Neo-Nazi Blames ‘Jewish Trickery’ — but Why Was His March Really Called Off?
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By Sam Kestenbaum January 12, 2017
Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin blames “Jewish trickery” after his armed neo-Nazi march against the Jews of Whitefish, Montana, failed to materialize.
But there was no “Jewish plot” that derailed Anglin’s plans.
The city of Whitefish says they would have processed his permit application for an armed march — if it had been submitted complete.
What’s more, “alt-right” figurehead Richard Spencer, in whose support the march was ostensibly organized, also called repeatedly for Anglin’s campaign to end by sending a message — at least to some followers — to stay away. The “alt-right” has a number of ideological streams, though all could be called white nationalists. Anglin hails from the most anti-Semitic faction of the “alt-right.”
Anglin, founder and editor of the Daily Stormer website, organized an armed rally in the city of Whitefish in support of Spencer, who lives there part-time. Anglin planned the march to coincide with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday. Local human rights activists, including Jewish leaders, have pushed back against Spencer’s brand of white nationalism for years. Spencer’s mother owns property in the small town and has complained locals were pressuring her to denounce her son’s ideology and sell her building.
White nationalists cast Spencer and his family as the true victims and said that Jews in Whitefish are engaged in a wider plot to undermine white Americans.
But Anglin did not fulfill key requirements (such as providing a route map) in his mailed application to the city of Whitefish, Chuck Stearns, city manager of Whitefish, told the Forward. “We treated it exactly the same as any applicant,” Stearns said. “If it had been complete, then we’d consider it.”
And while Spencer is allied with Anglin, the “alt-right” leader also sought to distance himself from his neo-Nazi tactics, telling the Forward he did not “want to get into an endless yearlong dispute with Whitefish.”
In an email exchange, Anglin called Whitefish the “perfect place” to “take a stand” against Jews. Spencer — who is hoping to build up his white nationalist think-tank and spend more time in Washington D.C. — would rather there was no spotlight on Whitefish at all.
Anglin told the Forward that he does not “speak with Jews anymore” on the phone, but did answer questions via email about his campaign against what he called the “international Jewish shakedown machine.”
Andrew Anglin, of the Daily Stormer website.
“The Jewish relationship to the goyim in this country has for decades resembled a man lying on the ground and being kicked in the head,” he wrote. “Well, the goyim are standing up.”
In a Wednesday night post announcing that the march was off, Anglin vowed to reschedule, possibly in February.
Caitlin Borgmann, executive director of the Montana American Civil Liberties Union said the organization would theoretically defend such a march if it was conducted lawfully.
“One of our principles is that we protect anyone’s speech,” Borgmann told the Forward, “even when we vehemently disagree with the message.”
Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum
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