Organizers behind armed white supremacist protest in Houston revealed as Russian

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

 https://thinkprogress.org/armed-white-supremacist-protest-organized-by-russians-d730f83ca275/

 

Last May, nearly 100 demonstrators gathered around the Islamic Da’wah Center in downtown Houston, squaring off against one another in competing camps.

The “Stop Islamization of Texas” protest was, on its face, largely similar to any number of other tense, vitriolic demonstrations that percolated through 2016. On the one end: a crew carrying Confederate flags, #WhiteLivesMatter banners, and heavy weaponry. On the other: counter-protesters with signs decrying Islamophobia, calling for communal unity, and a bubble machine going at full blast.

Despite the presence of AR-15s, the demonstrations ended without violence. The white supremacists screaming “Fascist and proud!” dissipated, as did those supporting the Islamic center.

The organizers behind the anti-Islam protesters, however, never showed. And now, over 16 months later, we know why.

As CNN reported last week, the protest was put together by the “Heart of Texas” Facebook page – a page that was revealed last month as one of the fake accounts operated out of Russia. Unlike the November anti-Hillary Clinton, pro-secession rallies the page attempted to organize across Texas, the May protest not only brought armed protesters, but a raft of counter-protesters to face down those calling for “white power!”

At the time, there was little to differentiate the “Stop Islamization of Texas” protest from the other Islamophobic protests wracking the state, especially in Dallas. “I figured it was the same manifestation of what was happening in Dallas,” Ramon Mejia, of About Face: Veterans Against the War, told ThinkProgress.

Indeed, until CNN’s revelations, there was little to suspect that the protest wasn’t organically homegrown. After all, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign helped generate a greater Islamophobic tail-wind than any campaign prior – and given that people like Aryan Renaissance Society National Director Ken Reed showed up at the Houston protest, claiming the U.S. is “being threatened by the influx of Islam,” the protest clearly carried a distinctly American flavor.

But the revelations point to an even darker reality than the protest itself unveiled. Not only did the “Heart of Texas” page call – successfully – for protesters to bring firearms (“concealed or not!”) but Russian operatives were able to convince armed white supremacists to congregate in downtown Houston, facing off with dozens opposed to their message. Given recent events in Charlottesville, the fact that Russian operatives organized rifle-toting white nationalists into a confrontation with counter-protesters should give pause to politicians on both sides of the aisle – all the more as one of the comments on the “Heart of Texas” page called to “blow … up” the Islamic center.

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

LMAO. Really.. dear lord

[Jacque67 7,328]

1 hour ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

 https://thinkprogress.org/armed-white-supremacist-protest-organized-by-russians-d730f83ca275/

 

Last May, nearly 100 demonstrators gathered around the Islamic Da’wah Center in downtown Houston, squaring off against one another in competing camps.

The “Stop Islamization of Texas” protest was, on its face, largely similar to any number of other tense, vitriolic demonstrations that percolated through 2016. On the one end: a crew carrying Confederate flags, #WhiteLivesMatter banners, and heavy weaponry. On the other: counter-protesters with signs decrying Islamophobia, calling for communal unity, and a bubble machine going at full blast.

Despite the presence of AR-15s, the demonstrations ended without violence. The white supremacists screaming “Fascist and proud!” dissipated, as did those supporting the Islamic center.

The organizers behind the anti-Islam protesters, however, never showed. And now, over 16 months later, we know why.

As CNN reported last week, the protest was put together by the “Heart of Texas” Facebook page – a page that was revealed last month as one of the fake accounts operated out of Russia. Unlike the November anti-Hillary Clinton, pro-secession rallies the page attempted to organize across Texas, the May protest not only brought armed protesters, but a raft of counter-protesters to face down those calling for “white power!”

At the time, there was little to differentiate the “Stop Islamization of Texas” protest from the other Islamophobic protests wracking the state, especially in Dallas. “I figured it was the same manifestation of what was happening in Dallas,” Ramon Mejia, of About Face: Veterans Against the War, told ThinkProgress.

Indeed, until CNN’s revelations, there was little to suspect that the protest wasn’t organically homegrown. After all, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign helped generate a greater Islamophobic tail-wind than any campaign prior – and given that people like Aryan Renaissance Society National Director Ken Reed showed up at the Houston protest, claiming the U.S. is “being threatened by the influx of Islam,” the protest clearly carried a distinctly American flavor.

But the revelations point to an even darker reality than the protest itself unveiled. Not only did the “Heart of Texas” page call – successfully – for protesters to bring firearms (“concealed or not!”) but Russian operatives were able to convince armed white supremacists to congregate in downtown Houston, facing off with dozens opposed to their message. Given recent events in Charlottesville, the fact that Russian operatives organized rifle-toting white nationalists into a confrontation with counter-protesters should give pause to politicians on both sides of the aisle – all the more as one of the comments on the “Heart of Texas” page called to “blow … up” the Islamic center.

Indeed.