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| Topic | "White Lives Matter" Neo-nazi rally planned in Tennessee for tomorrow |
| The Great Muta 22 10/27/17 4:52:31 PM #1: | http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/white-supremacists-neo-nazis-descend-tennessee-white-lives-matter-rallies When a coalition of virulently anti-Semitic and white supremacist groups descend on two middle Tennessee towns Saturday for a day of White Lives Matter rallies, they say they will do so unarmed and with the intention of publicizing their views rather than clashing with counter-protesters. But given the rash of violent incidents at recent white nationalist events and the rhetoric of some of the leading participants, civil rights groups and city leadership in Murfreesboro and Shelbyville are preparing for the worst. Look how much real violence and possibility for violence weve seen just in the last couple of events, Heidi Beirich, head of the Southern Poverty Law Centers intelligence project on extremism, told TPM. Beirich described the groups involved in Saturdays planned rallies as some of the most hardcore and hardline forces in the white nationalist movement, noting that one of the headliners, the neo-Confederate League of the South, has spent the last few years building up a paramilitary force. This isnt the kind of soft racism of we want a white ethno-state, Beirich said. This is Hitlerian thinking. Scheduled speakers include the Traditionalist Worker Partys Matthew Heimbach, white nationalist radio host Mike Enoch, League of the South president Michael Hill, and Vanguard Americas Dillon Hopper. A number of those organizations fly under the banner of the Nationalist Front, an umbrella group working to unite pro-White organizations, and several of those participants and groups are currently being sued by the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, for helping to spearhead Augusts violent white nationalist rally there. ... The official event invitation put together by League of the South spokesman and white nationalist blogger Brad Griffin insists that this event will be different and allow them to turn the page on Charlottesville. Reminding participants that masks are forbidden by Tennessee law and that guns are a legal liability, Griffin argued that holding the event in a red county in a red state without a Democrat governor instead of a shitlib city like Charlottesville will reduce the chances of violent clashes with counter-protesters. Police and local businesses have also taken steps to reduce opportunities for conflict. Law enforcement will cordon off the white nationalists from those who come out to rally against them, search those entering demonstration areas, and have released a list of prohibited items that includes firearms, flagpoles, and spray canssome of the items that caused the most damage in Charlottesville. Many shop owners will simply shutter their stores, reducing the number of people on the sidewalks. But the militaristic language is still present. The official invitation encourages each Nationalist Front organization to bring its own flag and defensive items, as well as follow its particular dress code (khakis are oddly popular in the movement). League of the South president Michael Hill issued a directive to his followers to turn out, while the Traditionalist Worker Party told its supporters that attendance isnt optional. Heimbach, that Traditionalist Worker Partys founder, told TPM that the 200-300 participants hes expecting wont face much resistance because their followers understand the importance of hierarchy, of organization and their movement has a large membership in Tennessee and in Appalachia in general. It makes sense for us to hold our events where our people actually are, he said. ... Another possible point for disruption are the flash mob demonstrations that Heimbach said theyre planning to organize at as-of-yet undisclosed locations throughout the day, which he described as part of a political activist blitzkrieg on middle Tennessee. --- ... Copied to Clipboard! |
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