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this post was submitted on 01 May 2024
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I think this is a good example of how vigilantes often work to support the state's goals when it can't legally/easily complete their goals.
For every fascistic government still bound by laws, there will be fascists willing to ignore them to support it. See this. See the KKK carrying out lynchings on people who are barely escaping the grasp of the state. See the settlers illegally settling on Palestinian land to carry out the state's goals of ethnic cleansing.
Hate is a powerful tool used by fascists to rally people to violence. Every one of these attackers should be arrested and thrown in prison.
Hate is a strong motivator but it uses up too much fuel and burns itself out. To see it only as hate is a bit reductionist. You can only use hate to motivate yourself for so long.
Fear, envy, and uncertainty/fear of the future are much more longstanding motivators used to continue fascist creep.
Regardless, fascists align themselves with the state. The police often can’t get away with crushing protesters without suffering bad PR, and risking strengthening popular support when images of police brutality evoke memories of past brutalities.
Fascist vigilantes don’t care about PR, and they might get the support of the police (or they get the police’s non-support of their enemies) or even the government
Vigilante porn is too useful as propaganda. Americans, especially, love the imagery of a tough person who steps up and does "the right thing," where traditional tools of enforcement are weakened by corruption, incompetence, or policy. Doesn't matter if it's Dirty Harry, Batman, or some Christian Nationalist with a sharpened flagpole.
In situations like this, it's common that the vigilantes are not actually rogue. They're working together with the police. They might be friends, they might be off duty cops, and they could easily be messaging each other about what ought to be done when.
I don't have any specific evidence that this situation is as described above, but we know that many others have been and will be.
Yep.
If we travel back in time a little bit you will find obvious examples, such as the police working directly with the klan (specifically the 2nd klan) and instances of sherrifs deputizing people to allow them to carry out extreme violence against bipoc
Don't need to go all the way back to the Klan: Video shows Portland officers made deal with far-right group leader