Thread by @IGD_News

The far-Right wants Joey Gibson of #PatriotPrayer to reforge a 'big-tent' fighting force to return their movement to where it was before #Charlottesville. There's only one problem - Gibson surrounds himself with groups that took part in #UniteTheRight. itsgoingdown.org/unite-the-righ…

After the death of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, the far-Right was in a state of disarray. Predictably, many attempted to use conspiracy theories and fabricated lies to explain what had happened as a "setup" to "silence conservatives," or instead, as a "Soros" false-flag.

Leading the pack was Alex Jones + like with Sandy Hook claimed that Charlottesville was false flag. He stated: "I thought Trump’s response was great…we know that Soros has been planning this..and like trying to create provocative events...the whole thing looks staged to me…”

Right after Heather Heyer was killed, Alex Jones called Gavin McInnes, the leader of the Proud Boys, where he pushed his conspiracy theories that it was a Soros funded operation in order to "silence" conservatives.

Despite the fact that Proud Boys attended Unite the Right, a Proud Boy organized Unite the Right, and that very Proud Boy, Jason Kessler had been on Gavin's show, McInnes pushed to distance himself from August 12, saying: “It’s all fake news, it’s all lies. We disavowed it."

Others involved in the Proud Boys, like Kyle "Based Stickman" Chapman, began to promote a variety of conspiracy theories about Heather Heyers death and Cville itself, as a way to make the far-Right appear more neutral and less at fault in the situation. Few were buying it.

Meanwhile, across the US, tens of thousands hits the street, shutting down far-Right rallies, pulling down confederate statues, and marching in solidarity. In response, Proud Bay leaders were quick to fall out with each other.

Conspiracy sites like InfoWars + the Gateway Pundit tried another approach, by trying to link tragedies and murders to antifascists. After the Las Vegas shooting, McInnes said: "‘Right-wingers are no longer the murderers of Heather Heyer. Now we’re victims of Stephen Paddock.’”

Of course, Stephen Paddock never had anything to do with "ANTIFA," or Islam. However it did come out that he was in fact a Trump supporter. newsweek.com/las-vegas-gunm…

Joey Gibson has peddled these conspiracy theories too. He has said that Unite the Right was organized "to destroy all the freedom rallies. These so-called white supremacists, invited conservatives and people showed up with racist flags… from that moment, no one wanted to rally."

But as @RoseCityAntifa and later Raw Story pointed out, when Gibson gave this speech in May, it ironically was livestreamed with the logo of the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights, or FOAK. One of the groups which fought in Charlottesville and is currently listed on a lawsuit.

In lead up to the #Portland and #Berkeley rallies, Gibson backed the removal of "American Guard," a white nationalist group from the Berkeley rally, however for years he has associated with multiple people and groups which promote neo-Nazi, Alt-Right, and white nationalist ideas.

For instance, here's Gibson taking a photo with Christopher Richie, who attended Unite the Right in Charlottesville. On June 30th in Portland, Richie was seen attacking counter-protesters.

The list of examples of Gibson working with white power militants is extensive: from Cascade Legion white nationalists being security, inviting neo-Nazi e-celeb Baked Alaska to speak at his rallies, giving props to Identity Evropa, to rolling with white power "hate preachers."

The reason for this "big tent" is to create a street fighting force. This is best summed up by Proud Boy Levi Romero who stated: “Nazis are my best friends, all they want is nationalism, what’s wrong with that? They want to introduce, fuckin’, good shit for America.”

The original big tent first started to come together after the April 15th clashes in 2017, where militia members, neo-Nazis, Proud Boys, and Trump supporters fought with antifascists for several hours. After the clashes, "free speech" rallies spread across the US.

Several days after the 15th, the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights (FOAK) was formed, headed by Kyle "Based Stickman" Chapman and Augustus "American fascist" Invictus, who had long been associated with white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups.

The Proud Boys had been formed a year earlier; announced in the paleoconservative magazine, Taki's, where Gavin McInnes worked. The job had been given to him by Richard Spencer. Gavin would also go on to be published in the white nationalist journal, American Renaissance.

By the summer of 2017, despite McInnes telling the #ProudBoys that neo-Nazis were not welcome, the new group found itself on the streets and at rallies alongside the Alt-Right, as Proud Boys were featured speakers at Alt-Right rallies, and neo-Nazis cuddled up to PB leaders.

With hype around Cville buildling, McInness on June 21st stated "I’m just not coming to your rally, no offense," however as the date got closer, Proud Boys Mag released a new statement saying each chapter + member could decide if they would attend. FOAK just said they were going.

Keep in mind that Jason Kessler, a white nationalist and a Proud Boy was also the key organizer for Unite the Right. At the time, he had some connections to local Republicans and also was a writter for Tucker Carlson's 'The Daily Caller,' and appeared on Gavin's TV show.

On the physical day of Unite the Right, there were numerous photos of Proud Boys and FOAK members taken. Kyle "Based Stickman" Chapman even promoted a livestream from "UTR" through his Facebook page.

New York Proud Boy leader, and friends with Mike Peinovich even was lucky enough to have his photo taken with KKK leader David Duke (on the left).

Another Proud Boy, Michael A Ramos, also was one of the few people arrested that day, after he took park in the savage beating of DeAndre Harris

The claim that the Proud Boys had no involvement in Unite the Right is false, as members were involved in the event from the planning (Jason Kessler), to the speaking, (Augustus Invictus). Also, clearly both members of the Proud Boys and FOAK were there on the ground.

Despite this reality, the Proud Boys have become the key fighting force at Joey Gibson side, and have only aided in the growing calls for violence and attacks against everyday people in Portland, Berkeley and beyond.

In the thousands, people in #Portland need to hit the streets against these bullies. Gibson doesn't care about freedom or free speech. He cares about building a far-Right coalition that includes open neo-Nazis, to further Trump's agenda at the expense of the rest of us.

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