Would you like to be an anti-fascist educator? This wheatpasting article will show you exactly how. All you really need is access to a printer, water, flour, large brushes, and time.
Why Wheatpaste?
In today’s environment, social media is important, but fascist-friendly tech oligarchs have instituted many censorship choke points that keep anti-fascist messages from spreading. Even posting something as basic as “punch a Nazi!” might be enough to get you banned. As a result, many people are confused about what fascism actually is and how to resist it. Sometimes, seeing one simple wheatpasted message in day-to-day life creates a visceral connection and can have more impact than a thousand social media upvotes. Showing solidarity to the victims and targets of fascism and lifting their spirits is another crucial purpose of these physical messages.
Our friends regularly wheatpaste simple messages and stickers around Atlanta.
You can find some designs here on our website. You can download PDFs with these messages and print them out, or make your own anti-racist and anti-fascist messages.
Our group usually keeps a tight focus on exposing overt white nationalists and neo-Nazis, but there are times when our goal of antifascist education involves speaking about political actors whose motivations are not quite so obvious. With this post, we will identify and briefly give some political context to Grayson Walker, the “MAGA Communist” Emory law student responsible for the cancellation.
Grayson Walker, Emory Law Student and “MAGA Communist”
“Today, we unwittingly damaged the movement for Palestinian liberation by allowing a rogue actor to brazenly hijack an event intended to highlight the Palestinian genocide and uplift the Palestinian movement. A student co-organizer commandeered this platform by inserting hateful and divisive guests into the program. He greenlighted a deeply problematic speech without sharing with co-organizers, prevented our attempts to reverse his last-minute changes to the speaker line up, prevented our staff from making statements on stage, and insulted our honored guests Dr. Norman Finkelstein, Ibrahim Awad, and Juilee Shivalkar.”
CAIR-GA Statement
Our group usually keeps a tight focus on exposing overt white nationalists and neo-Nazis, but there are times when our goal of antifascist education involves speaking about political actors whose motivations are not quite so obvious. With this post, we will identify and briefly give some political context to Grayson Walker, the “MAGA Communist” Emory law student responsible for the cancellation. While CAIR did not name Grayson Walker as the “rogue actor”, many other witnesses have already done so. This post is neither a full exposé nor a detailed timeline of the failed event, simply an alert to be aware of Grayson Walker and similar infiltrators who seek to exploit Palestinian suffering to curry social media attention for their niche cryptofascist political brands.
The word “cryptofascism” can evoke fanciful images of secret Nazi agents, but the historical reality is much more prosaic. A party or movement springs up claiming to be “above political divisions”, claiming to “synthesize left and right”, and then inevitably assimilates into the traditional right wing when their ideas fail to gain traction. These people often genuinely believe that they are not fascists, but they also tend to be sympathetic to outright fascists.
The “MAGA Communist” speakers invited by Grayson Walker — Jackson Hinkle and Adam Tahir/Haz Al-Din — fall neatly into this pattern. Here are some defining characteristics of their cryptofascist movement, which is also sometimes known as “patriotic socialism”:
A social conservative identity and call to return to “traditional” values expressed through homophobia, transphobia, and clownish performative misogyny. For example, Hinkle and Haz are both full-throated supporters of sex trafficker and rapist Andrew Tate.
A hatred of vaguely defined “elites” expressed through conspiracism and antisemitism
Populist nativism and support for harsher, Trumpian anti-immigrant measures
Campism: the naive belief that the world is divided into competing camps of states and that each state can be assigned into a good camp or bad camp. They regard China and Russia as the good camp, with the US state as the bad camp, until their MAGA Communist patriotic revival somehow takes over the US and redeems it.
The invocation of a simplistic ideology-as-superstructure-only concept from early Marxist theory (this is a concept which many Marxists disagree with and have replaced with more sophisticated models of ideology, such as Gramscian hegemony).
anti-environmentalism and pro-extractivism (support for the fossil fuel industry)
For this last point, it is worth noting that MAGA Communists have strong ties to the Lyndon Larouche cult, sharing not only their anti-environmentalist beliefs but also their underhanded tactics: Larouchites are known for targeting college students and for attention-grabbing publicity stunts. This idea that “any publicity is good publicity” is why this group calls themselves “MAGA communists” in the first place, because it attracts instant attention.
The “MAGA communists” have especially strong ties to the Russian state and far right, as shown by these recent photos.
Grayson Walker with Hinkle, Haz, and Aleksandr Dugin at an event in Shanghai, China in February 2024Grayson Walker in Russia at the 2nd Congress of the International Russophile Movement also in February of 2024. Source.
As for sympathy with outright fascists, Kris Roman (seen in back) is a Belgian who heads a pro-Putin white supremacist group which receives little support in Belgium but often features in Russian media. Maryam Susli, known primarily as a Bashar al-Assad propagandist, has made an appearance on neo-Nazi and former National Justice Party figure Eric Striker‘s media and has been interviewed by KKK figure David Duke. Hinkle and Haz have also both streamed on white nationalist Nick Fuentes’ website after having been banned on Twitch.
Giving cryptofascists a platform generally leads to the platforming of their fascist allies, among other damage. By unwittingly allowing Grayson Walker even an indirect role in their event, CAIR-GA’s reputation was hurt and their members made more vulnerable. In a video after the event, Hinkle and Haz threatened CAIR directly, and Hinkle wielded a racist nativist dogwhistle against them, saying, “CAIR wants to come to my country, our country, and use their lobbying power to take your taxpayer dollars, just like the Zionist lobby…”. In light of how this country targets Muslim and Palestinian immigrants and refugees and treats Muslims as perpetual foreigners, this line of attack is especially egregious and makes a mockery of any “MAGA Communist” claim to Palestinian solidarity.
Luckily, autonomous protesters quickly circulated alerts about Hinkle and Haz, giving real information about their motives and cutting short the Haz speech. CAIR and other people present were able to limit the damage by not allowing Hinkle and Haz to speak and by issuing a swift apology afterwards. We encourage everyone in the Atlanta community to familiarize themselves with Grayson Walker and bar him from any political events, or else they, like CAIR, could fall victim to a similar publicity stunt. Please make public any new tips on Walker’s local political activity and/or email tips to us securely at [email protected].
No tolerance for racism, antisemitism, or Islamophobia in our city!
Nathan Damigo, a notorious white nationalist leader and co-organizer of 2017’s deadly “Unite the Right” rally, has relocated to Atlanta, where he now attempts to harass those he views as anti-racists, forest defenders, and leftists. Nathan Benjamin Damigo was the first leader for Identity Evropa (IE), a white power organization that eventually morphed into the “American Identity Movement” and disbanded in 2020. As IE’s leader until his resignation in August 2017, Damigo participated in street brawls—including punching a woman in the face—in Berkeley, California and helped organize the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Damigo has now been tied to the property of longtime racist leader, lawyer for Klansmen, and gentrification profiteer Sam Dickson in Buckhead, Atlanta. Damigo is currently operating with the “William McKinley Institute” (WMI), an anti-anti-fascist project that defines itself as “at odds with the Jewish values that dominate our civilization today, infecting every institution with perversion, degeneracy, confusion and chaos”.
Berkeley, California, April 2017.Nathan Benjamin Damigo
WMI recently circulated photographs of Saturday’s protest in Atlanta over the death of Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán, who was shot and killed by the Georgia State Patrol during a multi-agency raid on the Weelaunee Forest / “Stop Cop City” protest site on Wednesday, January 18th. Some politically targeted property destruction occurred during the Saturday protest responding to the murder, and a series of violent arrests by police then followed. As part of a broader right-wing campaign to identify and harass those they claim are part of the movement to Defend the Atlanta Forest, WMI published video and still photographs from the Saturday protest after sending someone to spy on the event. These images were then picked up by the “Antifa Watch” doxing blog, and eventually circulated by far-right propagandist Andy Ngo. While Ngo promoted WMI to his mass audience, he did not note its white nationalist and virulently antisemitic nature.
We have now identified white power leader Nathan Damigo as a key “William McKinley Institute” participant, who is currently based in Atlanta.
This article is a joint effort by Atlanta Antifascists and Niall of the Nine. We uncover the identity of more than half of the Georgia Proud Boys who rallied this June in downtown Atlanta. We also identify several other recently-active Proud Boys in Georgia. We outline the history of the Proud Boys in our state; document a recent anti-LGBTQ+ campaign by the group in Columbus, Georgia; uncover histories of domestic violence and even rape (content warning for child sexual abuse); discuss possible future activities; and give advice for countering this far right gang.
Members of the Proud Boys in Georgia discussed in this article.
Around 5PM on Saturday June 25th, a group of almost twenty Proud Boys came into downtown Atlanta, looking to harass pro-choice protesters. We covered the excursion on a Twitter thread here, helping amplify many sources who were on the ground. Most of the Proud Boys wore plates and custom branded insignia, and their convoy consisted of three pickup trucks plus a repurposed armored truck. Despite their obvious intent to intimidate Atlantans with this show of force, the Proud Boy convoy met with immediate concerted resistance and was prevented from harassing protesters by local armed community defense.
The Proud Boys attempted to conceal their identities by wearing gaiter masks and obscuring their plates. This tactic has worked well for them in the past, since they typically have friendly relations with the police. However, it did not entirely succeed this time, and they received traffic citations for attempting to obscure their plates.
The neo-fascist Proud Boys have had little to no public presence in metro Atlanta for several years. Their organization statewide in Georgia focused on social events and quiet networking. Many recruits would pass through the Proud Boys only temporarily, with some members eventually moving toward more openly white supremacist and neo-Nazi politics. However, judging by the ridiculous insignia on their vanity truck, the Georgia chapter has been reconstituted as of 2021. We are working on further identification and will have more to publish soon. In the meantime, we are posting this gallery of media for the public to examine. If you have any tips, contact us. Email is the most secure method, and as always, we guard the confidentiality and anonymity of our sources.
Video of departing convoyPolice Scanner audio discussing traffic citationsEdited to add another submitted photoset
Michael David Weaver (also known as Michael David Carothers) is a violent neo-Nazi who has been active since he was a teenager. Currently, he lives in Cartersville and is engaging in a campaign to spread hate in Georgia. Since late last year, Weaver has distributed copious amounts of antisemitic propaganda, mainly for the antisemitic Goyim Defense League but also for other white supremacist groups. Weaver also holds one-mandemonstrations with antisemitic signs outside the Bartow County Courthouse. Weaver has a long history of ideologically driven harassment and violence, including an assault on a Black man in Columbus, Georgia for which Weaver served a one-year sentence. Continue reading for more info on Weaver and actions which community members can take.
Omar Ali, a property developer and Kemp appointee, is helping racist leader Sam Dickson to turn a profit on a building in Lakewood Heights, Atlanta. Ali is currently trying to renovate and sublease the 1701 Jonesboro Road building owned by Dickson’s “Sun Rising LLC”, in effect generating funds for Dickson that will enable further white power organizing.
Omar Ali
Ali claims that he develops properties to revitalize the multiracial, working-class neighborhood of Lakewood Heights, and to provide solutions to disrepair and gang violence in the area. However, Ali’s alliance with racist leader Dickson disproves Ali’s claims to have residents’ interests at heart. Dickson is notorious for preying on Black property owners in Atlanta, often acquiring his properties through predatory tactics known as “bullying title.” Sam Dickson’s white nationalist organizing helped set the stage for the Emanuel AME massacre in Charleston, South Carolina as well as the bloody “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dickson has a long history of promoting hatred and white supremacy in the US, and on the international level, he is aligned with the Russian state which is committing probable war crimes in Ukraine.
Sam Dickson at American Renaissance racist conference, 2021
We urge all Lakewood Heights residents to avoid Omar Ali and Ali’s other business interests in the area, particularly the “Ali at Lakewood” development. We will update this article if Ali backs away from his collaboration with Dickson’s “Sun Rising” company.
Update, July 2022: Patriot Front member “Nathan AR” who participated in the mural defacement has been identified as Devin Wayne Center of Fayetteville, Arkansas.
On the night of September 17, 2021, the racist and fascist organization Patriot Front (PF) defaced a Black Lives Matter / Stop Asian Hate mural in Atlanta’s Reynoldstown neighborhood. The mural was created as a symbol of Black and Asian solidarity in the direct aftermath of the Atlanta spa murders. By targeting the mural, white supremacists aimed to hurt and intimidate still-grieving communities while gaining cheap publicity for their organization.
Before defacing the mural, Patriot Front members stenciled in the nearby Krog Street Tunnel, a well-known Atlanta graffiti spot. Later, the racists dropped a banner promoting their organization at an overpass for I-20. Locals spotted and removed the banner the same night. Other anti-racists located and quickly covered all of PF’s stencil graffiti. Community members later did additional restoration on the damaged mural in Reynoldstown.
Racist and antisemitic anti-vaxxer Christopher Mark Head, who had promoted the rally and who we exposed before the event, did not show up at Piedmont Park on the day.
The “Worldwide Freedom Rally” at Piedmont Park was advertised with posters trivializing the Holocaust (by comparing it to health measures) and featuring the slogan “Save the Children” – a QAnon reference.
“Sailing to Denver”
Eugene Owens (AKA “Kilgore Rand”) of “I Do Not Comply” and rally organizer Karen Denise Cortes Hernandez (AKA “Kay P”). Read more here about Eugene Owens’ far-Right networking and his rock band Faithless Town’s COVID-19 disinformation efforts.
Update: while Jared Huggins remains a co-owner of the Carver Hills house and his vehicle is outside, recently Huggins has been in Denver, Colorado as a Latter-day Saints church missionary. We still encourage Carver Hills neighbors to keep an eye on the house, since this is not the first time that house has been linked to a white nationalist.
On the night of Saturday, March 20th, we placed posters in the Carver Hills neighborhood of northwest Atlanta. These posters warned about Jared Alexander Huggins, a white nationalist militant and associate of racist leader Sam Dickson. Huggins is listed as a co-owner of a McCallie Boulevard home.
