Fascist Lawyer Augustus Invictus to Speak at National Socialist Movement Meeting/Rally in Rome GA, April 23

Update 3/14/2016: Invictus has been dropped from the International Left Hand Path Consortium event mentioned in this article, see story here. Invictus remains scheduled to speak at the NSM gathering on April 23.

Florida lawyer, candidate for US Senate and fascist Augustus Invictus has announced that he will give another speech in Georgia this April. As discussed earlier, Invictus is being hosted as a speaker on April 10th by the International Left Hand Path Consortium occultist gathering in Atlanta. Now, Invictus has also agreed to talk at the National Socialist Movement (NSM) national meeting plus white power rally planned for Rome, Georgia on April 23rd. The NSM is a blatant neo-Nazi organization. Its April 23rd rally in Rome GA is co-sponsored by groups such as the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan as well as remnants of the Aryan Nations.

augustus invictus speaking at NSM Rome rally dl 3 9 2016National Socialist Movement announces Augustus Invictus as speaker at April 23rd gathering in Rome GA

Invictus announced that he will speak at the National Socialist Movement gathering in a March 8th Facebook post at the “Augustus Invictus for US Senate” page. This post is no longer available on Facebook at the time of writing. However, its complete text has been archived at the American Third Party Report website. In his announcement, Invictus claims that “I am not endorsing the National Socialist Movement” while he sets out his reasoning for participating in the neo-Nazi event in Rome. (As usual, Invictus cites his “Hispanic children” as evidence for his lack of racism.) The overarching theme of Invictus’ piece is the need for “unity of Libertarians, patriots, and nationalists against a common enemy.” Invictus claims this enemy is the “Federal Government” controlled by “globalist”/ “internationalist” forces; it is on this political basis that Invictus argues for an alliance with neo-Nazis.

Invictus’ fascist politics were already apparent when Atlanta Antifascist Notes first raised the issue of Invictus’ participation in the April 10th Left Hand Path Consortium event. However, since that time Invictus’ far-Right worldview plus his role in regrouping and organizing white supremacists have all become even more apparent. For example, while visiting the Pacific Northwest late February Invictus spoke before a gathering of neo-Nazis affiliated with the American Front, the organization whose Florida leader Marcus Faella Invictus represented in court. Following his time in the Northwest US (including a minor fracas with antifascists while visiting Portland, Oregon) Invictus attempted to enter Canada to speak in Vancouver, BC. Invictus was turned away at the border due to his links to neo-Nazis; white supremacists including a former leader of a “Blood & Honour” neo-Nazi faction had planned to attend Invictus’ Vancouver event.

Despite Invictus’ role in far-Right organizing–including his increasing efforts alongside neo-Nazis–the International Left Hand Path Consortium organizers insist on hosting Augustus Invictus as a speaker at their upcoming Atlanta event. At times, these organizers have taken ludicrous positions while defending their decision to host Invictus–for example arguing that Invictus’ use of the symbol of the fasces does not imply any sympathy towards fascist ideology, a point which is easily debunked.

invictus american fascistAugustus Invictus describes himself as “American Fascist”

If you wish to express concern about Invictus’ speaking engagement at the International Left Hand Path Consortium, contact the Sheraton Atlanta Airport Hotel venue here.

Background on the NSM event in Rome is here. If you have further information about Invictus’ appearance or the Rome rally, please get in contact.

 

Occultism and Fascism: Augustus Invictus to Speak at April “International Left Hand Path Consortium” in Atlanta

Update 3/14/2016: Invictus has been dropped from the International Left Hand Path Consortium event, see story here.

An occultist gathering to be held at the Sheraton Atlanta Airport Hotel on April 8-10th will feature a Florida lawyer and candidate for US Senate who circulates fascist iconography plus writings online, and who proudly claims to be “friends” with militant neo-Nazis.

augustus invictusAugustus Invictus

The “International Left Hand Path Consortium” gathering in April has included Augustus Invictus as a presenter at the occultist event. As a Libertarian Party candidate for US Senate, Invictus’ campaign website prominently displays the fasces, the original symbol of Italian fascism. In October 2015, the then-Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Florida, Adrian Wyllie, resigned from his position within the Party in protest of Invictus’ nomination as Libertarian for US Senate, citing Invictus’ far-Right politics as the reason for this resignation.

falcon-fasces-logoFascist symbol incorporated into Augustus Invictus’ campaign logo

While Invictus has claimed that he does not endorse the racist pseudoscience of eugenics, his US Senate campaign site criticizes the US Federal Government because:

It has abandoned its eugenics programs & elitist mindset in favor of a decadent ideology that rejects the beauty of strength and demands the exponential growth of the weakest, the least intelligent, and the most diseased.

Invictus claims not to be a racist because “My four children are Hispanic.”

As a lawyer, Invictus has defended Marcus Faella, Florida leader of the American Front (a white supremacist organization.) Invictus however goes beyond legal work in referring to Marcus Faella as a “friend” on his campaign website.

Invictus’ legal/political website includes readings from the works of Francis Parker Yockey, one of the major theorists of post-war fascism. Augustus Invictus also expounds on his beliefs on the website of the “National Anarchist Tribal Alliance,” a neo-fascist group. (For information on national anarchism, see here.)

If you wish to object to Invictus’ speaking engagement at the “International Left Hand Path Consortium,” the event organizers may be contacted at: lhpconsortium@gmail.com. Contact info for the Sheraton Atlanta Airport Hotel may be found here.

* * *

Note 2/23/16: the main organizer of the International Left Hand Path Consortium has issued a response to this article, most of which consists of rationalization and excuse-making. Two points are enough:

  • “National anarchism” is a distinctly fascist brand of politics that has little to do with anarchism proper. See for example this article stressing that: “despite the [‘national anarchist’] name, National-Anarchists have not emerged from inside the anarchist movement, and, intellectually, their origins are not based in its ideas.”
  • The International Left Hand Path Consortium response explains a pro-eugenics quote from Augustus Invictus this way: “Augustus wrote that paper while he was in law school and has since recanted it […] Can you name one person who has not written or said something in their youth who later regretted it?” In fact, the quote is taken directly from Invictus’ “Declaration of the Failings of Federal Government” not his earlier pro-eugenics paper. Invictus’ “Declaration” remains live on the Invictus for Senate campaign website without any sort of retraction.

Racist, Far-Right Propaganda and Threats Against Leftists at Georgia State University: What Does It Mean, Who Is Responsible?

This September and October a large number of far-Right propaganda stickers were plastered around the Georgia State University (GSU) campus in downtown Atlanta in order to claim political territory (see seventy-six photos here). This propaganda spree was meant not only to encourage racist students and those with far-Right sympathies, but also to intimidate students of color–who make up the majority of the student body–as well as leftists. The purpose of this article is to provide context about some of the far-Right propaganda littered throughout campus, and also to discuss who is responsible for the white nationalist campaign at GSU. The final section provides evidence that GSU economics major Patrick Sharp is responsible for the racist campaign.

The Stickers: How to Interpret Common Images and Slogans of the Extreme, Racist Right

  • White Lives Matter

whitelivesmatter-sticker“White Lives Matter” is not only a response to the Black Lives Matter movement. The slogan also reflects white nationalist belief that white people are under threat and fast becoming victims in an increasingly diverse society. This zero-sum worldview–in which any advance made by people of color is considered as a loss to the white population–has led to many ideological racists now claiming that a process of “white genocide” is underway.

“White Lives Matter” pages on Facebook mostly propagate crude anti-Black racism.

  • Celtic Cross

CELTIC-CROSS-stickerWhile more ornate versions of the Celtic Cross may be displayed by non-racists, the stylized version above has been adopted as a symbol by fascists and white nationalists. The first fascist use of this symbol was in France during the mid-Twentieth Century. Today the Celtic Cross is incorporated into the masthead for Stormfront.org, the web’s first major white racist website.

Stormfront masthead
Stormfront masthead
  • Good Night Left Side

good night left sideAnti-leftism and anti-socialism are long-running themes on the far-Right. This image portrays and celebrates an assault on a leftist (who is designated by a star). The “Good Night Left Side” image is implicitly a threat against leftists and others who stand up to the far-Right. This implicit threat is further amplified when the stickers are directly placed over flyers from college groups such as the GSU Progressive Student Alliance (see here.)

(The college branch of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement also had posters targeted, but in this case a “White Lives Matter” and a Celtic Cross sticker were used, see here.)

  • Against the Modern World

against the modern world stickerThis sticker joins the slogan “Against the Modern World” with an Algiz rune (or “life rune.”) The Algiz rune is sometimes displayed by non-racist pagans, but this symbol has also been appropriated by the extreme-Right. To give one example of the racist use of this rune: it features in the logo of the National Alliance, which was at one point the leading neo-Nazi organization in the US (although it is currently in shambles.)

National Alliance logo incorporating Algiz rune, an example of its use in far-Right contexts
National Alliance logo incorporating Algiz rune, an example of its use in far-Right contexts

The slogan “Against the Modern World” is a reference to Julius Evola’s book Revolt Against the Modern World. Evola (1898 – 1974) was an esoteric “traditionalist” writer who Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke described as “an inspiration, mentor and guru figure” for the neo-fascist bombers who participated in terrorism in Italy during the 1970s and early ‘80s [1]. Decades earlier, Evola had spent the 1930s attempting to influence the Italian Fascist Party and then the Nazi SS towards his aristocratic esoteric worldview [2].

“Against the Modern World” is also a reference to the UK ‘neofolk’ musical act Sol Invictus, who have their own links to fascism although the musical project now portrays itself as non-political.

Finally, in recent times the white nationalist Traditionalist Youth Network (TYN) has used the “Against the Modern World” design in at least one of their protests. (TYN did not create the design, which seems to originate from a Belarusian right-wing clothing company.) Below is an image of a 2013 TYN protest in which the “Against the Modern World” design is featured on placards.

tradyouth against the modern world_sm

  • Stickers from the Vlaamse Jongeren Mechelen (VJM)

VJM-closeup-A VJM-closeup-BThe Vlaamse Jongeren Mechelen (VJM) was a Flemish ultra-nationalist group which organized with neo-Nazis. It was founded in the mid-1990s and disbanded a decade later.

Further Details about the Stickers Appearing around GSU

The first three sticker designs discussed above–“White Lives Matter,” the Celtic Cross, and “Good Night Left Side”–are all sold by Tightrope, an online retailer of neo-Nazi and Klan paraphernalia whose logo is a white fist clutching a noose.

An early-September post on the racist Stormfront website made it clear that the “White Lives Matters” stickers are currently only sold by Tightrope. Approximately one week after this post was made on Stormfront, the first of the “White Lives Matter” stickers surfaced around GSU.

wlm stickers annoucement stormfront Sept 15Unlike the other far-Right stickers that have surfaced on campus recently, the “Against the Modern World” ones are not professionally-produced, looking instead as if they were created on a photocopier or laser printer. However, it is likely that the same person who posted the stickers available from Tightrope around campus has also been placing the “Against the Modern World” ones. The “Against the Modern World” stickers have appeared alongside the Tightrope designs (see here, here and here.) Both “Against the Modern World” and Tightrope designs have been placed over “Hip Hop Lives Here” stickers on campus promoting the A3C hip-hop festival (see images here and here).This again suggests that the same person is putting up the different far-Right designs, specifically targeting hip-hop culture.

Only two stickers from the Vlaamse Jongeren Mechelen have appeared on campus. They appeared on the same campus map, posted on the same day. An “Against the Modern World” sticker appeared alongside one of the VJM designs. This indicates that the same person who posted the “Against the Modern World” designs also likely posted the VJM stickers. As indicated earlier, it seems that the person who posted the “Against the Modern World” stickers is the same person who circulated the Tightrope stickers.

The VJM stickers also suggest that someone who is highly immersed in the white power and far-Right scenes is responsible for the GSU campaign. Simply put: someone who merely dabbled in far-Right involvement would be highly unlikely to receive stickers from an obscure European organization that ended a decade ago. Materials such as the VJM stickers are far more likely to be owned by somebody who is an active networker in the white power world.

So… Who Spread the Far-Right Stickers?

There is very strong reason to believe that Patrick Sharp, who attempted to form a White Students Union at GSU two years ago, is responsible for this year’s far-Right sticker campaign on campus.

  • On October 1st as well as on October 8th, Patrick Sharp was observed less than a block away from where fresh stickers had appeared, just minutes before or after the new stickers went up.
  • The “White Lives Matters” stickers were advertised as available only through Tightrope (see advertising post on Stormfront above.) In a photo published below dating from 2014, Patrick Sharp is shown as wearing a black tanktop with a “black sun”/Schwarze Sonne design. This esoteric design is favored by many fascist and far-Right activists (the symbol was incorporated into a floor mosaic at the Nazi SS Generals’ Hall in Wewelsburg castle). Black sun merchandise such as the tanktop is available from a variety of online retailers, but Tightrope is the cheapest and most prominent source for such an item in the US. It is likely that Sharp has a purchasing history with Tightrope, which is also the source for the stickers.
Patrick Sharp
Patrick Sharp
Black sun tanktop sold on Tightrope website
Black sun tanktop sold on Tightrope website
  • Patrick Sharp also flaunts his racist and far-Right views on campus. Below are images of Sharp on campus November 5th which further confirm that Sharp’s public messaging is an excellent match for the stickers posted around GSU.psharp nov 5 2015 aprox 3-50pm psharp nov 5 2015 buttons aprox 3-50pmThe buttons displayed by Sharp on his backpack show his involvement in the far-Right subculture. As well as the confederate flag and the “black sun” design (discussed earlier) the crossed out “equals” sign signifies a refusal of egalitarianism. Rock Against Communism is a music scene which was born in the English far-Right of the 1970s and ‘80s but has now gone international. The musicians in the “RAC” scene do not simply oppose communism but typically endorse extreme racism and fascist politics. The message of Sharp’s RAC pin also complements that of the “Good Night Left Side” stickers around campus. Finally, the Death’s Head/totenkopf was a symbol worn by the Nazi SS and clearly designates extreme-Right politics.
    The five buttons discussed here are also sold by Tightrope. (Some but not all of them are also currently sold by Micetrap, another white supremacist music and paraphernalia retailer.)
  • The politics represented in the stickers around GSU campus match Sharp’s racism and hatred of leftism as expressed online.
    The basic contours of Sharp’s politics have been public knowledge for a couple of years, ever since Sharp tried to start the White Student Union and his online history was unearthed. The key articles on this topic published in 2013 are Atlanta blogger biscuette’s exposé of Sharp’s ideological racism, plus The Lamp’s discussion of Sharp’s Stormfront posting history–in which Sharp denounced his own father as a “race traitor.” Despite Sharp’s claims to the contrary, his politics appear to have changed little since he made these posts.
    The 2013 exposés of Sharp focused on Sharp’s racism, but Sharp’s apocalyptic brand of anti-leftism went mostly undiscussed. Consider this gem by Sharp (under his “frozenpie77” moniker) on the racist “red pill” website Heartiste, in which Sharp praised the neo-fascist Golden Dawn in Greece:
    frozenpie77 heartisteThe above comment would be laughable except that Sharp takes it seriously–he fantasizes about violence against leftists.
    Sharp’s former affiliation with the Traditionalist Youth Network (TYN)–revealed in 2013–is also important to bear in mind in the current context of the stickers on campus, since one of the designs littered around campus was also popular with the TYN. While Sharp formally cut ties between the GSU White Student Union and the TYN in 2013, this does not mean that Sharp actually moved far away from TYN politics. Below is a group photograph from the 2015 American Renaissance conference–which Sharp has attended for the past three years–showing Patrick Sharp on the left and TYN’s Tony Hovater on the far right. It is clear that Sharp continues to move in at least broadly the same racist circles.

Patrick_Sharp_American Renaissance 2015

  • Finally, the timing of when stickers appear on campus should be considered. Not only have most stickers appeared on campus at times Sharp is known to be around (and has been spotted) such as Thursday afternoons, but the stickering campaign tapered off as Sharp was getting ready to travel to Washington DC for the white nationalist National Policy Institute conference at the end of October.
sharp at NPI smaller
Patrick Sharp at the National Policy Institute conference October 31, 2015. Sharp is in the blue shirt, between the person taking a photo and NPI president Richard Spencer, who is gesturing.

To summarize: twice Sharp has been seen in the immediate vicinity of where stickers appeared, just before or after these fresh stickers were sighted. Some of the stickers posted around GSU campus were sold by Tightrope, which also sells a clothing item worn by Sharp. Sharp displays buttons on his backpack that point to the same far-Right politics as promoted by the sticker campaign. (The buttons are also sold by Tightrope.) Sharp’s online history again shows the same white nationalist and violently anti-leftist political agenda. Finally, the sticker campaign at GSU died down as Sharp was getting ready to travel to Washington DC for a major white nationalist event. As an increasingly well-connected white nationalist, Sharp has the means and the motivation to put up the stickers. He is deeply enough immersed in the white power scene to receive materials such as the VJM stickers. Sharp has been spotted when stickers go up. Sharp now has some explaining to do–but don’t expect the truth. This is the person who wears Nazi insignia around campus yet claimed “My most important goal with the [white student union] is to guard it from […]  neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and anyone with nefarious intent.” Integrity, it seems, is not a white power strongpoint.

NOTES

[1] Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity. (New York/London: New York University Press, 2002). 52.

[2] Sedgwick, Mark. Against the Modern World : Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2004). 107.

Documentation: Racist and Far-Right Stickers around Georgia State University Campus, Fall 2015

Dates are for when the stickers were photographed. All stickers were removed after being photographed.

This photo archive does not contain every racist/far-Right sticker placed around the GSU campus. Other people not involved with this blog have also noticed the far-Right propaganda campaign.

Those stickers photographed in November were likely placed weeks earlier, but were concealed for some time when posters for local events were placed over them.

August 13, 2015:

2015-08-13September 2, 2015:

2015-09-02_A 2015-09-02_BSeptember 14, 2015:

2015-09-14

September 16, 2015:

2015-09-16_A2015-09-16_B2015-09-16_CSeptember 17, 2015:

2015-09-17_A 2015-09-17_B 2015-09-17_C 2015-09-17_D 2015-09-17_E 2015-09-17_FSeptember 18, 2015:

2015-09-18September 21, 2015:

2015-09-21_A 2015-09-21_B 2015-09-21_C 2015-09-21_D 2015-09-21_ESeptember 23, 2015:

2015-09-23_A 2015-09-23_B 2015-09-23_C 2015-09-23_DSeptember 24, 2015:

2015-09-24_A 2015-09-24_B 2015-09-24_C 2015-09-24_D 2015-09-24_E 2015-09-24_F 2015-09-24_G 2015-09-24_H 2015-09-24_I 2015-09-24_J 2015-09-24_K 2015-09-24_L 2015-09-24_M 2015-09-24_N 2015-09-24_O 2015-09-24_POctober 1, 2015:

2015-10-01_A 2015-10-01_B 2015-10-01_C 2015-10-01_D 2015-10-01_E 2015-10-01_F 2015-10-01_GOctober 7, 2015:

2015-10-07_A 2015-10-07_B 2015-10-07_C 2015-10-07_D 2015-10-07_EOctober 8, 2015:

2015-10-08_A 2015-10-08_B 2015-10-08_C 2015-10-08_D 2015-10-08_E 2015-10-08_F 2015-10-08_G 2015-10-08_H 2015-10-08_I 2015-10-08_J 2015-10-08_KOctober 12, 2015:

2015-10-12October 15, 2015:

2015-10-15_A 2015-10-15_B 2015-10-15_C 2015-10-15_D 2015-10-15_E 2015-10-15_F 2015-10-15_G 2015-10-15_H 2015-10-15_I 2015-10-15_J 2015-10-15_KNovember 4, 2015:

2015-11-04 November 6, 2015:

2015-11-06