Posted: January 9th, 2022 | Author: Panic | Filed under: General | Tags: american fascism, chicago, march for life, neo nazis, patriot front, rousseau, thomas rousseau, white nationalists | Comments Off on March for Life Chicago 2022 Reportback: “Let them fight” gif comes to life as the anti-abortion March for Life Chicago ejects Patriot Front
From comrades:
American Fascist group Patriot Front had a rough time Saturday largely due to the media attention and community pressure on the right wing anti-abortion March for Life. In addition to a raucous counter-demo, after multiple confrontations and angry hecklings, the fashionably-late Patriot Front decided to follow the marchers’ orders and quickly remove themselves and drive away in defeat.
For context, Patriot Front is a rebrand from one of the original white nationalist groups at the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA in 2017. The fascist who drove his car into the crowd, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others, marched at the rally with teenager Thomas Ryan Rousseau of Vanguard America, a neo-Nazi group. For more information on James Alex Fields, click here. Soon after the rally, Rousseau formed Patriot Front as a splinter of Vanguard America. Today, Patriot Front is one of the most active distributors of racist and antisemitic propaganda in the country, both online and via fliers, stickers, and banners. Per its manifesto, the group does not allow women to join and is actively working to create a whites-only ethnostate.
Since 2017, Patriot Front has also held several “flash mob” events, where they are easily spotted in their uniform of khaki pants, polo shirts, ball caps, and white gaiter masks, and carrying American flags, smoke bombs or other props. At these events, their uniformed members will unload from the back of a rented U-Haul or Penske box truck, then briefly march along their planned route through the city, usually at night when there are few bystanders. The purpose of these marches is to generate footage for a few minutes of flashy recruitment videos for their social media channels and to minimize chances for confrontations with antifascists and the public. They stage manage accordingly to attempt to appear powerful, intimidating, and superior while reducing risk of opposition.
During the weeks ahead of this year’s annual anti-abortion, conservative Christian event, a
much-publicized leaked audio recording of an internal Patriot Front members-only call and subsequent public pressure mobilized enough infighting among groups within the broader fascist movement to create strife.
Since 2019 Patriot Front has been a fixture at the March for Life in Chicago and DC, rallying and participating in the march. When antifascists increased the pressure, March for Life Chicago issued the public disavowals, physical distance, that co-created conditions for the eventual confrontations that led to Thomas Rousseau and his men of Patriot Front hastily making a retreat as the loud and angry counter-protest tailed them.
Way before Patriot Front arrived at the 2pm anti-abortion march, the cracks in their confidence were showing after public pressure on March for Life led to this exchange and public repudiation:
Despite Thomas Rousseau claiming that Patriot Front would attend the 1pm anti-abortion rally at Federal Plaza, since he believes the March for Life is an ideal recruitment ground for his American Fascist organization, Patriot Front did not attend.
Reports from on the ground said that anti-abortion rally speakers were drowned out by Defend Abortion Access: Counter Protest attendees. After the anti-abortion rally concluded, Patriot Front arrived marching south on Michigan Ave and attempted to join the marchers. As the American Fascists lined up at the rear of the March for Life and inched forward, the anti-abortion marchers confronted them about their presence, full-length metal shield guard in formation ahead of Rousseau and his cowboy hat, with his men’s signature upside down flag guard, matching outfits, and white face masks trailing behind him. Footage thanks to new and independent media collective Chicago Free Media, footage archived at https://archive.is/PRBWM
A March for Life attendee, who is known to harass abortion clinic escorts and the people they protect, loudly called Thomas Rousseau “an embarrassment to cowboys,” as he was booming at them all to leave the March,
in one of the exchanges, The incident was covered in
The Sun newspaper this morning:
Patriot Front cowed to the hecklers and peeled away from the main march, pausing to huddle up in the 20-degree freezing rainy-sleet. Around this time, the raucous counter-demo that dogged the steps of the anti-choice march kept the pressure on the fascists by further heckling them and loudly highlighting the overlapping politics of both Patriot Front and anti-choice demonstrators. Patriot Front has been allowed to join March for Life events for the past several years and believed they would be welcomed there as before. Outside pressure created the conditions for the March for Life to publicly reject Rousseau and Patriot Front.
With the Michigan Avenue sidewalks freezing over and the March ignoring them while counter-protesters hurled insults at them, Thomas Rousseau and Patriot Front increased their marching speed and scuttled away down the block. The lines of Chicago police kept the counter-demonstrators from engaging with them further and kept Patriot Front secluded from the anti-abortion march. Because of course, a shitbag cop struck several counter-protesters. There were no known arrests.
After marching through the pedestrian tunnel via Roosevelt to Museum Campus, Patriot Front members disembarked in their personal vehicles, with license plates obscured by tape:
Thomas Rousseau commanded Patriot Front members from all over the United States to attend an event he claimed they’d be welcome at. This was intended to be a triumphant and powerful group display. Instead, Patriot Front members marched around in the freezing rain for less than an hour and were loudly told by attendees that, in essence, they can’t all sit together.
Patriot Front members were also once again seen slinking away from the theater of action- a rather apt description as one large reason for these obsessively-planned actions is to produce online promotional materials for the group. This time, instead of waiting for u-hauls, Patriot Front waited for a motley assortment of personal vehicles. The “power” the group tries to project in their videos is at odds with the image of a sad fascist cowering from the livestream in the back of a minivan.
With the March4Life in Washington DC approaching quickly, it remains to be seen if will Rousseau will risk more public humiliation from the same anti-abortion people he once claimed
“have really come to support us” to his members. With the group rattled by numerous missteps, one can only imagine the demoralization within Patriot Front’s ranks as they wait to join a growing list of recent doxxes and leaks:
Finally, while we are pleased that the March for Life attendees denounced Patriot Front involvement and amused by some of the insults that were directed towards Patriot Front yesterday, we oppose M4L’s harmful anti-abortion ideology, their restrictions on reproductive autonomy, and their vile actions against clinic workers.
Special thanks to all the many moving pieces, trust and support that helped show Patriot Front and the March for Life that their brands of fascism are not welcome in Chicago. If you recognize any Patriot Front faces or personal vehicles in the images, email Torch Antifascist Network at torchantifa@riseup.net
Posted: January 6th, 2022 | Author: Panic | Filed under: General | Tags: american fascism, chicago, march for life, neo nazis, patriot front, rousseau, thomas rousseau, white nationalists | Comments Off on 2022 Show Patriot Front: No Nazis in Chicago!
Neo-nazis in Patriot Front are feeling the heat in this cold Chicago weather ahead of the anti-abortion March for Life rally this January 8 2022 at Federal Plaza in the Loop. The American Fascist group leader Thomas Rousseau announced their intention to recruit like-minded people at the 1pm rally while the counterprotest will be assembling nearby
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From the It’s Going Down article, “Patriot Front is a re-brand of Vanguard America, one of the groups that marched in Charlottesville at the Unite the Right rally and whose supporter, James Alex Fields, Jr, murdered Heather Heyer after driving his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. Chat logs of the group were leaked by Unicorn Riot, showcasing an organization obsessed with racial and sexual violence.…In leaked audio from a recorded meeting in December filled with racial slurs and screams of “White Power!,” Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau claimed to have a good working relationship with March for Life organizers, and that the group planned on joining them at their next rally in 2022.”
After the March for Life Chicago’s connection to Patriot Front was discussed in the IGD article and the community announcement of a mass mobilization against them both, the March for Life denounced white supremacy (lol) as well as Patriot Front
The archived tweet thread is here. March for Life Chicago’s denial of any affiliation with Patriot Front is especially worthless due to the extensive documentation of the neo-Nazis’ presence at the rallies from 2019 to the present. March for Life Chicago’s “disavowal” directly contradicts Thomas Rousseau’s claim
“These people at the March for Life events have really come to support us over the years and because of the last year’s cancellations of these events, we are expecting even larger crowds of supportive individuals.”
Thanks to Atlanta comrades for putting together a Twitter thread (archived here) showcasing the years that Patriot Front was a welcome participant at the March for Life Chicago rally from 2019 onward.
In an attempt for March for Life to save face to their base, Patriot Front may be ejected from Saturday’s rally. If their previous photo ops have taught us anything, Patriot Front will obtain a police escort and march the sidewalks aimlessly collecting enough footage to make their new recruitment video. Regardless of whatever action the March for Life chooses, it’s up to us all to send a message to Patriot Front we aren’t taking a stand against their presence at the anti-abortion rally, we’re taking a stand against their presence everywhere. Now is the time for the community to demonstrate to Patriot Front members and make sure know where fascists belong: alone, with nothing, and unwelcome in public spaces, especially in Chicago. For a collection of articles and analysis informing these ideas, see our page “PF in the news.” Patriot Front members, if you’re reading this post, this is your sign to quit. Start by reading Change Your Life for the Better in 2022: Leave the White Nationalist Movement
This Saturday, local temperatures are forecast to be in the mid-30s so dress accordingly. Mask up, bring a buddy, and leave your phone at home!
Posted: December 27th, 2021 | Author: Panic | Filed under: General | Comments Off on Research, Analysis & Important Information about Patriot Front, 2017 to present
Click through for Torch Network‘s insightful overview of Patriot Front, their beliefs, their ideology, their chat logs, their promotional materials and legal guide. For a list of identified members with pictures, see the page Identified Member of Patriot Front on this website.
https://torchantifa.org/inside-patriot-front/
If you have any information about the people pictured in the Patriot Front images, send tips to TorchAntifa@riseup.net
Posted: December 27th, 2021 | Author: Panic | Filed under: General | Tags: chicago, heimbach, matthew heimbach, patriot front, right to life, right to life chicago, thomas rousseau, traditionalist worker party | Comments Off on Why are White Nationalists at Anti-Abortion Marches?
Fascists including Patriot Front believe that by restricting reproductive health, limiting women’s bodily choices, and creating conditions to force birth will somehow ensure that white babies help stop the so-called ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory that white nationalists are so fond of. They’re also looking to recruit more members! Learn more below or at the article home on Truthout.
By Elizabeth King & Erin Corbett, Rewire.News, December 12, 2018
Those on the far-right who have long discussed and acted upon their desire to dominate women’s sexual and reproductive rights are pushing that agenda into the political mainstream with help from the anti-choice movement.
The traditional right wing in the United States tries to distance itself from fascists, but far-right groups are weaponizing traditionalism and “normie optics” to infiltrate anti-choice platforms to recruit and organize young white men.
Attacks on reproductive rights are nothing new, but fascist groups’ infiltration of anti-choice groups and recruiting around anti-choice organizing in their genocidal agenda is an escalation. Leaked conversations between white supremacist groups using the Discord messaging site show users discussing recruiting members based on their opposition to abortion rights. “March for life never has effect until White Nationalists join [sic],” the Discord user “Commander Davis” said in the Traditionalist Worker Party chatroom, a now disbanded neo-Nazi group [Editor’s note: after TWP’s implosion, some of their members found a home in Patriot Front]. March For Life is a decades old radical anti-choice movement and protest popular among Republicans. President Trump addressed the March for Life rally in January.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: December 26th, 2021 | Author: Panic | Filed under: General | Tags: american fascism, chicago, march for life, march for life chicago, patriot front, thomas rousseau, vanguard america, white nationalists | Comments Off on Who TF even is Patriot Front Anyways?
Simply, Patriot Front is a group of American Fascists.
For context, Patriot Front is a rebrand from one of the original white nationalist groups at the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA in 2017. The fascist who drove his car into the crowd, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others, marched at the rally with teenager Thomas Ryan Rousseau of Vanguard America, a neo-Nazi group. For more information on James Alex Fields, click here. Soon after the rally, Rousseau formed Patriot Front as a splinter of Vanguard America. Today, Patriot Front is one of the most active distributors of racist and antisemitic propaganda in the country, both online and via fliers, stickers, and banners. Per its manifesto, the group is actively working to create a whites-only ethnostate.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: December 26th, 2021 | Author: Panic | Filed under: General | Tags: american fascism, chicago, march for life, neo nazis, patriot front, rousseau, thomas rousseau, white nationalists | Comments Off on ALL OUT FOR CHICAGO 2022: Patriot Front at March for Life
From January 2022
Grab your friends, and some masks, and make a plan to confront the losers who think that people of color and Jews are the reason their lives are miserable and they don’t have a girlfriend. Patriot Front, an American Fascist organization, will be attending and recruiting new white nationalist members at the March for Life Chicago rally on January 8, 2022, from 1-3pm at Federal Plaza in Chicago. Counterprotesters will be nearby at 219 S Dearborn, starting at 12:30pm
For context, Patriot Front is a rebrand from one of the original white nationalist groups at the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA in 2017. The fascist who drove his car into the crowd, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others, marched at the rally with teenager Thomas Ryan Rousseau of Vanguard America, a neo-Nazi group. For more information on James Alex Fields, click here. Soon after the rally, Rousseau formed Patriot Front as a splinter of Vanguard America. Today, Patriot Front is one of the most active distributors of racist and antisemitic propaganda in the country, both online and via fliers, stickers, and banners. Per its manifesto, the group does not allow women to join and is actively working to create a whites-only ethnostate.
Since 2017, Patriot Front has also held several “flash mob” events, where they are easily spotted in their uniform of khaki pants, polo shirts, ball caps, and white gaiter masks, and carrying American flags, smoke bombs or other props. At these events, their uniformed members will unload from the back of a rented U-Haul or Penske box truck, then briefly march along their planned route through the city, usually at night when there are few bystanders. The purpose of these marches is to generate footage for a few minutes of flashy recruitment videos for their social media channels.
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Thanks to comrades at Atlanta Antifascists, we share this audio from a meeting where Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau announces to his fellow white nationalists that their plans include attending the March for Life Chicago at downtown Federal Plaza starting at 1pm on Saturday, January 8, 2022, with counterprotesters meeting at 12:30pm. Patriot Front says they’ll be in Washington DC on January 22, 2022. Read the rest of this entry »
