Gangs of White Thugs Are Terrorizing America

Various hate groups are actively working to start a civil war in America

Much has been said about the seemingly non-stop imagery of white people vandalizing property and starting fires during the recent protests — which Black people and peaceful protesters have been largely blamed for. Some were anarchists and most were members of outside groups. And while those white people might be responsible for property damage, there’s an entire delegation of other white folks that are comingling with protesters and doing some real harm.

This contingent, we’ll call them, is hell-bent on starting a civil war.

Evidence has been mounting around the nation showing that white supremacists and various other far-right groups have been actively working to leverage the protests against police brutality to cause property damage and inflict violence. The goal is to strike fear in Black communities and heighten the political and racial tensions to help bring about a civil war that targets racial and ethnic minorities. In other words, a race war using chaos and discord as a catalyst.

By now, you’ve likely heard of “Boogaloo Bois” after the movement recently made news for the first time. I call it a movement because it’s made up of individuals, various members of different hate groups, and white gangs who follow this specific ideology. The fragmented nature of the movement makes it harder to track as they are not associated with any individual group.

Their tactics vary greatly as well. Some have joined the protests disguised as allies with the intent of firing into crowds, killing police officers, and bombing buildings. On June 1, POLITICO reported that on May 27 the FBI warned of “a white supremacist extremist Telegram channel was inciting followers to engage in violence and start the ‘boogaloo ’- a term used by some violent extremists to refer to the start of a second Civil War — by shooting in a crowd.” One message encouraged potential shooters to “frame the crowd around you” for the violence.

These are the same people who celebrated the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery; who believe their murders were the beginning of the race war they fantasize about. In an article on May 29, I too warned of the coming actions of radicalized extremists after they were documented in online forums encouraging additional violence and to act alone when doing so. I also warned of the radicalized groups who were a large part of the anti-lockdown protests.

Many of us have for years warned the American public that these events would occur. It’s only a matter of time before all that hateful rhetoric Americans dismiss becomes a precursor to what we’re seeing today: extremists murdering people and executing police in ambush-style attacks.

White America’s complacency continues to destroy lives.

Shifting Focus

Instead of tone policing the language people are using to discuss police reform and focusing on the so-called riots, white folks need to take a step back and acknowledge the violence occurring across the country at the hands of white supremacists. America ignored all the warnings, now America must address the real-life violence happening seemingly every day across the country.

I argue that militias are an inherent white-supremacist concept built on the principle of posses and lynch mobs. I also argue that using the term “militia” is disingenuous as these groups are nothing more than armed white gangs that no one talks about. The white privilege that protects them with a label is the same that allows them to operate without any resistance from civil society. Their constitutionally protected rights are preserved by their whiteness.

White America doesn’t look at hate-groups the same way they see gangs because they’re armed white dudes. History tells us what happens when Black people try to arm themselves in the same way. The Black community has tried protecting themselves from white supremacy by organizing armed groups in the past resulting in society at large deeming them a threat. The only thing minorities ever posed a threat to is white supremacy in America.

That mentality of fear hasn’t changed.

The lack of concern for armed white gangs when they’re destroying communities and killing people also speaks volumes. If it wasn’t for the “Boogaloo” gang member in California and the white gang-member shooting a protester in New Mexico, most Americans would be oblivious to what’s happening on the streets. Cushioned away from reality. Peak white privilege.

Especially when so much negative attention is focused on the Black community in various political circles and on social media. We’ve seen an explosion of anti-Black racism in the midst of all of this that should be of major concern and there has been very little outcry from white people about it. Sure, many allies are coming to terms with their own internalized racism, and I applaud that, but much of the conversation needs to shift from them to the hate in the streets.

Most Americans believe racist extremism is an online phenomenon and nothing more. It’s not. It has always been real-wold. The internet gives it an exponentially broader reach putting the lives of minorities at an even greater risk. We are way past hearing excuses justifying white silence. Now is the time to shift the mindset behind how these groups are viewed. Once we begin to see them for what they are, white gangs, we will then stop treating them as harmless militias.

If there are any new allies reading this, I want you to know that systemic racism is but one part of the overall problem. This type of street-level racism is how the racists in power stay in power. If we don’t address this as a society, we’re not really progressing.

So, we’re gonna need you to stop being afraid and start calling it out.

Hate In The Streets

America has found itself in the midst of paying the price for years of complacency. Silence in the face of oppression. More guns than people. White men radicalized at alarming rates because of fears that hinge the same racist tropes that have been around for centuries. The fear that white men will become extinct because of changing demographics. An explosion of hate groups and racists infiltrating law enforcement. All the warnings were there and civil society did nothing.

Now, here we are.

Recently, a 32-year-old man in Santa Cruz, California went on a killing spree targeting law enforcement. Steven Carillo ambushed two sheriff’s deputies, killing one, and severely wounding another. Carillo is also the primary suspect in the shootings of two federal officers (one of whom died) in Oakland during street protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. All of these shootings were initially blamed on Blacks Lives Matter by the far-right.

And before you say anything about a man with a Latino sounding name being associated with white supremacist groups, beliefs, and ideologies, I remind you that this is not uncommon in the United States. There have been many cases of white-identifying men of Latino heritage that express anti-Black racism and become involved in hate groups. Too many, in my opinion.

Police in Texas arrested a man in April after they said he used Facebook Live to stream his search for a lone police officer to “ambush and execute.” Authorities at the Texarkana, Texas police department received several 911 calls reporting that 36-year-old Aaron Swenson went live on Facebook on the night of April 11, broadcasting his intentions to kill a police officer.

In May, 53-year-old Bradley Bunn of Loveland, Colorado garnered the attention of federal law enforcement agents after posting on Facebook that he intended to bring high-powered weapons to an anti-lockdown protest in Denver. After claiming he was organizing a much broader armed response, agents visited him at his home. They discovered a large cache of homemade pipe bombs that he admitted were intended to be used against any law enforcement officers.

On May 8, Christian Ferguson, 21, of Cleveland, Ohio, performed a “dry run” of his plan to ambush police officers responding to a fake domestic-violence call. The idea was to surround the officers with armed gang members, “and the officers would have to put their pistols on the ground or get shot by the count of ten.” He also “hoped we don’t have to put them down, but I will do it if I have to.” The men he thought were fellow gang members were actually informants and he was later arrested by the FBI.

Earlier this month, three white gang members, also with a devotion to the far-right “Boogaloo” movement, were charged by federal authorities with plotting to attack protests in Las Vegas with Molotov cocktails in order to further advance their overall ambitions of starting a civil/race war.

As these cases become more common and the numbers continue to grow, it’s naive to think the authorities can stop them all. As with Carillo’s case, there are many like him that couldn’t be stopped prior to committing murder and destroying lives. More will inevitably slip through.

Infiltration

The current strategy adopted by this fragmented movement of white gang members and many of their most prominent leaders is to infiltrate protests disguised as allies and wreak havoc by causing extensive property damage, attacking and murdering protesters, and targeting law enforcement. And they have been working diligently to achieve those aims.

Early in the protests in Minneapolis, dozens of white supremacist gang members were arrested destroying property and looting buildings. It is believed that much of the damage created in those first days was the result of many other white gang members with similar ambitions: to sow chaos; blame Black Lives Matter for the destruction; exploit the protests to start a civil war.

In Alburquerque, New Mexico, armed white gang members shot a protester after opening fire into a crowd that was attempting to take down a statue of a Spanish conquistador. This group, the New Mexico Civil Guard is a relatively newly formed white gang that uses similar language on their Facebook Page to those who support the Boogaloo movement. While the initially came to the defense of the shooter, they have since distanced themselves.

In Bethel, Ohio a small Black Lives Matter demonstration of about 80 people was overrun by 700 counterprotesters who were members of motorcycle gangs, “back the blue” groups and proponents of the Second Amendment (white gangs). A local news station reported that many carried rifles while others brought baseball bats and clubs. Police are investigating 10 “incidents” from clashes that followed. Including one in which a protester was punched in the head while officers stood by, as witnessed in a bystander video circulating on social media.

Misinformation campaigns directed at rural and suburban communities just outside of bigger cities where protests were held became a big part of their strategy as well. Stoking fear and paranoia of Antifa protesters being bused or flown to the sticks to wreak havoc has worked to near perfection. There was even a fake tweet that is still circulating that was posted by members of the neo-Nazi group Identity Evropa via Twitter account calling itself “ANTIFA US”.

The tweet has since evolved to fake notices posted in online groups for various small towns across the country. Amidst the chaos, some police departments fell prey to the misinformation. In Curry County, Oregon, Sheriff John Ward in a now-deleted Facebook post called on civilian volunteers to help defend the county saying, “Without asking I am sure we have a lot of local boys too with guns that will protect our citizens and their property.”

Curry County wasn’t the only department to bite. Police departments in Sacramento, California and Sioux Falls, Idaho were also duped by the campaign. All of this paranoia has led to reports of people of color being harassed and accused of being part of these “Antifa invaders.” If the goal is to sow chaos and discord, these hatemongers are getting it done.

Upping The Ante

It’s clear that these groups uniting under the “Boogaloo Bois” movement mean business. What we saw in Charlottesville a couple of years ago was nothing compared to what we’re facing now. These guys are heavily armed and they thrive on the perception that their way of life is coming to an end. For that, they intend on making all of us victims in their ethnic/race war.

And what happens from here? Is it going to get worse? It sure as hell doesn’t seem like it’s going to get any better anytime soon. Especially if we continue to face silence about white gangs terrorizing minority communities in America.

Listen allies, if your white comfort is more important to you than roving gangs of murderers on our streets, then go ahead, keep being quiet.

We see you and we’re judging you.

If you want to do something about it you can start by calling out your brother-in-law, your racist uncle, your parents, or your sister-cousin the next time they say or do anything remotely racist or discriminatory.

If you think you’re scared of the repercussions that come with calling out your friends and family, try being the person of color who does it or bears the brunt of their hate when you don’t. Your fears are nothing compared to what we endure multiple times a day in this America of yours.

Minorities already deal with too much and now we’re faced with a race war.

I’m tired.

Y’all need to start doing some damn work.

There’s a lot of it.

Arturo is an anti-racist political nerd. He is an upcoming author, journalist, advocate for social justice, and a married father of three. He is a regular contributor to Latino Rebels. If you’d like to learn more about the issues covered here, see the links below or follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.