No Kings Protests In Crosshairs of White Supremacist Groups
The Wall Street Journal’s Brenna T. Smith is reporting that a meme circulating on Telegram channels of groups affiliated with the far-right Proud Boys said: “Shoot a couple, the rest will go home.” Another local chapter posted: “You just have to impale a few of them…” Smith noted that “One disseminated an online gun tutorial, illustrating optimal shooting techniques with the caption: ‘Riot season again!’
Organizers in more than 2,000 cities are mobilizing for “No Kings” rallies Saturday in opposition to President Trump and his military parade in Washington. Chapters of The Proud Boys, White Lives Matter and other White supremacist groups are ginning up their members for possible attacks on these demonstrations.
The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) is reporting that “In their private Telegram channels, violent white supremacists and MAGA supporters have been sharing information on the nationwide ‘No Kings’ anti-Trump protests planned for Saturday, June 14. Organized by the progressive group Indivisible, the protests are characterized as a ‘nationwide day of defiance’ to ‘reject authoritarianism.’ The protests coincide with Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 250th birthday of the Army and, perhaps more importantly, Trump’s 79th birthday” (https://apnews.com/article/trump-parade-military-secret-service-dc-birthday-cb66cba29cdc06ba798521454918271d). On June 10, Trump warned that any protesters coming to Washington, D.C. during his birthday parade, would be “met with very big force.”
In the wake of nationwide protests against ICE raids and the imposition of the National Guard in Los Angeles, GPAHE is reporting that “many on the far-right are claiming that the upcoming anti-Trump protests are expected to be ‘riots.’ As a result, chapters of white nationalist groups have begun sharing information concerning the ‘No Kings’ rallies and calling for their members to disrupt them.”
GPAHE went on to note that “In Utah, the local chapter of the racist group White Lives Matter (WLM) shared information about the upcoming protest in Salt Lake City, stating that ‘communism has taken deep root in America,’ that the protests ‘may get violent like in LA,’ and that members should ‘keep an eye out, especially for arsonists who want to burn our country down.’ Hours earlier, the group re-shared posts from the Los Angeles protests saying that ‘thousands of brown invaders’ were “swarming” the city. WLM has previously been responsible for acts of targeted harassment of Haitians in Ohio, where they helped spread the false claim that Haitian immigrants were eating household pets, and at LGBTQ+ events, such as when a WLM member threw a molotov cocktail at a church in Wadsworth, Ohio, in April 2023 in an attempt to stop a drag event.”
The Tennessee Proud Boys put up a post targeting two Indivisible organizers, referring to them as “atheist communists” who “train radicals on how to organize, protest, and incite riots.” The Fort Wayne Proud Boys advised followers to “check the map” because “riots are coming,” while the Tennessee Proud Boys shared the map of protest locations “just in case you wanna catch up with your local fully funded fascist anti-capitalist anarchist.” Another post was made in a public, general chat for Proud Boys nationwide, saying that the map of protest locations displayed “planned riots throughout the country” by “the NGOs that are being funded by our tax dollars.” They ended the message saying “safe to say this isn’t over.”
Other far-right actors are also posting about the upcoming rallies. On Twitter, users have already started to spread disinformation and conspiracy theories about the June 14 protests. One MAGA supporter claimed that the protests were “all scripted” because they were taking place following the LA protests, while another stated that the protests need to be “shut down” because “these people are violent radicals.” Other far-right accounts spread distrust about the organizers, implying that some of the protesters may be “paid” to attend. A number of users pointed to Walmart heiress Christy Walton being the main financial backer, while the conspiracist DOGE supporter Jennica Pounds (DataRepublican) claimed that the protests have “much stronger Soros influence than the LA protests” (see Global Project Against Hate and Extremism’s (GPAHE) previous reporting on Pounds here).
On Saturday, June 14, supporters of the “No Kings” movement will conduct anti-Trump demonstrations across the country. White supremacist groups are indicating a willingness to turn these demonstrations into violent confrontations. With online rhetoric escalating and law enforcement responses under scrutiny, the protests have become a flashpoint for a broader battle over who gets to shape the future of American democracy.
