INTEL BRIEF: Arrested and unmasked

— ARRESTED AND UNMASKED… Two apparent members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were arrested over the weekend in Salem, Massachusetts on suspicion of vandalizing a public transit station. The men, Kyle Morelli and Alex Beilman, both 27, had a court appearance on Tuesday, according to The Salem News. While the arrests and charges are minor, they effectively unmasked two members of a group that relies on anonymity. As David Neiwert of Daily Kos recently noted, Patriot Front has been engaging in a nationwide campaign of vandalism, targeting George Floyd statues and Black Lives Matter murals in multiple U.S. cities. The group’s founder, Thomas Ryan Rousseau, was arrested last year on a minor charge of criminal mischief for allegedly putting up Patriot Front stickers on public property.

— THEIR OWN TERMS… After my report about Turning Point USA advisor Rip McIntosh was published on Monday, a few readers asked me whether his racist email newsletter broke the rules of the platform he uses to publish it. Constant Contact’s policies prohibit “blatant expressions of bigotry, prejudice, racism, hatred” and more. As I highlighted in my article, McIntosh has used Constant Contact to publish essays that are explicitly anti-Black, including one that said Black people have “become socially incompatible with other races.”

On Monday, I reached out to the company to see if they had any comment. In response, a spokesperson sent me this generic statement:

It is our policy at Constant Contact to not comment on the account standing of any of our customers. We take these matters seriously and have a team that thoroughly reviews individual cases when they are brought to our attention.

It’s unclear if the company investigated or took any action against McIntosh’s newsletter. The Florida man continued publishing emails on his Constant Contact newsletter through Wednesday but hadn’t published anything on Thursday. A message to McIntosh seeking comment on Thursday was not immediately returned.

— MUST READ… The Washington Post came out with a big article on Wednesday about Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s history of white grievance politics. Carlson has helped mainstream a lot of extremist talking points this year from his perch as the most-watched cable TV news host in the U.S. The Post’s article shows that this is not a new turn for Carlson, even if he has accelerated his rhetoric.

— 16 PEOPLE CHARGED… “Florida ‘white supremacist gang’ members indicted on kidnapping, assault charges” (Tampa Bay Times)

— HIGH ANXIETY… “‘No Vaccine for Racism’: Asian New Yorkers Still Live in Fear of Attacks” (The New York Times)

— EXTREMISTS IN THE MILITARY… “Boise men charged in neo-Nazi gun case get another co-defendant. He’s in the military” (Idaho Statesman)

— GOOD NEWS FOR FREE SPEECH… “Court tosses lawsuit over articles on lawyer’s neo-Nazi ties” (Associated Press)

— THE BASE GETS OUTLAWED… “UK bans fifth neo-Nazi group under terror laws” (BBC)

— BRANDING… “This Sunglass Company Is at War With Far-Right Extremists” (The Daily Beast)

— PRESSING DOWN… “Under pressure after the Capitol riot, self-styled militias are regrouping around anti-vaxx conspiracy theories” (Insider)

— THE TRUMP LINE… “Proud Boys, other groups, rally at FL’s Old Capitol to demand release of ‘patriots’ from Jan. 6 insurrection” (Florida Phoenix)

— UNDER INVESTIGATION… “Officer with right wing militia sticker on vehicle taken off patrol by Columbia police” (The State)

— TROUBLE IN IDAHO… “Man suspected of hate crime after holding family at knifepoint at Post Falls rest stop, saying, ‘Go back to Africa’” (The Spokesman-Review)

— AN ARREST IN NORTH CAROLINA… “Man arrested after Black Lives Matter mural defaced in NC town” (WAVY)

— ANTI-ASIAN HATE… “Volusia County man sentenced to one year in jail for hate crime” (WESH)

— ‘MAKES NO SENSE’… “ACLU denounces hate crime charge over ‘Back the Blue’ sign damage” (The Salt Lake Tribune)

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