White nationalist group distributes fliers in Edmonds, other communities

A photo of one of the flyers left in the Maplewood area overnight.

Residents in Edmonds’ Maplewood neighborhood reported to My Edmonds News Sunday that they had received an unwelcome delivery in their driveways overnight: plastic bags weighted down by small rocks and containing flyers promoting the white nationalist group Patriot Front.

It appears the the flyer distribution was concentrated in the Maplewood area. The incident has been reported to Edmonds police.

According a report on the West Seattle Blog, the flyers were also distributed in several neighborhoods there, and “web searches show it’s turned up in other Puget Sound communities including Bellevue, as well as other states, such as Texas, where the group is reported to be based.”

 

    1. Good point. Reading their manifesto, they seem nationalist not supremacist. Based on what little ive read, Harriet Tubman would be accepted into their ethos, which seems to focus on how founding principles translate to unique American culture. The American National Socialists is specifically a white supremacy group/party by comparison. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Movement_(United_States)

      Media is sort of ilequipped to cover non-left politics.

      1. I looked at the manifesto. This paragraph screams “white supremacy” by referring to a “savage continent” and “common enemy” as welll as referring to European blood toward the end of the paragraph. Good try, guys.
        “When our European ancestors first came to this savage continent they had a variety of purpose. Set against the harsh life on the frontier and the common enemy in the strange, unexplored reaches of America yet to be touched by civilization, they found a common cause and a common identity as Americans. From the varied nations and cultures of Europe a new nation was forged in the flames of conquest. E Pluribus Unum was the new creed that bound our people together with their pan-European identity as Americans. To be an American is to be a descendant of conquerors, pioneers, visionaries, and explorers. This unique identity was given to us by our ancestors, and this national spirit remains firmly rooted in our blood.”

        1. Amy, I gotta agree with you. However “savage” is an academic word and it was used in that context. Anthropologists to this day publish works such as the “The Myth of the Nobel Savage”, using “savage” to describe pre-civilized hunter-gatherers. Their manifesto is using “savage” to describe land, not people too, which adds another layer of obfuscation. I do agree there is a lot of coded language there, both non inclusive and socialist (anti individual). The same coded language tenique can be read in MEN. The term is dog-whistling.
          https://myedmondsnews.com/2019/01/edmonds-booktalk-barack-obamas-favorite-books-plus-upcoming-events/

          Regardless, I think you are right. I read a bit about the group’s organizers who dont seem to be the best characters. The feedback loop is branding them racist even though they arent being explicitly racist attracts more extreme members to their groups. The way the media handled the Charlottesville tragedy is a recruitment tool (see video below for the nuance) – even the skinheads who beat up the local DJ see it as a seminal event. A lot of this extremism is best charaterized as classic communists verse socialists.
          https://youtu.be/v2aPCmuX1lo

      2. That said, their language isnt inclusive from a contemporary POV, not that it’s exclusive. A critique would be that even though our society was based on European systems and values, it doesn’t mean it’s not a melting pot. Nationalism does target individualism and there is a lot of animosity in their manifesto for the individual. Only in the context of globalism [world government] is nationalism right of center.

        1. Isn’t inclusive? They have a photo of a sign advocating deportation of non whites on their websites. Racism is defined as prejudice against people of different race. They very very very clearly have that in large quantities Why are you trying so hard to make excuses for white nationalists?

      3. James Alex Fields, who murdered Heather Heyer, is a member of Patriot Front, a neo-nazi terrorist organization. SPLC moniters these groups.

  1. Our cheesie little hate filled baggie ended up in the garbage where it & its hateful intent belong. It never entered my home.
    We are a community of inclusiveness & safety for those looking for a place where raceism & hatred are not tolerated.

  2. Thank you Kathy, Amy and Elizabeth.
    Racism in whatever form needs to be confronted. Racism is not welcome in Edmonds.
    I’m sorry Kathy that you had to deal with this personally.

    1. Thank you Peter. My grandparents fought nazis in WW2, and we honor their legacy by resisting neo-nazis here and now.

      1. Just like Japan proves and other states prove, socialism requires national (usually ethnic) identity to balance the books. The Patriot Front is tapping into that sentiment. If the Patriot Front is racist, then certainly other nation-first ideology is racist. Is La Raza racist? Is a white version of La Raza racist? Last night I read this bit about how MLK didn’t confuse Patriotism with Nationalism, which is seems like Patriot Front is taking advantage of that confusion.

        “Patriotism is the critical affirmation of one’s country in light of its best values, including the attempt to correct it when it’s in error. Nationalism is the uncritical support of one’s nation regardless of its moral or political bearing.”

        https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/christianity/2006/01/a-true-revolution-of-values.aspx

        1. Your constant attempts to defend ethnic based nationalism concern me, but also tell me a lot about you.

  3. This is hate propaganda and as such is a threat to you, and me, and every American. Patriot Front is a fundamentalist white nationalist hate group that broke off from Vanguard America in the aftermath of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, of August 12, 2017, where anti-racist protester Heather Heyer was murdered by a white nationalist. The organization is neo-Nazi and explicitly fascist.
    Here is a link to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s analysis of PF.
    https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/patriot-front
    Patriot Front is fundamentally anti-American and seeks a white ethnostate with an explicit exclusion of people of color. This is not who our community is and must have no place within our community.

  4. Dominic,
    Greenpeace doesn’t murder people, whereas Patriot Front, as an offshoot of Vanguard America, actively advocates for and carries out (Heather Heyer) homicidal attacks in trains (Portland) and neighborhoods all over the US. That is a huge difference in mission, rhetoric, and actions, not just opinions.

  5. Anti-fascists all over the world do 3 things: 1. De-platform fascists. In other words, block the spread of fascist propaganda and recruitment 2. Debunk the falsehoods inherent in fascist propaganda and 3. Gather intel to identify and expose fascists, thereby making it increasingly uncomfortable for them to spread their ideology. 99% of our work is non-violent/self-defense and never covered by mainstream media. Unicorn Riot is a great source for Anti-fascist news.

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