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U.S. State Department Official Involved in White Nationalist Movement, Hatewatch Determines

A U.S. State Department official oversaw the Washington, D.C.-area chapter of a white nationalist organization, hosted white nationalists at his home and published white nationalist propaganda online, Hatewatch has determined.

The official, Matthew Q. Gebert, works as a foreign affairs officer assigned to the Bureau of Energy Resources, a State Department spokesperson told Hatewatch. Online, and in private correspondences with other white nationalists, Gebert uses “Coach Finstock” as a pseudonym. Through that alias, he expressed a desire to build a country for whites only.

“Whites need a country of our own with nukes, and we will retake this thing lickety split,” “Coach Finstock” said on a May 2018 episode of “The Fatherland,” a white nationalist podcast. “That’s all that we need. We need a country founded for white people with a nuclear deterrent. And you watch how the world trembles.”

Gebert joined the State Department in 2013 as a presidential management fellow, according to an alumni update published about him in George Washington University’s GW Magazine that summer. Presidential management fellowships are considered prestigious. The program has a "narrow focus – developing a cadre of potential government leaders," according to a website devoted to the program.

A post Gebert made as “Finstock” on a white nationalism-focused forum called The Right Stuff suggests his radicalization started in 2015, two years after he started his job with the State Department. “I got into this movement and off the conservative reservation in 2015,” he wrote in a January 2018 thread called “Ricky Vaughn is a N*****faggot who has no place in The Right Stuff,” which referred to the pseudonymous identity used by an internet personality in the white nationalist “alt-right” movement.

Using a pseudonym, Gebert expressed an understanding that his connections to white nationalism could end his career.

“There are bigger things than a career and a paycheck, and I don’t want to lose mine,” Gebert said as “Coach Finstock” on an episode of “The Fatherland” recorded in August 2017, referring to his commitment to white nationalism. “I am prepared to lose mine. Because this is the most important thing to me in my life … in tandem with my family, of course.”

Hatewatch left a voice message for Gebert at the State Department on June 25, 2019, asking him about “Coach Finstock.” Gebert never returned the call.

Gebert’s links to white nationalism
Two separate sources told Hatewatch they spent time at Gebert’s home in Leesburg, Virginia, in 2017 at gatherings that included such known members of the white nationalist movement as podcaster Michael Peinovich and “Marcus Halberstram,” the pseudonymous co-host of a podcast called “Fash the Nation.”

One of the sources told Hatewatch they spent the night at Gebert’s home following a party on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2017. The other source, who is close to Peinovich’s inner circle, told Hatewatch that parties centered around holidays were commonly held at Gebert’s home, and typically included people associated with the white nationalist movement.

Hatewatch ascertained the location of Gebert’s home using Loudoun County, Virginia, property records. Gebert and his wife, Anna Vuckovic, purchased their home June 1, 2012, for $531,000 and still own it today, the records show.

While standing outside the house listed in the property records, Hatewatch contacted the source who is close to Peinovich’s inner circle to solicit a description of the home. “It’s at the end of a cul-de-sac,” the source said without hesitating, accurately describing the location.

Both sources who claimed to have spent time at Gebert’s home provided detailed descriptions of its exterior to Hatewatch. The descriptions included the couple’s backyard, which features an expansive deck and a six-sided, above-ground veranda. The backyard was visible to Hatewatch from a shaded public walking path next to the property.

The source who spent the night at Gebert’s home provided emails and screenshots of text messages to Hatewatch that corroborate their story.

The same source said they also attended a clandestine dinner at a hotel with Gebert, his wife and Holocaust-denying author David Irving on June 17, 2017. The source provided emails and text messages to corroborate the story of the dinner. The source also sent a picture of Irving, which they said was taken at the dinner.

A third source told Hatewatch they also attended the event with Irving and the Geberts. Both sources who said they attended the Irving dinner recalled it being held in a private room in a hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. An email provided by one of the sources shows it was held at the Nage Bistro at the Courtyard Marriott, and started at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 17, 2017. Gebert introduced himself as a state department official at that dinner, according to both sources who attended it.

State Department employees are restricted from engaging in some outside political activities while working for the federal government, according to the Hatch Act. Some of those restrictions include engaging “in political activity in an official capacity” and engaging in “political activity while on duty or in the workplace.” Hatewatch was unable to determine if Gebert was on duty during the Irving dinner or if the gathering involved political activity.

Four separate sources named Gebert’s wife, Anna Vuckovic, as “Wolfie James,” a blogger and Twitter personality who also is connected to the white nationalist movement. In addition to the three aforementioned sources, a fourth source told Hatewatch they knew Vuckovic by her name and identified her in the movement as “Wolfie James.” The fourth source said they had heard Vuckovic’s husband had “a serious job,” and that the couple lived in the Washington, D.C. area.

Digital footprint leads to Gebert and Vuckovic
Gebert, as “Coach Finstock,” and Vuckovic, as “Wolfie James,” left behind a substantial trail of archived Twitter posts under their pseudonyms, Hatewatch determined. These archives revealed clues about their identities.

Gebert, for example, operated multiple Twitter handles as “Coach Finstock” from 2015 until the spring of 2019, according to two of the sources who spoke to Hatewatch.

At least one of these “Coach Finstock” accounts, @TotalWarCoach, led Hatewatch to expired handles that use elements of Gebert’s real name.

Twitter preserves old handles in conversations on that platform even after users change them. An open-source intelligence technique involves combing through conversations until older handles appear.

A review of conversations by @TotalWarCoach indicates that the same account previously employed handles like @MQGeb, which uses Gebert’s initials and part of his last name, and also @MQGebert, which includes his first two initials and his full last name.

Gebert left other breadcrumbs as “Coach Finstock” on Twitter. For example, the “Coach Finstock”-linked handle @WeWonFam posted what appears to be a personal photograph of the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial facing the Washington Monument on Nov. 17, 2016, a week after President Trump’s election into office. That post suggests the author’s location is in Washington, D.C. @WeWonFam listed Washington, D.C., as its location in the account’s Twitter bio.

“It’s much more beautiful now,” @WeWonFam commented.

@WeWonFam also posted about attending an event that weekend linked to Richard Spencer’s group National Policy Institute, referring to it as the “Shitlord hajj.” Richard Spencer is arguably America’s most infamous white nationalist, and National Policy Institute is a think tank he oversees. The event to which @WeWonFam referred appears to be one staged in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 19, two days later. Attendees at that gathering gave Hitler-salutes and shouted “Hail Trump!” according to video footage published by The Atlantic.

The “Wolfie James”-linked handle @WolffieJames (with two F’s) named her general location once, too. @WolffieJames posted to Twitter on May 13, 2017, “Still justifying that you live in a neighborhood bc it’s ‘safe’ or there are ‘good schools’? Admit it: you want to live near #WhitePeople.”

@WolffieJames then engaged in a conversation in the replies of that tweet with a user going by the handle @Basedmishmosh, who asked “Wolfie James” where she lived.

“Proximal to DC,” @WolffieJames replied. “It’s a cesspool.”

Gebert and Vuckovic’s home in Leesburg is roughly 40 miles northwest of Washington, D.C.

Gebert, as “Coach Finstock,” also periodically appeared on white nationalist podcasts, such as “The Fatherland” and an untitled production hosted by internet personality “Ricky Vaughn.” Hatewatch played those podcast appearances to two of Gebert’s neighbors. Both neighbors told Hatewatch that “Coach Finstock” sounded like Gebert.

“I wanted to tell you really badly that it wasn’t him, but I can’t tell you it’s not him. Because, boy, that sure sounds like him,” one of the neighbors said of the voice.

“Coach Finstock” identifies the ages of his children at different points on at least two episodes of “The Fatherland.” The second of the two neighbors told Hatewatch that the ages mentioned by “Coach Finstock” matched the approximate ages of Gebert’s children, relative to the time the podcasts were recorded.

“I consider myself a white nationalist,” Gebert says as “Coach Finstock” on the “Ricky Vaughn” podcast, which was published in February 2018.

'Finstock,' 'Wolfie' and 'D.C. Helicopter Pilots'
Gebert, as “Coach Finstock,” helped lead a Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia-based organizing chapter of Michael Peinovich’s The Right Stuff network called “D.C. Helicopter Pilots,” according to three sources who spent time with those two men and their associates between 2016 and 2018.

Peinovich is among the most influential and significant figures of the contemporary racist right. He has produced thousands of hours of podcasts that helped shape the white nationalist “alt-right” movement and buoy the candidacy of President Donald Trump. Peinovich has used his popularity as a podcaster to build an on-the-ground movement of white nationalists that stretches across North America.

The “helicopter” in “D.C. Helicopter Pilots” likely refers a meme on the far right inspired by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Under Pinochet’s orders, loyalists to his regime threw political opponents out of helicopters as a form of extrajudicial killing.

Southern Poverty Law Center lists Peinovich's network The Right Stuff, of which "D.C. Helicopter Pilots" is a chapter, under the white nationalist category on our Hate Map.

Gebert appeared on a forum devoted to The Right Stuff network as “Finstock,” based on a review of his posts. TRS took its forum down in May 2018, following users voicing concerns that their private information could be exposed. But Hatewatch preserved elements of the website.

A March 25, 2018, post appears to show Gebert, as “Finstock,” recruiting people to his local chapter, or “pool party.” “Pool parties” is a euphemism for recruiting chapters connected to Peinovich and his podcast network.

“Hello future comrades. Drop me a direct message if you are interested in getting involved. Not playing too cool for school, but getting added to the D.C. Helicopter Pilots group here ‘comes later,’” Gebert wrote as “Finstock” in the forum in a post titled “Washington D.C. + Northern Virginia (D.C. Pilots).”

The sources who spent time in Gebert and Vuckovic’s home told Hatewatch the person doing that recruitment work as “Finstock” was Gebert. The source who was only able to name Vuckovic as “Wolfie James” also noted that Vuckovic’s husband ran “D.C. Helicopter Pilots.” The same source described “D.C. Helicopter Pilots” as a local chapter of Peinovich’s The Right Stuff network.

Hatewatch spoke to Vuckovic at the front door of their home on June 24, 2019, at approximately 8:30 p.m. EST. Vuckovic denied the allegations made by four sources to Hatewatch about her role in the white nationalist movement as “Wolfie James.”

Hatewatch gave a business card to Vuckovic for Gebert and requested that he contact the reporter and respond to queries for this story. He did not do so.

Despite Vuckovic’s denial, the source who spent the night at Gebert’s home forwarded email conversations they had with Peinovich in 2017, which support the couple’s involvement in The Right Stuff.

Timestamps on the emails shared with Hatewatch show the exchanges occurred between March 11 and March 16, 2017. The correspondence involves an account Peinovich uses as his personal email address. Hatewatch’s previous interactions with Peinovich confirm the authenticity of his email address.

Peinovich also shared his cell phone number in one of the emails. The phone number he shared in the emails matches a phone number the white nationalist podcaster used to correspond with Hatewatch before sending a cease-and-desist letter to Southern Poverty Law Center’s Montgomery, Alabama, office on Feb. 24, 2019.

Peinovich, March 11, 2017, 9:08 a.m. EST: “I’m gonna get in touch with Coach and see if I can work out a place to stay. If I come it will probably be Friday. We have two shows to do Monday and Thursday and I have a part time wagecuck gig that I need to do. Hopefully you don’t have to leave too early in the morning Saturday.”

Source, March 11, 2017, 10:47 a.m. EST: “Ok, fantastic. There are a bunch of cheap rooms (less than $39 a night) on AirBnB if you have some cash and don’t mind the pozzed company. Hope you can come down on Friday!”

Peinovich, March 11, 2017, 12:48 p.m. EST: “Cool. I am gonna try to get Coach to put me up with one of the DC pool party goys so hopefully won’t have to pay for a room. I’ll let [you] know when my plans are firmed up.”

“Wagecuck” is a slang word which implies doing something unrelated to the white nationalist cause for money. “Pozzed” is a homophobic “alt-right” slang word that stems from someone being HIV positive. “Pozzed” generally connotes the influence of cultural diversity in a broader sense and has nothing to do with the virus.

Peinovich approached the source later that afternoon with a more solidified plan to attend a house party for The Right Stuff in Leesburg, Virginia, where Gebert and Vuckovic live, the emails show. A person named as “Coach” is described in the emails as arranging travel to and from the location of the party in Leesburg.

Peinovich, March 11, 2017, 4:53 p.m. EST: “Would you be interested in coming to a house party with [The Right Stuff] people in Leesburg Friday night? It will be St. Patty’s so hanging out in the district will be a shitshow. This would be both less money and less hassle and better conversation.”

Source, March 11, 2017, 6:10 p.m. EST: “Yes but I would need a ride there and back. My flight on Saturday leaves at 3 pm.”

Peinovich, March 11, 2017, 6:14 p.m. EST: “That can be arranged. I’m gonna need a ride out there too, so you can come with. I’ll talk to Coach, he's happy to pick us up. If you need to stay over to avoid anyone drunk driving that can be arranged as well. This should be a lot of fun.”

Source, March 11, 2017, 6:18 p.m. EST: “Ok great. If someone could be a designated driver that evening so I can get back to my airbnb before flying out the next day, that would be great. I would drive myself but I don’t have a license yet.”

Peinovich, March 11, 2017, 6:19 p.m. EST: “Ok, I will talk to Coach about it. He can get a volunteer.”

The email conversation resumed March 16, 2017, the day before the gathering took place at Gebert’s home, according to the source.

Peinovich, March 16, 2017, 11:21 a.m. EST: “What time do you get off work? We'll be arriving at Union Station at 6:05. Coach will pick us up to take us to his house for the party. Can you be there around then?”

Source, March 16, 2017, 11:22 a.m. EST: “Great. I’ll get to Union Station a little early and meet you guys there.”

Peinovich, March 16, 2017, 11:24 a.m. EST: “Awesome. Looking forward to it. I have your number. Mine is redacted. See you then.”

The source also forwarded the screenshot of a text message from a person marked on the phone as “Coach Finstock.”

“Coach Finstock,” March 17, 2017, 6:19 p.m. EST: “Hi [Redacted] – I’m here and I assume you’re hanging in Union Station. Black CRV with Illinois plates or see you shortly when Mike arrives.”

Source, March 17, 2017, 6:19 p.m. EST: “Great.”


White nationalist propaganda and 'Unite the Right'
In addition to hosting meet-ups and publishing calls for recruitment, Gebert contributed to a podcast hosted on Peinovich’s network called “The Fatherland,” speaking under the name “Coach Finstock.”

“Coach Finstock” talked on “The Fatherland” about attending the deadly “Unite the Right” rally Aug. 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He described himself as wearing a hat and sunglasses that day to avoid being identified.

“I came back in one piece. Un-doxxed. Knock on wood,” Gebert said as “Coach Finstock,” referring to the fact that he managed to avoid being identified in the crowd. “Un-arrested. Just with some mild war wounds that frankly I’m kind of proud of.”

James Alex Fields, a man who marched with the neo-Nazi group Vanguard America that day, drove his car into a crowd of antiracist demonstrators, killing a woman named Heather Heyer. Fields was sentenced to life in prison in June for his role in murdering Heyer. Gebert, speaking as “Coach Finstock,” blamed the violence and chaos at the doomed event on the city of Charlottesville and expressed no apparent regret about what transpired.

“Dude, we smacked the hornet’s nest with a big fucking stick,” Gebert said as “Coach Finstock,” sounding as if he chuckled. “And the only question is whether this is valuable accelerationism or whether we just provoked the red guards, like, a year before we had enough time to spare.”

The word “accelerationism” refers to a phrase used by white nationalists and neo-Nazis which implies that Western civilization must collapse before they can achieve their goal of building an all-white country for non-Jews. Gebert also blamed the police and the city for not providing enough support to white nationalists.

“We gotta red pill police and military,” Gebert said on the same podcast, referring to a slang term connoting radicalization, particularly along lines of convincing people to embrace fascism as their political ideology. “I think those are our two biggest priorities.”

Gebert appeared on another episode of “The Fatherland” as “Coach Finstock” in May 2018 and espoused racist views about black people.

“Well, think about it, we’re suckers for … court jesters – are in our DNA,” Gebert said as “Finstock,” referring to black people. “We like to have a charismatic joker, at least, around us sometimes.”

He continued on the same subject roughly a minute later into the episode, explaining why he believed white people were generally kind to black people.

“I think it reflects the better angels of our white nature that we – despite all of the evidence we have from the criminality to whatnot that we still have a soft spot in our heart for Red Foxx and ‘Sandford and Son,’” he said, referring to a black comedian and his television show. “Or Chris Rock. Against our better judgment, we still give them the benefit of the doubt.”

He added that he wanted black people in the U.S. separated from white people permanently.

“Do not misinterpret me. I am not cucking. They do not belong around us for an ocean at least,” he said.

Gebert, as “Coach Finstock,” also talked about having his third child at least in part to aid in a fight against declining white birth rates.

“What else can you do but spit into the face of the madhouse that we are forced to live in and say, ‘no, we will carry on, we will have more kids and we are going to fight and not go quiet into the night,’” he said of his third child.

Hatewatch also obtained a copy of a since-deleted podcast hosted by “Ricky Vaughn,” a personality from the alt-right movement whose real name is Douglass Mackey, according to a report by Huffpost. The short-lived podcast produced by “Ricky Vaughn” was not published on Peinovich’s website, but the host did appear on podcasts alongside Peinovich, before appearing to quit the movement.

Gebert, as “Coach Finstock,” debated the state of far-right politics with “Ricky Vaughn” on that episode, which archives show was recorded in February 2018. He debates “Ricky Vaughn,” taking the more radical far-right political viewpoint of the two speakers.

On that podcast, “Coach Finstock” endorses “naming the Jew.” “Naming the Jew” is an expression that suggests singling out the names of Jewish people who white antisemites believe have done harm to the white race. He also endorses the so-called “14 Words.” The “14 Words” is a popular saying with neo-Nazis and white nationalists and goes, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”

Wolfie James’ blog posts focused on white nationalist women
For her part, Vuckovic, as “Wolfie James,” wrote blog posts focused on dating tips for white nationalist women and parenting advice for white nationalist moms. She wrote these for Peinovich’s The Right Stuff and at least one other white nationalist website. Someone appears to have deleted some of the “Wolfie James” posts, but Hatewatch was able to unearth them through internet archives.

or example, while operating as “Wolfie James,” Vuckovic published a post called “7 Reasons Why Alt-Right Men Are the Hottest” for AltRight.com and “How to Red Pill Your Woman” for The Right Stuff.

“In an open-borders America she should fear the spics, too – they love their people-smuggling, gang-banging, and drunk driving more than most,” she wrote in “How to Red Pill Your Woman.” “Be cautious not to get overly heated when you fear monger, however; the truth will speak for itself.”

Vuckovic, while writing as “Wolfie James,” also ranked PBS Kids shows on a “hate score” for Peinovich’s website in a post published Dec. 30, 2016. “Wolfie James” sought to limit “Jewish influence” on readers’ children in her writing, according to the post.

“George’s owner, the man in the yellow hat, is the typical klutzy, retarded white man always being peddled on the Jewtube,” “Wolfie James” wrote of the show “Curious George.”

Vuckovic, writing as “Wolfie James,” also referred to the “Sesame Street” characters “Bert and Ernie” as “homos.”

A swastika and a 'bowl cut' meme posted to Twitter
Gebert’s production of white nationalist propaganda was not limited to his podcast appearances. He also operated at least 10 Twitter handles from 2015 to 2019, which interacted with known white nationalists on that platform including Peinovich, Richard Spencer and “Spectre,” a man who has engaged in the harassment campaigns of women, reporters and minorities on that site, and whose real name is Trey Garrison.

Hatewatch could not determine whether Gebert, as “Coach Finstock,” operated his menagerie of Twitter accounts during his workday at the Department of State because we could not determine his schedule. The accounts appeared to post content multiple times per day, based on a review of archives.

Some of the handles that posted content using a display name or other indicators linked to Gebert’s “Coach Finstock” persona include @TotalWarCoach, @Cue1933, @WeWonFam, @Q1776, @DissentCoach, @NeverCuck, @RisenCoach, @RevengeCoach, @TerminalAmerica and @UnbowedCoach, Hatewatch determined.

The multiple Twitter accounts linked to Gebert’s “Coach Finstock” persona contain certain similarities. Some of the accounts, for example, but not all, use the bio description “Radicalized by reality.” The accounts also sometimes listed Peinovich’s website in their bios.

Some of the accounts used variations on the same avatar: For example, both @NeverCuck and the handle @DissentCoach used the same avatar image of Viggo Mortensen’s character from the 2007 film “Eastern Promises,” which focuses on the Russian mafia in England. Accounts such as @RevengeCoach and @RisenCoach used an avatar of Tom Hardy’s character from the 2015 action film “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

The D.C. Helicopter Pilots chapter of The Right Stuff also used at least one Twitter account, @DC_Pilots. It’s unclear who operated that account. The @DC_Pilots account also used the phrase “Radicalized by reality” in its bio.

Some of the handles linked to Gebert and his chapter of The Right Stuff appear to have been abandoned by the person operating them, while others have been suspended by Twitter for violating the site’s terms of service.

Hatewatch reached out twice to a Twitter spokesperson for additional information regarding the “Coach Finstock” Twitter accounts but did not receive a response.

The “Coach Finstock” accounts sometimes posted content that appears to condone violence or genocide. For example, the “Coach Finstock”-linked handle @RisenCoach, which was active in autumn 2017, once employed a profile picture of a skull-and-crossbones overlaid with what appears to be Dylann Roof’s bowl-shaped haircut.

So-called “bowl culture” refers to the veneration of Roof, who murdered nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. White nationalists who admire this convicted killer sometimes superimpose images of his hairstyle onto other pictures in the form of memes.

The “Coach Finstock”-linked handle @NeverCuck, which was active from at least autumn 2018 to January 2019, once posted an image of a Nazi-era swastika.

“It’s that time … again,” @NeverCuck wrote, referring to a historical image of German Nazi SS officers forming a human swastika with torches.

“Coach Finstock” handles posted antisemitic political commentary. The account @DissentCoach wrote Jan. 18, 2019, in reply to a doctored picture of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg being greeted by the hooded specter of death, “When the decrepit old witch finally bites the dust, please one of you make a vid with our crabbies saying ‘The Supreme Court is now officially 11% less Jewish’ as a caption.”

“Crabbies” appears to refer to a meme of animated dancing crabs, which was employed by some white nationalists on social media to mock the death of Arizona Sen. John McCain in August 2018.

The account @Cue1933 also posted an antisemitic meme about New York Senator Charles Schumer on Oct. 4, 2016, and a meme in support of then-candidate Donald Trump. The handle @Cue1933 likely refers to the year 1933, which is when German President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as chancellor.

Hitler’s Nazi party expanded its powers throughout that year. The Nazis opened their first concentration camp in Dachau, Germany, in March 1933.

Evidence to support dinner with David Irving
Debunked historian David Irving is among the most notorious and influential Holocaust deniers in the world, and Gebert’s willingness to attend a private dinner party with him suggests the foreign affairs officer possesses a level of comfort with antisemitic conspiracies.

Irving’s work has repeatedly been discredited by historians for its inaccuracies, and he was labeled “antisemitic and racist” by the British high court when he attempted, and failed, to sue for libel.

Irving, nevertheless, built a cult following for himself, particularly among neo-Nazis, and white nationalists, including Gebert, according to two sources who also attended the dinner in June 2017.

“I’m going to form an association of Auschwitz Survivors, Survivors of the Holocaust and Other Liars — or the ASSHOLs,” Irving said to a Canadian audience in 1991, falsely suggesting that Germans did not commit genocide against European Jews during World War II.

The two sources who attended the dinner with Irving recalled that approximately 12 guests, including Gebert and Vuckovic, sat along a rectangular table with Irving in a private room at a hotel in the Washington, D.C., area. The sources recalled conversation topics that were overtly antisemitic, including the “Jewish question,” which loosely refers to the false belief that Jews secretly control the world through acts of nefarious manipulation.

One of the two sources who attended the dinner with Irving forwarded an email invitation for it to Hatewatch, indicating that it was held at a restaurant called Nage Bistro at the Courtyard Marriott on Rhode Island Avenue in Washington, D.C. Nage Bistro is permanently closed, but Yelp reviews indicate that it was open when the Irving dinner took place on June 17, 2017. “Please keep the above strictly confidential,” Irving writes in the invitation after relaying the date, time and location. The invitation is signed by Irving.

Irving, in an email to Hatewatch, said, “There was one gentleman, whom I will not name, that could have been from State.”

A screenshot of a text message forwarded by one of the two sources to Hatewatch supports the claim that Gebert, as “Coach Finstock,” accepted an invitation to the dinner with Irving.

Source, June 3, 2017, 2:28 p.m. EST: “Hey, Coach. I’m organizing a private dinner with David Irving, who’s back in the U.S. Would you, Ana and the pilots be interested? Trying to get a preliminary headcount – thinking everyone’s kids could be there as well.”

Coach Finstock,” June 3, 2017, 2:28 p.m. EST: “Absolutely. Rough date/time/location?”

The source also forwarded emails from a Protonmail account operated by a user going by the name “Wolfie James.” The emails were sent in response to one sent by the source with the subject “Re: June 17 event in D.C.,” which contained a link to an event page hosted on a website promoting Irving’s work . The Protonmail address of someone going by “Finstock” is copied.

Wolfie James, June 9, 2017, 3:49 p.m. EST: “Redacted, thanks for this! To be clear, I may give this link to like minded friends? We will certainly attend.”

Three days later, the conversation between “Wolfie James” and the source continued:

Wolfie James, June 12, 2017, 12:53 p.m. EST: “Hey, Not to get all autistic, but this event is advertised as Friday, June 17 but June 17 is on a Saturday. Is it on Friday or Saturday? Buying two tickets now. Thanks friend, WJ”

Source, June 12, 2017, 12:59 p.m. EST: “I mentioned this to Irving and all I got was ‘aaaaargh’ (?). So, we’ll just have to see when they announce the location. Maybe it’s advanced psyops instead of a typo…”

Wolfie James, June 12, 2017, 12:59 p.m. EST: “88 dimensional chess, for sure. Was hoping to arrange a babysitter in time, but if I have to bring them, I will. Thanks!”


The number 88 holds a special place in the language of white nationalists and neo-Nazis and is often used in inside jokes. “H” is the eighth letter of the alphabet, so pictured side-by-side, the number 88 translates to “HH” or “Heil Hitler.”

Gebert and Vuckovic found a babysitter and attended the dinner without their children, the source recalled.

Donation to 'Uncle Paul'
Gebert, under his real name, donated $200 to white supremacist and former Republican candidate for Congress Paul Nehlen on Jan. 15, 2018.

Sludge, an online publication focused on money in politics, first discovered the donation in July 2018. The Department of State mentioned the Hatch Act in its comment to Sludge, but it is unclear if the agency took any disciplinary action against Gebert.

Gebert owned a home in Leesburg, Virginia, when he made the donation, according to Loudoun County property records. Gebert’s Virginia home is a 750-mile drive from the district in Wisconsin where Nehlen ran for Congress.

Nehlen appeared on a podcast hosted by The Right Stuff called “Fash the Nation” in December 2017. He was receiving widespread public criticism for voicing antisemitic views on Twitter when Gebert gave $200 to his campaign.

Nehlen today goes by the nickname “Uncle Paul” and praises acts of terrorism done in the name of white nationalism, Hatewatch reported in June.

'The Right Stuff' exposed
Peinovich and those connected to “The Right Stuff” are known for operating in secret, and often go to great lengths to protect their identities from public exposure.

Gebert’s “Coach Finstock” moniker, for example, appears to be taken from the 1985 film “Teen Wolf.” It’s unclear where Vuckovic found her pseudonym, “Wolfie James,” unless “wolf” also refers to the same film.

Both Gebert and Vuckovic appear also to have gone to great lengths to keep their faces off the internet. Hatewatch was able to find one photograph of Vuckovic but found none of Gebert. He did not appear in yearbook photographs published by American University, where he graduated in 2003, according to the school. He did not appear in photographs published by George Washington University, where he graduated with a master’s degree from the Elliott School of International Affairs, according to a directory published by that school.

One of the sources who attended a gathering with other white nationalists at Gebert’s Leesburg home recalled the host putting in place a rule limiting photography there. The source said Gebert pushed this rule among other white nationalists to keep from having his identity exposed.

Ultimately, “Coach Finstock” and “Wolfie James” are the third and fourth pseudonymous characters connected to The Right Stuff named by Hatewatch in 2019. In January, Hatewatch published an investigation naming “Spectre” as Trey Garrison of Dallas, Texas. In May, Hatewatch published an investigation naming “Eric Striker” as Joseph Jordan of Queens, New York.

“It would be good to have higher status white people coming on board to this movement,” Peinovich said on a podcast called “The Public Square” in February 2019, referring to his desire to recruit educated people of means to white nationalism. “It represents a sort of loss of status in the so-called normal world to be associated with this [movement]. … My thing is at some point, people have to be willing to do that.”

Peinovich continued, calling people who find success outside of the white nationalist movement “suspect.”

“What does status [outside the movement] mean anyway?” he asked. “I would not want to have status in that world. … If you have status in that world, you’re suspect actually.”

Two of the sources who spoke to Hatewatch about Gebert and Vuckovic’s involvement with Peinovich compared The Right Stuff network to a cult.

Due to the cease-and-desist letter, Hatewatch reached out to Peinovich’s lawyer for a comment on this story. Peinovich’s lawyer replied to our inquiry by leaving a voicemail on his client’s behalf.

“You had called me regarding Mike Peinovich and wanted his comments on the forthcoming so-called article,” the lawyer said on the voice message. “Mr. Peinovich stands by his prior statements and indicates he wants no contact with the SPLC. Thank you very much.”

State Department response and requests for comment
Hatewatch presented a brief summary of the information contained in this investigation to the State Department by email.

A State Department spokesperson replied to Hatewatch saying the department is “committed to providing a workplace that is free from discriminatory harassment and investigates alleged violations of laws, regulations, or Department policies, taking disciplinary action when appropriate.”

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Ohio House Explosion Investigated as Hate Crime After Racist Graffiti Is Found

The unoccupied home of an interracial couple in Sterling, Ohio, exploded early Wednesday morning, and officials found a misshapen swastika and a misspelled anti-black slur painted on their garage.

The incident was being investigated as a possible hate crime by the local police, the F.B.I. and other agencies, according to Capt. Doug Hunter of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.

The explosion was reported by a neighbor around 12:40 a.m. on Wednesday. The couple had been staying at a hotel nearby as they renovated their home after an electrical fire on July 3.

“The entire house was engulfed,” Captain Hunter said.

The couple’s home in rural Sterling, about 25 miles southwest of Akron, Ohio, was the last house on a dead-end street, Captain Hunter said. A neighbor’s garage and vehicles had also been spray-painted, but there were no discernible words on them, he said, adding that the authorities were not aware of any security cameras that might have caught the vandalism.

One of the homeowners, Angela Frase, told reporters that she had lived there with her husband for 23 years without any major problems. When a reporter asked what was going through her head, she answered, “Disbelief, that there’s still this much hatred in America.”

“We decided that whatever happens, we’re not rebuilding here,” she said. “We’re not coming back. We’re done.”

Captain Hunter said that on Tuesday morning, workers who were renovating the home called the Fire Department to report that the stove had been left on, filling the house with gas. In response, the local utility had shut off the gas. The electricity had already been shut off.

Ms. Frase said that investigators had told her it was possible that an intruder sparked the explosion with a cigarette — and that whoever was responsible died in the fire.

The Frases could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

There were no suspects as of Wednesday afternoon, Captain Hunter said. The Blue Ribbon Arson Committee was offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

#Resist

[psiberzerker]

Racist terrorists that can't spell.

'Merka!

[Athos_131]

Diabetic Man Dies After Trump Administration Deported Him to a Country He Had Never Visited

Jimmy Aldaoud, a man the Trump administration deported to Baghdad, Iraq in June, died Tuesday, Politico reported Wednesday. The 41-year-old had been likely unable to access insulin to treat his diabetes in Iraq, according to people who knew him.

Immigration attorney Edward Bajoka posted on Facebook about Aldaoud’s death. He wrote:“He was forcefully deported to Iraq a couple of months ago. He was born in Greece and had never been to Iraq. He knew no one there. He did not speak Arabic.”

Aldaoud was an Iraqi national and a member of the Chaldean Catholic group. He was born in Greece and had lived in the U.S. for most of his life.

In a Facebook video, Aldaoud described his deportation: “Immigration agents pulled me over and said I’m going to Iraq,” he said. “I refused, I said, ‘I’ve never been there. I’ve been in this country my whole life, since pretty much birth.’… They refused to listen to me.”

“I begged them,” he said. “I said, ‘Please, I’ve never seen that country, I’ve never been there. However, they forced me. I’m here now. And I don’t understand the language... I’ve been sleeping in the street.’”

Aldaoud had serious health concerns including diabetes and schizophrenia, meaning that his deportation is a particularly stunning example of the Trump administration’s calculated cruelty toward vulnerable people.

Bajoka wrote: “He was a paranoid schizophrenic. His mental health was the primary reason for his legal issues that led to his deportation.”

“The likely cause of death was not being able to get his insulin,” he wrote.

A vulnerable person like Aldaoud would benefit from a policy allowing people in the U.S. to access healthcare regardless of citizenship status, an idea that has been floated by several Democratic candidates for president. When he was in clear need of help from a medical professional, though, government officials and law enforcement intervened to make his troubles exponentially worse.

Miriam Aukerman, an attorney with the ACLU of Michigan, said in a written statement: “Jimmy’s death has devastated his family and us. We knew he would not survive if deported. What we don’t know is how many more people ICE will send to their deaths.”

Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) tweeted that Aldaoud should “never” have been deported to Iraq.

Martin Manna of the Chaldean Community Foundation in Michigan said that many people are concerned about whether they will be deported next.

“There’s a tremendous amount of anxiety in the community,” he said. “Iraq’s not a safe place for many of the people who are being sent back.”

“Rest In Peace Jimmy,” Bajoka, the attorney, wrote. “Your blood is on the hands of ICE and this administration.”

#Resist

[Athos_131]

THE WHITE HOUSE DIDN'T WANT DHS TO MENTION WHITE SUPREMACY IN ITS MAJOR COUNTERTERRORISM REPORT

The recent mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, has ushered in a new wave of scrutiny into how Donald Trump's presidency has seemingly emboldened white supremacists to commit acts of domestic terrorism, as the alleged Texas shooter's manifesto echoed the president's own rhetoric. “In both clear language and in code, this president has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation,” former vice president and 2020 frontrunner Joe Biden said Wednesday, while fellow candidate and former congressman Beto O'Rourke went one step further, labeling the president a white supremacist himself. “He is [a white supremacist],” O'Rourke said Wednesday. “He's also made that very clear, he's dehumanized or sought to dehumanize those who do not look like, or pray like the majority here in this country.” So it doesn't exactly come as a surprise to learn that when it comes to the federal government's own efforts to combat domestic terrorism, the White House has reportedly been pretty reluctant to give the matter the attention it deserves.

CNN reports that the Trump-led White House “rebuffed” the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to highlight domestic terrorism in the government's National Counterterrorism Strategy, which would have “specifically spelled out” the domestic terror threat as being a major counterterrorism priority. Sources told CNN that the White House “wanted to focus only on the jihadist threat” while ignoring the rising threat of domestic terrorism—including by white supremacists—in the report, which was released last fall. “They had major ideological blinders on,” said one senior source close to the Trump administration. After a year-long battle between the White House and DHS, the report ultimately included one paragraph on domestic terrorism, which briefly acknowledges its rise and mentions “other forms of violent extremism, such as racially motivated extremism, animal rights extremism, environmental extremism, sovereign citizen extremism, and militia extremism”—but, crucially, not white supremacy. DHS sources told CNN that the White House also refused to let the report include a statement acknowledging “that there would be a subsequent domestic terrorism strategy.” (A senior administration official told CNN in defense of the report: “This Administration's National Strategy for Counterterrorism was the first to ever include domestic terrorism. This issue continues to be a priority for this Administration, and the National Security Council has launched an interagency process focused on combating domestic terrorism in support of the President's counterterrorism strategy.”)

The reasoning behind the White House's reluctance to emphasize domestic terrorism—despite it now accounting for nearly as many arrests as international terrorism—is “a matter of some debate,” CNN reports. One official, for instance, suggested the administration's bullishness on emphasizing jihadist terrorism instead was a response to how the Obama White House was “too politically cautious in calling out the threat of Islamist terrorism.” But multiple sources believe the president's seeming allegiance with white supremacists is likely to blame. “You know it will trigger the boss,” the senior source said about the possibility of denouncing white supremacists. “Instinctively you know he's going to be averse to mentioning that.” A former senior administration official told CNN that Trump has a problem with criticizing white supremacists, saying that the source “didn't have expectation” that the administration would support the mention of domestic terrorism “because the preponderance of it involves white supremacy and that's not something this administration is comfortable speaking out against, until the other day by the President and even that was pretty hedged.” Trump said in a speech Monday that the U.S. “must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy,” though his subsequent statements have undercut the sentiment of his remarks. The president then said on Wednesday that his concern “about the rise of any group of hate” includes “white supremacy, or any other kind of supremacy.”

The recent spate of mass shootings has shined a light on the lack of domestic terrorism resources at Homeland Security, whose reaction to the weekend's tragedies, one DHS official told NBC News, was “uh-oh, we have a problem.” DHS has faced widespread cuts to its domestic terrorism program since Trump took office in 2017, as the Office of Terrorism and Prevention Partnerships' one-time $21 million budget and staff of 16 full-time employees and 25 contractors has dwindled down to just $2.6 million and eight employees. The Trump administration has also cut grants to extremism prevention programs, as well as reassigned intelligence analysts formerly dedicated to domestic terrorism. While Wray has emphasized the FBI's commitment to combating domestic terrorism, that agency has also been affected by an imbalance in resources—as well as the president's own views, former officials suggested to the Washington Post. “I believe Christopher A. Wray is an honorable man, but I think in many ways the FBI is hamstrung in trying to investigate the white supremacist movement like the old FBI would,” former FBI supervisor David Gomez told the Post. “There’s some reluctance among agents to bring forth an investigation that targets what the president perceives as his base. It’s a no-win situation for the FBI agent or supervisor.”

Whether the White House's willingness to confront the problem—and dedicate resources to it—will improve in the wake of the recent shootings still remains a question. In his speech Monday, Trump called for more action to be taken, announcing he was directing the Department of Justice to partner “with local, state, and federal agencies, as well as social media companies, to develop tools that can detect mass shooters before they strike.” But DHS officials told NBC News there have been no discussions of increased funding, and current and former law enforcement officials cited by the Daily Beast say they aren't satisfied with the president's “demoralizing” remarks. “It is a good step to recognize the threat of white supremacy, but words alone cannot solve the problem,” Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent specializing in counterterrorism, told the Daily Beast. “Action speaks louder than words. What kind of policy, legislations, designation, and funding is the administration willing to propose, support, and authorize in order to counter this emerging threat? This is where the rubber meets the road.”

#Resist

[Athos_131]

The Trump administration has actually cut government resources to fight white supremacy and domestic terrorism

Donald Trump vowed on Monday to give federal law enforcement "whatever they need" to fight domestic terrorism, in the wake of two mass shootings over the weekend in Texas and Ohio that left at least 31 dead.

But, following this weekend's bloodshed, some are skeptical about what is actually being done by the federal government to counter violent threats from white supremacists. Based on statements from prominent lawmakers, recent congressional testimony, and a slate of staff and funding cuts within the Department of Homeland Security, it appears that the government is falling woefully short when it comes to fighting domestic terrorism.

On Monday, in response to the shootings, the two top members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr questioning how the Department of Justice intends to protect citizens from domestic terrorism. It's a question reverberating across the government, particularly as the threat of right-wing extremism continues to grow: according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, attacks by far-right perpetrators more than quadrupled between 2016 and 2017.

Seth G. Jones, a senior adviser at the Center and author of the report, previously told Business Insider that the rise of far-right extremism is "almost unprecedented." Other groups have found similar data points, with the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism noting that every single extremist killing in 2018 was linked to right-wing extremism. A senior FBI counterterrorism official told CNN in June that the agency has seen a major increase in the number of white supremacist domestic terrorism cases in the last few months.

But, despite a growing threat, resources under the Trump administration appear to be dwindling. During recent congressional testimony, senior FBI officials said they were overseeing around 850 domestic terrorism investigations, compared to about 1,000 investigations the year prior. When Brette Steele, the former regional director of strategic engagement in the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Terrorism and Prevention Partnerships, testified before Congress, she noted major cuts within the agency since 2017.

For instance, while the DHS office handling domestic terrorism "managed $10 million in grant funding, 16 full-time employees, 25 contractors, and a total budget of approximately $21 million," two years ago, today, resources within the office comprise of "no contractors, and no other means of supporting existing programs beyond a team of eight dedicated, full-time employees and an operating budget of $2.6 million."

That office, dubbed the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Protection, was announced in April by Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan. But, when NBC News questioned the administration on funding and staffing within the office, the DHS declined to comment, raising concerns among former DHS officials about whether the office will actually be effective.

"You have some very dedicated government employees still at the office dealing with terrorism prevention and just trying to keep the lights on," Nate Snyder, an Obama administration counterterrorism official, told the Los Angeles Times.

'The FBI is hamstrung'
In a Sunday night statement, following this weekend's shootings, FBI Director Christopher Wray said "we will bring the full resources of the FBI to bear in the pursuit of justice for the victims of these crimes."

But, where are those resources coming from? As Dave Gomez, a former FBI supervisor who oversaw terrorism cases, noted in an interview with the Washington Post, "I believe Christopher A. Wray is an honorable man, but I think in many ways the FBI is hamstrung in trying to investigate the white supremacist movement like the old FBI would."

"There's some reluctance among agents to bring forth an investigation that targets what the president perceives as his base. It's a no-win situation for the FBI agent or supervisor," Gomez added.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has made clear its intentions to focus specifically on Islamic extremism, versus all violent ideologies, with DHS quietly shifting resources away from programs aimed at combatting far-right and white supremacist groups. According to data from the Brennan Center for Justice, within the New York University School of Law, at least 85% of "Countering Violent Extremism" grants explicitly target minority groups, including Muslims, LGBTQ Americans, Black Lives Matter Activists, immigrants, and refugees.

At the same time, organizations that had received grants under Obama to combat extremist ideology in their communities lost funding, and the Trump administration decided earlier this year that it would not be renewing programs to fight domestic terror.

For instance, the White House revoked a federal grant that had been awarded by the previous administration to the nonprofit Life After Hate, which was founded by former extremists to counter violent ideologies and help people leave hate groups. Christian Picciolini, who helped found the group, previously told Business Insider that, at the time, they were the only organization that had received a federal grant specifically focused on white supremacism. He added that they were never given an official answer as to why the $400,000 grant was rescinded.

"Government interaction has been limited since the administration changed," Picciolini said. "We used to have very good connections with people at the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI and those connections have become very, very limited."

Daryl Johnson, a former DHS analyst, told the Washington Post that the government has pulled back grant programs for combating this type of violence at a time when they should be, instead, expanding such efforts.

"We're in this heightened state of activity where we have mass shootings and bomb plots, and yet there's no political willpower and everybody seems to be burying their head in the sand rather than try to tackle the issue," he said.

Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, emphasized that point in a Monday statement following Trump's address on the weekend's mass shootings.

"Dozens are dead and white supremacist terrorism, for years, is on the rise and is now our top domestic terrorism threat," Thompson said. "Repugnant anti-immigrant rhetoric and white nationalism simply do not belong here. Those that looked the other way for years — or enabled right-wing extremism for political advantage — are on notice. We must address this very real and present threat. The safety and security of our communities is at stake."

#Resist

[Athos_131]

El Paso suspect said he was targeting ‘Mexicans,’ told officers he was the shooter, police say

The suspect accused of killing 22 people at an El Paso Walmart told authorities that he was targeting “Mexicans” and confessed to carrying out the shooting rampage when he surrendered to authorities, according to police.

Law enforcement officials responding to the scene on Saturday spotted a car stopped at an intersection not far from the Walmart, an El Paso police detective wrote in an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by The Washington Post. They then saw a man — identified as Patrick Crusius, the 21-year-old charged with capital murder in the case — get out of the car with his hands in the air, the affidavit said.

He told them, “I’m the shooter,” Detective Adrian Garcia said in the affidavit, which was filed to a judge on Sunday, the day after the shooting.

Authorities believe Crusius was the author of a statement posted online shortly before the attack that decried what it called a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” Federal officials have called the attack — which also injured dozens of people — domestic terrorism and said they are weighing federal hate crimes charges in the case.

The El Paso rampage was one of two mass shootings to occur within a day. Just hours later, a gunman in Dayton, Ohio, killed nine people before police officers shot and killed him.

Crusius has been in jail since surrendering. Authorities say he has been cooperative and has answered their questions. Greg Allen, the El Paso police chief, said the suspected attacker seemed to be “in a state of shock and confusion” and has not shown any remorse to the investigators.

According to Garcia’s affidavit, Crusius waived his right to an attorney and agreed to speak, telling police he traveled from Allen, Tex., a suburb of Dallas, with an assault rifle and multiple magazines.

“The defendant stated once inside the store he opened fire using his AK-47 shooting multiple innocent victims,” Garcia wrote. The detective added that Crusius said his targets were “Mexicans.”

The car he emerged from on Saturday was about a half mile from the Walmart, stopped on a street that essentially divides shopping areas from residential areas.

Garcia wrote that Texas Rangers heading to the shooting saw the vehicle stopped in a left-turn lane. It was unclear where Crusius was heading, though Allen has suggested that he did not know the area well and got lost in a neighborhood upon arriving.

An attorney for Crusius did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the affidavit.

Crusius’s relatives have decried “the destruction Patrick did” and condemned the ideas described in the online statement.

“Patrick’s actions were apparently influenced and informed by people we do not know, and from ideas and beliefs that we do not accept or condone, in any way,” his family said in a statement released through an attorney. “He was raised in a family that taught love, kindness, respect, and tolerance — rejecting all forms of racism, prejudice, hatred, and violence.”

The FBI has dispatched officials from a domestic terrorism-hate crimes fusion cell to investigate the El Paso shooting. The bureau also said this week it is investigating the Dayton shooter after learning he was interested in “violent ideologies” and, separately, announced that it had opened a domestic terrorism investigation into a July 28 mass shooting at a food festival in Gilroy, Calif.

During the Gilroy shooting, six days before the El Paso attack, a gunman killed three people before fatally shooting himself. The FBI said it opened the domestic terrorism probe in that case after learning the gunman had also explored “violent ideologies” and assembled a list of possible targets across the country.

#Resist

#Resist
[/quote]

[Athos_131]

Vegas Man Accused of Plotting to Bomb Synagogues, LGBTQ Bar

A man who authorities say worked as a security guard has been arrested and accused of plotting to firebomb a Las Vegas synagogue or a bar catering to LGTBQ customers, officials said Friday.

An FBI-led anti-terrorism task force on Wednesday netted the 23-year-old suspect and identified him as Conor Climo of Las Vegas, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich said in a statement.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Koppe on Friday ordered the suspect to remain in federal custody pending an Aug. 23 court appearance on a federal firearms charge.

Climo's court-appointed federal public defender didn't immediately respond to messages.

Court documents say Climo communicated by encrypted internet chat with people identified as white supremacists, and told an FBI informant in recent weeks that he was scouting places to attack.

"Threats of violence motivated by hate and intended to intimidate or coerce our faith-based and LGBTQ communities have no place in this country," Trutanich said.

Documents point to a 2016 news report by KTNV-TV in Las Vegas about Climo patrolling his neighborhood wearing battle gear and carrying an assault rifle and survival knife. He shows and describes to a reporter the four, 30-bullet ammunition magazines he is carrying.

Neighbors expressed concern, but Climo was not arrested at that time.

Las Vegas police Officer Aden OcampoGomez noted Friday that Nevada is an open-carry weapon state and Climo broke no laws.

Trutanich said Climo was arrested Thursday after a probe involving at least one undercover online contact and an FBI confidential informant who reported that Climo "discussed, in detail, how to build a "self-contained Molotov" incendiary device.

Investigators serving a warrant at his home found hand-drawn schematics and component parts of a destructive device, according to the criminal complaint, including flammable liquids, oxidizing agents and circuit boards. They also confiscated an AR-15 assault-style weapon and a bolt-action rifle.

The charge against Climo accuses him of possessing an unregistered firearm in the form of the component parts of a destructive device.

"Climo would regularly use derogatory racial, anti-Semitic and homosexual slurs," the U.S. attorney's office statement said. "He discussed attacking a Las Vegas synagogue and making Molotov Cocktails and improvised explosive devices, and he also discussed conducting surveillance on a bar he believed catered to the LGBTQ community."

Biden Says Trump 'Fueling a Literal Carnage'

Climo could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if he is convicted

#Resist

[psiberzerker]

Oh look, a terrorist that doesn't care about any Assault Weapons ban.

[Athos_131]

Michigan cop suspended after house hunter uncovers racist memorabilia

A man who authorities say worked as a security guard has been arrested and accused of plotting to firebomb a Las Vegas synagogue or a bar catering to LGTBQ customers, officials said Friday.

An FBI-led anti-terrorism task force on Wednesday netted the 23-year-old suspect and identified him as Conor Climo of Las Vegas, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich said in a statement.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Koppe on Friday ordered the suspect to remain in federal custody pending an Aug. 23 court appearance on a federal firearms charge.

Climo's court-appointed federal public defender didn't immediately respond to messages.

Court documents say Climo communicated by encrypted internet chat with people identified as white supremacists, and told an FBI informant in recent weeks that he was scouting places to attack.

"Threats of violence motivated by hate and intended to intimidate or coerce our faith-based and LGBTQ communities have no place in this country," Trutanich said.

Documents point to a 2016 news report by KTNV-TV in Las Vegas about Climo patrolling his neighborhood wearing battle gear and carrying an assault rifle and survival knife. He shows and describes to a reporter the four, 30-bullet ammunition magazines he is carrying.

Neighbors expressed concern, but Climo was not arrested at that time.

Las Vegas police Officer Aden OcampoGomez noted Friday that Nevada is an open-carry weapon state and Climo broke no laws.

Trutanich said Climo was arrested Thursday after a probe involving at least one undercover online contact and an FBI confidential informant who reported that Climo "discussed, in detail, how to build a "self-contained Molotov" incendiary device.

Investigators serving a warrant at his home found hand-drawn schematics and component parts of a destructive device, according to the criminal complaint, including flammable liquids, oxidizing agents and circuit boards. They also confiscated an AR-15 assault-style weapon and a bolt-action rifle.

The charge against Climo accuses him of possessing an unregistered firearm in the form of the component parts of a destructive device.

"Climo would regularly use derogatory racial, anti-Semitic and homosexual slurs," the U.S. attorney's office statement said. "He discussed attacking a Las Vegas synagogue and making Molotov Cocktails and improvised explosive devices, and he also discussed conducting surveillance on a bar he believed catered to the LGBTQ community."

Biden Says Trump 'Fueling a Literal Carnage'

Climo could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if he is convicted

#Resist

[Athos_131]

You Probably Missed This Trump Act of Racism

For a crowd of 500 at a fundraiser in the Hamptons, President Donald Trump made fun of the leaders of the European Union, South Korea, and Japan, including by imitating the accents of the Asian countries’ leaders. The fundraiser was at the home of real estate developer Joe Farrell in Bridgehampton on Friday, according to the New York Post.

First, Trump beat his ol’ drum that the EU member nations don’t pay their share of NATO costs. Then, he moved onto South Korean President Moon Jae-in. According to the Post, Trump praised South Korea’s TV manufacturing and general economy before saying, “So why are we paying for their defense? They’ve got to pay.”

Then, Trump imitated the president’s accent while, as the Post put it, “describing how he caved in to Trump’s tough negotiations.”

But it didn’t end there! Trump also imitated a Japanese accent to talk about his recent conversations with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe! (An aside: Is the Post trying to be.... generous? by saying he imitated two separate accents as if the president understands the nuances between the two languages?) Trump recounted a conversation he had with his Japanese counterpart about Abe’s father, a kamikaze pilot.

Via the Post:

Trump asked Abe if the kamikaze pilots were drunk or on drugs. Abe said no, they just loved their country. Trump remarked, “Imagine they get in a plane with a half a tank of gas and fly into steel ships just for the love of their country!”

These are allegedly U.S. allies.

Since he started talking about Asian leaders, Trump had to discuss his friendship with Kim Jong Un. “I just got a beautiful letter from him this week. We are friends,” Trump said, according to the tabloid. “People say he only smiles when he sees me.”

The president of the U.S. then said the grossest sentence I have read in at least three days: “If I hadn’t been elected president we would be in a big fat juicy war with North Korea.”

I realize Trump had a different childhood than most of us — i.e. parents who explained basic codes of conduct — but it’s never too late to learn. Don’t imitate people’s accent. It doesn’t come off as funny; it’s just racist. Don’t do it.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

How the El Paso Killer Echoed the Incendiary Words of Conservative Media Stars

Tucker Carlson went on his prime-time Fox News show in April last year and told his viewers not to be fooled. The thousands of Central Americans on their way to the United States were “border jumpers,” not refugees, he said. “Will anyone in power do anything to protect America this time,” he asked, “or will leaders sit passively back as the invasion continues?”

When another group approached the border six months later, Ann Coulter, appearing as a guest on Jeanine Pirro’s Fox News show, offered a dispassionately violent suggestion about what could be done to stem the flow of migrants: “You can shoot invaders.”

A few days after, Rush Limbaugh issued a grim prognosis to his millions of radio listeners: If the immigrants from Central America weren’t stopped, the United States would lose its identity. “The objective is to dilute and eventually eliminate or erase what is known as the distinct or unique American culture,” Mr. Limbaugh said, adding: “This is why people call this an invasion.”

There is a striking degree of overlap between the words of right-wing media personalities and the language used by the Texas man who confessed to killing 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso this month. In a 2,300-word screed posted on the website 8chan, the killer wrote that he was “simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion.”

It remains unclear what, or who, ultimately shaped the views of the white, 21-year-old gunman, or whether he was aware of the media commentary. But his post contains numerous references to “invasion” and cultural “replacement” — ideas that, until recently, were relegated to the fringes of the nationalist right.

An extensive New York Times review of popular right-wing media platforms found hundreds of examples of language, ideas and ideologies that overlapped with the mass killer’s written statement — a shared vocabulary of intolerance that stokes fears centered on immigrants of color. The programs, on television and radio, reach an audience of millions.

In the four years since Mr. Trump electrified Republican voters with slashing comments about Muslims and Mexicans, demonizing references to immigrants have become more widespread in the news media, the Times review found.

Sometimes the hosts are repeating the president’s signature phrases. Sometimes the president appears to take his cues from television pundits. The cumulative effect is a public dialogue in which denigrating sentiments about immigrants are common.

Before the first groups of Central American migrants received heavy news media coverage in 2018, words like “invaders” or “invasion” were rarely used by American outlets. In the last year, the use of such terms has surged, with references to an immigrant “invasion” appearing on more than 300 Fox News broadcasts. The vast majority of those were spoken by Fox News hosts and guests, but some included clips of Mr. Trump using that language at rallies and other public appearances.

The Times analysis examined the last five years of show transcripts from Fox News, CNN and MSNBC to measure the frequency of terms like “invasion” and “replacement.” Segments that included this language were verified by watching clips of the shows to determine whether hosts and guests were speaking in their own words or reporting on the language of others.

“It’s a bit of a vicious cycle,” said the conservative writer William Kristol, a Republican critic of Mr. Trump’s who has worked at Fox News and other networks. “Something is said on Fox News, and Trump repeats it, and that legitimizes it — and then someone else goes a little further.”

He added, “The use of what once would have been viewed as really extreme and inappropriate and sometimes conspiratorial, sometimes dehumanizing language is really striking.”

While the notion of immigrants as a national threat was a feature of the conservative Patrick Buchanan’s unsuccessful bids to win the Republican presidential nominations in 1992 and 1996 (he used the phrase “illegal invasion” then), they ran counter to the Republican Party’s efforts to make itself more appealing to Hispanics and other minorities in the two decades before Mr. Trump became its front-runner.

The portrayal of immigration as a menace has returned with force, a shift brought on not just by radio and TV hosts, but by Republican leaders in Congress and the president himself. This year Mr. Trump has used the terms “invasion” or “invaded” seven times on Twitter to describe the situation at the border, at one point referring to the approach of the migrants as “the attempted Invasion of Illegals.” At rallies, he has injected terms like “predator,” “killer,” and “animal” in his descriptions of immigrants.

The Trump-friendly media world — from outlets like Sinclair Broadcast Group and The Drudge Report to platforms like Breitbart News and Gateway Pundit — has used similar incendiary rhetoric. “The fact of the matter is that this is an attempted invasion of our country — period,” Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump campaign adviser, said last year in a commentary on migrants that aired on nearly 200 Sinclair television stations.

At the start of the El Paso suspect’s screed, he refers to the “great replacement,” a white supremacist conspiracy theory based on a French book that claims the migration of minority groups can lead to a “genocide” of white culture.

The El Paso suspect, who confessed to the mass shooting last week, claimed in the document he posted to be defending against a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” The words “invasion” and “invaders” appear six times in the text, a stark parallel to the language heard on conservative television and talk radio today.

Before the El Paso shootings, others with deadly or hateful motives used the same language.

The replacement theory was prominent in a document posted on 8chan by the suspect in the massacre that killed 51 people in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March.

The man who is alleged to have killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue last October had expressed his contempt for “invaders” before he opened fire on the congregation with an AR-15-style assault rifle, the authorities say. During the white supremacist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 that left one woman dead, marchers shouted, “You will not replace us.”

Lawrence Rosenthal, a professor at the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies, said that the shared vocabulary of white nationalists and many prominent conservatives was chilling. “Where that intersects with the Republican Party today,” he added, “is the Republican argument that the Democrats are in favor of immigration because that will give them a permanent majority.”

Mr. Limbaugh, whose syndicated radio show has a weekly audience of 15 million, has trafficked in similar themes.

On Wednesday, responding to the El Paso shootings, Mr. Limbaugh said, “What is it about the word ‘invasion’ that so bothers these people? Is it because that’s what it is? Have we ever seen anything like this?”

On Fox News, Mr. Carlson has proffered a version of this idea, albeit in less extreme language than that of the 8chan message boards where the El Paso killer lurked.

Mr. Carlson, whose show averages about three million viewers a night, has featured guests who subscribe to the replacement theory, like Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister to Hungary’s nationalistic president, Viktor Orban. In February, Mr. Carlson and Mr. Szijjarto discussed the need to increase birthrates in their respective countries. Otherwise, Mr. Carlson said, “our plan here in the West is to just let the depressed people die off and replace them with people from other countries.”

Another prime-time Fox News host, Laura Ingraham, who was considered for a communications job in the Trump administration, has used similar language. Last October, she warned viewers that their opinions “will have zero impact and zero influence on a House dominated by Democrats who want to replace you, the American voters, with newly amnestied citizens and an ever-increasing number of chain migrants.”

Fox News had no comment.

The overlap between fringe ideology and the words of conservative talk show hosts is not accidental, critics say. “They’re putting that into the zeitgeist,” said Carl Cameron, the former chief political correspondent for Fox News, who is now working for a news aggregator aimed at a progressive audience, Front Page Live.

“Fox goes out and looks for stuff that is inherently on fire and foments fear and anger,” Mr. Cameron added.

The use of “invasion” and “invaders” has also surfaced on outlets away from right-wing media. The Times review of demonizing terms for immigrants found a spike in such terms in 2018 on CNN and MSNBC, but almost exclusively in the context of reporting how leading conservatives had been using such language.

Fox News, it should be noted, is not monolithic. While its prime-time lineup of Mr. Carlson, Sean Hannity and Ms. Ingraham is devoted to right-wing commentary, some of the network’s news reporters, like the anchor Shepard Smith, have taken pains to refute misleading language about migrants. Chris Wallace, the “Fox News Sunday” host, recently grilled the White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, about the racism inherent in Mr. Trump’s critical remarks about Baltimore.

Days after the El Paso massacre, Mr. Carlson said on-air that white supremacy was “actually not a real problem in America” and likened it to a “hoax.” His words ignited widespread criticism, including from fellow conservative commentators like Erick Erickson and a Fox News weekend anchor, Arthel Neville.

The next night, Mr. Carlson returned to his show and urged his critics to “calm down,” warning about the roiling divisions in the country, before announcing that he was leaving on a vacation that he and Fox News said had been previously planned.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Arizona border agent pleads guilty to intentionally running over migrant near Nogales

A U.S. Border Patrol agent charged with running over a Guatemalan migrant along the Arizona-Mexico border and then lying about it has pleaded guilty and can face up to a year in prison, according to a deal with prosecutors.

Matthew Bowen, 39, a 10-year veteran agent stationed in Nogales, was scheduled to appear in Tucson federal court on Monday for the first day of his trial. But late last week, his attorney filed a motion saying they would accept a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The plea agreement is dated Aug. 8. but the court on Monday released details about the agreement with prosecutors.

Bowen agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor for violating the rights of Antonin Lopez Aguilar, a 23-year-old migrant from Guatemala.

He acknowledged that he had intentionally ran over Lopez Aguilar on Dec. 3, 2017, as the agent tried to detain him after entering the U.S. illegally near Nogales.

"During my apprehension of (Antonin Lopez Aguilar), I intentionally struck him with an unreasonable amount of force. My actions when I struck A.L.-A. were not justified and violated his rights protected by the Constitution of the United States," Bowen admitted,  according to the document detailing the deal with prosecutors.

As part of the plea deal, Bowen also agreed to resign immediately from the Border Patrol. They had placed him on indefinite suspension without pay since his indictment in June 2018, according to the Tucson-based Arizona Daily Star.

Prosecutors also agreed to dismiss a charge against him for having lied about striking Lopez Aguilar in a report.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15. Bowen faces up to $100,000 in fines, could spend up to a year in prison, and up to five years of probation.

Bowen's attorney, Sean Chapman, successfully defended another Arizona border agent facing charges in Tucson federal court. Both agents worked together and were stationed in Nogales.

Agent Lonnie Swartz was accused of shooting and killing 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez through the border fence in Nogales in 2012, after a botched smuggling attempt and a rock-throwing incident.

The first jury cleared Swartz of second-degree murder in an April 2018 trial. A second jury acquitted him of manslaughter charges in a retrial in November. A civil case is still making its way through court.

Court records show that Bowen texted Swartz in 2017 following a rock-throwing incident. He called the people throwing rocks "mindless murdering savages."

The plea deal allowed Bowen to avoid a jury trial. He acknowledged that U.S. prosecutors had enough evidence against him to secure a guilty verdict, including testimony from other agents who expressed their dismay over the December 2017 incident.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Florida white supremacist arrested for threatening shooting at Walmart, police say

A Florida white supremacist has been arrested for threatening a shooting at a Walmart just days after 22 people were killed at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in one of the worst mass shootings in the country's modern history.

Richard Clayton, 26, was arrested by Florida Department of Law Enforcement authorities on Friday in Winter Park after making an online threat last week, according to police.

(MORE: Las Vegas neo-Nazi charged with plot to bomb gay club, synagogue)
On Aug. 6, Clayton allegedly posted on Facebook, "3 more days of probation left then I get my AR-15 back. Don’t go to Walmart next week."

The threat echoes the shooting allegedly carried out by Patrick Crusius in El Paso on Aug. 3. The suspect entered the Walmart and opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle. Nearly 50 people were hit by the gunfire before the suspect exited the store and was later arrested a short distance away.

Police said Crusius, a native of Allen, Texas, some 10 hours away, admitted to the crime and said he was trying to kill as many Mexicans as he could. He also posted a "manifesto" online espousing white supremacist and anti-immigrant sentiments.

Florida authorities said Clayton holds some of the same beliefs.

"Clayton appears to believe in the white supremacist ideology and has a history of posting threats on Facebook using fictitious accounts," Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials said.

He was not on probation, despite his threat, Florida officials told The Associated Press.

Clayton was charged with intimidation through a written threat and is being held at Orange County Jail on $15,000 bond.

The arrest was among a number of recent cases of police departments nationwide targeting white supremacist threats.

Conor Climo, a 23-year-old from Las Vegas, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly possessing bomb-making materials and espousing neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideology with an undercover FBI agent online. He was allegedly planning on fire-bombing a synagogue in Las Vegas and hoped to stage a mass shooting at a gay nightclub as well.

A "significant portion," about one-third, of all domestic terrorism cases involve white supremacist ideology, according to the FBI. Director Christopher Wray testified about the issue in a lengthy hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 23, but said the bureau's "focus is on the violence."

"We don't investigate ideology, no matter how repugnant," Wray said.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Kamala Harris is right. We need to reconsider what a national security risk is.

This weekend, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) drew big crowds in Iowa, spoke in bold terms and showed greater ease in discussing policy (with fewer rote answers) in media interviews. Among the best of the latter was her sit-down with NBC News’s Chuck Todd, in which she said this about Russia:

HARRIS: ... But here’s the thing, we also have to, on this election issue, understand that this longstanding adversary decided they wanted to attack us where we are strong. And one of the almost intangible strengths of America is that we can hold ourselves out as a democracy, imperfect though we may be, flawed though we may be. And it’s an intangible strength. It gives us the authority to walk in rooms and actually talk about human rights, talk about civil rights, talk about concepts of freedom, right?

So they decide, let's get at them. Let's attack that. So they decide to attack what is the strongest pillar of a democracy, which is free and open elections. So let's get Americans going at each other. What's going to get heat?

TODD: The easiest way to do it.

HARRIS: And they tried out a bunch of different things. and you know what caught heat? The issue of race. So Russia exposed America’s Achilles heel. And all of a sudden, then guess what, for those who want to marginalize the conversation about race and racial inequities and say, oh, well, that’s identity politics or that’s this or that, guess what, now it is also a national security issue, and we need to deal with it.

It’s worth underscoring how authoritatively Harris speaks about national security, refusing to get sidetracked about whether Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism. (Sponsorship is less an issue than its direct violence and human rights abuses in Syria and Ukraine.) Her analysis of what is and is not a security threat is intriguing and timely.

The administration, determined to stir fear and hate against Muslims and migrants and simultaneously loath to take on white nationalists who share President Trump’s rhetoric, has focused resources against external terrorist threats while minimizing the threat from white nationalist terrorism. It is in that vein that we need to discuss not only Trump’s lies, which sow discord and paranoia about the government, but also his conspiracy theorizing (highlighting the “deep state,” another gambit to drive alienation and paranoia) and his blatant racism.

Trump is said to be bothered that he is being called out as a racist. The Post reports:

The president views the characterization largely through the lens of politics, said one close adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private conversations, explaining that Trump feels the charges of racism are just another attempt to discredit him — not unlike, he believes, the more than a dozen women who have accused him of sexual misconduct or the investigation into Russian election interference.

The mounds of evidence that Trump is a racist, not to mention the complaints of numerous women and his own statements on the “Access Hollywood” video that support the charge that he is a sexual predator, are conveniently ignored by Trump’s enablers, including virtually the entire Republican Party. The president, a master of unfounded accusations, attributes bad faith to adversaries who refuse to soft-pedal his racism as he continues to spew a toxic mix of lies, conspiracies and racism — all of which play into the mind-set of those who think that the government and dark forces are conspiring against them.

Trump insists, for example, that a caravan of men, women and children desperately fleeing violence at home is an “invasion,” populated by criminals and terrorists. He thereby echoes and reinforces the “replacement” theory spouted by the suspects in the Christchurch, Pittsburgh and El Paso killings. Americans should not shy from discussing Trump’s conspiracy-mongering or his racism. If he were echoing and reinforcing radical Islamist terrorists’ ideology (e.g. America is the Devil!), everyone would properly view him as emboldening our enemies; it should be no different when it comes to white nationalism.

Trump apologists accuse his critics of “blaming” him for El Paso. That’s false. No one to my knowledge has claimed that without Trump’s encouragement the killer would not have slaughtered 22 people. Trump isn’t guilty of conspiracy or incitement. He is, however, throwing gasoline on the fire. The white nationalists think Trump is on their side, which strongly suggests that he is providing some of the publicity and normalization they crave.

How can an entire party and acolytes in right-wing media continue to back someone who gives aid and comfort to white nationalists? Well, they have backed someone who has given deniability and encouragement to Russia’s Vladimir Putin to attack our democracy. Putin, white nationalists, North Korea — Trump seems to have an affinity for those who threaten our national security and our democracy. And the GOP and right wing lamely respond, “But taxes …” or “But Gorsuch …”

The irony of his slogan “America First” is that Trump puts America far behind his need for ego-stroking by dictators and behind his fixation to bond with his base over white grievance.

So, yes, supporting Trump is enabling him to fill the well of racist hate from which terrorists drink and to provide cover to the United States’ aggressive foes. The Republican Party is responsible for keeping him there, just as Fox News hosts and other sycophants are responsible for boosting him and attacking defenders of decency, democracy and the American creed (“all men are created equal …”). We’re not talking about criminal liability; we’re talking about moral responsibility for enabling a major threat to our democracy and a megaphone for white nationalists — the president of the United States.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Pausing to Remember Heather Heyer on Anniversary of Violent Unite the Right Rally

People are taking time Monday to honor those hurt and killed in connection with a controversial rally two years ago in downtown Charlottesville.

Activist Heather Heyer was killed and dozens were injured when James Alex Fields junior rammed his car into a crowd marching in protest of the Unite the Right rally.

Folks continue to remember Heyer by stopping by a memorial along Fourth Street in Charlottesville.

“I'm paying my respect back to her and giving her wishes, best wishes, to know that we still hold a piece of her in our hearts," said Kenny Winston.

A camp with Charlottesville Parks and Recreation came out Monday, August 12, to look at the memorial and to teach children about what happened. The kids wrote a camp pledge, which was read aloud to remind them to make a change in the world. One line of the pledge says, "I will see people for who they are and not for who I want them to be, race nor gender will determine my actions towards others."

Two Virginia State Police Troopers were also killed on August 12, 2017, when their helicopter crashed following the violent rally.

Lieutenant Jay Cullen and Trooper-pilot Berke Bates died when their Bell helicopter went down in a wooded area of Albemarle County.

Cullen and Bates were monitoring the Unite the Right rally from above, then provided support to a motorcade for then-Governor Terry McAuliffe.

Federal investigators have not released a cause of the crash, and say a final report will likely not be released until next year.

Rest In Peace

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Border Patrol accused of firing rubber bullets at Juarenses enjoying the Rio Grande

Families who were enjoying a warm Sunday gathered along the Rio Grande in Juarez are accusing U.S. Border Patrol agents of opening fire on them with rubber bullets.

The incident happened near Paisano and Executive, near the newly built Border Barrier in Sunland Park, and just downstream from the American Dam operated by the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission.

According to witnesses, a Juarez man who was swimming in the river near the U.S. side was warned by a guard to move away from the dam gates. Shortly after, approximately 20 to 30 Border Patrol Agents responded to the scene.

Mexican residents who had been swimming in the river at the time of the incident allegedly got upset at the Border Patrol response, prompting agents to fire rubber bullets, described as ball-shaped, hitting two men.

Dozens of families with small children were enjoying the river at the time of the incident and many said it was irresponsible of the agents, claiming they fired at least 12 shots.

Juarez Police responded to the scene, but no one was taken into custody in Mexico as a result of the incident.

#Resist

[psiberzerker]

Now, there's talks of defacing a national monument.  By an immigration official.

“Give me your tired, your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.”

You can't just re-write a classic poem, and a gift to America because it doesn't agree with your politics.

Might as well just write on "Unless you don't speak English, or are Brown" in crayon.

[joan1984]

Emma Lazarus wrote a poem, which then was posted at the Statue of Liberty.
The two are unrelated events, and Emma Lazarus spoke for herself, not law.
Open borders and the Welfare State are incompatible, obviously. What we have today is Open Borders, with the exception of those who comply and get a visa, prior to entry. Tourists are not eligible for Welfare. Invited guests as well.
Enforcement has been lacking, is now anticipated, and is a welcome change.

Now, there's talks of defacing a national monument.  By an immigration official.

“Give me your tired, your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.”

You can't just re-write a classic poem, and a gift to America because it doesn't agree with your politics.

Might as well just write on "Unless you don't speak English, or are Brown" in crayon.

[psiberzerker]

Emma Lazarus wrote a poem, which then was posted at the Statue of Liberty.

Yes, and it is a classic, you can't just rewrite for your politics.  Any more than you can re-write "America the Beautiful" to say anything other than as it was written, without shitting on the original artist.

The two are unrelated events, and Emma Lazarus spoke for herself, not law.

And yet, the Statue is a symbol of Liberty, and a beacon for Immigrants, yearning to breathe free.  Not a watch-tower to light the way for sharp-shooters to pick people off trying to get in, and not a Lighthouse to warn people to stay the fuck out.  We welcome immigrants, we're America, that's what we do, it's what we have always done.

Nobody's calling it "Law," it is a symbol of our American identity, the spirit of the USA, that is under attack by your white nationalists.

Open borders and the Welfare State are incompatible, obviously.

No, obviously you can't just state that as fact, when "Welfare" saved America from the Great Depression, but we still have an open Northern Border, as we always have, and it's not considered a threat to our Nation, because Canadians are white.