Tired of ads? Want to support our progressive journalism? Click to learn more.
JOIN FOR $1
Enjoy good journalism?
… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.
We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click to donate by check.
Value Raw Story?
… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.
Report typos and corrections to: corrections@rawstory.com.
Idaho protestors bring their kids to mask-burnings promoted by far-right extremist lawmakers
March 07, 2021
Two far right Republican state lawmakers in Idaho recorded a video promoting coronavirus mask burnings, which subsequently took place across the state Saturday, including on the steps of the state capitol in Boise.
Despite what the two lawmakers say, Republican Governor Brad Little has instituted no statewide mask mandate, businesses are mostly open, and there are no stay-at-home orders, according to The New York Times.
<p>The two GOP lawmakers are Rep. Dorothy Moon, whose husband belongs to the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/antigovernment" rel="noopener" target="_blank">antigovernment extremist</a> group the John Birch Society, and Rep. Heather Scott who reportedly <a href="https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/aug/15/north-idaho-rep-heather-scott-defends-white-nation/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">supports white nationalism</a> and <a href="https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article238600318.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">according to a report is a leader in a group</a> known as COWS, or the Coalition of Western States. Its founder was removed from the GOP caucus after a report stated he had <a href="https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/dec/19/rep-matt-shea-engaged-in-domestic-terrorism-during/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">engaged in domestic terrorism</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/idaho-goper-says-stay-at-home-orders-no-different-than-sending-jews-to-extermination-camps/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">In April of 2020</a> Scott "compared Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) to Adolf Hitler because she said that stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic are akin to Nazi extermination camps."</p><p>In the video the two lawmakers, Moon and Scott, say they "fully support" the mask burnings.</p><p>"People are gonna be lining up [at] burn barrels to throw masks in, mandates, or emergency orders or replications there have, because I think everyone's ready for this emergency order to be lifted," Moon says. "And now we're almost one year into this COVID lockdown and mandates and orders that it's time to end the numbers aren't there."</p><p>Given that Idaho ranks 43rd in per capita coronavirus testing, it's impossible to say accurately "the numbers aren't there."</p><p>Scott chimes in to say the mask-burnings will be "pretty fun," and Moon adds that there will be "50 burn barrels set up around the state."</p><p>And indeed, people did come out to burn masks, and brought their children with them. One speaker referred to Idaho residents as "political refugees," apparently for living under mask requirements in Boise.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">About 150 people are gathered in Boise, Idaho on the Capitol steps to “burn the mask" <a href="https://t.co/bRoUy5bd86">pic.twitter.com/bRoUy5bd86</a><br/>— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1368256407653347337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos posted these photos and videos of the mask-burning at the Idaho capitol. Law enforcement officers asked the anti-science extremists, who are promoting the mask-burnings and including their children in them, to put out the fire.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Parents encouraging their children to burn masks <a href="https://t.co/XQuS9qBGbC">pic.twitter.com/XQuS9qBGbC</a><br/>
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1368264956676763650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2021</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A child says “here fire, you hungry? here's another mask"<br/>
A mask burning rally in boise, Idaho <a href="https://t.co/MqNnaEKBP0">pic.twitter.com/MqNnaEKBP0</a>
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1368309947180539906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2021</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Parents encouraging kids to burn masks on Idaho Capitol steps <a href="https://t.co/VOYfOYqwwt">pic.twitter.com/VOYfOYqwwt</a><br/>
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1368261041696632832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2021</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
Idaho state troopers and Boise police tell organizers to put out the fire.<br/>
Protestors tell police to go away <a href="https://t.co/06nwOeuecY">pic.twitter.com/06nwOeuecY</a>
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1368255679115390978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2021</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
CONTINUE READING
Show less
How Republicans are grappling with their own 'completely nuts' far-right extremists behind closed doors
March 07, 2021
Joe Scarborough, the former Republican congressman and Never Trump conservative who hosts "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, recently commented that the 2021 GOP ranges from those who are very, very conservative — such as Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming — to QAnon extremists who are totally off the deep end such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Reporters Melanie Zanona and Olivia Beavers, in an article published in Politico this week, take a look at Republican insiders who, behind closed doors, are grappling with the kooks and crazies who have found a home in their party.
"The House GOP's No. 3 leader, (Cheney) recently urged Republicans to make clear they're not the party of White supremacy," Zanona and Beavers explain. "Two days later, one of their members, spoke at a conference organized by a known White nationalist. The whiplash between Rep. Liz Cheney's (R-Wyo.) plea and Rep. Paul Gosar's (R-Ariz.) public speech underscores just how tough it is for GOP leaders to rein in members who cater to the extreme wings of the party."
<p>Gosar, on Feb. 21, spoke at the <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2021/02/paul-gosar-nick-fuentes-white-nationalist/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">America First Political Action Conference</a> — which is organized by extremist Nick Fuentes and has been described as a White nationalist alternative to the Conservative Political Action Conference. Although CPAC 2021 was full of wingnuts and far-right conspiracy theorists, AFPAC 2021 was even worse.</p><p>Cheney has been highly critical of Gosar's decision to speak at AFPAC. The congresswoman, who is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, told Politico, "I think the organization that (Gosar) spoke to is one that has expressed views that are clearly racist…. This is not the kind of an organization or an event that other members of Congress should be participating in. I've been very clear about the extent to which we have to stand against White supremacists, stand against anti-Semitism, and that should not be part of our public discourse."</p><p>A GOP lawmaker, quoted anonymously, told Politico that AFPAC is the type of event Republicans need to distance themselves from.</p><p>According to that Republican, "It's always been lurking in the shadows, and then they have a convention.... It is completely nuts…. It's really disgusting, nefarious stuff, and this is the stuff you have to just actively beat back."</p><p>Another GOP lawmaker, also quoted anonymously, told Politico, "I think most people are going out of their way to distance themselves from the extremists, but some people are embracing it. And other people may be not paying enough attention to what they're doing. We all need to pay more attention to the things we say and do, and where we say and do them."</p><p>But extremists, Zanona and Beavers report, now feel at home within the Republican Party.</p><p>"The GOP's rightward drift toward extremism has been years in the making, but the violent insurrection on Jan. 6 — when White supremacists, Holocaust deniers and QAnon believers stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's win — has only amplified a bitter internal debate about the direction of the party," the Politico reporters observe. "Democrats argue that moves like Gosar's speech prove that extremists are winning the battle for the GOP's soul."</p>
CONTINUE READING
Show less
While the overwhelming majority of individuals charged so far in connection with the deadly January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol are unconnected to organized militias or other known extremist groups, a preliminary assessment conducted by researchers at George Washington University found they comprise a "hodgepodge" of individuals inspired by far-right ideologies.
Researchers at GWU's Program on Extremism analyzed the cases of 257 alleged participants the mob attack on the Capitol—inspired by former President Donald Trump and his lie that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen"—and found them to be a "heterogenous group."
<p>The researchers divided the 257 individuals, who include 221 men and 36 women, into three groups: "militant networks," "organized clusters," and "inspired believers." </p><p>Militant networks, the report states, represent "the apex of organizational planning by domestic violent extremist groups for and on January 6th," and are "characterized by hierarchical organization and chains of command."</p><p>"Leaders of established domestic violent extremist groups issued orders or directives to members of their groups, encouraging them to travel to Washington in advance of the siege," the report states. "Unlike individuals in the other categories, not only did these militant networks plan to attend protests on the 6th, but they are also alleged to have planned in advance to breach the Capitol and, in many cases, conduct violence inside the walls of the building."</p><p>The second category, organized clusters, is "composed of small, close-knit groups of individuals who allegedly participated in the siege together, usually comprising family members, friends, and acquaintances."</p><p>"Finally, the remainder of the alleged siege participants can be categorized as inspired believers," the report says. "These individuals, according to available evidence, were neither participants in an established violent extremist group nor connected to any of the other individuals who are alleged to have stormed the Capitol."</p><p>"Inspired by a range of extremist narratives, conspiracy theories, and personal motivations, individual believers made up a significant portion of the crowd at the Capitol," it says. </p><p>"Perhaps the most striking finding in this report is the range of far- and extreme-right actors who took part in the siege," the report states. "While such groups often splinter across various lines and form bitter rivalries with one another, it is clear that in some cases they have found enough common cause to mobilize together."</p><p>"The siege is not the first recent example of increased alliances among disparate right-wing groups in America," it continues. "The Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally in 2017, for example, while a different kind of event, also succeeded in bringing together a range of American groups over, among other things, their deeply-held conspiratorial anti-Semitism." </p><p>The report concludes:</p> <blockquote> The events of January 6th also allow us an opportunity to assess how the domestic violent extremist threat may take shape in the coming months and years, and if the siege may have some role in this. As law enforcement officials continue to identify and prosecute individuals involved in the storming of the Capitol on January 6th, new cases of domestic violent extremists inspired by the siege to conduct their own violent attacks have already emerged.<br/>Since the siege, federal law enforcement arrested at least four individuals with links to domestic violent extremist ideologies—one involving a militia affiliate from Northern California and another involving two associates of the Boogaloo Boys in Kentucky, all of whom reportedly believed that the siege would spark a new civil war in the United States.<br/> </blockquote> <p>"Moving forward, it is highly likely that violent extremists of multiple ideological persuasions, inspired by the events of January 6th, 2021, will add to the already bloated federal domestic extremism caseload for prosecutors throughout the country," it warns. </p>
CONTINUE READING
Show less
Trending
Latest
Videos
Copyright © 2021 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | For corrections or concerns, please email corrections@rawstory.com.
Thanks for your support!
Did you enjoy Raw Story this year? Join us! We're offering RawStory ad-free for 15% off - just $2 per week. From now until March 15th.