On July 4 celebrations for America 250, masked men in uniform marched through D.C. streets chanting “Reclaim America.” Some carried Confederate flags.
Members of the group carried flags with the Patriot Front logo. The Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center describe Patriot Front as a white supremacist group.
Luke Baumgartner, a researcher with George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, weighed in on what he saw and who the Patriot Front is.
What do we know about the Patriot Front, their motives and how they operate?
“So, upfront, Patriot Front is a white nationalist and white supremacist group that’s been around for nearly a decade now. They sprung out of a splinter group from another group called Vanguard America that was present at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlotteville, Virginia.
“It was taken over by one of their members through a hostile takeover. Since then, they have grown significantly in popularity and in size, and their message to America is that it is for whites only. That means nobody of color, no LGBTQ, anybody else that doesn’t subscribe to that sort of ideology. And their slogans and their iconography really conveys as much.”
What do you think are the solutions to tackling extremism and hateful rhetoric?
“A lot of it comes down to social media regulation and enforcement of rules. Unfortunately, a lot of social media platforms don’t take that as seriously anymore, so the burden falls on civil society and nonprofit groups to help alleviate some of those issues, and unfortunately those are under attack right now.”
We’ve seen chilling pictures online of groups of masked men surrounding people of color on Metro trains. What should someone do if they find themself in a situation like this?
“So, Patriot Front typically likes to avoid violent confrontations like that so as to not draw undue law enforcement scrutiny to them and their activities. But sometimes they will resort to acts of violence when it comes to counter-protesters.
“If you are a random passerby and happen to be in their vicinity, I would recommend that you don’t engage unless you are within earshot of law enforcement or authorities or have somebody else with you and have a plan to leave the premise if you need to. But otherwise, the best course of action is to not engage with these folks.”
What kind of message do you think they were hoping to send by marching on July 4, America’s 250th birthday celebration? What do you think they were hoping to achieve?
“Their message to America, especially on the Fourth of July, is to reinforce the idea that America was founded as a whites-only nation. That is their goal, that’s what they hope to achieve in the end, that is their end state.
“They don’t have any real power to achieve that, but as long as they can spread their message to those who might be receptive to it, whether its folks in power, or anybody on the streets, or anybody on social media who happens to see some of their propaganda, or the content that they produce from these events like this, that’s their main goal, is publicity, and that’s what a lot of extreme groups go for.”
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