EFFORTS ROOT OUT FARRIGHT EXTREMISM INSTALL

Their melding accelerated with compounding crises throughout the election cycle, including protests in response to COVID-19 public health restrictions and counter-protests to the overwhelmingly peaceful racial justice protests over the summer of 2020.

The Stop the Steal movement was far from monolithic, though, and included groups across a spectrum of radicalization: hyperpartisan pro-Trump activists and media outlets the neo-fascist Proud Boys, a group with chapters committed to racism and the promotion of street violence unlawful militias from around the country with a high degree of command and control, including the so-called Three Percenters movement adherents to the collective delusion of QAnon individuals identifying with the Boogaloo Bois, a loosely organized anti-government group that has called for a second civil war and ideological fellow travelers of the far-right, who wanted to witness something they believed would be spectacular.Įach group overlapped but maintained distinct engagement - and coordination - online. Most of the material found in this report was posted in plain sight on social media platforms and online forums, designed to convince more Americans of falsehoods about the 2020 elections. The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab constructed a timeline of key events, both online and offline, centered on the coordination of “Stop the Steal” efforts that escalated to violence and threatened the transition of power core to American democracy. The assault that unfolded as Congress convened a joint session to certify the victory of Joe Biden in the 2020 election was the direct result of a months-long effort rooted in disinformation promoted by President Donald Trump coordinated by some of his most fervent, conspiratorial supporters and incorporating a wide range of supporting groups. Ritchie Torres told The New York Times that Kobel’s bigotry was part of “an epidemic of right-wing extremism, including in the ranks of law enforcement,” calling Kobel’s case “the tip of the iceberg.The insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Just recently, Deputy Inspector James Kobel resigned from the NYPD while facing an investigation that concluded he was the author of racist online posts on an NYPD message board. FBI and DHS officials have recently cited the increasing “ lethality” of threats by white supremacist extremists.Įven in the NYPD, the most diverse police force in the country, officers might support or associate with right-wing extremists.

Further, the FBI and researchers on the far-right movements in the United States have stated that white supremacists have active links with law enforcement. Last year, the Center for Investigative Reporting found that many law enforcement officers were members of extremist groups on Facebook. Some far-right groups such as the Oath Keepers openly identify themselves as current members of law enforcement. Troublingly, we are likely to find officers with such ties everywhere, including in New York. A California department has already taken action to remove an officer for displaying such ties. We must remove any officers with membership or ties to those groups from their departments. Such extremist groups advocate violence and believe in virulent forms of white nationalism. We must also investigate police for officers with ties to militias, extremists and domestic terror groups.

EFFORTS ROOT OUT FARRIGHT EXTREMISM INSTALL

State Attorney General Letitia James has sued the NYPD to install a federal monitor to oversee the NYPD because of abuses during last year’s protests. He also noted that “anyone who expresses white supremacist views shouldn’t be a police officer, anyone who encourages violence against our democratic institutions shouldn’t be a police officer.”

After dismissing a member of the FDNY for joining the riot, Mayor de Blasio rightfully said that any public employee who took part will be terminated. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea has signaled investigations into whether NYPD officers were present.

Efforts root out farright extremism