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one trivial observation, which I don't think invalidates his larger points:

I have seen footage, and the cops who handed out water bottles to militia members (including Kyle Rittenhouse, ISTR), did not seem to me to have a "mocking" tone. also, why would you hand out water bottles to people you disliked?

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Nov 22, 2021Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

Great article. The part about faction alliances varying by geographic region was really interesting. I'm in Portland and I can also confirm BLM & Antifa are in close alliance. BLM/Antifa vs. Proud Boys street theater sessions are a semi-regular occurrence here. What do you know of the Proud Boys, what do you make of them?

I can say that in the local media, the Proud Boys are a subject of much pearl-clutching. Now every time there's any sort of left-wing protest, or school board meeting or whatever, any dissenters present are labeled "Proud Boys", although I doubt most or any of them are actually affiliated with the group. I have also observed that the PB rallies are more racially diverse than the local antifa.

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Nov 22, 2021Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

I don't know what this means, but the Southern Poverty Law Center has at least two articles on Mr. Balch. In the second he responds to the first and disavows the Boogaloos. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/09/15/far-right-kyle-rittenhouse-propaganda-not-factually-based-says-kenosha-militia-participant

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Nov 22, 2021Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

Thanks for setting the record somewhat straight on the Boogaloo crowd. I have a friend that knows much of that community and he taught me about what it was a good six months before Oakland. Then, six months later, all the media accounts about Boogaloo = White Nationalist extremists.

The national media had so frequently beclowned itself by that point -- for well over a decade -- that I knew this was nonsense. Still, it was one of the earlier instances where rank-and-file FBI got in on the act. I have my doubts that any of the folks who used to hang in Boogaloo circles could legitimately be characterized as White Nationalist. But, the media (and now the government) runs with it, knowing that no one can ever "prove" the negative.

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