Mark Pitcavage
@markpitcavage.bsky.social
Senior Research Fellow & Policy Adviser, ADL Center on Extremism. Historian, long-time expert on right-wing extremism & terrorism. Long-lost scion of Sidney Greenstreet. My own views only.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, interviewed yesterday on 60 Minutes, on the idea of pardoning the Capitol stormers:
January 13, 2025 at 10:03 PM
FBI Director Christopher Wray, interviewed yesterday on 60 Minutes, on the idea of pardoning the Capitol stormers:
When you try to argue w/someone who's studied/monitored right-wing extremists for 31 years, 28 of them professionally, you really ought to have a command of the facts. There are plenty of neo-Nazis who believe the Holocaust happened--and celebrate it--which is why they get tattoos like these.
January 2, 2025 at 4:44 PM
When you try to argue w/someone who's studied/monitored right-wing extremists for 31 years, 28 of them professionally, you really ought to have a command of the facts. There are plenty of neo-Nazis who believe the Holocaust happened--and celebrate it--which is why they get tattoos like these.
You don't even have to go the courthouse. People excitedly post on social media all the time when they get their U.S. citizenship (see example below). It's up to us to make sure that the future U.S. remains a place people get excited to be a part of. No small task.
December 26, 2024 at 8:26 PM
You don't even have to go the courthouse. People excitedly post on social media all the time when they get their U.S. citizenship (see example below). It's up to us to make sure that the future U.S. remains a place people get excited to be a part of. No small task.
The next time you change your sheets and comforters on Bluesky, you might want to pay attention to people like this:
December 26, 2024 at 8:20 PM
The next time you change your sheets and comforters on Bluesky, you might want to pay attention to people like this:
J. Wellington Wimply was the original troll.
December 26, 2024 at 8:16 PM
J. Wellington Wimply was the original troll.
It was par for the course for the Constitutional Education League, which also went after the YWCA. I'm afraid to know what the lotions of love pamphlet was about. Kamp spent 4 months in prison for refusing to reveal his funding sources to Congress.
December 26, 2024 at 5:37 PM
It was par for the course for the Constitutional Education League, which also went after the YWCA. I'm afraid to know what the lotions of love pamphlet was about. Kamp spent 4 months in prison for refusing to reveal his funding sources to Congress.
Government programs aiding education and the elderly were simply preludes to Nazism, in the writer's mind.
December 26, 2024 at 5:37 PM
Government programs aiding education and the elderly were simply preludes to Nazism, in the writer's mind.
It was an early example of the far right fixation on the word "socialist" in "National Socialist."
December 26, 2024 at 5:37 PM
It was an early example of the far right fixation on the word "socialist" in "National Socialist."
Enjoy this free bit of extremist history.
"Hitler Was A Liberal," 1949 pamphlet by Joseph P. Kamp, published by the Constitutional Educational League, an early attempt by the far right to "switch" Hitler to the left.
"Hitler Was A Liberal," 1949 pamphlet by Joseph P. Kamp, published by the Constitutional Educational League, an early attempt by the far right to "switch" Hitler to the left.
December 26, 2024 at 5:37 PM
Enjoy this free bit of extremist history.
"Hitler Was A Liberal," 1949 pamphlet by Joseph P. Kamp, published by the Constitutional Educational League, an early attempt by the far right to "switch" Hitler to the left.
"Hitler Was A Liberal," 1949 pamphlet by Joseph P. Kamp, published by the Constitutional Educational League, an early attempt by the far right to "switch" Hitler to the left.
In 2020 (see below), I outlined the history of military efforts to deal with extremism, which often involved patchwork efforts following some embarrassing act of violence or scandal involving extremists, often during a surge of extremism in the U.S.
docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/...
docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/...
December 26, 2024 at 5:09 PM
In 2020 (see below), I outlined the history of military efforts to deal with extremism, which often involved patchwork efforts following some embarrassing act of violence or scandal involving extremists, often during a surge of extremism in the U.S.
docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/...
docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/...
Hoping Santa brings me a neck! 😉
Happy holidays to all! Peace and good will to all--we sure need it! ❤️
Happy holidays to all! Peace and good will to all--we sure need it! ❤️
December 25, 2024 at 3:52 AM
Hoping Santa brings me a neck! 😉
Happy holidays to all! Peace and good will to all--we sure need it! ❤️
Happy holidays to all! Peace and good will to all--we sure need it! ❤️
His earlier conviction, back in 2003, stemmed from a plot to attack the FBI. I have a lot of materials from that incident, including letters he wrote from jail. Here's a summary I wrote at the time:
December 24, 2024 at 6:21 PM
His earlier conviction, back in 2003, stemmed from a plot to attack the FBI. I have a lot of materials from that incident, including letters he wrote from jail. Here's a summary I wrote at the time:
Not surprisingly, his posts also contain anti-LGBTQ+ content.
December 14, 2024 at 8:04 PM
Not surprisingly, his posts also contain anti-LGBTQ+ content.
His oldest (thus first) post, from 22 days ago, features a meme of the mosque shooter. Bluesky did not catch this in three weeks.
December 14, 2024 at 8:04 PM
His oldest (thus first) post, from 22 days ago, features a meme of the mosque shooter. Bluesky did not catch this in three weeks.
They also feature a snippet of the video of the mosque shooting attack itself (which the shooter livestreamed).
December 14, 2024 at 8:04 PM
They also feature a snippet of the video of the mosque shooting attack itself (which the shooter livestreamed).
His posts also feature an image of the mosque shooter.
December 14, 2024 at 8:04 PM
His posts also feature an image of the mosque shooter.
His top post is an animation featuring a mass shooting attack with someone with a decorated guns (like the mosque shooter) attacking and killing "Fat Shaniquahs," which probably makes the animation a reference to the Buffalo supermarket mass shooting targeting black people.
December 14, 2024 at 8:04 PM
His top post is an animation featuring a mass shooting attack with someone with a decorated guns (like the mosque shooter) attacking and killing "Fat Shaniquahs," which probably makes the animation a reference to the Buffalo supermarket mass shooting targeting black people.
Note that the person's Bluesky address references the name of the shooter and the number of his victims. The background pic on the platform also references the shooter.
December 14, 2024 at 8:04 PM
Note that the person's Bluesky address references the name of the shooter and the number of his victims. The background pic on the platform also references the shooter.
As my old twitter posts are copied to this platform, I received this reply to one of them, saying that white supremacist terrorist who launched deadly shooting attacks at mosques in New Zealand had done "nothing wrong."
December 14, 2024 at 8:04 PM
As my old twitter posts are copied to this platform, I received this reply to one of them, saying that white supremacist terrorist who launched deadly shooting attacks at mosques in New Zealand had done "nothing wrong."
The next reference I found (and the last I'll came from a 1957 article in the Chicago Tribune, featuring someone calling Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a sundown town.
December 13, 2024 at 10:45 AM
The next reference I found (and the last I'll came from a 1957 article in the Chicago Tribune, featuring someone calling Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a sundown town.
My next find did not come until 1952, in an article in the Bartlesville (OK) Record, in which a college student asserts that the University of Oklahoma was accepting of black students, despite Norman, OK, where it was situated, being a sundown town. Perhaps an optimistic portrayal? I don't know.
December 13, 2024 at 10:45 AM
My next find did not come until 1952, in an article in the Bartlesville (OK) Record, in which a college student asserts that the University of Oklahoma was accepting of black students, despite Norman, OK, where it was situated, being a sundown town. Perhaps an optimistic portrayal? I don't know.
in the context of black people, as opposed to other groups. For example, it was occasionally used in the context of keeping "tramps" out (and in fact, to my surprise, the town of Beattie, Kansas, was mentioned in that capacity as well!).
December 13, 2024 at 10:45 AM
in the context of black people, as opposed to other groups. For example, it was occasionally used in the context of keeping "tramps" out (and in fact, to my surprise, the town of Beattie, Kansas, was mentioned in that capacity as well!).
I didn't expect my first find to come as late as that (though note it is referencing an earlier time). Now, note that I wasn't looking for any reference to a sundown town (like the one below, from 1942: Taft, California), but to the specific phrase "sundown town." I was also looking for the term
December 13, 2024 at 10:45 AM
I didn't expect my first find to come as late as that (though note it is referencing an earlier time). Now, note that I wasn't looking for any reference to a sundown town (like the one below, from 1942: Taft, California), but to the specific phrase "sundown town." I was also looking for the term
One great thing about having access to a big digitized newspaper collection is that you can satisfy your curiosity about anything. Tonight I wondered what was the earliest reference I could find to the phrase "sundown town." I found it in a 1936 piece in the Beattie (KS; pop 434 in 1930) Journal.
December 13, 2024 at 10:45 AM
One great thing about having access to a big digitized newspaper collection is that you can satisfy your curiosity about anything. Tonight I wondered what was the earliest reference I could find to the phrase "sundown town." I found it in a 1936 piece in the Beattie (KS; pop 434 in 1930) Journal.
Interesting quote from WaPo.
December 11, 2024 at 5:39 PM
Interesting quote from WaPo.