On the 14th of December, protesters organized by TakeemdownJAX showed up in front of Jacksonville, FL City Hall. They were there to demand removal of all remaining Confederate monuments controlled by the city, including the tall pillar in front of City Hall that formerly held a statue of a Confederate solider. A smattering of Fascists showed up across the street, only one attempted to challenge the rally. With an antifa camera locked onto him, he soon threw in the towel and left without causing any trouble.
After the rally, many participants went inside to speak on the Confederate monument removal issue at a hearing in City Hall. One speaker at the rally reminded everyone that Jacksonville’s City Hall could order them removed that very night.
Confederate monument in front of Jacksonville City HallThis “stand for the flag, kneel for the cross” Fascist thought better of challenging protesters with an Antifa camera locked onto him. He whined about being filmed without “consent” but was told to stuff it
The campaign of residential protests against fascist and Christian nationalist Supreme Court judges is still going on. On Sunday, Dec 11, “Justice” Samuel Alito got another visit to his block. He is known as “the witchburner” for citing 17th century judge Matthew Hale in his Dobbs ruling. Matthew Hale had two women executed for witchcraft
This all-black varient of the US flag has been popping up since the start of the pandemic and was seen at J6 among other places. It can be seen flying from the porches of some of the worst Trump and DeSantis supporters. It has been especially popular in Florida for some reason
It stands for “no quarter” and specifically for “no quarter given” meaning an intention to slaughter all defeated combatants in the second US civil war they expect. This is distinct from “no quarter asked” in which case an intent to refuse to surrender and fight to the death is stated without changing the status of enemies captured if those making this statement are victorious. The combination of the two is “no quarter asked or given” no surrender and no prisoners taken.
It is generally considered a war crime to refuse to accept the surrender of defeated enemy troops (as the all black US flag threatens) while it is perfectly legal in war for combatants to refuse to surrender themselves. Of course, once either side gains a reputation for either executing or torturing captured enemies, the whole conflict can quickly escalate to no quarter asked or given on either side, as happened between US and Japanese troops during WWII’s “Island-hopping” hell.
During the (1st) Civil War the Confederates sometimes used a no-quarter black flag, and it was after the civil war that US statues concerning conduct of the US military outlawed declaration that no quarter would be given. Troops are still permitted to refuse to surrender, they just must accept the surrender of defeated enemies and not kill them.
On the 10th of December, protesters deployed in the streets of many US cities supporting revolution in Iran-and warning the regime in Iran NOT to continue executing protesters. A major protest took place in DC near the Washington Monument, and others took place almost simultaniously all over the US from coast to coast.
Just days before these protests-and as protests in Iran continue to escalate, the regime executed Mohsen Shekari for a street blockade and allegedly defending himself from a “security guard.” Onlookers at the otherwise-common public hanging in Iran were reportedly shocked to see a protester executed in front of their faces. Hundreds have died in street battles against armed police and security forces of the regime, but this is the first known execution. Several more are threatened but as this was written were supposed to already have been carried out. The first execution caused protests to escalate not stand down, the regime may be waiting to see how both the Iranian street and the rest of the world respond before tying any more nooses. By the time this is over, it may be Khamani’s neck in a noose, the whole regime probably knows they will hang with him, so they are “hanging with him” now, going all-out in a futile attempt to kill off their opposition with police violence and executions. It doesn’t seem to be working as the protests just keep escalating.
On the 5th of December, Christian fundamentalists again faced off with women’s rights and LGBTQ activists in front of the Supreme Court. This time the case in question is a lawsuit brought challenging antidiscrimination laws protecting LGBTQ folks and by extension people of color and almost any other disfavored group. Fundamentalist Christian bakers and artists rallied outside while progressives counterprotested them.
Abortion rights activists, LGBTQ activists, and several Satanic Temple folks showed up for the counterprotest. The Satanic Temple, rather than being literal devil worshippers is a nontheistic group using Satanic imagery (as was done by many musicians in the 1980’s) to promote religious freedom and beat back religious fundamentalist oppression. With Christian Nationalists growing in strength, a supporter of witch-burning on the Supreme Court, and outright genocide against trans folks being openly promoted, the use of such imagery is no surprise. This will likely grow if the fight between Christian nationalists and LGBTQ people escalates into open warfare.
The woman filing the original lawsuit does not even really have standing. She has never been sued under any state’s antidiscrimination laws, and has not even started her proposed web design firm yet. Instead, she has brought a pre-emptive lawsuit seeking the “right” to refuse to produce any content for same-sex couples getting married.
Photo by Our Rights DCActivist with “No hate like Christian love” shuts down right wing photo op (Photo by Our Rights DC)Photo by Our Rights DC
The 3ed of December is a day that shall live in infamy. On that day, neo-Nazis, Christian Nationalist, and other Fascists assaulted drag events in multiple cities almost simultaniously and held at least one standalone hate protest as well.The most extreme incident is the attack on electrical power substations in Moore County, North Carolina. Over 40,000 people lost electrical power, a curfew was imposed, and thousands jammed roads fleeing the county. Schools may be closed until Tuesday or later. Both power line insulators and the sheet metal casings of power transformers are known to be vlunerable to rifle fire. Credit has been all but claimed on Twitter for shooting out the power substations. If this claim is accurate, all of this was for a failed attempt to shut down a drag show, which was successfully held under illumination from flashlights.
Possibly an even bigger deal save that it failed was an attempted bombing of a doctor’s office in Boston, MA. The failed bombing attempt was reported by Miami Antifa News https://kolektiva.social/@miaantifanews/109459138680541359
The next more serious incident was the invasion of a residential neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio by both Proud Boys and Patriot Front. Some of them were seen carrying firearms. An all-ages drag show scheduled to take place in that neighborhood had to be cancelled due to the armed menace represented by these terrorists.In Lakeland, Florida another drag show was successfully held despite threats and a march by hard core neo-Nazis with a “black sun” and WWII German Naval flag showing a swastika.
A planned disruption or attack on a drag queen story hour in New York City failed, https://kolektiva.social/@nycantifa reports that anti-Fascist activists successfully intercepted Jovi Val and his Fascist buddies before they could get within range. By itself this is a “normal” incident at this time, but it did occur on the same day as all the others.
Lastly there was the hate rally held on a beach in Ft Lauderdale, FL by Proud Boys, so-called “Gays against Groomers” and several other Fascist and Christian extremist groups, and who knows how many more hate rallies and assaults on drag shows. The message sent by attacking a whole county with no regard for collateral damage is particularily disturbing. The inclusion of both firearms and explosives in the attack template is even worse.
These events (two of them involving firearms) put together suggest a coordinated offensive by far-right terrorists against the LGBTQ community with Dec 3 as either the date of the entire offensive or the start date of something bigger yet. The fash got mixed results this time around, but nobody can let their guard down. What the fascists are clearly angling for is a modern version of Nazi Germany’s 1937 Krystalnacht.
On the 3ed of December, the Proud Boys, so-called “Gays against Groomers” “Moms4Liberty,” and other far rights extremists rallied on the beach in Ft Lauderdale, FL to support DeSantis’s attacks on transgender folks. Counterprotesters matched their turnout, and repeatedly drove Proud Boys out of the counterprotest site. Soon,the fascists tired and left, leaving the pro-LGBTQ contingent in posession of the field.
HAD ENOUGH after Colorado, bashing back is the order of the day Proud Boys on the beach with a PB and a Pepe the Frog flag. Note that Pepe the Frog was a widely used alt-right/neo-Nazi symbol in 2017. Copyright complaints from the cartoon frog’s creator Matt Furie stopped most but not all of this appropriation of his artistic work. Fascism does NOT “feel good, man!”
The fascist rally included Chris Nelson’s attempts to disrupt the counterprotest, Proud Boys trying to walk through the counterprotest only to be immediatly engaged and driven out, a Pepe the Frog flag, and fundamentalist Christian music and slogans near the beginning. As always, it was clear their message is about hate and religious bigotry. The LGBTQ community turned out to oppose them.Both liberals and hardcore anti-Fascist activists turned out. As confrontations flared, anti-Fascist camerapeople took zoom closeup photos of any many Proud Boys and other prominant extremists as possible. These will be of use later.
Broward County School Board member Brenda Fam spoke at this so-called “Protect the Children” rally, standing with all manner of fascists, neo-Nazis, and Christian nationalists, Proud Boys included. This may make her re-election campaign more difficult.
On the liberal side, even a Florida state Senator and the Mayor of Ft Lauderdale spoke. While one of the Mayor’s staffers whined to cops about the presence of anarchists and anti-fascists, the presence of the Mayor and his speaking at the counterprotest limited the cops. The Ft Lauderdale Police in blue were unable to openly side with the Proud Boys in black and gold after the Mayor spoke for their opponents. As a result, the cops were mostly hands-off and a joint police-Proud Boys attack on the counterprotest was averted.
In Ft Lauderdale, the Proud Boys were the smallest force, backing up a fascist political rally and with plenty of lead time for the community to respond and fight back. Several other cities were not so lucky.
Ugly things happened elsewhere this same day, some reaching the level of hard core terrorism. First and foremost, far right extremists shot up several electrical power substations in North Carolina, shutting off power to about 40,000 people. This was for nothing more than a FAILED attempt to forcibly shut a drag show! The Three Percenters and Oath Keepers were not known to be active in attacking drag shows prior to Dec 3, so that makes Proud Boys the most likely suspects. Another incident also involving firearms took place in Columbus, Ohio, where far right extremists, some carrying guns, descended on the site of a drag show, again with the objective of forcibly shutting it down. Still another drag show in Lakeland, Florida was harassed by Nazis but contrary to earlier reports was able to continue. Hard Nazis with a swastika flag and a black sun flag screamed slurs outside.
In less than two weeks, the LGBTQ community has been targettted with one mass shooting (Club Q in Colorado Springs, five dead), one shooting attack on electrical power used by the general public, one drag show shut down by armed force, and probably many others harassed.
On Dec 1, a banquet for the so-called “Capitol Hill Crisis Pregnancy Center” was held at a Marriot in Crystal City. Protesters showed up outside chanting and banging drums. In addition, a projector was used to show messages on the side of the building. On top of all else, three protesters got inside and shouted down the proceedings. One person screamed “Jane Says Revenge, motherfuckers! Blood on your hands!
As for the outside protext, drums are probably a hotel manager’s least favorite tactic short of storming the building. This is the same fake clinic Jane’s Revenge punished back in June with paint.
