Bay Area Community Advisory May 2020: Neo-Nazi organization Patriot Front is active near you.

Patriot Front was formed from the rubble of Vanguard America, after one of their members, James Alex Fields Jr. murdered antifascist Heather Heyer in Charlottesville August 12th 2017. In a slick PR move, their leader Thomas Rousseau ditched the tiki torch and declared everything merely pro-patriot that had been explicitly pro-white. But considering that their support of blatant white nationalism is unwavering, this flag-draping is nothing but rebranding after a high profile weekend that started with a flaming torch attack on outnumbered students and ended with vehicular homicide. 
Rousseau’s PF manifesto reads like patriotic gibberish – an NRA fundraising missive meets a 19th century presidential stump speech.  It veers from cherry picking history, mythologizing the “nation’s founders” and ultimately sounding as though Jonathan Livingston Seagull had done his American Lit report on Thomas Paine. But what’s important is what’s written between the lines – the now coded term “patriot”, who he’s attempting to mobilize and to what end. Rousseau’s “leadership” is a series of plays straight out of Mussolini’s Doctrine of Fascism, mimicking his rhetoric and techniques and hoping for a similar, proven trajectory. Hype up the resentful and disenfranchised about the former greatness of the nation, now sullied by the incursion of the unwanted “other”. Wax about the once proud and mighty people of this place, bowed before degeneracy, corruption and incompetence. Promise the return of greatness, the restoration of a just and prosperous era for the true heirs of this place (who in this case need to be 80% or more “pan-European”, heterosexual, cisgender and definitely not Jewish).  
 
It’s important to understand that their rhetoric is the tip of the iceberg. Make no mistake – Patriot Front are Nazis, and they want what all Nazis want. Their immediate goals are to intensify the false perception of white victimhood, create a vehicle for the intimidation of those they wish to cast as “others”, normalize scapegoating and conspiracy paranoia, and create cultural support for a white ethnostate. Their ultimate vision would include mass deportation, intimidation, violence, and genocide. There is no room in their “nation” for most of us – they’ve said so themselves:
 
“Those of foreign birth may occupy civil status within the lands occupied by the state, and they may even be dutiful citizens, yet they may not be American. Membership within the American nation is inherited through blood, not ink. Even those born in America may yet be foreign. Nationhood cannot be bestowed upon those who are not of the founding stock of our people, and those who do not share the common spirit that permeates our greater civilization, and the European diaspora.”
Promotional materials in the form of stickers, posters and stencils have been placed in various locations around the Bay Area with increasing frequency – over 50 times in approximately six months. Their members are fond of hitting places with cultural relevance, especially those perceived to be left-leaning, as revealed by their Twitter account. Repeat locations include Golden Gate Park, UC Berkeley, and Alameda. Some places are deliberately high profile, such as the corner of Haight and Ashbury and most recently, the front door of DIY space 924 Gilman Street. 
Although they are instructed via an elaborate “Promo Guide” to always operate in packs of three, this may not always be possible (and Nazis are ultimately cowards) so most of their promo runs happen in the middle of nowhere or late at night. Even so, if you happen to see one of these events in progress, please proceed with caution. These are avowed white supremacists, and members of this group have been proven violent. If you can, discreetly take a photo during and/or after the posting and send it with date, time, location and description of the poster(s) including any details you can *safely* obtain to: Bay161 at riseup dot net
 
Stay safe and defend your community!
 
 
BAY161 – SF bay area anti-fascist research collective