They were, and are, spurred on by a wannabe tyrant. They are for homogeneity in the United States. They loathe multi-culturalism. Usually, they think that people of color are inferior. Usually, they push conspiracies about Jews. And they are armed and dangerous. They are the right-wing rioters who tried impose their brand of fascism on the U.S. government.
Among them are the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. The Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and the Proud Boys Chair Enrique Tarrio were subpoenaed last year to appear in court. Also subpoenaed was Robert Patrick Lewis, leader of the far-right group the 1st Amendment Praetorian. They have been charged with, at the least, inciting the mob that descended on the U.S. Capitol. At the most, charged with participation in the riot in order to stop the certifying of the 2020 presidential election.
Tarrio has been serving time in a D.C. jail for the burning of a Black Lives Matter flag that was stolen from a church. This occurred during a pro-Trump rally in December of 2020. Members of the Proud Boys were enraged that Tarrio was arrested. They vowed to “remove” government officials (no doubt Democratic Party members and perhaps a few Republicans who they think betrayed their cause).
The Proud Boys is an ultra-nationalist group that supports a “pro-Western” agenda. Meaning the continuation of white dominance and white privilege. About 100 members of the group were involved in the Capitol riot. Among the leadership was Ethan Norean, Joseph Biggs, Zachery Rehl and Charles Donohoe. They were charged for conspiracy to stop the election certification process. Another member, Dominic Pezzola, committed vandalism by using a stolen police riot shield to shatter a window at the Capitol.
The Oath Keepers are kind of like the Proud Boys, a far-right group. They see the federal government as the enemy because of its “tyranny.” They support “liberty” and “freedom.” Twenty of its leaders faced charges similar to those against the Proud Boys and the 1st Amendment Praetorian. The founder Stewart Rhodes was filmed at the riot, which of course is evidence of his presence.
And the 1st Amendment Praetorian is, yes, another far-right grouping. Its founder Robert Patrick Lewis is former military. He has been a conspiracy nut who claimed on Fox “news,” (where else) that Antifa was planning a “Tet Offensive” to destroy the current world order.
Both the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys have been the recipients of a civil lawsuit which has harsh financial penalties. Karl Racine, Washington DC’s attorney general, did say that “Our intent is to hold these violent mobsters and violent hate groups accountable and to get every penny of damage we can. If it so happens that we bankrupt them, then that’s a good day.”
Writing in The Progressive (04/21/2021), Luis Feliz Leon, a freelance journalist based in New York, asserted that rioters smeared “blood and feces on the walls, hellbent on exacting revenge on lawmakers to ‘Stop the Steal’ of the presidential election they delusionally believed Donald Trump had won.”
Feliz Leon also asserted that “more than thirty of the insurrectionists had military or law enforcement ties.” Getting information from the George Washington University Program on Extremism, Feliz Leon wrote that the “terrorists came from forty states and the District of Columbia. They averaged about forty years old, and were overwhelmingly white and male” He called the Proud Boys “a neofascist gang with a history of violence against the political left.”
Among the rioting Oath Keepers were a couple of old military veterans named Dononvan Crowl and Thomas Caldwell who were “indicted on conspiracy and other charges.” In a display of callousness, Caldwell received a message saying, “All members are in the tunnels under the capital [sic] seal them in. Turn on gas.” Shades of Adolph Hitler.
Over the years, members of the military and police have been active in helping the right impose their brand of fascism for the cause of “taking back” their country. They have been a part of the right-wing’s outdated and fossilized agenda. Veterans and private military contractors have provided training to right-wing groups. This makes them liable for committing potentially dangerous acts, along with those they train.
Some on the right say that they are not racist. But their agenda says otherwise. If, for example, slavery was to return (yes, this is an extreme example), some would probably support it openly. Others probably would say nothing and let it happen.
The extreme right has targeted other groups for vilification, those who are the “Other.” This is done to try and “save” their country. So, people of color, Jews, immigrants, etc. are the targets. According to Kyle Burke, who wroteRevolutionaries for the Right, the right-wing militias have prepared “for an apocalyptic showdown with the federal government. In their visions, the state has been taken over by communists, African Americans, Jews and foreigners–or some combination of those groups–and is now bent on crushing individual freedom by levying unjust taxes, passing gun laws, allowing interracial marriage, and preaching multiculturalism.”
The Oath Keepers have also accused “undesirables” of taken over the federal government. And they envision themselves as “true patriots,” fighting for what they think is a just cause. Thomas Caldwell, e.g., wrote, “I swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. He goes on, writing that his enemies have “morphed into pure evil even blatantly rigging an election and paying off the political caste. We must smite them now and drive them down.” While it’s true that both the Democrats and Republicans have been well-paid by the establishment and big corporations, Caldwell nevertheless clings to that fossilized agenda, which represents the old United States with its exceptionalist traditions of racism, sexism, homophobia, and a disdain for the environment despite the degree of democracy present in the U.S. system.
They are armed and dangerous. And if it comes down to it, Left/Progressives in particular must defend themselves by becoming a strong and consistent opposition, and hopefully without bloodshed.