a reply to:
Templeton
I have nothing showing that Chapman adheres to any specific ideology or is a bigot. He's of course a nationalist, which is now being commonly referred
to among those wanting to make the distinction, as a "civic nationalist." Chapman is a part of what's being called the "Alt-Lite." He's the most well
known of the "Proud Boys," a fraternal organization founded by Canadian, Gavin McInnes. The Proud Boys are the largest organized Alt-Lite group and
McInnes. It sounds absurd to even say this but the group has a sanctioned street fighting division, created by Chapman, which he calls the "Fraternal
Organization of Alt-Knights."
The "Alt-Light" is where things get very gray. Take for instance Gavin McInnes. He states that the Proud Boys are "Western Chauvinists" which isn't
quite white supremacy — it's more like European pan-nationalism. The idea is basically that Western culture will beat your culture up. They're also
anti-feminism and they sort of grew out the whole #GamerGate which made celebrities of Cernovich, Milo and others.
Despite what McInnes says about the Proud Boys, he and others in his group have a lot of ties to the Alt-Right (which is why they're part of the
"Alt-Lite"). For instance, McInnes writes a column for Taki's, one of the principal Alt-Right media hubs. He got that job through his acquaintance
with Richard B. Spencer. He's known for frequent appearances for Alt-Right podcasts and for giving a platform to the Alt-Right on his.
This is a recurring theme with the "Alt-Lite"which has basically been a sort of racially inclusive fringe of the Alt-Right for a couple years but is
now trying to distance itself from the Alt-Right by making a point of denouncing racism and racists in public.
Jason Kessler, the organizer of Unite the Right, was a Proud Boy and one of the more visible, including making appearances on McInnes's podcast. He
clearly is up to his neck in ties to those in various white nationalist/white supremacist/neo-Nazi/etc groups.
"Johnny Benitez" is another (apparently former from what I read) Proud Boy. He's a super sketchy character who has a lot of ties to straight up
neo-Nazis. And 90% of the time you see him on video, there's one with 10-20 feet of him, typically members of this neo-Nazi fight club, R.A.M.
He of course was there with "Based Stickman" and his ("Johnny's") neo-Nazi pals as well as Nathan Damigo and his Identity Evropa pukes (who were also
at UTR which Chapman was originally scheduled to speak at) at Berkeley and other local events.
All these people are part of the same scene. I would include Joey Gibson and the Patriot's Prayer in the the Alt-Lite. He's been fine with these white
nationalists/neo-Nazis/etc being around even though he doesn't personally seem to espouse their views. He's a little different because he has ties
with anti-LGBT groups as well which doesn't seem to be typical of the Alt-Lite but I think that has more to do with the religious aspect. Such as the
"Hell Shaking Street Preachers" who are anti-LGBT (and a lot of other things) "street preachers" who also have members who participate in violent
conflicts with the Left.
Now out in the East and in the South, you've got Heimbach and the Traditionalists Worker's Party which is a sort of Christian neo-Nazi group (as
opposed to pagan). They're part of recently formed alliance called the Nationalist Front which includes TWP, NSM (the country's largest organized
neo-Nazi group), The Southern League (neo-Confederates), Vanguard America (something of an NSM offshoot) who are also neo-Nazis, NSM and Vanguard
America are national. NSM has chapters in at least 30 states. I can't check right now because the website is down but I think Identity Evropa might be
part of this same white nationalist umbrella org. There's a host of smaller affiliated groups.
All these groups were at UTR. They're the more extreme. NSM has been doing the whole riot gear/shield thing for years now. Prior to the last couple
years, that's also who you'd often see Antifa counter-protesting. Back in the day when 99% of right-wingers had no idea who Antifa was.
They all blur into one another. They're fellow travelers on the far-right spectrum.
Then you have the Patriot Movement folks. That's all sorts of militias, the III%ers, the Oath Keepers, etc. For quite some time, they would do
security for the Alt-Lite/Alt-Right but they're doing that anymore. The Oath Keepers apparently just couldn't stomach the bigotry because they're
actually pretty diverse. This has even resulted in some scuffles. There's a video of "Based Stickman" punching an Oath Keeper that you can find pretty
easily. Just after Charlottesville, the III%er national council issued a national "stand down" directing members that they were to no longer provide
security for any of these Alt-Lite/Alt-Right events. Because they also do not want to be associated with white nationalists/supremacists/neo-Nazis.
When I go to post on this in depth, I'm going to need some diagrams.