Goad Gatsby

I am not an expert in countering far right groups. I went to college, I checked all the courses and they weren't offering any. The closest I found were the ones that taught you how to be a far right asshole, so I got a degree in political science.

Since there is no way to conventional learn how to study them, I decided to go to the field and do it myself. I guess my first opportunity was by standing on proximity to the Virginia Flaggers.

So the year is 2014 and I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. I work at a pizza restaurant and I ride a tricycle with Kanye West. Clearly I am incompetent person who know little about the field of far right confederate enthusiasts. But its amazing that I still know stuff.

I am don't know much about who is who when I go out so I go online to learn things. I go on Facebook and I read their rants. I go to other people's blog and read what they wrote. That made me slightly smarter than the day before.

So I am about 2 months into doing this I find out the League of South is coming to Richmond. I don't know shit about Hunter Wallace, Matt Parrot, or Michael Hill but I am going to organize an event against them as I learn.

So the event goes, LoS acts like assholes and leave, I think they get lunch at Alamo. But I say thats not enough and have a double date and go uptown and play some jams at the Flaggers again. Some biker guy with a confederate flag leather jacket kicks my music box and drives off.

This is my first chance to be Hackerman. I got thru Facebook and follow up on the lead of checking everyone on the Northern Virginia Army Mototcycle Club. He even posts his motorcycle with the same license plate tag. Got 'em.

So I got a positive ID on the guy, find out he was with the flaggers, bring him up on petty misdemeanor charges but the flaggers say he isnt with them anymore, but guess who shows up to testify that he didn't see it and bingo its a flagger.

Now this is just kid stuff, its just an 80 dollar music player, thats nothing compared to the entire system of white supremacy. So I just cash the check they wrote to me and move on, but now I know the Flaggers are liars as well as lazy racists.

So a fews pass and I stick with saturdays of rap music directed at Confederate guys. Bam. They change things up, they get a dox on me. They had been calling me Allan for months which is weird because thats not my name. What are they going to do with my dox?

So that dox on me did the opposite effect. It's not like people are going to come to my neighborhood to harass me now because guess what they are already 2 blocks from where Iive with thr intention of harassing the museum by my house with obnoxious racist flags.

sup @loganjaffe great piece, holds up

anyway, a year passes and the headline is the Charleston massacre and suddenly the public figured out that white supremacy flags are a bad thing and people think that I am expert on this subject because I have shown an interest in these bozos.

Here is the thing. I am not an expert. I read wikipedia articles and watched YouTube documentaries. By 2015 I was still trying to play catch up with SPLC archives. People want to demonstrations against the flaggers, they want to know all my secrets.

Everybody, if you haven't figured it out, I am no expert. I have just been researching these bone heads from Virginia. Get a historian to do historical analysis. I just know the names of the flaggers and what their angle is. I can't organize hundreds of people to oppose them.

So in 2015, the SCV has their 150 anniversary in Richmond and the protest against it totally sucks. I was never building an inclusive movement, I was just vibing. Black communities arent really interested in joke protests.

So after feeling like I missed that opportunity, I decided to take a step back and try to do things different. I stop using the phrase "Hip Hop is my Heritage" because people tell me is like using black people as a prop.

So the 2016 election is picking up and I joining in with protest groups against Trump. People start telling be about neo-nazi groups on campus. There's also a Nazi furry group in Virginia but they never crossed my path. I just want to help!

Multiple Trump rallies happen in Richmond and I help out but I pick up a charge for yelling at Trump supporter, its a Flagger, I beat the charges, that law will taken out of Virginia code in July.

This is around the time the Virginia Flaggers step up their efforts in Charlottesville while Jason Kessler starts trying to get the Vice Mayor recalled and the two parties team up. I am still in Richmond so I just pass info along.

Back in May 2017 the first torch rally happens in Charlottesville, and I think to myself, "oh fuck, this is happening" I get tipped off that a follow up rally is happening in August while the KKK is applying to also get a permit.

I make a little less than $1,500 a month, so I can't afford to take much time off of work, so I just pick to go to the August rally and hope the town can handle itself while the KKK comes to town.

in my absence, the police turn against the crowd that protected against the KKK. I regret not going and decide to really hit the pavement in August.

I have absolutely no counter-terrorism expertise but I have friends who sent me messages which is almost as good. I find out there is a rally the night before at UVA and I go.

So I get my butt kicked at UVA, I filed a police report (and later find out it was Cantwell who pepper sprayed me) that night really harsh my vibe.

On the process of filing charges, I meet @EmilyGorcenski, she is pretty much perfect and better than me at everything, you should follow her

Both me and Emily were at the Fields attack, she was much closer than me. There was times I felt like we were the only 2 people who wanted to talk about our experiences that weekend while everyone else felt like it was time to go back to hiding.