Feb. 4, 2026

To Catch a Fascist: The Ethics of Unmasking the Radical Right

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To Catch a Fascist: The Ethics of Unmasking the Radical Right

An anti-fascist spy handed American officials evidence of murderous intent from a Nazi planning server — and they declined to act.

About the Guest

Christopher Mathias is a journalist covering the far right, formerly a senior reporter at HuffPost, with work appearing in The Guardian, The Nation, MSNBC, Zeteo, and WNYC. His reporting has helped unmask white supremacist cops, soldiers, teachers, and politicians, and he was a Deadline Awards finalist for feature writing. He is originally from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and lives in New York. His new book, To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right (Atria Books), is out now.


About the Episode
Days after Jonathan Rauch’s influential Atlantic essay announced he’d moved from fascism skeptic to fascism believer, Christopher Mathias joins the show to discuss his new book — a deeply reported investigation into the decentralized network of anti-fascist activists who infiltrate, monitor, and expose neo-Nazis and white supremacists operating in positions of power across America.

The conversation quickly moves beyond whether Trump is a fascist to the harder questions his book raises: Who gets to decide who is exposed? What rights to privacy do members of extremist groups retain? Is unmasking community self-defense or vigilantism? And does the same logic that justifies exposing a neo-Nazi EMT extend to the tens of thousands of ICE agents now conducting raids on American streets?

Timeline

00:00 Introduction
 Jonathan Rauch’s Atlantic essay and the renewed fascism debate

01:10 Meet Christopher Mathias
 Introducing the book and the journalist behind it

01:45 The Greenville Moment
 When Mathias first used “fascist” in a headline after watching Trump whip a crowd into chanting “Send her back”

02:40 Defining the F-Word
 Fascism as a right-wing politics of domination; Langston Hughes recognizing it in the 1930s before the word arrived

04:15 The Hard Question
 If MAGA is a fascist movement, are the 70-plus million who voted for Trump fascists too?

05:55 The Worst of the Worst
 Why the book targets explicit neo-Nazis in positions of power, not ordinary Trump supporters

08:15 Who Decides?
 Privacy, accountability, and whether everyone at Charlottesville deserves exposure

10:45 Antifascist Amnesty
 Leave the movement and we leave you alone; return and we publish

12:30 The Equivalence Trap
 Why Mathias rejects the idea that this is just radicals exposing radicals

14:05 From Neo-Nazis to ICE
 How anti-fascist tactics are now used to identify masked federal agents

17:15 Where Does It End?
 Drawing lines between violent enforcement and bureaucratic participation

19:40 “Just Following Orders”
 Why some orders shouldn’t be followed, and the occupation of Minneapolis

21:30 The Battle Over Shame
 Competing databases, surveillance, and what America should be ashamed of

23:15 The Spy Who Warned Charlottesville
 An infiltrator uncovers plans for violence that officials ignore

26:00 Minneapolis as Model
 “We protect us” and a blueprint for grassroots resistance

28:45 The Underground War
 Intelligence, counterintelligence, and the personal cost of exposure

30:30 Closing
 Fascism as a snake eating its own tail and the urgent task of limiting the damage

 

Links & References

Mentioned in this episode:

Jonathan Rauch, “Yes, It’s Fascism” — The Atlantic (January 2026)

To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right by Christopher Mathias (Atria Books, February 2026)

Christopher Mathias reporting archive

Follow Christopher Mathias: BlueSky | X

 

About Keen On America

Keen On America is a daily podcast hosted by Andrew Keen, the Anglo-American writer and Silicon Valley insider named by GQ magazine as one of the world’s “100 Most Connected Men.” Every day, Andrew brings his sharp Transatlantic wit to the forces reshaping the United States — interviewing leading thinkers and writers about American history, politics, technology, culture, and business. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show’s founding on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.

Website | Substack | YouTube

00:00 - Introduction

01:10 - Meet Christopher Mathias

01:45 - The Greenville moment

02:40 - Defining the F-word

04:15 - The hard question

05:55 - The worst of the worst

08:15 - Who decides?

10:45 - Antifascist Amnesty

12:30 - The equivalence trap

14:05 - From neo-Nazis to ICE

17:15 - Where does it end?

19:40 - “Just following orders”

21:30 - The battle over shame

23:15 - The spy who warned Charlottesville

26:00 - Minneapolis as model

28:45 - The underground war

30:30 - Closing

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Hello, my name is Andrew Keen.

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Welcome to Keen on America, the Daily Show
about everything that matters with the

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world's leading commentators and thinkers.

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Hello everybody.

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It is Wednesday, the 4th of February 20,
26, few days ago, and an old friend of

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the show, John Roush, had an influential
essay on the Atlantic in which he

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announced he used to be a fascism skeptic.

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And, uh, when it comes to the
Trump regime, at least he believes

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that yes, it is indeed fascism.

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So, uh, uh, Donald Trump is indeed.

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August Company of Adolf Hitler and Benito
Mussolini Elise, according to John.

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Uh, and I'm gonna try and get John back on
the show actually to talk more about it.

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Uh, yesterday an interesting new
book came out on the F word too.

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It's called to Catch a Fascist, uh,
the Fight to Expose the radical right.

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It's by my guest today, Christopher
Mathias uh, Chris, um, I'm

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assuming you're in the Roche camp,
although I'm guessing also that

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you were never much of a skeptic.

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Did you always believe
that Trump was a fascist?

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Yeah.

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You know, I think, um, I
think he certainly had those

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characteristics from the jump.

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Um, I think as a journalist, I
probably didn't use the term myself

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in a headline until 20, uh, 18, 20 19.

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Um, it was actually a very
specific, uh, scenario.

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I covered a Trump rally in Greenville,
North Carolina, where I saw.

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The president, uh, whip the crowd into a
frenzy, uh, over Ilhan Omar, and, uh, get

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the entire crowd to chant, send her back.

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Um, and, uh, I, I ended up writing an
article immediately afterwards called

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a Fascist Trump rally in Greenville.

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Uh, dur in which I, I kind of emailed
a bunch of different scholars of

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fascism to ask for their take.

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Um, and yeah, so I guess I've
been in the call using the f

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word camp for for a minute.

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So what, for you, I don't
want to turn this into a, a

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scholastic discussion of fascism.

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Sure.

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Everyone has different definitions, but
what for you distinguishes a fascist from.

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A conservative or just a reactionary?

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Yeah.

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You know, um.

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I guess it's, it's always a little
tricky 'cause um, the, the way I kind

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of define fascism in the book, and
it's kind of like my working definition

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obviously, um, but is kind of like a,
a right wing politics of domination

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that sit situates a particular subgroup
of people above a social hierarchy

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and then targets already marginalized
groups for expulsion and, and death.

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Um, all in this effort to kind of, you
know, quote, purify or cleanse a, a nation

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to restore it to some mythical, uh, past
of cultural and, and ethnic homogeneity.

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Um, and I think, you know.

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You could all, I think throughout, uh,
the history of conservatism in America,

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it's always, you know, danced around
the edges of explicit, uh, fascism.

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And, and I think, you know,
something I try to get at in the

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book is that, um, in a way, um.

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Fascism was in America before,
you know, we called it fascism.

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Um, Langston Hughes, uh, speaking at this
writer's conference in the 1930s famously

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said like, you don't need to tell, uh,
the black man in America about fascism.

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We've, we, we are familiar
with, uh, Nordic supremacy.

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Um, and its, and its, uh, trials.

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Um, so.

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I think when it comes to Trump and, and
more recently using the F word, um, I

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think he basically took kind of a lot
of maybe implicit or dog whistling,

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um, you know, racism, am bigotry and
just made it that much more explicit.

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Um, and I think just exhibited, um, a lot
of the characteristics that, um, I felt

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made him a fascist, and especially in the
second administration and like your, uh.

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Friend, friend of the show
wrote in the Atlantic.

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Um, I think the, the
evidence is just everywhere.

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Now.

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The original fascist, of course, Mussolini
made the term up fascism, uh, Hitler,

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they were at one point, at least in their
political careers, extremely popular.

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Mm-hmm.

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Uh, Trump seems to have
some degree of popularity.

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At least he won the last election.

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Uh, in your view, if
you believe that Trump.

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And his inner circle of fascists, does
that make people who voted for him or

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the majority of people who voted for
him, does that make them fascists too?

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You know, that's a, that's
an interesting question.

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I think, um, I would certainly
characterize MAGA at this point

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as a, as a fascist movement.

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Um, and I think, um, it is something
we should come to terms with.

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Um, you mean the like kind of explicit.

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Uh, racism not only in the last campaign,
but uh, of this current administration

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is just so blatant and over the top.

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Um, I, um, I, you know, whether or not.

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It's interesting the way we use the
word 'cause I don't think anyone in the

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Trump administration would necessarily
self-identify as a fascist, even

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though there was that hilarious moment

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with, uh, Zohran Mamdani in, uh,

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the White House when Trump said,
you know, call, call me a fascist.

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It's fine.

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Um, uh, but.

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You know, as for calling individual
Trump supporters, fascists.

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So I, I don't know.

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I mean, I think they're, I think
they're swept, they're mixed up

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in something fascist for sure.

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Um, you know, this is kind of a
distinction I make in the book, right?

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'cause the book is about anti-fascist
activists, um, who target, um.

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You know, what they see as fascist
groups, um, for, you know, confrontation,

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for, uh, espionage, for research,
for kind of unmasking members of,

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of fa of secretive fascist groups.

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Um, but you know, there.

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They're identifying these people, they're
unmasking these people and calling them

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fascists, calling them Nazis, but they're
not, you know, going to Trump rallies and

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I identifying Trump supporters as fascists
or, you know, doxing them, exposing them.

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Um, you know, they're kind of
targeting the worst of the worst.

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Um, so yeah, I don't know.

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I, I think it's an interest.

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Interesting question.

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I'm not sure if you given it,
it's an interesting question.

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I'm not sure if you fully answered it.

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Um,

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okay.

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What, what, what, what would, what
would be your, your take on that?

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Well, I mean, of the, I don't know,
however many million, 70, I don't

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know, 70, 80 million, a hundred million
peop Americans who voted for Trump.

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Mm-hmm.

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Of those who, who, I mean, what a number
of approximately 20, 30, 50% are fascists.

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I mean, it's an important

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question for better or worse.

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I mean, I, I, I know it's
a hard one to answer.

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Yeah.

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It's just, I, I mean, yeah, I don't know.

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It's, there's a lot to parse there, you
know, I mean, like, uh, in, um, during

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the civil rights era, um, or I mean, if
you go further back, I don't know, like

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during reconstruction in America, um.

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Like,

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could you arguably call?

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Um, I don't, I don't
know what I'm getting at.

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I just, I just think it's, it's,
it's a really hard thing to parse.

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Um, I think, uh, yes, I think
they're part of a fascist movement.

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I don't know, um, if I would
call them in particular.

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Each and every Trump
supporter are fascist.

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I mean, the reason I ask Chris
is because your book is about the

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fight to expose the radical, right?

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And in part, I guess it's a kind of an
exercise in, in doxing, uh, yeah, fascism.

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I mean, if there are 40 or 50 or 70 or
a hundred million in Americans who voted

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for Trump, should they all be exposed?

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Should there be some sort of,
sort of the, like the Vietnam.

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Uh, in Washington DC should there
be a big wall or should there

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eventually be a big wall somewhere
where these people are identified

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in terms of their support for Trump?

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Is that what you are arguing?

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And to catch a fascist, who's
to to determine who gets to

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be exposed and who doesn't?

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That's my question.

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Sure.

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Yeah.

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That's not what the book
is arguing whatsoever.

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Um, that is, this is, have
you read the book, Andrew?

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Yes.

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I've looked at it.

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You've looked at it.

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Sure.

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Okay.

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So the book is, um, you know.

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Basically about anti-fascist group, this
kind of de antifa, you know, commonly

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the way we commonly call it, uh, the
kind of this decentralized underground

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network of anarchists and, and socialists
who, um, you know, don't trust.

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The state or law enforcement to combat,
um, fascists in their communities.

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Um, so they do the work themselves and
the large part of the work they're doing

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is exposing, you know, very explicit
neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

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These are members of groups like Identity
Europa and Patriot Front, and a lot of

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the Nazis that marched in Charlottesville.

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Um, and they are doing the work to uncover
the identities of, of these people,

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um, and, you know, often revealing them
to be, um, men in positions of power.

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Um, and the idea of that is to kind
of hold these people accountable is to

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say if you, for example, are, you know,
one of the stories, uh, is about a, uh,

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Nazi EMT who runs a, one of the most.

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Popular neo-Nazi podcast in the country
called The Daily Showa, the Showa, of

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course, being a, a word for the Holocaust.

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Um, and he is working as a
paramedic as an EMT in Virginia.

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Uh, on that podcast, he makes
explicit references and stories to

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treating black patients differently.

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Anti-fascists expose this and
becomes a, a story, and he.

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Gets fired.

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Um, there's another story, for
example, of a neo-Nazi, a member of

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a group called Identity Aropa, which
is very explicit about wanting to

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expel non-white people from America.

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Um, and.

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He, uh, is in Charlottesville.

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He's the security guard for Richard
Spencer, who's kind of the, um,

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you know, poster boy of the, of
the so-called alt-right in 2017.

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Um, and then he goes back to Massachusetts
afterwards that, um, and he goes

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back to his job as a police officer,
anti-fascist, figure out who he is.

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Uh, they publish a, a docs or
a story if you, if you will.

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Um, and he, you know, basically
resigns before he is fired.

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So.

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From this perspective, this type of
anti-fascist work is a form of community

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self-defense and accountability.

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And it's a way of kind of creating
a social cost for being, you

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00:11:44,070 --> 00:11:46,110
know, part of a, a fascist group.

190
00:11:46,110 --> 00:11:49,260
It's, it's kind of a way of saying
like, yeah, you can join those

191
00:11:49,260 --> 00:11:53,040
groups if you want to, but, um, you
know, you don't get to wear a mask.

192
00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,860
We're gonna figure out who you are
and, and hold you accountable for it.

193
00:11:57,450 --> 00:11:57,780
The book, um.

194
00:11:59,370 --> 00:12:04,830
As you say is sympathetic to that
aspect of the, the Antifa movement.

195
00:12:05,340 --> 00:12:09,660
Um, and you, you know, in an interesting
piece in the, in the nation that not,

196
00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:14,370
not all liberals are, are comfortable
with that work of exposing people.

197
00:12:15,030 --> 00:12:19,650
What rights then do these
individuals have when it comes to

198
00:12:19,650 --> 00:12:22,320
privacy, when should and shouldn't?

199
00:12:23,005 --> 00:12:26,515
Antifa have the right
to expose these people.

200
00:12:26,755 --> 00:12:29,455
Uh, you talked about, we've
done shows on Charlottesville.

201
00:12:29,455 --> 00:12:32,785
Should everyone who showed up for
that rally in Charlottesville,

202
00:12:32,785 --> 00:12:34,015
should they be exposed?

203
00:12:34,375 --> 00:12:35,575
Should they lose their jobs?

204
00:12:35,575 --> 00:12:36,925
Should they be humiliated?

205
00:12:38,125 --> 00:12:39,745
Um, yeah, it's an interesting question.

206
00:12:39,745 --> 00:12:41,275
I think, um, you know, one of the.

207
00:12:41,835 --> 00:12:46,215
Groups I profile in the book,
um, is is a group of anti-fascist

208
00:12:46,215 --> 00:12:48,195
researchers called Ignite The Right.

209
00:12:48,795 --> 00:12:53,055
Um, ignite the Right is dedicated
to doing exactly what you just

210
00:12:53,055 --> 00:12:57,165
said is to identifying and exposing
everyone that was in Charlottesville.

211
00:12:57,255 --> 00:12:59,715
Um, and you know, I
was in Charlottesville.

212
00:12:59,715 --> 00:13:00,915
I covered it as a reporter.

213
00:13:01,305 --> 00:13:02,445
Um, and.

214
00:13:02,985 --> 00:13:10,275
You know, I do not see, um, a way in
which you attended that rally without,

215
00:13:10,815 --> 00:13:15,375
um, or participated in that rally
without being an explicit neo-Nazi.

216
00:13:15,765 --> 00:13:19,005
Um, it was one of the most horrible
things I've ever witnessed or experienced.

217
00:13:19,065 --> 00:13:23,595
Um, you know, I interviewed
people, uh, after the car attack.

218
00:13:23,925 --> 00:13:26,205
I witnessed the beating of Deandre Harris.

219
00:13:26,625 --> 00:13:31,275
Um, and yes, I think if
you attended that as, um.

220
00:13:32,010 --> 00:13:34,470
A member of, like a participant
in Unite the Right Rally.

221
00:13:34,470 --> 00:13:34,680
Yeah.

222
00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:36,780
You, you probably deserve
some accountability.

223
00:13:37,140 --> 00:13:42,180
Does that mean that there isn't
a, a like room or path for

224
00:13:42,270 --> 00:13:43,710
forgiveness or understanding?

225
00:13:43,740 --> 00:13:44,400
No, of course not.

226
00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:45,930
There, there's definitely
an avenue for that.

227
00:13:46,410 --> 00:13:50,190
Um, I think one of the things I,
you know, talk about in the book,

228
00:13:50,610 --> 00:13:55,200
um, is you know, this kind of, uh.

229
00:13:55,905 --> 00:13:59,625
Anti-fascists will often, you know,
kind of do this thing called amnesty

230
00:13:59,625 --> 00:14:03,375
where, you know, they, if, if you're
a Nazi and you're participating in

231
00:14:03,375 --> 00:14:06,555
something, but you've left the movement
behind you, but you, you know, you might

232
00:14:06,555 --> 00:14:10,905
be exposed, you'll often go to these
anti-fascists and be like, listen, I left

233
00:14:10,905 --> 00:14:12,435
these movement, this movement behind me.

234
00:14:12,435 --> 00:14:15,675
And, and anti-fascists will be like,
okay, yeah, well we won't do anything.

235
00:14:15,675 --> 00:14:18,105
You know, like, you know,
we, we'll be honest though.

236
00:14:18,105 --> 00:14:19,995
Like if we see you mixed
up in this again, we might.

237
00:14:20,415 --> 00:14:21,285
You know, post something.

238
00:14:21,824 --> 00:14:25,964
Um, so it's, I think it's just a
method of, of, um, accountability.

239
00:14:28,185 --> 00:14:31,035
What about the accountability
though of, of Antifa?

240
00:14:31,035 --> 00:14:34,515
I mean, who, who is to determine
who's on these boards and who is

241
00:14:34,515 --> 00:14:38,034
exposing who it sounds to me, or
to some liberals at least, it might

242
00:14:38,504 --> 00:14:41,354
sound as if, as a degree of moral.

243
00:14:41,685 --> 00:14:46,574
Equivalency here of one group of radicals
exposing another group for being evil.

244
00:14:46,665 --> 00:14:53,564
I, I'm guessing that right wing radicals
would probably have panels or groups

245
00:14:53,564 --> 00:14:55,304
or committers doing the same thing.

246
00:14:56,804 --> 00:14:57,704
Yeah, no, totally.

247
00:14:57,704 --> 00:15:02,804
And, and um, you know, I think a lot
of people will make that equivalency.

248
00:15:02,834 --> 00:15:04,849
Um, uh, you know.

249
00:15:06,389 --> 00:15:10,319
There is no board or leadership
or headquarters for Antifa de

250
00:15:10,410 --> 00:15:13,530
despite what, um, the Trump
administration, you know, might say.

251
00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:18,389
Um, it is typically, you know,
decisions are arrived at locally and,

252
00:15:18,389 --> 00:15:20,879
and democratically and tediously.

253
00:15:21,300 --> 00:15:21,660
Um.

254
00:15:22,734 --> 00:15:26,244
And, you know, that's not to say
they get it right every time.

255
00:15:26,274 --> 00:15:34,224
Um, uh, I do think that there is a
big, I, you know, I, I will personally

256
00:15:34,224 --> 00:15:38,305
argue that there's not an equivalency
between kind of right wing doxing and

257
00:15:38,365 --> 00:15:40,194
the, the doxing I describe in the book.

258
00:15:40,284 --> 00:15:45,385
Um, you know, I think, um, you know.

259
00:15:45,810 --> 00:15:50,010
I am in support of unmasking and
identifying, uh, fascists in, in

260
00:15:50,010 --> 00:15:54,300
my community and, um, would rather
it not go the other way around.

261
00:15:55,290 --> 00:16:00,510
You wrote an interesting piece, uh,
last week in The Guardian about Antifa

262
00:16:01,260 --> 00:16:08,129
unmasking, uh, not just neo-Nazis,
but now members of, uh, ice, uh,

263
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:13,589
the group of course, who very much
in the news, in involved in there.

264
00:16:14,474 --> 00:16:18,464
Uh, in their violence on
the streets of Minneapolis.

265
00:16:18,915 --> 00:16:25,574
Um, sh lots of debate about whether or not
ICE agents or people who are working for

266
00:16:25,574 --> 00:16:28,425
ICE should have the right to anonymity.

267
00:16:28,814 --> 00:16:33,584
What do you argue, uh, Chris in
the book on catching a fascist

268
00:16:33,944 --> 00:16:37,869
in terms of ice in your view is
everyone who works for ICE a fascist.

269
00:16:39,974 --> 00:16:43,724
You see, this is a, this is a kind
of a, a distinction in terms that I

270
00:16:43,724 --> 00:16:48,345
think I don't, you know, get caught up
in, like, I'm not identify, like I, I

271
00:16:48,345 --> 00:16:53,444
think it's worthy, uh, completely to
identify the people in ICE right now.

272
00:16:53,444 --> 00:16:56,355
I think what ICE is doing right
now is reprehensible, and I think

273
00:16:56,355 --> 00:17:01,230
it's, um, part of a. Pretty explicit
project of ethnic cleansing.

274
00:17:01,530 --> 00:17:05,520
And I think it, you know, in, in my
personal opinion, I think it meets every

275
00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,190
def definition of a fascist project.

276
00:17:08,610 --> 00:17:09,089
Um.

277
00:17:09,464 --> 00:17:17,355
Now does, um, each individual,
am I, you know, does each ice

278
00:17:17,355 --> 00:17:19,515
agent, are they a fascist?

279
00:17:19,964 --> 00:17:22,994
Um, you know, I don't know that
they think of it consciously in

280
00:17:22,994 --> 00:17:26,504
that way or self-identify that way,
but what I would say is that they

281
00:17:26,504 --> 00:17:28,395
are involved in a fascist project.

282
00:17:28,815 --> 00:17:33,975
Um, and I also think that they are,
you know, kind of publicly funded.

283
00:17:34,575 --> 00:17:34,905
Um.

284
00:17:36,245 --> 00:17:40,564
Uh, you know, employees of, of
the state, they're like kind

285
00:17:40,564 --> 00:17:41,705
of public officials in a way.

286
00:17:42,215 --> 00:17:45,274
Um, and that typically, you know,
police aren't masked and they

287
00:17:45,274 --> 00:17:46,715
have to identify themselves.

288
00:17:47,165 --> 00:17:52,534
Um, and so I think it's a very kind
of scary escalation that the people

289
00:17:52,534 --> 00:17:55,024
doing this, um, are wearing masks.

290
00:17:55,024 --> 00:17:57,905
And I think, I think the reason,
you know, uh, thank you for

291
00:17:57,905 --> 00:17:59,014
bringing up the Guardian article.

292
00:17:59,014 --> 00:18:00,455
You know, I think, um.

293
00:18:01,365 --> 00:18:05,685
Someone I interview in that
says that the um reason.

294
00:18:06,690 --> 00:18:11,790
Um, that ice wear wears masks
is 'cause they know what they're

295
00:18:11,790 --> 00:18:16,680
doing is, is unpopular or, you
know, that it, um, might be wrong.

296
00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,220
Um, and I, and I think there's
some, some truth to that.

297
00:18:20,700 --> 00:18:26,640
Um, and you know, I also just say I
think it's really interesting, and

298
00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,790
this is something I try to, uh, bring
up in the book, is that, you know,

299
00:18:29,850 --> 00:18:33,210
throughout the history of American.

300
00:18:33,705 --> 00:18:37,635
White supremacy, um, and
specifically masked white supremacy.

301
00:18:38,145 --> 00:18:43,005
Um, you know, you wear a mask in
hopes of creating a world in which

302
00:18:43,005 --> 00:18:44,130
you won't need a mask at all.

303
00:18:44,804 --> 00:18:49,695
Um, the, the first Klan wears a mask to
kind of terrorize black people in the

304
00:18:49,695 --> 00:18:54,855
south and to overthrow reconstruction
to destroy the gains that, uh, recently

305
00:18:54,855 --> 00:18:56,985
freed black people have, have gained.

306
00:18:57,495 --> 00:19:02,774
When, when reconstruction is abandoned,
um, you know, the Klan is isn't really

307
00:19:02,774 --> 00:19:04,185
needed anymore and it kind of disbands.

308
00:19:04,185 --> 00:19:05,475
That's part of the reason it disbands.

309
00:19:06,014 --> 00:19:07,524
Um, they kind of, you know.

310
00:19:08,175 --> 00:19:11,325
Trade the anonymity of the hood
for the anonymity of the lynch mob.

311
00:19:11,835 --> 00:19:19,635
Um, and I think it's, uh, important and to
consider the world, a world in which ICE

312
00:19:19,635 --> 00:19:26,445
agents, um, are comfortable carrying out
what they're doing, uh, without a mask.

313
00:19:27,045 --> 00:19:30,850
Um, and um, yeah, I think.

314
00:19:31,590 --> 00:19:37,350
That's the reason as the, um, the Guardian
article you brought up, uh, you know,

315
00:19:37,350 --> 00:19:41,610
mentions is that anti-fascists have,
uh, you know, kind of changed their

316
00:19:41,610 --> 00:19:46,200
targets and are identifying ice agents
in Minneapolis and, and elsewhere.

317
00:19:47,790 --> 00:19:54,570
The article also, uh, quotes, uh, people
who argue that you need to identify all.

318
00:19:55,469 --> 00:20:02,879
Ice and, and DHS officers, that's the
homeland security, uh, department.

319
00:20:03,510 --> 00:20:05,610
Those are many thousands of people.

320
00:20:05,610 --> 00:20:06,959
Chris isn't, aren't there?

321
00:20:06,959 --> 00:20:09,479
I mean, how, how is, firstly,
how's that gonna work?

322
00:20:09,479 --> 00:20:10,260
And secondly,

323
00:20:11,820 --> 00:20:13,709
it's, it's, it's, it's, it's targeting.

324
00:20:13,709 --> 00:20:14,334
I, I think.

325
00:20:15,195 --> 00:20:16,185
I think you might be misreading.

326
00:20:16,185 --> 00:20:19,995
I think it's targeting border patrol
agents active in the missions in

327
00:20:19,995 --> 00:20:23,205
Minneapolis on the streets to kind
of abduct people off the street.

328
00:20:23,625 --> 00:20:25,455
There are many thousands of those.

329
00:20:25,665 --> 00:20:28,575
Uh, I mean they're not just on the street,
they're on the streets of Los Angeles.

330
00:20:28,575 --> 00:20:30,315
They're on the border,
there are in Minneapolis.

331
00:20:30,315 --> 00:20:31,515
Who knows where else they are.

332
00:20:31,875 --> 00:20:32,295
There are,

333
00:20:32,295 --> 00:20:32,475
mm-hmm.

334
00:20:33,375 --> 00:20:35,445
Many thousands of these agents.

335
00:20:35,445 --> 00:20:37,785
Are you suggesting in the book that.

336
00:20:38,745 --> 00:20:43,785
Uh, leaving aside the F word that
they should all be somehow exposed,

337
00:20:43,785 --> 00:20:47,355
that everyone should know what
they're doing and shamed, essentially.

338
00:20:48,885 --> 00:20:53,745
Um, so the, the book was written before
the current kind of escalation of, of ice.

339
00:20:54,075 --> 00:20:55,545
Um, so I don't make an
argument about that,

340
00:20:55,695 --> 00:20:59,895
although I'm guessing that this
doesn't necessarily surprise you what's

341
00:20:59,895 --> 00:21:01,665
happened on the streets of Minneapolis.

342
00:21:02,295 --> 00:21:03,135
No, not at all.

343
00:21:03,135 --> 00:21:07,035
I mean, I think it is,
um, exactly what, um.

344
00:21:07,949 --> 00:21:10,709
MAGA and, and Trump have promised to do.

345
00:21:10,709 --> 00:21:16,050
I mean, if you're going to promise
to Massport, uh, millions and

346
00:21:16,050 --> 00:21:19,110
millions and millions of people, of
our neighbors and friends and and

347
00:21:19,110 --> 00:21:23,280
loved ones, it's gonna look like this
and it's gonna be, um, a spectacle.

348
00:21:23,429 --> 00:21:25,560
Um, you know, I think, uh.

349
00:21:26,420 --> 00:21:30,290
Steven Miller, who I think a lot
of reporting suggests this is kind

350
00:21:30,290 --> 00:21:32,090
of his brainchild and, and project.

351
00:21:32,270 --> 00:21:32,360
Mm-hmm.

352
00:21:32,660 --> 00:21:38,810
Um, you know, he is, um, steeped
in, in a kind of explicit

353
00:21:38,810 --> 00:21:40,790
white supremacist literature.

354
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:46,760
Um, and, you know, he was, his emails
were leaked, um, to the Southern

355
00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:50,690
Property Law Center years back, and
they showed him just kind of swimming

356
00:21:50,690 --> 00:21:54,800
in these, uh, you know, waters
online of, um, you know, kind of.

357
00:21:55,290 --> 00:22:00,660
Explicit great replacement talk of,
of the, the term Remi, which is really

358
00:22:00,660 --> 00:22:02,190
just a euphemism for ethnic cleansing.

359
00:22:02,670 --> 00:22:06,510
Um, and you know, of ado of, you
know, kind of promoting books like

360
00:22:06,510 --> 00:22:10,050
Camp of Saints, which of course is
like, you know, this really kind

361
00:22:10,050 --> 00:22:12,600
of racist, dystopian, uh, novel.

362
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:13,710
Um, so.

363
00:22:15,435 --> 00:22:16,935
Um, no.

364
00:22:16,935 --> 00:22:18,945
I mean, sadly I think like there's, um,

365
00:22:19,365 --> 00:22:21,345
no, and I take your point on, on Miller.

366
00:22:21,345 --> 00:22:24,975
I mean, I wouldn't argue with you
on Miller, although everybody knows

367
00:22:24,975 --> 00:22:27,045
who he is, he doesn't wear a mask.

368
00:22:27,525 --> 00:22:27,825
Right.

369
00:22:27,825 --> 00:22:31,545
My question was about the tens of
thousands of, of ice agents who

370
00:22:31,545 --> 00:22:34,245
presumably, some of them at least,
are looking for work and their.

371
00:22:35,345 --> 00:22:39,335
Doing that, they're working for the
state in, in the way in which many

372
00:22:39,335 --> 00:22:40,925
Americans have done historically.

373
00:22:40,985 --> 00:22:45,575
Would you distinguish, I mean, is everyone
who works for ice, should they all be

374
00:22:45,575 --> 00:22:50,435
exposed or is there only ice agents on
the streets or those who are violent?

375
00:22:50,435 --> 00:22:51,395
How are we gonna know?

376
00:22:52,925 --> 00:22:54,690
Well, I mean, that's
what, what's happening.

377
00:22:54,890 --> 00:22:59,045
The, the current kind of grassroots
effort to identify ice, you know,

378
00:22:59,075 --> 00:23:00,995
they're not identifying like.

379
00:23:01,665 --> 00:23:06,015
Administrative people or, you know, I
think there's actually, um, there's a site

380
00:23:06,015 --> 00:23:10,305
called isis, which isn't like an Antifa
project per se, but they, they make this

381
00:23:10,305 --> 00:23:13,185
distinction, I think, and I think this is
what you're getting at, which is that like

382
00:23:13,395 --> 00:23:15,465
they're not going to identify the people.

383
00:23:15,885 --> 00:23:20,505
Working the daycare at, you know, DHS,
uh, taking care of government, employees,

384
00:23:20,505 --> 00:23:24,525
kids, um, like they're, and they're
not gonna, you know, docs or unmask

385
00:23:24,645 --> 00:23:29,745
the everyday employees necessarily of
DHSI think they are so far, at least

386
00:23:29,745 --> 00:23:33,015
what they've done and, and what I've
detailed in the article is that they are.

387
00:23:33,889 --> 00:23:38,300
Identifying people that have
taken place in, or taken part in a

388
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:44,300
particularly bad or, or brutal bits
of, uh, violence or kind of especially,

389
00:23:44,300 --> 00:23:47,780
um, egregious, uh, you know, um.

390
00:23:48,510 --> 00:23:50,850
Abductions or deportations, whatever,
whatever you wanna call them.

391
00:23:50,850 --> 00:23:55,050
I think, you know, one of the officers
that's identified in, in my article

392
00:23:55,050 --> 00:23:58,710
is someone who pepper sprayed a
protestor at point blank range.

393
00:23:59,070 --> 00:24:04,500
Um, one of the, some of the other
people that they've identified were the

394
00:24:04,500 --> 00:24:10,470
agents seen, uh, bringing an elderly
man, uh, out of his house, shirtless

395
00:24:10,470 --> 00:24:13,920
and like zero degree temperature as
his grandchild with out the window.

396
00:24:14,430 --> 00:24:15,855
Um, you know, I think they are.

397
00:24:16,455 --> 00:24:18,254
Targeting, uh, those people.

398
00:24:18,345 --> 00:24:24,014
Um, you know, I don't really see
them nor, nor would they necessarily

399
00:24:24,014 --> 00:24:27,465
have the resources at this
point to identify, you know, the

400
00:24:27,465 --> 00:24:29,715
thousands of employees of of DHS.

401
00:24:30,014 --> 00:24:36,225
I think they are creating accountability
for, you know, the people committing

402
00:24:37,125 --> 00:24:38,745
kind of the most egregious acts.

403
00:24:40,695 --> 00:24:44,879
And, and how would you
respond to, uh, an ice agent?

404
00:24:44,879 --> 00:24:46,860
I don't suppose one would
appear on this show.

405
00:24:46,860 --> 00:24:48,960
Probably not show their
face certainly, but mm-hmm.

406
00:24:49,409 --> 00:24:54,510
Who would simply say, well, we're
just doing our job and we we're trying

407
00:24:54,510 --> 00:25:00,030
to, uh, uh, obey the rules of the
state when it comes to immigration.

408
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:00,990
Sure.

409
00:25:01,470 --> 00:25:01,980
Um.

410
00:25:03,014 --> 00:25:06,044
Yeah, I mean that it, it sounds
almost trite to say, but you know,

411
00:25:06,105 --> 00:25:08,594
we're just doing our job sounds a
lot like we're just following orders.

412
00:25:09,135 --> 00:25:15,824
Um, you know, which of course, um,
you know, I think in moments like

413
00:25:15,824 --> 00:25:19,935
this, it's, it's important to say
that, you know, there are some

414
00:25:19,935 --> 00:25:21,405
orders that shouldn't be followed.

415
00:25:21,435 --> 00:25:26,925
Um, and what is happening, you know,
particular, particularly in Minneapolis,

416
00:25:27,405 --> 00:25:31,695
um, you know, from all accounts of,
from the people living there is.

417
00:25:32,385 --> 00:25:34,155
A straight up occupation.

418
00:25:34,635 --> 00:25:43,725
Um, I think there's been reports, um,
uh, I think maybe in EO or elsewhere, uh,

419
00:25:43,755 --> 00:25:49,635
kind of detailing, um, that morale is not
necessarily high within ICE at the moment.

420
00:25:50,265 --> 00:25:56,055
Um, and I think they see that this huge
community uprising in response, um.

421
00:25:56,625 --> 00:26:01,065
You know, they, they know how unpopular
they are and that they might have to

422
00:26:01,065 --> 00:26:04,485
live with the shame of what they're a
part of for a while, um, you know, we're,

423
00:26:04,485 --> 00:26:12,045
we're seeing the popularity of, of ice
and this project of these deportations

424
00:26:12,045 --> 00:26:13,545
just kind of plummeted in the polls.

425
00:26:13,965 --> 00:26:17,325
And a, a phrase like abolish ice, which,
you know, year, a few years ago, I

426
00:26:17,325 --> 00:26:19,125
think was, felt like pretty radical.

427
00:26:19,545 --> 00:26:25,020
Um, is reaching an all time record high,
um, even 20% of Republicans support.

428
00:26:25,965 --> 00:26:29,865
Um, abolishing ICE at this point,
or support that phrase, I believe.

429
00:26:30,375 --> 00:26:33,315
Um, so, um,

430
00:26:35,355 --> 00:26:36,195
yeah, I'm, I'm sorry.

431
00:26:36,195 --> 00:26:38,835
I, I, I forgot your
initial question, but, um,

432
00:26:38,835 --> 00:26:40,455
no, I, I think you answered it.

433
00:26:40,514 --> 00:26:40,965
Um,

434
00:26:41,025 --> 00:26:41,264
yeah.

435
00:26:42,105 --> 00:26:48,014
So for you or perhaps for the anti
Antifa group, and, and maybe this is,

436
00:26:48,105 --> 00:26:52,935
this is a compelling argument, shame
is, is, is a powerful political tool.

437
00:26:53,565 --> 00:26:53,925
Yeah.

438
00:26:54,705 --> 00:26:55,005
Yeah.

439
00:26:55,005 --> 00:26:56,655
No, I, I think, I think that's really it.

440
00:26:56,655 --> 00:27:00,165
And, um, I'm, I'm glad you put it
that way 'cause I've been thinking

441
00:27:00,405 --> 00:27:03,705
a lot about it this week because
Tom Homan, of course, the, um,

442
00:27:04,185 --> 00:27:05,595
the, the head of ice at the moment.

443
00:27:05,865 --> 00:27:06,045
Yeah.

444
00:27:06,105 --> 00:27:10,665
Um, he, uh, recently came out with
a statement where he, he tried

445
00:27:10,665 --> 00:27:12,165
to kind of flip my book on, its.

446
00:27:12,615 --> 00:27:13,935
Uh, on its side, right?

447
00:27:13,935 --> 00:27:17,865
He said like, you know, we are, we're
filming the people that are standing

448
00:27:17,865 --> 00:27:21,435
up against ICE and we're gonna create
a database and they're gonna be shamed

449
00:27:21,435 --> 00:27:22,695
and they're gonna lose their jobs.

450
00:27:23,055 --> 00:27:26,805
So like, there is like, you know, in
a way, I think, and I'm so glad you

451
00:27:26,805 --> 00:27:28,065
phrased the question that way, Andrew.

452
00:27:28,125 --> 00:27:33,555
Um, there is like, kind of this battle
over, um, shame and, and, and what

453
00:27:33,555 --> 00:27:34,785
we're supposed to be ashamed of.

454
00:27:35,265 --> 00:27:37,155
Um, and I think, um.

455
00:27:38,115 --> 00:27:40,514
It's just a, it's a push
and, and, and a pull.

456
00:27:40,514 --> 00:27:43,215
It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a real fight.

457
00:27:44,054 --> 00:27:48,014
So what becomes, as I said, you've been
quite critical, I think of conventional

458
00:27:48,014 --> 00:27:49,754
liberals when it comes to this stuff.

459
00:27:49,784 --> 00:27:54,554
What becomes of our right to
privacy is that only people who

460
00:27:56,054 --> 00:27:59,355
are moderates who have a right
to privacy or people on the left.

461
00:28:01,274 --> 00:28:04,754
You know, I think the,
the argument for, um.

462
00:28:06,854 --> 00:28:09,675
Unmasking, kind of straight up.

463
00:28:09,675 --> 00:28:14,324
Fascist is just a form of
community self-defense.

464
00:28:14,324 --> 00:28:19,155
It's to know that the people,
there are people in your community

465
00:28:19,155 --> 00:28:23,445
that are explicitly calling for
violence online, that are, that

466
00:28:23,445 --> 00:28:26,445
are liable, uh, to commit violence.

467
00:28:26,804 --> 00:28:30,915
Um, you know, one of the
stories I tell in the book, um.

468
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:35,550
And I will, you know, admit, like
this is not like a, from the kind of

469
00:28:35,550 --> 00:28:41,190
militant, anti-fascist perspective,
um, you know, they have a, uh, a

470
00:28:41,190 --> 00:28:45,780
different approach to concepts of,
of freedom of speech than, than your

471
00:28:45,930 --> 00:28:48,000
kind of more moderate liberal, um.

472
00:28:48,915 --> 00:28:52,455
You know, one of the stories I tell
in the book is that an anti-fascist

473
00:28:52,455 --> 00:28:57,765
spy goes into, um, the planning server
for the Unite the Right Rally in

474
00:28:57,765 --> 00:29:03,075
Charlottesville, where all these Nazi
groups are planning, um, the event and

475
00:29:03,825 --> 00:29:10,665
this spy collects reams of data, of memes
and messages, just kind of evidence of

476
00:29:10,965 --> 00:29:13,095
these Nazis murderous intent for that day.

477
00:29:13,635 --> 00:29:13,965
Um.

478
00:29:14,685 --> 00:29:19,155
He gives them to local anti-fascists
in Charlottesville, who then give

479
00:29:19,155 --> 00:29:24,794
them to the local city government,
uh, pleading with, um, you know, the

480
00:29:24,794 --> 00:29:29,835
mayor, the, the council to revoke these
Nazis permit, uh, for their rally.

481
00:29:30,315 --> 00:29:32,895
Um, you know, the officials
decide not to do that.

482
00:29:32,985 --> 00:29:38,085
Um, uh, and of course, you know, what
happens in Charlottesville happens,

483
00:29:38,565 --> 00:29:43,455
um, and I think from like the militant,
anti-fascist perspective, like.

484
00:29:44,745 --> 00:29:49,365
You know, these fascists always
pose an inherent threat when

485
00:29:49,365 --> 00:29:50,415
they're allowed to organize.

486
00:29:50,865 --> 00:29:58,095
Um, and, um, it's a fight to,
um, you know, to stop their

487
00:29:58,095 --> 00:29:59,085
violence from happening.

488
00:29:59,445 --> 00:30:04,395
And, and part of that work is unmasking
them and, uh, knowing who they are,

489
00:30:04,755 --> 00:30:07,095
um, you know, in the pre-internet era.

490
00:30:07,500 --> 00:30:11,040
This anti-fascist work in America
in the eighties and nineties, often

491
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:16,200
involved activists like digging through
the dumpsters of like neo-Nazis houses

492
00:30:16,530 --> 00:30:20,070
and fi, and finding discarded mail
and finding their real names and then

493
00:30:20,070 --> 00:30:23,820
posting, you know, meet your local
Nazi posters on telephone poles.

494
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:29,520
Um, so, but back to your
original question, like who

495
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,670
is deserving of privacy?

496
00:30:32,730 --> 00:30:35,970
Um, you know, I think we are.

497
00:30:36,419 --> 00:30:37,649
All deserving of privacy.

498
00:30:37,649 --> 00:30:45,120
But I think if you are actively, you
know, agitating as part of a movement

499
00:30:45,510 --> 00:30:51,750
to expel a good portion of this country
for not being white, um, then it's a

500
00:30:51,750 --> 00:30:56,250
matter of kind of actual community self
defense to know who those people are.

501
00:30:58,409 --> 00:31:00,330
I love the title of the book.

502
00:31:00,330 --> 00:31:00,870
Um.

503
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:06,540
Uh, yeah, it reminds me, of course,
uh, your book is called, uh, to Catch

504
00:31:06,540 --> 00:31:14,340
a Fascist, uh, Hitchcock's 1952,
uh, or 1955 movie to Catch a Thief

505
00:31:14,340 --> 00:31:15,960
with Carrie Grant and Grace Kelly.

506
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:16,860
Very different,

507
00:31:16,860 --> 00:31:18,480
which, which I, which I
still haven't watched.

508
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:19,050
I I should

509
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:20,399
Oh, you haven't watched it yet.

510
00:31:21,930 --> 00:31:23,790
It's, it's, it's very different.

511
00:31:23,790 --> 00:31:24,389
Are you?

512
00:31:24,690 --> 00:31:27,780
And it, and of course it's a
fun movie and a romantic movie.

513
00:31:27,780 --> 00:31:29,730
Are you optimistic now given?

514
00:31:30,165 --> 00:31:32,325
What happened on the
streets of Minneapolis?

515
00:31:32,325 --> 00:31:34,485
Do you feel that the worst is over, Chris?

516
00:31:36,585 --> 00:31:38,145
Yeah, you know, I, I really don't know.

517
00:31:38,145 --> 00:31:43,215
I think, um, we've had so many moments
like this where, um, you know, 'cause

518
00:31:43,215 --> 00:31:46,635
we did in a sense see Trump like retreat
a little bit in Minneapolis, right?

519
00:31:46,635 --> 00:31:51,075
Like he dispatched with Bovino,
you know, kind of the guy in charge

520
00:31:51,075 --> 00:31:53,115
that who really dressed like a Nazi.

521
00:31:53,595 --> 00:31:55,815
Um, but, um.

522
00:31:57,254 --> 00:32:01,545
Uh, you know, we also know that abductions
and these kind of deportations are

523
00:32:01,545 --> 00:32:06,705
taking place all over right now, still
in places like Los Angeles and even

524
00:32:06,705 --> 00:32:10,815
in New York, um, where I am and, um.

525
00:32:12,764 --> 00:32:16,455
All I can say is that, um,
what we saw in Minneapolis, I

526
00:32:16,455 --> 00:32:18,074
personally found very heartening.

527
00:32:18,584 --> 00:32:24,314
Um, it was like an organic grassroots
response, uh, by the people there to say

528
00:32:24,314 --> 00:32:26,205
that, you know, this is not acceptable.

529
00:32:26,534 --> 00:32:32,475
Um, and it reminded me a lot
of the kind of grassroots.

530
00:32:33,465 --> 00:32:37,814
Militant anti-fascist response to the
wave of fascist groups and Nazi groups

531
00:32:37,814 --> 00:32:42,314
that marched on the streets of America in
2017 and 2018, where you are confronting

532
00:32:42,314 --> 00:32:45,675
these people in the streets, you're
following them, you're monitoring them,

533
00:32:45,675 --> 00:32:50,804
you're identifying them, you're pressuring
venues and hotels, not to host them.

534
00:32:51,254 --> 00:32:53,500
Um, you know, it's just
creating a social cost.

535
00:32:53,594 --> 00:32:55,455
And we, we've seen that.

536
00:32:55,810 --> 00:32:57,550
All over Minneapolis.

537
00:32:57,879 --> 00:33:02,980
And I think it's working and I think
it's providing a, a model of, uh,

538
00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,280
resistance, um, for across the country.

539
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:10,240
So in, in that way, yes,
I, um, feel optimistic.

540
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:14,650
I think, you know, one of
the, uh, mantras, uh, that.

541
00:33:15,975 --> 00:33:18,795
A couple mantras or axioms that
you hear in anti-fascist circles

542
00:33:18,795 --> 00:33:21,435
are, uh, we protect, we protect us.

543
00:33:21,825 --> 00:33:25,755
Um, and I think Minneapolis showed
that, you know, they weren't

544
00:33:25,755 --> 00:33:26,955
relying on the law enforcement.

545
00:33:26,955 --> 00:33:30,465
They weren't relying on the Democratic
party or their local government to

546
00:33:30,495 --> 00:33:34,545
defend, uh, themselves against ice and
defend their neighbors against ice.

547
00:33:34,545 --> 00:33:38,265
They, they realized that it was up to
them to defend their, their neighbors.

548
00:33:38,655 --> 00:33:41,745
Um, you know, and then the other
expression you hear a lot, um.

549
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:45,639
Maybe, you know, I just have Woody
Gut three on the Mind, but is, uh, you

550
00:33:45,639 --> 00:33:47,290
know, all you fascist bound to lose.

551
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:56,139
Um, and I do think, um, you
know, that fascism is ultimately

552
00:33:56,139 --> 00:33:57,790
a self-destructive ideology.

553
00:33:57,790 --> 00:34:02,409
'cause it constantly needs to manufacture
new targets and new subgroups to,

554
00:34:02,470 --> 00:34:04,090
to scapegoat and, and eliminate.

555
00:34:04,540 --> 00:34:07,300
Um, and until eventually, you
know, there's no one left, it's

556
00:34:07,300 --> 00:34:08,590
kind of like eating its own.

557
00:34:09,429 --> 00:34:10,150
I, I do this.

558
00:34:11,969 --> 00:34:14,879
Fascist moment that this fascist
movement is bound to lose.

559
00:34:15,210 --> 00:34:19,889
It's just kind of what's important right
now is to stop this movement from doing

560
00:34:19,889 --> 00:34:21,455
as much destruction as as possible.

561
00:34:23,295 --> 00:34:24,824
So you seem to be saying two things.

562
00:34:24,824 --> 00:34:28,065
On the one hand, it's gonna eat itself,
so we could just leave it alone.

563
00:34:28,065 --> 00:34:31,455
On the other hand, you seem, and, and
correct me if I'm wrong, to be suggesting

564
00:34:31,455 --> 00:34:36,495
that in, in some ways these people, or
at least their views should be illegal.

565
00:34:36,614 --> 00:34:37,094
So

566
00:34:37,989 --> 00:34:39,795
I'm, I'm, I'm not saying
they should be illegal.

567
00:34:39,795 --> 00:34:41,984
Um, I'm saying that there
should be consequences.

568
00:34:41,984 --> 00:34:46,754
I think one of the analogies
that I draw in the book is,

569
00:34:46,815 --> 00:34:48,554
um, let's say you're in a bar.

570
00:34:48,955 --> 00:34:55,495
And a, um, guy comes in and
starts, uh, shouting racial slurs,

571
00:34:55,645 --> 00:34:57,384
maybe throws up a, a Nazi salute.

572
00:34:57,924 --> 00:35:02,634
Um, you, there's a recognition
that that guy poses a threat, that

573
00:35:02,634 --> 00:35:05,995
he's liable to do something and
you're gonna ask him to leave.

574
00:35:06,564 --> 00:35:10,435
Um, if he doesn't leave, uh, you might
for, you might force him to leave.

575
00:35:10,855 --> 00:35:11,995
Um, I think.

576
00:35:13,089 --> 00:35:16,245
I, I, I, I feel like your question's
kind of around freedom of speech.

577
00:35:16,424 --> 00:35:18,105
Am am I correct, Andrew or?

578
00:35:18,189 --> 00:35:18,410
Yes.

579
00:35:18,975 --> 00:35:19,274
Yes.

580
00:35:19,274 --> 00:35:19,605
Yeah, yeah.

581
00:35:19,634 --> 00:35:19,845
Okay.

582
00:35:19,845 --> 00:35:20,055
Yeah.

583
00:35:20,055 --> 00:35:24,555
So I think, um, there's the distinction
I think maybe I'm trying to draw here

584
00:35:24,555 --> 00:35:29,234
is not like freedom of speech doesn't
mean freedom from consequences.

585
00:35:29,625 --> 00:35:34,665
Um, you know, it like if you
say racist shit in a bar, you're

586
00:35:34,694 --> 00:35:36,285
liable to get, get punched.

587
00:35:36,674 --> 00:35:38,129
Um, and you know, I.

588
00:35:40,300 --> 00:35:42,225
I don't know if that's a, a bad thing.

589
00:35:44,355 --> 00:35:49,005
Uh, tomorrow we've got, uh, lawyer,
uh, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson.

590
00:35:49,005 --> 00:35:52,215
He has a new book out called Your
Data Will Be Used Against You.

591
00:35:52,215 --> 00:35:57,105
Are you at all concerned, Chris,
that, that the, the tactics that

592
00:35:57,105 --> 00:36:01,815
you are supporting in this new book
to catch a fascist will be used by

593
00:36:01,815 --> 00:36:06,945
the right against guys like yourself
or certainly members of Antifa?

594
00:36:08,745 --> 00:36:09,375
Uh, sure.

595
00:36:09,375 --> 00:36:09,585
Yeah.

596
00:36:09,585 --> 00:36:14,415
I mean the, um, it's, uh, I mean,
it's, it is essentially, well, I think

597
00:36:14,415 --> 00:36:17,745
what you're touching on is that, and
what I describe in my book is that it

598
00:36:17,745 --> 00:36:21,555
is essentially an underground war of
intelligence and counterintelligence.

599
00:36:21,585 --> 00:36:27,075
It's kind of an informal, uh,
uh, intelligence agencies that a

600
00:36:27,075 --> 00:36:28,155
war with each other, if you will.

601
00:36:28,425 --> 00:36:31,365
There, there, there definitely are far
right efforts and right-wing efforts

602
00:36:31,365 --> 00:36:33,915
to identify anti-fascist activists.

603
00:36:34,305 --> 00:36:34,815
Um.

604
00:36:35,250 --> 00:36:37,740
And, you know, there are
websites to that effect.

605
00:36:37,799 --> 00:36:44,160
Um, you know, we also saw during the,
um, uh, uprisings and the protests

606
00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:48,000
against, uh, the genocide in Gaza, that
there were websites like Canary Mission

607
00:36:48,060 --> 00:36:52,830
that were identifying, um, uh, you
know, members of those demonstrations.

608
00:36:53,220 --> 00:36:56,279
Uh, there's a website called
Antifa Watch, uh, which claims

609
00:36:56,279 --> 00:36:58,830
to identify members of Antifa.

610
00:36:59,220 --> 00:37:03,420
Um, I personally have been
doxed, um, and, you know.

611
00:37:04,230 --> 00:37:08,040
By doxed, I mean, um, you know,
when I, when I say dox in the

612
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:11,730
anti-fascist sense, I mean the kind
of the digital equivalent of ripping

613
00:37:11,730 --> 00:37:13,110
the white hood off of a Klansman.

614
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:18,600
Um, when I say I personally was doxed,
it means, you know, my, um, phone number

615
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:22,740
and address and that of my families was
posted online and we all received death

616
00:37:22,740 --> 00:37:24,330
threats and I had to file police reports.

617
00:37:24,810 --> 00:37:29,490
Um, so that is definitely
already happening.

618
00:37:29,790 --> 00:37:30,090
Um.

619
00:37:30,870 --> 00:37:35,190
I will say that I think the
left, um, is much better and much

620
00:37:35,190 --> 00:37:36,960
more careful at it as a project.

621
00:37:37,290 --> 00:37:40,380
Um, the right often mis identifies
people all the time or is very

622
00:37:40,380 --> 00:37:42,960
sloppy, um, sloppy with it.

623
00:37:43,140 --> 00:37:48,060
Um, and you know, I think when
the right does it, they often do

624
00:37:48,060 --> 00:37:53,220
it as a way of inviting, um, real
harassment and, and violence.

625
00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:54,240
Um.

626
00:37:55,170 --> 00:37:58,740
Uh, whereas I think, you know, a lot
of the anti-fascist docs as I described

627
00:37:58,740 --> 00:38:02,070
in my book, um, you know, sometimes
they might post a Nazis address,

628
00:38:02,070 --> 00:38:03,630
but most of the time they're not.

629
00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:06,360
Um, so yeah.

630
00:38:06,450 --> 00:38:10,500
Um, it's, it's, it's definitely
kind of already happening.

631
00:38:10,530 --> 00:38:11,400
It's, it's a bit of a battle.

632
00:38:12,825 --> 00:38:16,635
It certainly is a bit of a battle,
uh, interesting conversation.

633
00:38:16,635 --> 00:38:17,805
The book is out.

634
00:38:17,805 --> 00:38:20,415
It was out yesterday to catch a fascist.

635
00:38:20,925 --> 00:38:22,725
The fight to expose the radical.

636
00:38:22,725 --> 00:38:23,085
Right.

637
00:38:23,145 --> 00:38:24,015
Very interesting.

638
00:38:24,015 --> 00:38:27,465
And I'm gonna bring the book up when I
talk to, uh, Andrew Ferguson tomorrow.

639
00:38:27,465 --> 00:38:32,355
Congratulations, Chris on the new
book and continue with your good work.

640
00:38:32,355 --> 00:38:33,375
Thank you so much.

641
00:38:33,675 --> 00:38:34,695
Thanks so much for having me, Andrew.

642
00:38:34,695 --> 00:38:35,295
This was a pleasure.