A Capitol Hill staffer who works for far-right Congressman Paul Gosar was identified this week as a prominent supporter of white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. The chino-wearing white supremacists at Patriot Front were jeered at an event in Washington, D.C. And the National Guard airman who is accused of leaking hundreds of sensitive documents on Discord was warned about his activities months before those leaks were discovered.
It’s the week in extremism.
Gosar aide linked to white supremacist
Trump dined with Nick FuentesDonald Trump dined with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, rapper Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago
A report in Talking Points Memo this week connected Wade Searle, who works as digital director for Congressman Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., to Holocaust denier and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
- The report said Searle used two handles online to donate money to Fuentes and post on far-right websites. The activity occurred before he was hired by Gosar.
- Fuentes has made a name for himself as the leader of a group who call themselves “Groypers.” The group consists of mostly younger, white men and members are known for their embrace of racist slurs and politics, admiration for the Nazis and Holocaust denial.
- Nicole Hemmer, a historian at Vanderbilt University who focuses on the far right, told TPM: “The Groypers are essentially the equivalent of neo-Nazis … They’re an extremist group that is OK with violence.”
- After the report, Jewish groups blasted Gosar, with one saying, “This certainly isn’t the first time Rep. Gosar has embraced neo-Nazis. We presume it won’t be the last.
As of Thursday, Gosar had made no public comment on the accusations. His office did not respond to requests for comment from the USA TODAY Network.
Patriot Front heckled
Patriot Front arrestsWhite supremacist group Patriot Front charged with planning ‘riot’ at Idaho Pride event: What we know
The white supremacist group Patriot Front, which has previously been hacked and has seen 31 of its members arrested in the back of a U-Haul en route to an event in Idaho, held a rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday with predictable results.
Videos of a cyclist mocking and heckling the khaki-clad members of the group went viral over the weekend and most coverage of the rally focused on the heckler’s comedic jeers.
- “You look like General Custer’s illegitimate son,” shouted the cyclist, identified as Joe Flood, an author and photographer, as he rode forward and backward in front of the white supremacists, who keep their faces hidden by gaiters during their rallies.
- “You wear WalMart khakis,” was another zinger.
- “No one likes you, your mom hates you,” Flood added, facing down the group of a few dozen men, who were wearing their trademark chinos, blue shirts and face coverings. “Your friends hate you. You were the losers in your high school class.”
- All jokes aside, a 2022 leak of Patriot Front’s private messages shows the group is a full-blown white supremacist organization. The group is also responsible for racist graffiti and flyering across the country.
Discord leaker was warned not to “deep dive” intel months before arrest
Jack Teixeira, the National Guard airman who is charged with leaking hundreds of classified documents on the communications platform Discord was warned about doing “deep dives” into classified information and was caught slipping a note into his pocket during a classified briefing, new court documents revealed this week.
Teixeira in courtJack Teixeira, 21, appears in court over Pentagon leak. What charges is he facing?
- Teixeira was arrested last month after media reports named him as the Discord user who leaked classified documents, including documents about battlefield activity in Ukraine, to online friends.
- Seven months earlier, he was chastised by a supervisor: “Teixeira has been instructed to no longer take notes in any form on classified intelligence information,” the supervisor wrote in a partly redacted Air Force document dated Sept. 15, 2022.
- The Air Force suspended two superiors in Teixeira’s military unit pending further investigation in late April.
- Teixeira is due back in court next week for a hearing.
Statistic of the week: Zero out of 27
QAnon influencers raise moneyWhy did Allen, Texas, mall shooter make neo-Nazi posts? Who’s giving money to QAnon online?
That’s how many accounts related to the QAnon conspiracy theory were still raising money on the crowdfunding platform Buy Me a Coffee this week.
The company suspended all the accounts mentioned in a Media Matters for America study, covered exclusively by USA TODAY a week ago.
Catch up:Last week in extremism
