A white-supremacist call to action to “troll” Jewish people in Whitefish, Montana – home of white nationalist Richard Spencer’s mother – is gaining support on social media and putting lives in danger.
On Friday, Andrew Anglin of the Daily Stormer published an inflammatory article about Jews “targeting Richard Spencer’s mother,” Sherry Spencer, claiming that her real estate business is failing because of public backlash against her son, a white supremacist and prominent member of the National Policy Institute (NPI) who coined the term “alt-right.”
Anglin falsely claimed that Jewish people in Montana are “harassing” Sherry, attempting to extort money from her, and forcing her to sell a building she owns – all because they disagree with her son. He cites a Daily Mail article in which Sherry complains that her sons’ views are damaging her business. The article does not mention any particular religion. But Anglin called on his readers to harass Jews, describing them as a “vicious, evil race of hate-filled psychopaths” and “a people without shame.”
It reads:
“Are y’all ready for an old fashioned Troll Storm?
Because AYO – it’s that time, fam.
And as always: NO VIOLENCE OR THREATS OF VIOLENCE OR ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE TO THAT.
Just make your opinions known. Tell them you are sickened by their Jew agenda to attack and harm the mother of someone whom they disagree with.
The post included photos, phone numbers, email address, and social media accounts of members of Love Lives Now, a peace organization “committed to co-creating a caring, open, accepting and diverse community, free from discrimination and dedicated to equal treatment,” which is smeared by Anglin as a “terrorist group.” The action also incorporated photos of a local real estate owner, her husband, and young sons, as well as addresses where people can find them.
Love Lives Here Chairman Will Randall told the Missoulian that the fallout has been “gut-wrenching.”
“These are some of the best people around, and to see them attacked because they’re Jewish or have a Jewish-sounding name is disgusting,” he said.
On Sunday morning, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke lent his support to Anglin’s effort on Twitter.
The Daily Stormer’s call for Jews to be targeted is the latest in a string of hateful activities by white nationalists who are emboldened by President-elect Donald Trump. White nationalism and race-based violence have been on the rise since 2015, alongside Trump’s frequent, bigoted messages about Muslims, Latinos, and African Americans. In the first week after the election, there were at least 300 reported hate crimes, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a number that has since soared.
And Jewish people are some of the primary targets.
In November, Richard Spencer delivered a keynote speech at a white nationalist conference held in the District of Columbia, close to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. There, he made a Nazi salute and yelled, “Hail, Trump! Hail, victory!” He also used the Nazi term “ Lügenpresse” to describe the American press.
“[Spencer] said that America belongs to white people. His statement that white people face a choice of ‘conquer or die’ closely echoes Adolf Hitler’s view of Jews and that history is a racial struggle for survival,” the Holocaust Museum wrote in response to the conference. “The Holocaust did not begin with killing; it began with words.”
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