inman had accused his mother of “being a sexual deviant.” Maybe Mr. Carreon is unhinged enough to actually believe this, but no reasonable person would take the bear sex cartoon literally. It was clearly a crude satire meant to annoy and offend a public figure for being an unethical attorney. (6) It’s absurd to claim surprise that a creator and publisher of crude cartoons would respond to a frivolous and unethical legal demand by insulting opposing counsel with a crude cartoon. Really, this is a case of a shyster attorney squirming because he has been called out publicly for trying to extort a cartoonist on behalf of a client whose business model appears to be copyright infringement. Mr. Carreon would rather that the dispute be resolved obscurely and discreetly in open court. Sure, the proceedings are public, but it’s a rare civil case about which the public gives a damn, so shyster attorneys can usually weasel out with no worse punishment than a brief scolding from an annoyed judge. Shyster attorneys are used to having their integrity savaged in court. That’s a game that they know how to play and, like professional football players, they’re handsomely compensated for taking the abuse. (Well, not that handsomely, but the law is generally more lucrative than being a shift leader at Starbucks, especially if you stay away from shit like pro bono work and clients who aren’t filthy rich.) What lawyers aren’t used to is being caught with their pants down (or their mothers’ dresses up in the Alaska bush) and exposed publicly as amoral shits. That’s a much harder game for shyster attorneys to play. For them, the court of public opinion is a most unfamiliar field of play. Worse, there’s no money in it. Making these mercenary assholes defend themselves in public, beyond the reassuring precincts of the courthouse, is like making Michael Vick have an uncompensated sledgehammer battle with an Andrei the Giant meathead from the Hell’s Angels in a Barstow parking lot. The difference is that Michael Vick would probably be more adaptable and resilient. Probably a fair bit more ethical about it, too. More attorneys should be made to squirm as Mr. Carreon has been. God knows more than a few of the fuckers deserve it.

-- Popehat.com


The suit accuses Anglin of invading Gersh’s privacy, intentionally inflicting “emotional distress” and violating a Montana anti-intimidation law.

Randazza, who said Anglin never directly sent any messages to Gersh, argued the suit’s allegations “leave room for disagreement” over whether Anglin did anything wrong.

Randazza’s clients have included adult entertainment websites; the 8chan online message board, a popular forum for racist internet trolls; and Mike Cernovich, a right-wing author and attorney who has promoted a conspiracy theory about Democrats running a child-sex slavery ring from a Washington pizza restaurant’s basement.

“If it’s unpopular and people want to shut it up, then we have represented them,” Randazza said.

The Daily Stormer used a crowdfunding website, WeSearchr, to raise more than $152,000 in donations from nearly 2,000 contributors to help pay for its legal expenses.

Anglin uses a mailing address in Worthington, Ohio, for his website, which takes its name from Der Stürmer, a newspaper that published Nazi propaganda. The site includes sections called “Jewish Problem” and “Race War.”

Other targets of The Daily Stormer and its “Troll Army” of readers have included prominent journalists, a British Parliament member and Alex Jones, a radio host and conspiracy theorist whom Anglin derided as a “Zionist Millionaire.”

Gersh’s lawsuit said she agreed to help Richard Spencer’s mother sell commercial property she owns in Whitefish amid talk of a protest outside the building. Sherry Spencer, however, later accused Gersh of threatening and harassing her into agreeing to sell the property.

Anglin’s initial Dec. 16 post about Gersh urged readers to “take action” against her and other Jewish residents of Whitefish, posting their telephone numbers, email addresses and Twitter handles.

“And hey — if you’re in the area, maybe you should stop by and tell her in person what you think of her actions,” he added.

Re: Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jew

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:21 am
by admin
Where in the world is America’s leading neo-Nazi troll?
by Aaron Sankin
July 27, 2017

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Image

Prominent American neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin has fled the United States for Lagos, Nigeria. Or has he?

In a post on his website titled “Nigerians Love Neo-Nazi White Supremacist Andrew Anglin,” he says he is receiving a warm welcome from the locals. Nigeria, he wrote, is a place where he could avoid being harassed by law enforcement and “antifa ‘street enforcers.’ ”

The announcement comes as Anglin faces a lawsuit that could destroy his site, the Daily Stormer, one of the most influential in the online white supremacist ecosystem. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which sued Anglin three months ago for harassing a Jewish family, hasn’t been able to find him to serve him with the lawsuit.

When reached by email, Anglin said that he really is in Nigeria. However, some clues left on his own website suggest that may simply be another act of trolling.

Anglin first talked about living in Nigeria in an interview with CNN. He expanded on the experience in his own blog post:

While the Jews say that every racist is pure evil and just blindly hates skin colors for no reason, I in fact get along well with the Nigerians I live amongst here in Nigeria. In fact, they love me. The fact that the world’s number one racist hater feels safest in a totally black country where pansy antifa would pee their pants as soon as they got off the plane is something that should give even the densest liberal pause for thought.


In one image he uses to prove he’s in Nigeria, Anglin shares the Facebook post of a woman named Julian Natukunda wishing happy birthday to an Andrew Anglin.

However, Natukunda’s Facebook profile lists her location as Kampala, Uganda, which is about 3,000 miles away from Lagos, Nigeria.

In a WhatsApp conversation, Natukunda told us “Andrew Anglin” also is her son’s name. She said she has no idea who the American Andrew Anglin is – or his current location.

Anglin shared a series of other photos in his post to prove he’s in Nigeria. None of them actually includes him. One is a generic photo of a residential street with cars parked on it. Another depicts meat kabobs at a food stand.

In further evidence that Anglin is trolling, at the bottom of the post, Anglin features a video that he claims to be audio from an interview with a BuzzFeed reporter named Willard Goldensteinbergen. When you click on the video, it plays a clip from the film “Apocalypse Now.” Willard Goldensteinbergen is not the name of a BuzzFeed employee and is an obvious parody of common Jewish surnames.

Regardless of where Anglin is, there are reasons he would go on the lam. If successful, the lawsuit against him, filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of the Jewish family Anglin targeted for what he called a “troll storm,” could set a new precedent in holding internet trolls accountable for the emotional distress they cause.

Court documents show the SPLC has been unable to locate Anglin to serve him with the lawsuit. Defendants in lawsuits must be given notice that they’ve been sued so they know about the case and have the ability to defend themselves.

The SPLC attempted to serve Anglin at a number of locations in Ohio, such as the address where the Daily Stormer is registered as a business and the address where the business’s name was registered with the Ohio secretary of state.

A process server also visited the home of Anglin’s brother and his father’s psychiatric counseling service, according to the court documents. No one at the locations associated with Anglin’s family accepted the papers. When a process server went to Anglin’s brother’s home, a man who did not give his name told the server that he “can’t do that” to his brother.

Neither Anglin’s lawyer, Marc Randazza, nor representatives from his law firm responded to requests for comment. Randazza made a name for himself defending the alt-right online message board 8chan and conservative media personality Mike Cernovich, who drew widespread criticism for promoting the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.

“If it’s unpopular and people want to shut it up, then we have represented them,” Randazza told the Associated Press.

The SPLC says it has not been able to get Randazza to respond to its questions about the case in any way.

However, Anglin is clearly aware of the case.

In June, he wrote a story titled “Andrew Anglin has Retained America’s #1 First Amendment Lawyer to Represent Him Against SPLC” and the banner running at the top of the Daily Stormer keeps a running tally of donations made to fund Anglin’s legal defense. To date, he says he’s raised more than $150,000.

If Anglin or his lawyer never show up to answer the charges, the plaintiffs have other options.

SPLC can ask the court clerk in Ohio to place a notification in a local media outlet for six weeks as a means of effective notification. After that, the judge could allow the case to proceed without Anglin’s direct participation or simply hand the SPLC the victory.

Anthony Colangelo, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said the judge also can seize Anglin’s assets.

“The entire point of the procedure is to see that justice is done and make sure defendants receive a fair hearing,” he added. “When you have a defendant who is purposefully trying to avoid a lawsuit, and plaintiffs are doing everything they can to vindicate their rights, courts are going to be sympathetic.”

The lawsuit against Anglin was filed by Tanya Gersh, a real estate agent from Whitefish, Montana, targeted by the Daily Stormer.

Whitefish is also the hometown of white nationalist Richard Spencer. When Spencer’s mother became the focus of local anger as her son gained prominence in the Trump era, Gersh said she tried to help Spencer’s mother sell her property. The deal went sour, and Spencer attacked Gersh on social media, claiming she was trying to extort money from his family. Anglin soon jumped into the fray, urging his readers to go after Gersh.

“Just make your opinions known,” Anglin wrote. “Tell them you are sickened by their Jew agenda. … This is very important. Calling these people up and/or sending them a quick message is very easy. It is very important that we make them feel the kind of pressure they are making us feel. … And hey – if you’re in the area, maybe you should stop by and tell her in person what you think of her actions.”

Daily Stormer readers directed a torrent of harassment at the Gersh family. One Twitter user sent a message to Gersh’s 12-year-old son that read: “psst kid, theres (sic) a free Xbox One inside this oven.”

The suit contends that Gersh “has experienced serious and severe emotional and physical distress as a result” of Anglin’s actions.

However, the SPLC’s goal runs deeper than simply making Anglin pay out. David Dinielli, the group’s lead attorney on the case, said the suit’s ultimate aim is to prevent Anglin from conducting harassment campaigns in the future.

“As an institution, as well as on behalf of Tanya Gersh, we would love it if whatever judgment we got was significant enough to cause Andrew Anglin to stop publishing his vile and hateful publication and to stop targeting people,” Dinielli said. “He needs to be punished and he needs to be deterred in addition to making compensation to the really significant harm his conduct has wrought on Tanya Gersh and her family.”

Even after the lawsuit was filed in April, the Daily Stormer has repeatedly egged on harassment campaigns against other people who have drawn his ire.

• He encouraged his followers to troll Taylor Dumpson, the first black woman elected student government president at American University.
• In a post on the site, another writer urged readers to track down the families of CNN employees. The call came after CNN wrote about the Reddit user with a long history of white supremacist posts who created the meme of President Donald Trump wrestling CNN.
• Anglin targeted a Polish YouTube personality named Magdalena Pegowska, who posted videos about her interracial child.

Dinielli said Anglin’s failure to respond to the lawsuit is deeply revealing of the white supremacist’s character.

“There’s irony in him being a big scary bully who is willing to take on anyone so long as he’s hiding behind his keyboard,” he said. “Now he actually has the opportunity finally to come and defend himself and wrap himself in the First Amendment, and yet he doesn’t have the guts to do so.”

Aaron Sankin can be reached at asankin@revealnews.org. Follow him on Twitter: @asankin.

Re: Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jew

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:30 am
by admin
Editorial: Why does the ACLU help neo-Nazis?
by Chicago Tribune Editorial Board
August 22, 2017

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When white supremacists wanted to hold a "Unite the Right" rally at the site of a Robert E. Lee monument in Charlottesville, the Virginia city insisted they gather in a different park. So the neo-Nazis got help from an organization widely vilified on the far right: the American Civil Liberties Union. It sued the city, and a federal judge ruled in its favor. The hateful assembly occurred where it was originally planned.

We all know what happened next. Fighting broke out between protesters and counter-protesters, and a woman was killed after being run over by a car driven by an alleged white nationalist.

The backlash against the ACLU was immediate. Waldo Jaquith resigned from the board of directors of the organization's Virginia chapter, declaring: "What's legal and what's right are sometimes different. I won't be a fig leaf for Nazis." K-Sue Park, a fellow at the UCLA School of Law who has done volunteer work for the ACLU, wrote in The New York Times, "By insisting on a narrow reading of the First Amendment, the organization provides free legal support to hate-based causes."

But anyone who was surprised that the ACLU would represent such extremists has not been paying attention. The organization endured a storm of criticism and canceled memberships in 1977, after it sued to force the Chicago suburb of Skokie to allow neo-Nazis to march. It has gone to court to defend the right of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church to protest at military funerals. It sued the Washington, D.C., transit system on behalf of alt-right troll Milo Yiannopolous because the system banned ads for his new book.

The ACLU defends the rights of ideological outliers because it believes, correctly, that the Constitution protects free expression no matter how repellent that speech may be. America doesn't need a First Amendment to ensure the freedom of popular speakers to voice their opinions because those don't get suppressed. We need the amendment to ensure the freedom of speakers whose views are despised by people who dominate agencies of government.

Without the First Amendment, the white supremacists might have been out of luck in Charlottesville. But in many parts of the country, in the absence of constitutional protection, organizations devoted to racial justice or abortion rights might be suppressed.

Liberal commentator Glenn Greenwald noted the myopia at work. "Most levers of state power are now controlled by the Republican Party, while many Democrats have also advocated the criminalization of left-wing views," he wrote in The Intercept, addressing those on the left. "Why would you trust those officials to suppress free speech in ways that you find just and noble, rather than oppressive?"

By protecting freedom of expression on the right, the ACLU bolsters it for everyone — including the "anti-fascist" groups that often show up to demonstrate against right-wing speakers.

The First Amendment, of course, does not protect violence or threats of violence. Cities are entitled to set reasonable rules to safeguard public safety. The permit for last Saturday's "free speech" rally in Boston, for example, prohibited backpacks, sticks, cans, glass containers and any "other item that could be used as a weapon."

Local officials are also obligated to deploy police to keep opponents separated and head off dangerous clashes. Any speaker who tries to incite immediate violence can be arrested.


Allowing open debate, however, is essential to a free and democratic society, even when it includes noxious speakers. Thomas Jefferson wrote, "We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it."

Thanks to the Constitution, the white supremacists who showed up in Charlottesville and Boston had their say. But in doing so, they only stimulated a national debate that they are bound to lose.

Re: Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jew

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:39 am
by admin
Protesters blame Charlottesville police for not stopping violence
by Dakin Andone, CNN
August 14, 2017

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As Charlottesville begins to heal after this weekend's violence, many are wondering how things got out of hand so quickly.

Alt-right and white nationalist rallygoers are pointing fingers at the counterprotesters who showed up to denounce them. Anti-racist protesters say "Unite the Right" rally participants were yelling racial epithets and provoking confrontation.

But both sides agree that one group didn't do enough to prevent the violence as the crowds grew and tensions flared: the police.

Critics say both Charlottesville Police and Virginia State Police stood on the sidelines Saturday as skirmishes erupted between white nationalists and members of Antifa, a broad movement of left-leaning groups.
The two groups confronted each other in Emancipation Park with shields and pepper spray.

It wasn't until police declared the rally an "unlawful assembly" and Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency that police ordered the gathering to break up and scattered the crowds throughout the city.

Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal, was killed after a young man rammed a car into a crowd of counterprotesters.

Rally organizer: police caused melee

Jason Kessler, who organized the "Unite the Right" rally, quickly blamed the police for not keeping the peace.

"The blame for today's violence lies primarily with the Charlottesville government officials and the police officers who failed to maintain law and order, protect the First Amendment rights of rally participants, and provide for their safety," Kessler said in a statement Sunday morning.

He said officers stood idly by as counterprotesters "attacked participants of the rally" before riot police broke up the crowds.

"Instead of maintaining law and order," Kessler said, "the police purposefully created the catastrophe that led to a melee in the streets of Charlottesville and the death of a counterprotester."

Richard Spencer, a white supremacist who helped to found the so-called alt-right movement, also took to Twitter to hurl criticisms at police.

"The Charlottesville and Virginia police have blood on their hands," Spencer tweeted. "They policed the peaceful, and they exacerbated a melee. Total outrage."


Richard Spencer @RichardBSpencer
Trump should not have praised the state and local police.
They did the opposite of their job. Total disaster. #Charlottesville
12:42 PM - Aug 12, 2017


Richard Spencer @RichardBSpencer
Can anyone look at the images from yesterday and not believe that the police had "stand down" orders?
7:33 AM - Aug 13, 2017


'It's almost as if they wanted us to fight'

Law enforcement was met with criticism from the protesters on the left, too.

Kendall Bills, who attended the counter-demonstration with her partner, says she was attacked by one of the rallygoers but police did nothing.

"In the entire hour that I was there," she said, "at no point did I see the police intervene in any violence they were witness to, including my own."

David Straughn, another counterprotester, claims he was near Heyer when she was hit by the car. Up until that point, he said, "the police did nothing."

Once the car plowed into the crowd, the police stepped in, Straughn said.

"I will give credit where credit is due, but I will say that was too little, too late," he told CNN. "If the police had acted differently in the beginning of the day -- before 1:42 p.m. -- maybe we wouldn't be talking about Heather Heyer right now. Maybe she would still be alive."

According to a tweet from the ACLU of Virginia, police said they wouldn't intervene "until given command to do so."

ACLU of Virginia @ACLUVA
Clash between protesters and counter protesters. Police says "We'll not intervene until given command to do so." #Charlottesville
8:03 AM - Aug 12, 2017 · Charlottesville, VA


Another protester, Hawk Newsome, president of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, told CNN affiliate WCAV the police response to "Unite the Right" was different than at rallies he's attended in the past. He said the police in Charlottesville were too far away to prevent any violence.

"The police actually allowed us to square off against each other," Newsome said. "There were fights and the police were standing a block away the entire time. It's almost as if they wanted us to fight each other."


Neither Charlottesville Police nor Virginia State Police immediately responded to CNN's requests for comment. The city of Charlottesville also did not respond.

Officials defend police response

State and city officials, on the other hand, have come out in defense of the police's actions.

In a Monday press conference, Charlottesville chief of police Al Thomas Jr. told reporters that police did what they could to keep the situation under control.

"We did make attempts to keep the two sides separate," Thomas said. "However, we can't control which side someone enters the park."

"Absolutely, I have regrets. We lost three lives this weekend -- a local citizen and two fellow officers," Thomas said when asked if he had regrets about the preparation of his officers. "We certainly have regrets. It was a tragic, tragic weekend."

"I want to thank the men and women -- local, state and federal -- our law enforcement personnel who put their lives on the line yesterday to protect us," Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe said at a church service Sunday.

"Not one single shot was fired, with all these people with weapons. No property damage. They kept us safe."

McAuliffe largely placed blame for the violence at the feet of white nationalists.

On Monday, McAuliffe said in a statement that he was ordering his team "to conduct an extensive review that will include how we issue rally permits, law enforcement preparation and response, and coordination at the local, state, and federal level," in an effort to learn from this weekend's events.

Charlottesville mayor Michael Signer, speaking on CNN Monday morning, also defended law enforcement's preparation in advance of the rally.

"We had on the ground here the largest deployment of law enforcement professionals in Virginia since 9/11," Signer said. "As I understood it, almost a thousand officers were right here on the ground."

He added that it's the government's responsibility to "set the conditions to prepare so people can peaceably assemble."

Corinne Geller, spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, echoed the mayor's remarks and told WCAV that police don't tell people where to stand at a protest.

"That's part of the privilege of having the freedom of speech and the freedom of assembly," she said.

CNN's Devon Sayers contributed to this reporting.

Re: Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jew

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 2:01 am
by admin
Charlottesville Was ‘Inside Job’ To Ignite Race War
by Baxter Dmitry
August 15, 2017

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A Charlottesville police officer has come forward to express his anger at being told to “stand down” by the city mayor during violent clashes between protestors. He also claims the protests, which pitched “white supremacists” against members of Antifa, were “set up” to further the agenda of the elites.

“We [Charlotesville police] were ordered to bring the rival groups together. As soon as they were in contact with each other, we were told to stand down. It was outrageous. We weren’t allowed to arrest anyone without asking the mayor first. We weren’t even allowed to stop the driver as he sped away.“

“The event was being set up as far back as at least May and it went like clockwork.”


Breaking911 @Breaking911
NEW VIDEO: Car That Plowed Into Charlottesville Crowd Spotted Leaving the Scene
11:00 AM - Aug 14, 2017


Michael Signer, the mayor of Charlottesville, ordered police to stand down during the most chaotic and destructive period of the protests – despite police protests against the orders.

“We wanted to do our job and keep the peace. But these mother******s in charge really want to destroy America.”


Fox News reporter Doug McKelway was on the scene in Charlottesville and he backs up the police officer’s claims.

“I can say, having been in Emancipation Park from early on that morning, that what I saw with my own two eyes confirms what this law enforcement source told us. At least from all visible appearances. We saw people coming out of that park who had headwounds, who were bleeding from the head, people walking into that park with bats, with sticks — you saw what they were wearing — helmets, body armor, they had come — and this pertains to both sides — they had come to do damage ... you cannot help but notice from that video that police had been more pro-active, they could have potentially calmed this thing down to some degree.”


FoxNews Reporter Doug McKelway: Source Says Cops Were Ordered to Make No Arrests Without Explicit Prior Approval of Mayor; Police Evacuated Site Because it Was "Too Dangerous"

His reportage, briefly:

* "We have learned from a senior law enforcement source from other county, who was here [in Charlottesville]... that officers were instructed to make no arrests without the explicit approval of the Charlottesville mayor. Our law enforcement source says that he was outraged by that instruction."

The Charlottesville chief of police categorically denied this.

* However, McKelway says: "I can say, havig been in Emancipation Park from early on that morning, that what I saw with my own two eyes confirms what this law enforcement source told us. At least from all visible apearances. We saw people coming out of that park who had headwounds, who were bleeding from the head, people walking into that park with bats, with sticks -- you saw what they were wearing -- helmets, body armor, they had come -- and this pertains to both sides -- they had come to do damage.. you cannot help but notice from that video that police had been more pro-active, they could have potentially calmed this thing down to some degree."

* He was told during the day that if reporters had to, they could retreat to the police staging area. However, when protesters began throwing tear gas and the reporter tried to take shelter in the staging area, he was told he could not come in, the police said "No, don't come in here... we're leaving. It's too dangerous."

He says you can see the police "filing out of there, single fire, and making a beeline out of there." The chief of police says they were "making a retreat" to put on riot gear, but the reporter wants to know that having seen people with bats and armor, why were they not already wearing riot armor?

Conclusion: Once again, a liberal mayor gives progressive shock troops Space to Destroy and orders police to stand down and allow them to beat the shit out of people #ForPeace....

Posted by: Ace at 05:04 PM


Michael Signer is a Virginia Democratic activist with close ties to Barack Obama and John Podesta. Before landing the Charlottesville mayor job he previously worked closely with Podesta at the Center of American Progress and worked with him again on Barack Obama’s State Department Transition Team.

The New World Order, led in the United States by elite operatives Obama, Podesta, Soros, Clinton and company, are pulling out all the stops to create division through chaos and destruction. Crowds of paid protestors and useful psychopaths are being sent into pitched battle against one another to sour the mood of the nation and further divide us all.

They are manipulating and controlling newsworthy events in order to maintain power and control over the public, and to swing public opinion.

Deep state operatives

The man accused of being a neo-Nazi and murdering a woman by deliberately driving into her during protests in Charlottesville is in reality a supporter of Hillary Clinton and member of Antifa in receipt of funding by George Soros.

White supremacist and ‘Unite the Right’ leader, Jason Kessler, has been exposed as a supporter of former President Obama and a hardline member of far-left Occupy movement.

When did he change his political leaning? According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (an organization that is certainly no friend to Conservatives), Kessler revealed his political transformation around November 2016, the same month Donald Trump won the presidential election.

If you think that is suspicious, wait until you learn about the other actors in this enormous set-up event.

First man on the scene

Brennan Gilmore was “on the scene” and was the author of the first viral tweet about Charlottesville. He was later interviewed by MSNBC. He was presented as an accidental witness. But who is he really?

Brennan Gilmore
@brennanmgilmore

Image

Image

Rural workforce development. Former: Chief of Staff, @tomperriello, Foreign Service Officer. Always musician: Kantara, Walker's Run. UVA grad.
Charlottesville, VA
walkersrun.com
Joined December 2016


Gilmore worked in Africa as a State Department foreign officer under Hillary Clinton. The New York Times mentioned this “coincidence” – and then later deleted it. Brennan Gilmore was also involved with the Kony hoax in 2012, and he is currently Chief of Staff for Tom Perrielo, who is running for Governor of Virginia and received $380k from George Soros.




So the first man on the scene, whose tweet went viral, and who was later interviewed on mainstream news as a witness, just happened to be a State Department insider with a long history of involvement in psy-ops? If you think this isn’t fishy, how about this – since the Charlottesville protests and his appearance in the media, his information was suddenly removed from State Department websites.

The elites know we are onto them, and they are trying to cover their tracks. They can censor Google and social media and close down accounts, but they will never be able to stop us sharing information and speaking to each other.

Re: Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jew

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 2:24 am
by admin
Charlottesville, Brennan Gilmore, and the STOP KONY 2012 Psyop
by NWO News | Nova Ordem News
8/16/2017

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

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Go back and look at the video Brennan Gilmore posted of the Charlottesville attack. Go back and look at it. Something very odd and OBVIOUS is staring us in the face and all we have to do is step back and take a breath and see what's right there for us to see.



The numbers from the Charlottesville attack are in and one individual is dead with another 30 or so injured. Two more deaths are attributed to the event in an effort to make it bleed more so to speak, but they were killed when their helicopter crashed. I'm not sure how they link that to the protests, but, there you go.

I will do some research on the suspect and publish it a little later but right now I wanted to share with you some things I found out about Brennan Gilmore, the former State Department employee who just HAPPENED to be at the exact right place at the exact right time already filming with his camera to capture the entire event from beginning to end.

And he just HAPPENED to have the pre-approved establishment message canned and ready to go for a CNN interview on the scene. Funny, his video hadn't gone viral yet and CNN was already interviewing him? What a coincidence there, huh? Notice he says the counter-protesters were "peaceful". I guess that means Soros' ANTIFA provocateurs had been told to avoid that particular march. Also notice he equates "alt-right" with "terrorists" and "racists" with ease.

Brennan Gilmore's video is viral now. It's been hijacked by more YouTubers than you can imagine. It really was perfect. Not only did he HAPPEN to be at the right place at the right time, but he was ALREADY recording with his camera and it was focused on that car, for SOME REASON as it drove by the corner at a reasonable rate. Why he would focus on that vehicle right then and there BEFORE IT DID ANYTHING is a mystery to me. It was traveling down the street at about 25 miles and hour which is not out of place for that road. Certainly it may be for the situation, but remember, the march was not planned and or sanctioned, so the street was not blocked off, and in fact, there were two more cars in front of the Dodge Charger that were stuck in the middle of the protest on that same street. Those are the ones hit from behind by the Charger. But Brennan wasn't filming them was he? No. But he did film the Charger heading all the way down the street into the crowd of protesters... almost as if he knew it would run into them rather than simply brake and sit and wait like the other cars in front of it.

Again, not a smoking gun in and of itself, but when combined with all the other coincidences surrounding his video PLUS the fact that he was ready to go with the divide and conquer establishment version of events for CNN while people were still lying on the hot pavement, it kind of makes you wonder doesn't it?

PLUS... Brennan says it is "definitely terrorism"... no doubt about it. HAS to be "terrorism", right?

Let me take a second to explain something to you. Terrorism is an act of violence or the THREAT of violence designed to prompt a change in a country in terms of it's economic, political or social structure.

How is ramming a car into a crowd of protesters you don't like to be considered an effort by that ONE PERSON to bring about a change in this country's social structure? Are we to assume the driver thought that running over a few counter protesters would make the rest of the country step back and say "yeah, the Robert E. Lee statue is history, not racism" and let it stand?

A terrorist blows up an airport because he wants to DISRUPT commerce and travel. A terrorist runs a campaign like GLADIO because he wants to prevent a nation from slipping too far to the left. A racist might run over "goddamned hippies" because he HATES THEM. But that's NOT terrorism.

However... if the event, the mass casualty event, was PLANNED to destabilize the nation, to DIVIDE the "alt-left' and the "alt-right"... then THAT IS TERRORISM.

Moving on...

"The violence and hatred in our society is out of control. We like to think that it's better than places like Africa and Asia, but it's not," said Mr. Gilmore, who worked in Africa as a U.S. State Department foreign service officer before leaving to manage the campaign of Tom Perriello for Virginia governor earlier this year. "I'm worried."

-- New York Times


Given Brennan's rather suspicious positioning before the fact and his former employer (a State Department that is wholly disgusted with BOTH Trump and Tillerson for firing a number of 7th floor entrenched State Department career "soft power" activists) I thought I would look him up and see if I could find some more background on who is really is and what he did for them.

This is what I found:

Brennan M. Gilmore | Embassy of the United States Bangui, CAR

Prior to this, Mr. Gilmore served as the Special Assistant for Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) Issues in the Bureau of African Affairs, coordinating the development ...


The link is dead. They scrubbed it from the interwebs. But as you can probably imagine, when I saw he was linked somehow to the whole "STOP KONY 2012" psyop, I was amazed.

Then I found some more (not an easy thing to do mind you):

State/OIG recently posted its inspection report of the US Embassy in Bangui, a 15% danger pay post, as well as a 35% COLA and 35% hardship differential pay assignment. The inspection took place in Washington, DC, between September 10 and 28, 2012, and in Bangui, the Central African Republic, between November 5 and 12, 2012.

The diplomatic mission is headed by Ambassador Laurence D. Wohlers, a career diplomat. The deputy chief of mission (DCM) is Brennan M. Gilmore. The embassy temporarily suspended operations on December 28, 2012, as a result of the security situation in the country...

The Ambassador arrived in September 2010 and the deputy chief of mission (DCM) in July 2011. They constitute a team that is particularly strong in outreach and reporting and have successfully weathered a series of management challenges. They are not as successful when it comes to leadership and morale.

The DCM has broad executive responsibilities. He supervises the reporting agenda assigned to the first-tour political/economic/consular officer. The officer meets weekly with the DCM and usually the Ambassador as well. The DCM is responsible primarily for military affairs, which include the U.S. Special Forces deployment to the eastern Central African Republic and a rotational U.S. Africa Command liaison officer position.

-- Diplopundit archive on Brennan Gilmore


The STOP KONY 2012 psyop was all about using the Joseph Kony boogieman to justify letting Barack Obama send Special Operations troops into Africa to run around and squash any and all resistance to our new imperialism campaign. It was a fraud. A show. And Brennan was part of it.

He was also part of the campaign of Tom Perriello's in Virginia to become the next governor. Perriello also has ties to the new African imperialism campaign that was waged under the watchful eyes of our first black president.
Tom lost the primary two months ago in spite of the fact that he was backed by every establishment unDemocratic Party leader and even that Khan guy who was rolled out by Hillary Clinton to paint Trump as a racist way back when.

In July 2015, President Obama appointed Tom Perriello to succeed former US Senator Russell Feingold as Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region and the Democratic Republic of Congo. As Special Envoy, Perriello was the US representative to a region including Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda, countries working to overcome a recent legacy of civil war and genocide.

In December 2016, Perriello indicated that he would run for Governor of Virginia in the 2017 election on a platform centered around economic justice as well as resistance to the Trump Administration.[51]

Perriello is currently CEO of Win Virginia a PAC dedicated to helping Democrats win back the Virginia House of Delegates in 2017.


And there's one more thing about the man Brennan Gilmore tried to make the next governor of Virginia... he's a centrist neoliberal linked to the CIA's USAID.

During the 2009 legislative session, Perriello voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,[31] (he voted for TARP) the American Clean Energy and Security Act,[32] and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March 2010.[33] During debate over the health care bill in the House, he voted for the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which would have prohibited the use of federal funds to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion (and he voted for fascist ObamaCare but didn't want abortion to be paid for under it)...

Tom Perriello was selected by Secretary of State John Kerry to lead the 2015 Quadrennial Diplomacy & Development Review, a strategic planning process intended to be conducted every four years for the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)...

He has worked as a consultant to the International Center for Transitional Justice in Kosovo (2003), Darfur (2005), and Afghanistan (2007) where he worked on justice-based security strategies.[13] Perriello has also been a fellow at The Century Foundation


Ah, so Tom worked mopping up resistance in places like Kosovo, Darfur and Afghanistan before becoming such a stalwart "progressive" huh?

And what's that about The Century Foundation? Who are they you ask?

The Century Foundation is a progressive think tank headquartered in New York City with an office in Washington, D.C.[1] It was founded as a nonprofit public policy research institution on the belief that the prosperity and security of the United States depends on a mix of effective government, open democracy, and free markets


Ah, the Global Free Market Wars, a.k.a. the Global War on Terrorism a.k.a. Overseas Contingency Operations. And Tom, and apparently our "convenient witness" Brennan Gilmore, were all over it.

Gilmore has spent a lot of time Tweeting since the event unfolded yesterday. As expected, he is quick to label it terrorism and cast blame on the "alt-right" which he equates with Nazism.

It's important to put into context Brennan Gilmore's time in CAR when they were fighting "KONY."

They weren't fighting KONY. He was there in support of the brutal military dictatorship of General François Bozizé who took over in coup from the elected president of the country, Ange-Félix Patassé.

Our puppet dictator Bozize was trying to hold onto power in the face of a 2012 uprising from Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR not "KONY". But of course, that would have been a harder sell to the fans of President Peace Prize so "KONY" the boogieman. In the end, Special Operations and all the propaganda we could muster did little to stem the tide of CHANGE in CAR and the start of 2013 saw folks like Brennan Gilmore and Bozize flee the country.


Gilmore has said on multiple occasions since the event yesterday that you would think hatred and violence is more widespread in "African nations" than it is right here in the states, but "you would be wrong" which is quite an amazing statement coming from a man who resided in a country that routinely killed opposition leaders and who was forced to FLEE THE COUNTRY when the people finally took it back from us.

All this being said, is it possible this man with links to Special Ops and CIA and various other black ops kinds of actors just HAPPENED to be there at that particular moment in history?

Yeah, I guess that's possible, if you're into coincidence theories I suppose.


But I'm not into such things.

Clearly the State Department has a lot of disgruntled former employees who would delight in destabilizing Trump's tenure even more than they already have. And Gilmore, like Tom, seem particularly invested in undermining the "alt-right" in the lead-up to the next round of elections.

Waaaaaay too much coincidence for me folks. Waaaaaay too much.

UPDATE: Moon of Alabama blog makes some valid comparisons between this event and those that took place in Kiev during our color revolution.

(of course, those were REAL Nazis throwing fire bombs at the police as opposed to FAKE NAZIS, probably police provocateurs, whom the police didn't bother with and were given a stand-down order to stay out of the way till some good violence unfolded)

Re: Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jew

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 2:54 am
by admin
State of Emergency Declared in Charlottesville After Protests Turn Violent
by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Brian M. Rosenthal
August 12, 2017

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

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[Comparing: White Nationalist Protest Leads to Deadly Violence
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/12/us/c ... alist.html
Pink: Archived August 12, 2017 at 3:53pm EDT
Green: Archived August 12, 2017 at 4:13pm EDT
<= Previous revision | All changes | Later revision =>

[...]

The demonstration, which both organizers and critics had said was the largest gathering of white nationalists in recent years, turned violent almost immediately and left at least one person dead and a number of people injured. “I am heartbroken that a life has been lost here,” Mayor Mike Signer, said on social media.

[Green: In comments from Bedminster, N.J., President Trump condemned the violence and called for the swift restoration of order. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” he said.]

The turmoil began with a march Friday night and escalated Saturday morning as hundreds of white nationalists gathered. Waving Confederate flags, chanting Nazi-era slogans, wearing helmets and carrying shields, they converged on a statue of Robert E. Lee in the city’s Emancipation Park and began chanting phrases like “You will not replace us,” and “Jew will not replace us.”

Hundreds of counterprotesters quickly surrounded the crowd, chanting and carrying their own signs.

[...]

“The violence and hatred in our society is out of control. We like to think that it’s better than places like Africa and Asia, but it’s not,” said Mr. Gilmore, who worked in Africa as a U.S. State Department foreign service officer before leaving to manage the campaign of Tom Perriello for Virginia governor earlier this year. “I’m worried.”

[Pink: In his comments, President Trump condemned the violence in Charlottesville, and called for the swift restoration of order.

Mr. Trump condemned “in the stronger possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence.” He called for Americans to come together as a country.]


Emergency medical personnel treated eight people after the earlier clashes, the Charlottesville Police Department said. It was not immediately clear how severely they were hurt. Several area hospitals did not return telephone calls seeking information.

The fight was the latest in a series of tense dramas unfolding across the United States over plans to remove statues and other historic markers of the Confederacy. The battles have been intensified by the election of Mr. Trump, who enjoys fervent support from white nationalists.

[...]

© NewsDiffs 2012 | @newsdiffs

*************************************************

Man Charged After White Nationalist Rally in Charlottesville Ends in Deadly Violence
by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Brian M. Rosenthal
New York Times
August 12, 2017

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The city of Charlottesville was engulfed by violence on Saturday as white nationalists and counterprotesters clashed in one of the bloodiest fights to date over the removal of Confederate monuments across the South.

White nationalists had long planned a demonstration over the city’s decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee. But the rally quickly exploded into racial taunting, shoving and outright brawling, prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency and the National Guard to join the police in clearing the area.

Those skirmishes mostly resulted in cuts and bruises. But after the rally at a city park was dispersed, a car bearing Ohio license plates plowed into a crowd near the city’s downtown mall, killing a 32-year-old woman. Some 34 others were injured, at least 19 in the car crash, according to a spokeswoman for the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Col. Martin Kumer, the superintendent of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, confirmed Saturday evening that an Ohio man, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, had been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and failing to stop at the scene of a crash that resulted in a death. But the authorities declined to say publicly that Mr. Fields was the driver of the car that plowed into the crowd.

Witnesses to the crash said a gray sports car accelerated into a crowd of counterdemonstrators — who were marching jubilantly near the mall after the white nationalists had left — and hurled at least two people in the air.

“It was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Robert Armengol, who was at the scene reporting for a podcast he hosts with students at the University of Virginia. “After that it was pandemonium. The car hit reverse and sped and everybody who was up the street in my direction started running.”

The planned rally was promoted as “Unite the Right” and both its organizers and critics said they expected it to be one of the largest gatherings of white nationalists in recent times, attracting groups like the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis and movement leaders like David Duke and Richard Spencer.

Many of these groups have felt emboldened since the election of Donald J. Trump as president. Mr. Duke, a former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, told reporters on Saturday that the protesters were “going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump” to “take our country back.”

Saturday afternoon, President Trump, speaking at the start of a veterans’ event at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., addressed what he described as “the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia.”

In his comments, President Trump condemned the bloody protests, but he did not specifically criticize the white nationalist rally and its neo-Nazi slogans, blaming “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.”

“It’s been going on for a long time in our country, it’s not Donald Trump, it’s not Barack Obama,” said Mr. Trump, adding that he had been in contact with Virginia officials. After calling for the “swift restoration of law and order,” he offered a plea for unity among Americans of “all races, creeds and colors.”

The president came under criticism from some who said he had not responded strongly enough against racism and that he failed to condemn the white nationalist groups by name who were behind the rally.

Among those displeased with Mr. Trump was the mayor of Charlottesville, Mike Signer. “I do hope that he looks himself in the mirror and thinks very deeply about who he consorted with during his campaign,” he said.

Late on Saturday night, the Department of Justice announced that it was opening a civil rights investigation into “the circumstances of the deadly vehicular incident,” to be conducted by the F.B.I., the United States attorney for the Western District of Virginia, and the department’s Civil Rights Division.

“The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated.”

The turmoil in Charlottesville began with a march Friday night by white nationalists on the campus of the University of Virginia and escalated Saturday morning as demonstrators from both sides gathered in and around the park. Waving Confederate flags, chanting Nazi-era slogans, wearing helmets and carrying shields, the white nationalists converged on the Lee statue inside the park and began chanting phrases like “You will not replace us” and “Jews will not replace us.”

Hundreds of counterprotesters — religious leaders, Black Lives Matter activists and anti-fascist groups known as “antifa” — quickly surrounded the park, singing spirituals, chanting and carrying their own signs.

The morning started peacefully, with the white nationalists gathering in McIntire Park, outside downtown, and the counterdemonstrators — including Cornel R. West, the Harvard University professor and political activist — gathering at the First Baptist Church, a historically African-American church here. Professor West, who addressed the group at a sunrise prayer service, said he had come “bearing witness to love and justice in the face of white supremacy.”

At McIntire Park, the white nationalists waved Confederate flags and other banners. One of the participants, who gave his name only as Ted because he said he might want to run for political office some day, said he was from Missouri, and added, “I’m tired of seeing white people pushed around.”

But by 11 a.m., after both sides had made their way to Emancipation Park, the scene had exploded into taunting, shoving and outright brawling. Three people were arrested in connection with the skirmishes.

Barricades encircling the park and separating the two sides began to come down, and the police temporarily retreated. People were seen clubbing one another in the streets, and pepper spray filled the air. One of the white nationalists left the park bleeding, his head wrapped in gauze.

Declaring the gathering an unlawful assembly, the police had cleared the area before noon, and the Virginia National Guard arrived as officers began arresting some who remained. But fears lingered that the altercation would start again nearby, as demonstrators dispersed in smaller groups.

Within an hour, politicians, including Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, and the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, a Republican, had condemned the violence.

The first public response from the White House came from the first lady, Melania Trump, who wrote on Twitter: “Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let’s communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence.”

Former President Barack Obama responded to the violence on Twitter with a quote from Nelson Mandela: “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion... People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love..”

After the rally was dispersed, its organizer, Jason Kessler, who calls himself a “white advocate,” complained in an interview that his group had been “forced into a very chaotic situation.” He added, “The police were supposed to be there protecting us and they stood down.”

Both Mr. Kessler and Richard Spencer, a prominent white nationalist who was to speak on Saturday, are graduates of the University of Virginia. In an online video, titled “a message to Charlottesville,’’ Mr. Spencer vowed to return to the college town.

“You think that we’re going to back down to this kind of behavior to you and your little provincial town? No,’’ he said. “We are going to make Charlottesville the center of the universe.”

Later in the day, a Virginia State Police helicopter crashed near a golf course and burst into flames. The pilot, Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, of Midlothian, Va., and Berke M. M. Bates, 40, a trooper-pilot of Quinton, Va., died at the scene. Their Bell 407 helicopter was assisting with the situation in Charlottesville, the Virginia State Police said.

The violence in Charlottesville was the latest development in a series of tense dramas unfolding across the United States over plans to remove statues and other historical markers of the Confederacy. The battles have been intensified by the election of Mr. Trump, who enjoys fervent support from white nationalists.

In New Orleans, tempers flared this spring when four Confederate-era monuments were taken down. Hundreds of far-right and liberal protesters squared off, with occasional bouts of violence, under another statue of Robert E. Lee. There were fisticuffs and a lot of shouting, but nothing like the violence seen in Charlottesville.

In St. Louis, workers removed a confederate monument from Forest Park in June, ending a drawn-out battle over its fate. In Frederick, Md., a bust of Roger B. Taney, the chief justice of the United States who wrote the notorious 1857 Dred Scott decision denying blacks citizenship, was removed in May from its spot near City Hall.

Here in Charlottesville, Saturday’s protest was the culmination of a year and a half of debate over the Lee statue. A movement to withdraw it began when an African-American high school student here started a petition. The City Council voted 3 to 2 in April to sell it, but a judge issued an injunction temporarily stopping the move.

The city had been bracing for a sea of demonstrators, and on Friday night, hundreds of them, carrying lit torches, marched on the picturesque grounds of the University of Virginia, founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson.

“We’re going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump” to “take our country back,” said Mr. Duke, a former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Many of the white nationalist protesters carried campaign signs for Mr. Trump.

University officials said one person was arrested and charged Friday night with assault and disorderly conduct, and several others were injured. Among those hurt was a university police officer injured while making the arrest, the school said in a statement.

Teresa A. Sullivan, the president of the university, strongly condemned the Friday demonstration in a statement, calling it “disturbing and unacceptable.”

Still, officials allowed the Saturday protest to go on — until the injuries began piling up.

Charlottesville declared a state of emergency around 11 a.m., citing an “imminent threat of civil disturbance, unrest, potential injury to persons, and destruction of public and personal property.”

Governor McAuliffe followed with his own declaration an hour later.

“It is now clear that public safety cannot be safeguarded without additional powers, and that the mostly-out-of-state protesters have come to Virginia to endanger our citizens and property,” he said in a statement. “I am disgusted by the hatred, bigotry and violence these protesters have brought to our state.”

The Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, Ed Gillespie, issued his own statement denouncing the protests as “vile hate” that has “no place in our Commonwealth.”

Mr. Ryan agreed. “The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant,” he said on Twitter. “Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry.”

Correction: August 12, 2017

An earlier version of this article misstated the age of a man arrested after the Charlottesville rally. James Alex Fields Jr. is 20, not 32.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg reported from Charlottesville, and Brian M. Rosenthal from New York. Hawes Spencer contributed reporting from Charlottesville, and Charlie Savage from Washington.

Re: Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jew

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 3:24 am
by admin
The A.C.L.U. Needs to Rethink Free Speech
by K-Sue Park
August 17, 2017

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The American Civil Liberties Union has a long history of defending the First Amendment rights of groups on both the far left and the far right. This commitment led the organization to successfully sue the city of Charlottesville, Va., last week on behalf of a white supremacist rally organizer. The rally ended with a Nazi sympathizer plowing his car into a crowd, killing a counterprotester and injuring many.

After the A.C.L.U. was excoriated for its stance, it responded that “preventing the government from controlling speech is absolutely necessary to the promotion of equality.” Of course that’s true. The hope is that by successfully defending hate groups, its legal victories will fortify free-speech rights across the board: A rising tide lifts all boats, as it goes.

While admirable in theory, this approach implies that the country is on a level playing field, that at some point it overcame its history of racial discrimination to achieve a real democracy, the cornerstone of which is freedom of expression.

I volunteered with the A.C.L.U. as a law student in 2011, and I respect much of its work. But it should rethink how it understands free speech. By insisting on a narrow reading of the First Amendment, the organization provides free legal support to hate-based causes. More troubling, the legal gains on which the A.C.L.U. rests its colorblind logic have never secured real freedom or even safety for all.

For marginalized communities, the power of expression is impoverished for reasons that have little to do with the First Amendment. Numerous other factors in the public sphere chill their voices but amplify others.

Most obviously, the power of speech remains proportional to wealth in this country, despite the growth of social media. When the Supreme Court did consider the impact of money on speech in Citizens United, it enabled corporations to translate wealth into direct political power. The A.C.L.U. wrongly supported this devastating ruling on First Amendment grounds.

Other forms of structural discrimination and violence also restrict the exercise of speech, such as police intimidation of African-Americans and Latinos. These communities know that most of the systematic harassment and threats that stifle their ability to speak have always occurred privately and diffusely, and in ways that will never end in a lawsuit.

A black kid who gets thrown in jail for possessing a small amount of marijuana will face consequences that will directly affect his ability to have a voice in public life. How does the A.C.L.U.’s conception of free speech address that?

The A.C.L.U. has demonstrated that it knows how to think about other rights in a broader context. It vigorously defends the consideration of race in university admissions, for example, even as conservative challengers insist on a colorblind notion of the right to equal protection. When it wants to approach an issue with sensitivity toward context, the A.C.L.U. can distinguish between actual racism and spurious claims of “reverse racism.”

The government’s power is not the only thing that can degrade freedom of expression, which Justice Benjamin Cardozo once described as “the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom.” The question the organization should ask itself is: Could prioritizing First Amendment rights make the distribution of power in this country even more unequal and further silence the communities most burdened by histories of censorship?

This is a vital question because a well-funded machinery ready to harass journalists and academics has arisen in the space beyond First Amendment litigation. If you challenge hateful speech, gird yourself for death threats and for your family to be harassed.

Left-wing academics across the country face this kind of speech suppression, yet they do not benefit from a strong, uniform legal response. Several black professors have been threatened with lynching, shooting or rape for denouncing white supremacy.

Government suppression takes more subtle forms, too. Some of the protesters at President Trump’s inauguration are facing felony riot charges and decades in prison. (The A.C.L.U. is defending only a handful of those 200-plus protesters.) States are considering laws that forgive motorists who drive into protesters. And police arrive with tanks and full weaponry at anti-racist protests but not at white supremacist rallies.

The danger that communities face because of their speech isn’t equal. The A.C.L.U.’s decision to offer legal support to a right-wing cause, then a left-wing cause, won’t make it so. Rather, it perpetuates a misguided theory that all radical views are equal. And it fuels right-wing free-speech hypocrisy. Perhaps most painful, it also redistributes some of the substantial funds the organization has received to fight white supremacy toward defending that cause.

The A.C.L.U. needs a more contextual, creative advocacy when it comes to how it defends the freedom of speech. The group should imagine a holistic picture of how speech rights are under attack right now, not focus on only First Amendment case law. It must research how new threats to speech are connected to one another and to right-wing power. Acknowledging how criminal laws, voting laws, immigration laws, education laws and laws governing corporations can also curb expression would help it develop better policy positions.

Sometimes standing on the wrong side of history in defense of a cause you think is right is still just standing on the wrong side of history.

K-Sue Park is a housing attorney and the Critical Race Studies fellow at the U.C.L.A. School of Law.

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Re: Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jew

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 3:50 am
by admin
Jason Kessler
by Southern Poverty Law Center
August 17, 2017

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Relying on familiar tropes of “white genocide” and “demographic displacement,” white nationalist blogger Jason Kessler seeks notoriety with his "Unite the Right" march in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Jason Kessler
EXTREMIST INFO
Born: 1983
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Ideology: White Nationalist


About Jason Kessler

A relative newcomer to the white nationalist scene, Jason Kessler has made waves in his attempt to unseat Charlottesville’s only black city councilman and for his status as a bridge between a Virginia gubernatorial candidate and the Alt-Right. Relying on familiar tropes of “white genocide” and “demographic displacement,” Kessler has sought to parlay his status as a lonely dissenter in the “Capital of the Resistance” into notoriety on the larger far right circuit by organizing a second white nationalist rally in Charlottesville after the first, torchlit rally in May of 2017 made headlines.

A “journalist, activist and author from Charlottesville, VA,” Kessler’s LinkedIn account states that he graduated of the University of Virginia in 2009. He was virtually unknown in the media prior to his crusade against Charlottesville Vice Mayor and City Councilman Wes Bellamy.

Although Kessler has protested both of his arrests relating to his recent crusade and decries them as attempts to use “the liberal nature of this city to really mess with me,” those arrests do not represent his first brushes with the law.

Arrest records indicate that Kessler was convicted in 2005 for shoplifting, obstructing justice and for a string of failures to appear and register, in addition to numerous traffic violations and citations.

Kessler started his blog “Jason Kessler, American Author,” toward the end of 2015 and spent the majority of the next year dispensing mindset and lifestyle advice and promoting two books authored during a period of “worldwide travel.” The first is a book of poetry titled Midnight Road, and a second novel called Badland Blues about a “drunken dwarf,” who is “unlucky in love, looks or money.”

Rumors abound on white nationalist forums that Kessler’s ideological pedigree before 2016 was less than pure and seem to point to involvement in the Occupy movement and past support for President Obama.

At one recent speech in favor of Charlottesville’s status as a sanctuary city, Kessler live-streamed himself as an attendee questioned him and apologized for an undisclosed spat during Kessler’s apparent involvement with Occupy. Kessler appeared visibly perturbed by the woman’s presence and reminders of their past association.


Was Jason Kessler a Barack Obama supporter?

True. He told us (and has consistently said elsewhere) that he was an Obama supporter and voted for him. He says he began to sour on Obama and the Democrats during Obama’s second administration because of their focus on what Kessler terms “identity politics.”

Was Kessler involved in the Occupy movement?

Mostly false. According to Kessler, Occupy’s “anti-globalist” stance caught his interest in 2011 and he attended an Occupy Charlottesville demonstration, but found he didn’t see eye-to-eye with the group in a confrontation he described as none too friendly. (The source typically cited to support the claim that he was “involved” in the Occupy movement, a Southern Poverty Law Center dossier on Kessler’s political history, uses the phrase “apparent involvement” and supplies no evidence to indicate he had anything other than a relatively brief encounter with the Charlottesville contingent.)

-- Alt-Right Turns Against ‘Unite the Right’ Organizer Jason Kessler, Labels Him ‘Soros/Deep State Plant’: In the aftermath of the violence-plagued Charlottesville rally, former white nationalist allies peddled a conspiracy theory suggesting Kessler is a left-wing provocateur, by David Emery


Kessler himself has placed his “red-pilling” around December of 2013 when a PR executive was publicly excoriated for a tasteless Twitter joke about AIDS in Africa.

Regarding the incident, Kessler stated “… so it was just a little race joke, nothing that big of a deal, she didn’t have that many followers, she probably didn’t think anybody was gonna see it.”

Regardless of Kessler’s past politics, the rightward shift in his views was first put on display in November, 2016 when his tirade against Wes Bellamy began.

Bellamy, a teacher at Charlottesville’s Albemarle High School teacher and Vice Mayor, first drew Kessler’s ire after organizing a press conference to call for the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in downtown Charlottesville on March 22, 2016.
After a face-to-face encounter at a second rally protesting a UVA lecturer who referred to Black Lives Matter as a racist group, Kessler set his sights on having Bellamy removed from office.

That November, Kessler posted an expose revealing lewd and offensive tweets and retweets made by Bellamy prior to entering office. Beneath a photo captioned with a reference to the racist “Kangz” meme that white nationalists typically employ to mock the Black Egyptian hypothesis, Kessler asserted that Bellamy’s tweets were proof of “anti-white bias.”

Kessler has gone on to assert that Bellamy attained his position on the Charlottesville Board of Education because “Democrats … are political elitists, hiding behind Wes Bellamy … Bellamy is untouchable to them, no matter how ridiculously anti-white he is.”

Kessler’s unearthing of Bellamy’s sexist, homophobic, and bigoted tweets did garner some coverage on the national scene. Relishing in the spotlight, Kessler pressed the attack.

In December of 2016, Kessler announced a petition demanding Bellamy step down or be removed “[i]n light of recently revealed anti-white, racist and pro-rape comments.”

On January 22, 2017, Kessler was arrested for misdemeanor assault after he punched a man while gathering signatures for his petition against Bellamy. Kessler initially filed assault charges against the man but dropped them after video footage revealed that Kessler had swung without physical provocation.


“Man to man, yell in a man's face and expect to get punched in the face," Kessler said of the incident.

"He and his buddy came over, they scribbled on my petition and vandalized it. [The victim] didn't want to have a conversation with me … and he called me a name. I felt threatened and I hit him to get him away from me."

Kessler plead guilty and was sentenced to 50 hours of community service later that May.

Filed in February 2017, the petition was dismissed in March of that year.

Unity & Security For America

As Kessler was filing his failed petition, Unity & Security for America, a nativist, white nationalist group he founded, launched its website.

In a GoFundMe started by one of Kessler’s Unity & Security for America cohort to fund the “man hours to prepare for [protests], body armor to protect our journalist from a knife to the ribs, a professional quality microphone for interviewer [sic] the protestors and much more,” the group is described as “a revolutionary right wing grassroots movement. Founded by author and activist Jason Kessler who broke the Wes Bellamy Twitter scandal, USA is transformational movement within the Cultural Marxist hell that is Charlottesville.”

“Cultural Marxism” refers to a conspiracy that a group of Jewish leaders escaped Nazi Germany and have since sought to “erode Western values” through cultural influence.

Kessler and Unity & Security for America spent the early part of 2017 supporting the campaign of pro-Confederate Virginia gubernatorial candidate Corey Stewart, a member of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors who drew headlines for referring to an opponent as a “cuckservative” and whose Wikipedia page had unflattering references edited out by Stewart’s campaign staff.

Chief of Staff – Brennan Gilmore

A Lexington, Va., native and UVA graduate, Brennan will serve as the campaign’s chief of staff, advising Tom on strategy and planning. A career Foreign Service Officer, Brennan previously served in diplomatic posts across Africa and in the State Department in Washington, before being Tom’s top aide as U.S. Envoy to the African Great Lakes Region. He is also an accomplished bluegrass musician.

-- Tom Perriello announces staff for gubernatorial campaign, by Augusta Free Press


Kessler and his group appeared at Stewart campaign stops alongside known members and affiliates of the League of the South, a neo-Confederate hate group that wants to bring about a theocratic white nationalist state in the south.

Regarding the League of the South, Kessler has stated, “Dr. Michael Hill from the League of the South, these are good confederate voices … because this is about the Confederacy which is an American ethnic group,” reflecting the League’s bizarre conception of “white Anglo-Celtic Southerners” as a separate and distinct ethnic polity from the rest of America.

Kessler has railed against “carpetbaggers” in Richmond, Charlottesville and the state as a whole, much as the League of the South rails against Yankees “filling up Dixie.” Nevertheless, “Copperheads” who agree with their pro-Lost Cause icon agenda, like the Minnesota-born Stewart, are apparently granted a pass.

In April of 2017, Kessler retweeted a post by a Twitter account associated with The Right Stuff (TRS). The post shared a racist blog penned by Identity Dixie, a neo-Confederate offshoot of the white nationalist TRS, titled “The Shadow Over Charlottesville.” The piece outlined Kessler’s efforts to dislodge Bellamy over Bellamy’s problematic tweets and retweets and referred to Bellamy as a “pavement ape” and “Councilman Dindu,” while also disparaging a federal judge as a “jigaboo” and “pinko-commie fags” in the City of Charlottesville.

That same month, Kessler penned his first article for VDare, a xenophobic, nativist publication started by Peter Brimelow. Kessler has since written four additional blogs for the publication, including the most recent, posted on June 19, titled “Yes, Virginia (Dare), There Is Such A Thing As White Genocide.”

Kessler has also written for GotNews.com, a website established by white nationalist and internet troll Chuck Johnson.

Uniting the Right

The biggest boon to Kessler’s profile to date occurred on May 14, 2017 when a group of white nationalists descended upon Charlottesville for a day-long protest over the efforts to remove the Lee and Jackson statues that occupy city parks. The event culminated in a torch-lit march to the statue of Robert E. Lee, which generated a great deal of coverage noting the visual similarities between the torch-lit rally and cross-lightings at Ku Klux Klan gatherings where Civil War veterans gathered to strike back against Reconstruction.

Kessler was arrested at the event for failure to obey an officer’s commands during the rally, scarcely weeks after entering his guilty plea for misdemeanor assault.

The next day conservative news outlet The Daily Caller posted an article on the protest penned by Kessler.

The Daily Caller later issued a correction noting that Kessler’s take on the day’s events was less than impartial as he had spoken with a luncheon gathering of pro-monument supporters, and praised several racist organizations and called for a second Civil War.

The incident is indicative of the problems associated with Kessler’s self-styled brand of “independent journalism,” which typically consists of attending local protests with a bullhorn and provocative signs, then decrying coverage by reputable news outlets.

The Caller stated of Kessler “[I]n light of his activism on the issue, we have mutually agreed to suspend our freelance relationship with him.”

Regarding the torch-lit march, Kessler has attempted to elide the controversy by claiming in a tweet that “European people have a long history of torch-lit funeral processions to honor the dead See: Vikings”

Nevertheless, Kessler admitted the use of torches was in some way intended to cause controversy in the press.

“When they saw the torches that we did in the evening there was a mass triggering that took place.”


Kessler began organizing a follow-up rally in response to “hyperbolic rhetoric by the media” shortly thereafter, creating a Facebook event in early June. In the run-up to the August 2017 “Unite the Right” rally, Kessler has made rounds with white nationalists, racists, and reactionaries of all stripes, all in the name of “free speech.”

Kessler’s newfound popularity among the far right has caused some of his former associates to distance themselves from him. Two fellow members of Unity & Security for America publicly denounced Kessler, with one stating, ““He’s affiliated himself with people who are — to put it mildly — ideologically distasteful. And now he’s associated with people involved with organized crime. It’s turning into a rabbit hole. And I want nothing to do with that.”

Those speaking at the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” event include Richard Spencer, who spoke at the first Charlottesville rally, Mike Enoch of The Right Stuff, Matthew Heimbach of the white nationalist Traditionalist Workers Party, Augustus Invictus, a pagan neo-fascist who has pledged to bring about a second Civil War, and Michael Hill of the League of the South.

On July 11, 2017, Kessler appeared before Charlottesville’s town hall to promote his rally and to distance himself from a rally the previous weekend by the Loyal White Knights of the KKK. The Klan rally took place in front of a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest in an attempt to capitalize on the spotlight burning on Charlottesville. Flanked by members of the Warlocks Motorcycle Club, Kessler railed against the media, local anti-racist group Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) and Black Lives Matter.

When pressed on whether he disavowed the KKK rally, Kessler stated, “I didn’t want them here.”

As for his motive in organizing the event, Kessler stated “I didn’t do it, Wes Bellamy did.”

In Their Words

Like Black Lives Matter, militant Islam exists as a call to action for the violent rage some minorities feel towards the white majority.” — From “Esteban Santiago: The Siren Song of Jihad for Immigrants and the Mentally Ill” (1/7/2017).

“But make no mistake, the age of innocence is over for whites politically. We are becoming a displaced minority in our own country thanks to Democrat policies. They tax the hell out of middle class families who might want to have more children while paying for welfare queens to have 5 or 6 babies they can't support. They provide sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants who flood in from south of the border and import Islamists from the most dangerous countries on Earth. The time for supplication is over. We need to fight back!” — “The End of Identity Politics: To Ensure Peace, Prepare for War” (12/23/2016).

“I don’t understand why they’re trying to pretend that disproportionate Jewish influence is a conspiracy … they have this enormous wealth and they’re using it to wield power.” — LIVE with Jason Kessler: Unite The Right (7/17/2017).

Re: Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jew

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 3:58 am
by admin
Tom Perriello announces staff for gubernatorial campaign
by Augusta Free Press
Feb. 7, 2017

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Tom Perriello is announcing additional hires for his gubernatorial campaign that represent talent from across the Democratic Party and with deep Virginia ties uniting behind Tom’s new-generation progressive candidacy.

Julia Barnes, a veteran of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign who led his successful 22-point upset primary victory in New Hampshire, will serve as campaign manager. Pete Brodnitz, a veteran of Virginia Democratic campaigns and former advisor to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, will lead opinion and strategic research as a strategist and pollster. Angelique Cannon-Harris, one of the longest-serving finance aides on Clinton’s presidential campaign and a former top finance aide to Senator Mark Warner, will be a senior advisor, leading the campaign’s finance strategy.

Additionally, Tom has boosted his digital operation by bringing on Revolution Messaging, a firm founded by alumni of President Obama’s 2008 campaign which most recently served as the digital consultant for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.

Revolution Messaging will lead the campaign’s digital and online fundraising strategies. The campaign previously announced it had hired Ian Sams, another longtime communications operative for Clinton’s presidential campaign, to lead its communications and messaging operation as communications director.

“This team represents the broad, diverse cross-section of Democrats uniting behind Tom’s next-generation progressive candidacy in Virginia,” said Julia Barnes. “We are excited to get to work to tell Tom’s story across Virginia, helping to build a strong coalition of voters committed to showing Virginia is progressive, inclusive, and a firewall against hate in 2017.”
Additional hires include Brennan Gilmore as chief of staff, Don Mark as deputy campaign manager, Jessica Aune as finance director, Leah Greenberg as policy director, Kimble Reynolds as senior advisor for political affairs, Quena Dailey as deputy political director, Remi Yamamoto as press secretary, and Maggie Thornton as scheduler.
Together, these operatives span the divides within the Democratic Party and show the broad appeal of Tom’s campaign of pragmatic populism and inclusive progressivism.

Perriello staff

Campaign Manager – Julia Barnes


As campaign manager, Julia will lead all campaign strategy and operations. She served as Bernie Sanders’ New Hampshire primary director, overseeing a multi-million dollar budget and leading all efforts to secure Sanders’ 22-point upset victory over Hillary Clinton — the largest for a competitive primary in the history of the state. She later became Sanders’ National Field Director, managing the campaign’s efforts in more than 20 states and steering all campaign organizing, data, training and outreach. She has also served as executive director of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, where she fought for resources for state parties across the country during the 2016 general election, and of the Vermont Democratic Party, where she led state Democrats’ 2014 coordinated campaign.

Strategy and polling – Pete Brodnitz

A veteran of Virginia Democratic politics, Pete — who was pollster for both of Tom’s congressional campaigns — will lead strategic research for the campaign. Pete was a part of the Benenson Strategy Group polling team that advised Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign during the Democratic primary before launching his own firm, Expedition Strategies. Pete’s previous Virginia clients include Senator Tim Kaine, former Senator Jim Webb and former Congressman Rick Boucher.
Senior Advisor – Angelique Cannon-Harris

Angelique will advise Tom on finance strategy. She most recently served as interim national finance director of the Democratic National Committee, after being one of Hillary Clinton’s longest-serving finance aides on her presidential campaign, where she was deputy national finance director for the mid-Atlantic region. Before joining Clinton’s campaign in early 2015, she was the finance director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the 2012 and 2014 cycles and was previously the top finance aide to Senator Mark Warner.

Chief of Staff – Brennan Gilmore

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-- Brennan Gilmore, Twitter.com


A Lexington, Va., native and UVA graduate, Brennan will serve as the campaign’s chief of staff, advising Tom on strategy and planning. A career Foreign Service Officer, Brennan previously served in diplomatic posts across Africa and in the State Department in Washington, before being Tom’s top aide as U.S. Envoy to the African Great Lakes Region. He is also an accomplished bluegrass musician.


Deputy Campaign Manager and Political Director – Don Mark

A longtime Democratic operative in Virginia and native of Prince William County, Don will lead the campaign’s political outreach. Prior to the campaign, Don was deputy chief of staff to Mayor Dwight Jones of Richmond. He was the political director for President Obama’s winning 2012 campaign in Virginia, as well as the political director for the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Communications Director – Ian Sams

Ian will lead communications and message strategy for Tom for Virginia. He was one of the earliest communications hires on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Brooklyn, most recently serving as the regional communications director leading the campaign’s communications strategy in five battleground states, including Virginia. Prior to joining Clinton’s campaign in early 2015, he was a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, where he was deployed to Terry McAuliffe’s 2013 gubernatorial campaign for its final months, and for U.S. Senator Tom Carper of Delaware.

Digital consulting – Revolution Messaging

The team from Revolution Messaging will lead the campaign’s online fundraising, organizing, and digital strategy. Revolution Messaging is a full-service digital agency, which was founded by alumni of President Obama’s 2008 campaign and most recently served as digital firm to Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, running his online fundraising, digital advertising, branding, video creation, website development, online store, and the Artists for Sanders program.

Senior Advisor – Kimble Reynolds

Tom’s former congressional regional director and a former mayor of Martinsville, Va., Kimble will be a senior advisor for political affairs — helping build coalitions of support for Tom’s campaign and liaising with elected officials in-state.

Finance Director – Jessica Aune

Jessica comes to Tom for Virginia from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, where she was the DSCC’s West Finance Director for the 2016 cycle. Previously she has worked in fundraising at House Majority PAC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Policy Director – Leah Greenberg

Leah will lead policy development for Tom’s campaign. Most recently, Leah joined a group of former congressional aides to help found the Indivisible Project, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering grassroots activists to resist the Trump agenda through congressional advocacy, and worked at Humanity United, a philanthropy focused on tackling difficult global problems such as human trafficking and violent conflict. Previously, she was an advisor to Tom at the Department of State and in his congressional office.

Press Secretary – Remi Yamamoto

Remi will serve as the campaign’s press secretary. She was most recently the regional press secretary for Richmond, Central, and Southwest Virginia on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Virginia. Prior to that, she was a senior associate at Precision Strategies, where she worked for a range of political, corporate and non-profit clients. She is also an alumna of President Obama’s 2012 campaign and the White House.

Scheduler – Maggie Thornton

A former aide on Tom’s 2010 reelection campaign, Maggie will lead scheduling for the campaign. A Southwest Virginia native and UVA graduate, she previously worked on President Obama’s successful 2008 campaign in Virginia, on Creigh Deeds’ 2009 gubernatorial campaign, and most recently was deputy campaign manager for Jane Dittmar’s congressional campaign in the Fifth Congressional District. From 2011-2016, she was also an English teacher in Virginia public schools.

Deputy Political Director – Arquena “Quena” Dailey, MPA

Quena will help lead Tom’s political outreach in-state, focusing on building coalitions of support in communities across Virginia. Previously, Quena was the deputy political director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Virginia. A Hampton Roads resident, she is an executive board member of the Hampton Democratic Committee and has previously worked for the District of Columbia and the Virginia General Assembly.