Democracy Alert: Year in Review 2021

By Western States Center Staff

Dear Friend,

The past year in anti-democracy assaults has been largely defined by the aftermath of the insurrection on January 6. The openly bigoted and authoritarian violence at the Capitol proved hugely motivating for white nationalist and paramilitary movements, as images of violence often do for them, even as some anti-democracy groups rebranded or shifted focus in response to the increased attention from law enforcement.

A significant amount of that authoritarian energy moved to the local level, with more threats and intimidation directed toward local officials, whether in public health, education, elections, or city and county government. Some sectors have seen waves of resignations, raising questions about a broader weakening of institutions and opening for anti-democracy figures to take those positions.

Yet with greater attention on these attacks on democracy come more opportunities to support it. Local government officials have spoken out against bigoted and anti-democracy movements, communities have taken action in creative ways, and legal strategies such as the historic Sines v. Kessler civil suit have borne fruit. Anti-democracy movements are only likely to continue ramping up in 2022, so now is the time to reflect on what we’ve learned in recent years, share it with each other, and join together to defend democracy.

As we seek to more effectively fight for inclusive democracy, for our civil rights, and for our right to live free from fear and bigotry, tracking and responding to local and national incidents of organized bigotry is an important step. We hope this biweekly series continues to help ground all of us in our collective call to blunt anti-democracy movements and build a more just future, filled with dignity, safety, and freedom for all.

In solidarity,
Lindsay Schubiner
Momentum Program Director

PARAMILITARY, PATRIOT MOVEMENT, AND ANTI-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY

Paramilitaries were at their most visible in 2021 during the January 6 insurrection, where figures from all over the country traveled to the U.S. Capitol and engaged in violence. No paramilitary group is more directly linked to the insurrection than the Oath Keepers, with a dozen members due to face trial for their role in April of 2022. Oath Keeper Stewart Rhodes attempted to keep a low profile this year but news of his lengthy interview with the FBI prompted many to speculate that he may be a government informant. A subsequent leak of an Oath Keeper membership list confirmed what watchdog groups have warned about for years: that a large number of law enforcement officers are involved in the group and the broader paramilitary movement in general.

Paramilitary mobilizations in 2021 transitioned from directly targeting Black Lives Matter demonstrations to descending upon state capitols and other local democratic institutions to protest COVID-19 safety measures such as mask and vaccine mandates. Paramilitary groups also teamed up with anti-democracy groups such as Ammon Bundy’s People’s Rights and a plethora of quickly-developed anti-vaccine groups to specifically target heath officials, notably at hospitals. Large protests took place outside of hospitals in Idaho in opposition to vaccine mandates, while anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists repeatedly threatened hospitals that failed to administer ivermectin, a treatment meant for horses to prevent parasites, to patients suffering from COVID, after this conspiracy theory spread in anti-democracy circles. While people were quick to scoff at People’s Rights burning a large effigy of a syringe in the Utah desert, stunts like this deflect from the fact that multiple members were arrested for acts of violence or threats in 2021, at the same time as membership continued to steadily rise.

Surprisingly, paramilitary groups did not mobilize in response to legislation passed in Oregon and Washington banning firearms from both state capitols. However, these groups were a visible presence at schools and school board meetings as part of the attacks on honest education about race, racism, and history in the U.S. (known as anti-Critical Race Theory attacks, which will be discussed in more detail later in this review). Paramilitary groups around the country closely watched and celebrated the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin a year after Rittenhouse killed two and injured another as paramilitary groups ran amok. Following his acquittal and subsequent media appearances, Rittenhouse became even more elevated in the eyes of anti-democracy and white nationalist movements. Many also saw the verdict as a legal green light to continue the mobilizations that we saw so frequently in 2020 and 2021, sometimes, in the case of Kenosha, with deadly consequences. As we enter 2022, this movement remains energized and with the opening of state legislatures and a midterm election on the horizon, armed mobilizations could very well continue to be a major issue.

WHITE NATIONALIST AND ALT-RIGHT ACTIONS

Other than the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys were the most visible group participating in the January 6 insurrection, and a number of key Proud Boy leaders currently sit in jail awaiting trial for their actions that day. Following the insurrection, Proud Boys and other groups shifted focus to hyper-local mobilizations that routinely resulted in political violence. In Oregon, political violence occurred in a number of cities with major consequences. Proud Boys held an unpermitted July 4th march in Creswell, Oregon, and when they received fines, anti-democracy groups responded by harassing the personal residence of the Mayor, which lead to her resignation. Proud Boys and other groups rioted in a public park in downtown Oregon City. Proud Boys and anti-democracy groups attacked people outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Salem, leading to arrests. On August 22, Proud Boys held their annual Portland rally, where figures flew in from multiple states. The rally attendees promoted the idea that their fellow members sitting in jail for their J6 actions were in fact “political prisoners” — a blatant attempt to whitewash the insurrection. The group reminded the world of its affinity for violence on August 22 when fights with counterdemonstrators spilled onto the streets of North Portland and culminated at a nearby school parking lot where cars were smashed and bloody assaults were streamed live by journalists.

2021 was a year when the lines between white nationalist, alt-right and many other segments of the far-right became more blurred, especially as these groups organized at the local level. The most clear example of this was the melding of these groups along with newly-formed “parents’ rights” groups to target educators, school administrators and school boards all in the name of opposing “critical race theory.” Very rapidly, education institutions became the epicenter of paramilitary and anti-democracy organizing around the country and with that came a wave of threats and political violence directed toward educators. The harassment didn’t stop when school board meetings were moved online for safety reasons, and dozens of administrators around the country have quit their jobs in response to the harassment. In Portland, Proud Boys, People’s Rights and others travelled from out of town to target a school board meeting. The meeting and subsequent others were moved online after PPS superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said that staff and students were “confronted with the use of offensive racist language.”

Elsewhere, the white nationalist group Patriot Front took credit for a number of vandalisms of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor memorials and murals in cities across the United States including Kentucky, New York and Spokane. The group organized a number of banner drops and continued their flyer campaigns, but several flash demonstrations they attempted, particularly in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., ended in abject failure. White nationalists also decried the convictions in Georgia and Minnesota of the men who killed Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. The movement as a whole was rocked by the $25 million civil case that resulted in verdicts against the organizers of the deadly United the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017. That case sends a clear message to municipalities that they now have another tool in their arsenal to combat rallies that end in political violence.

FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL ANTI-DEMOCRACY ACTIONS

Federal actions against democracy this year included the Supreme Court’s failure to defend long-established precedent protecting pregnant people’s civil rights in the face of attacks on abortion access in Texas and elsewhere. Abortion justice and equal access to bodily autonomy are essential indicators of inclusive democracy, so the shrinking access to reproductive justice, while infuriating, should come as no surprise given decades of backlash against gains in racial, gender, and LGBTQ equality. This year has also seen federal legislative inaction to protect voting rights against attempts to undermine it.

The assault on our democracy was plain to see in statehouses across the country in 2021. Nineteen states passed 33 laws restricting voting access, all in response to one of the highest voter turnout elections in American history, and one in which young people and voters of color turned out in record numbers. Over 100 anti-transgender bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country, more than in any other previous year. Nine states have passed anti-Critical Race Theory legislation while Arizona’s bill was overturned by the state’s Supreme Court. With an election year on the horizon, we saw a preview of what’s to come during the California Governor’s recall election, where false rumors of “voter fraud” began even before the polls closed. We also saw the losing gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey refuse to concede.

2021 similarly witnessed deepening relations between elected officials at the federal and state level and white nationalist and paramilitary groups with few, if any, political consequences. Paul Gosar of Arizona attended a conference put on by white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Gosar has a long history of associating with extremists and using white nationalist rhetoric. Gosar was censured by his colleagues in November of this year, not for these ties, but for releasing a photoshopped video showing him killing New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joe Biden. Gosar and a number of his colleagues amplified January 6 revisionism by the Proud Boys and others and openly defended insurrectionists, even going so far as to try to visit them in jail. Gosar’s colleague, Colorado’s Lauren Boebert, has repeatedly attacked her fellow Congresswoman Ilhan Omar using anti-Muslim slurs, while Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene repeatedly used Holocaust analogies to rail against COVID safety measures even after she attended the Holocaust Museum and apologized for her previous words. In Idaho, Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin announced a gubernatorial run and was introduced at a fundraiser by Eric Parker, a paramilitary leader who spent time in prison for his role in the Bundy Ranch standoff. Ammon Bundy is one of McGeachin’s primary opponents. In Washington, Congressional candidate Joe Kent spent 2021 fraternizing with some of the most prominent far-right actors in the region.

The continued assaults on our democracy were especially apparent at the local level in 2021, where elected officials, health workers and educators bore the brunt of these attacks. The perpetrators, many of whom travelled to participate in anti-democracy actions, have faced few consequences, further emboldening them and leaving civil society weaker. The lack of assistance from state and federal institutions is alarming, especially when this threatening behavior shows no signs of slowing down.

PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIONS

In the face of continued challenges to democratic practice, communities across the country stood up for their rights. Local organizers focused both on actions of solidarity and healing for those who have been impacted by anti-democracy and bigoted violence, as well as moving leaders to push for much-needed reforms even in the face of rising threats.

For many people who are facing bigoted and anti-democracy threats, 2021 has been a year of building new networks, analysis, and responding on the fly, from high-profile examples to very local efforts. Asian American leaders in Georgia shifted the narrative around the shooting of eight people at spas in the Atlanta area, elevating the context of anti-Asian and misogynistic violence. Across the country, transgender youth and their families are courageously standing up for their communities in the face of discriminatory legislation. For some public servants, organizing in their sector has taken on new urgency; a new legal defense committee for election workers is seeking to provide backup for election workers under increasing political pressure. Community groups around the country have also creatively stood up to bigotry in many ways — for example, Idahoans responded to misogynistic statements from a political science professor by holding a gathering of women and donating over $33,000 to a scholarship fund for young women.

Non-profits and private citizens used civil legal action to hold the organizers of bigoted political violence and harassment accountable. Most prominently, in the landmark Sines v. Kessler lawsuit, organizers of the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally — once influential leaders of the alt-right movement — were all found liable for entering into an unlawful conspiracy to commit violence and intimidation. The four-year legal battle, supported by Integrity for America, ended with multi-million dollar judgments against the defendants. In Connecticut, the families of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting won a judgment against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and others who cynically portrayed the shooting as a so-called “false flag”, driving a decade of defamation and harassment against the bereaved. In Oregon, Megan McLain, who was assaulted by self-proclaimed Proud Boy Alan Swinney during a demonstration in summer 2020, won an admission from her assailant that he fired a paintball gun at her. Currently, several other lawsuits relating to election misinformation and resulting harassment are working their ways through the courts, such as a civil suit brought by two Georgia election workers who were speciously accused of fraud by far-right media outlets, and faced significant threats and harassment.

Federal, state and local government also set boundaries on antidemocracy and bigoted groups, and worked toward a pro-democracy agenda on several fronts. Federally, the Jan. 6th Commission continues its work, uncovering significant evidence about how the Capitol insurrection was organized. In Oregon, the State Legislature expelled former State Representative Mike Nearman after Nearman colluded with anti-democracy protesters who later rioted inside the Capitol building. Despite a lack of necessary comprehensive federal action on voting rights, 25 states expanded voting rights this year. In response to coming challenges to reproductive justice, states like California are exploring their legislative options to ensure that privacy rights remain protected within their jurisdictions. And in the face of lacking enforcement against organized bigoted groups, at least five states and Washington, DC have strengthened legal measures to bar police officers with extremist affiliations from public service. Cities and towns are also beginning to approach the problem of anti-democracy organizing as something within their wheelhouse, with communities pushing for increased capacity in terms of education, tracking and accountability on civil rights issues, and local officials such as school board members speaking out about the increased pressure they now face.

INCIDENTS OF FAR-RIGHT VIOLENCE

Over 600 people to date have been charged for their actions during the January 6 insurrection. A steady stream of arrests has continued throughout 2021 and will likely continue next year, as some of the larger trials begin in the largest police investigation in the history of the United States. Despite being arrested for their actions on January 6, a half-dozen figures who participated were elected to office this year. Multiple figures received sentences ranging from probation to 41 months in prison for their actions. Members of the neo-Nazi group The Base were sentenced to lengthy prison stays for planning alleged attacks before a pro-gun rally in Virgina in 2020. In August, Washington’s Cameron Shea, the leader of another neo-Nazi group, Atomwaffen, was sentenced to three years in prison for targeting journalists and activists. Alan Swinney, a man boasting a Proud Boys tattoo who was a staple at violent protests in Portland in recent years, was found guilty on multiple counts including assault, menacing, unlawful use of firearm at a demonstration in Portland in 2020, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Political violence directed toward religious institutions was a frequent occurrence in 2021. A member of a small neo-Nazi group was arrested in Spokane for allegedly defacing a Holocaust memorial and vandalizing a synagogue. In Texas, a group of neo-Nazis called the Goyim Defense League (GDL) passed out racist fliers and participated in a number of antisemitic stunts around Halloween. Just miles from where these actions took place, a student was arrested for an arson attack on an Austin synagogue. In Washington State alone, nine religious institutions were vandalized in the past three months and the Anne Frank memorial in Boise was vandalized twice in 2021 including most recently during Hanukkah. Approximately nine religious institutions, including mosques, were vandalized in a three month period in Washington State. Attacks and threats of violence directed towards school officials hit a fever pitch in 2021, with reports of educators being run off the road and subject to calls for citizens’ arrests among the disturbing incidents observed.

According to an FBI analysis of hate crimes released this autumn, last year saw the highest number of hate crimes recorded within the last two decades. Black Americans were most often targeted in hate crimes on the basis of race, and anti-Asian violence had the biggest increase in incidents. Among the most high-profile acts of bigoted violence last year was the murder of eight people at spas in the Atlanta area, including six Asian women. This horrible incident occurred during a year in which there was a tremendous spike in anti-Asian violence, documented by Stop AAPI Hate. In one of many disturbing incidents of anti-Black violence, Barry Washington, Jr., was shot by a white man outside of a downtown Bend, Oregon, bar after he spoke to the man’s girlfriend. There were also instances of bigoted violence in which the perpetrator’s bigotry received little attention, such as the shooting in a Boise mall that killed two people. That shooting was committed by a fanatical gun-rights advocate who had expressed racist beliefs online.

Based in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain States, Western States Center works nationwide to strengthen inclusive democracy.

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