A recent Buzzfeed story directly quoted a fellow Kentuckian.
“I feel like jews immigrants and muslims are a malicious threat to the Unites States and it’s economy that’s why the people are in current state of civil unrest these n!##3π’$ are causing them selves to be shot by the police and Making the split even bigger I feel as if there’s going to be a huge race war and whites will come out on top. How do you feel about this statement?” – Vincent KY
Vincent is part of a global white nationalist movement. They call themselves Patriot Front.
Patriot Front is identified as a white nationalist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group formed when members of the neo-Nazi group, American Vanguard, rebranded their image after a member killed an anti-fascist counter protestor.
The “Unite the Right” rally was organized in 2017 to protest the removal of a confederate statue in Charlottesville Virginia. Over 450 white nationalists from various Alt-Right groups attended. Some of those individuals and groups were from Kentucky.
Boone County native, James Alex Fields, used his automobile as a weapon and drove into a crowd of counter protestors killing Heather Heyer.
Fields graduated in 2015 from Randall K. Cooper High School in Union, Kentucky. There were red flags of extremism as far back as middle school when Fields drew swastikas and talked about loving Hitler.
Patriot Front has been active in Kentucky for almost 2 years. Their manifesto claims they are on a mission towards a “hard reset” and “a return to the traditions and virtues of our forefathers”.
In the summer of 2018, ADL recorded propaganda flyers that read “Will your speech be hate speech?” and “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Victory” in Oldham County. Other cities and towns recorded as receiving propaganda in the last two years include: Hancock, Corbin, London, Florence, Hebron, Ashland, Bromley, Paris, Newport, Fort Thomas, Prospect, Hartford, Mt Washington, Nazareth, Cox’s Creek, Murry, Owensboro, Highland Heights, Bowling Green, Shepherdsville, Covington, Elizabethtown, Henderson, Hodgenville, Richmond, Franklin, Paducah Radcliff, Springfield, Warfield, and more.
In December 2019, Patriot Front shared pictures on social media showing flyers that read “America First” across Kentucky in Louisville, Lexington, Bardstown, Shepherdsville, Waddy, Middletown, St. Matthews, and Munfordville.
Patriot Front members have become violent. The EL Paso Walmart shooting in 2019 left 23 dead and 23 injured. The killer referenced excerpts from their manifesto on social media shortly before the attack. There are more examples of violence available in the Buzzfeed article.
Patriot Front intends to be around for the long game and is committed to their cause. Kentucky must reject this familiar white supremacist movement of economic anxiety that is spreading among our youth via flyers and videos on Twitter, Telegram and TikTok. Review common symbols, uniforms and flags associated with the Patriot Front movement within your family and community.
Note: Originally written in Nov 2019. All information covers 2017, 2018 and 2019 only.