In the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court on June 24, growing acts of transphobia and sightings of white supremacist groups in Connecticut and New England have been reported. The Connecticut John Brown Gun Club has emerged as one of the groups most dedicated to combating far-right agitators and protecting vulnerable communities in Connecticut.
“Most of our work at the JBGC involves providing security and community defense, organization and activism with Black Lives Matter, pro-choice groups, and LGBTQIA+ groups. We do work around specific acts of police oppression and sightings of white supremacist or other far right individuals or organizations in New England,” said Dan, a founding member of the Connecticut JBGC.
Dan, due to the group’s frequent confrontations with far right organizations, declined to provide a last name for personal safety.
The organization, originally founded in Washington state in 2017, has spread to many states, including Connecticut in 2020. Members in each state work with each other and other groups, even traveling out of state to help in larger events, but without overarching national leadership. Dan describes how recruitment is often done via word of mouth or cooperation with similarly aligned organizations.
When asked about the presence of far-right groups in New England, such as Patriot Front and Massachusetts-based New England National Socialist Club, Dan suggested they rose in the aftermath of the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally in 2017, which forced many white supremacist groups underground, but now have begun to reemerge.
“Connecticut has had a surprisingly long history of white supremacists. The Ku Klux Klan had thousands of members here in the 1920s, and the state only solved a court case on school integration this year. Policies of segregation still exist here, they just say it is a money issue instead of a race issue. So now that more conservative places are becoming open with their stupid white supremacist ideas, they think they won’t be opposed here,” Dan said.
Dan provided an example of an event on July 2, where over 100 members of the far right group Patriot Front rallied in Boston, according to CNN.
Connecticut JBGC identified members known to them from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Nebraska.
“Patriot Front and subgroups under it makes almost 85% of neo-Nazi propaganda in this country” Dan said. “Unlike what happened in Idaho in June, these guys weren’t arrested in the UHaul. The cops practically escorted them from their cars to the rally spot and back.”
The New England National Socialist Club, or NSC, is what Dan showed greater concern for. He stated leaked messages from their forums showed a greater willingness to commit violent or intimidatory acts. Left wing organizations, according to Dan, identified approximately 40 members in New England.
The group has made headlines after a series of leaflet campaigns in Connecticut, according to Connecticut Public Radio.
“You’ve probably seen their flyers on the road. They’ve been found in some of the northern and central towns in the state. Even if it’s forty guys, it takes one with a few thousand fliers and a truck to frighten people of color and LGBTQ+ people into believing they’re a far larger group. And that’s what they want — they want those people to be scared and leave, since these Neo-Nazis think they’re ‘ruining America,’” Dan explained.
The Connecticut JBGC also provided some basic advice for helping to combat white supremacists in the state, including disposing of leaflets or posters put up by far-right groups, attending protests and counter-protests, and identifying open white supremacists.
“While our job is more to protect protestors from neo-Nazis, if you can pick up the license plate or address or workplace of these people, there are several organizations that compile information on members of hate groups. These people often live otherwise normal lives, and showing an employer their behavior can lead to quick and severe consequences for them,” Dan elaborated.
“Don’t report these things to the police. We’ve seen time and time again these far-right protests are treated much more fairly by the police. Hell, the cops are probably in these groups half the time. That’s why we help to protect people, because it’s clear the cops have no obligation or desire to,” Dan advised.
In New London, it is common public knowledge among adults and kids of all ages that police are biggest threat to our safety we have. They disrespect and break every law we vote on lawmakers to create.. We have on the ground what’s called a police occupation. Listen to this article describe new nazis and CT cops being cut from the same cloth:
“..far right (white supremacists) are reated more fairly by police. The cops are probably in these groups. That’s why we help to protect (local reaidents), the cops have no desire to.”
In New London, it is common public knowledge among adults and kids that the police are the biggest threat to our safety as in other American cities. Here in NL police workers disrespect and violate any and every law our votes for lawmakers end up creating. The effect is that police reduced the effectiveness and power of our votes to zero leaving us with no representation will we pay taxes in full. This is a problem that caused our nation to rip away from its oppressor at the founding in the most literal sense New Londoners have on the ground what is called a police occupation. Review this article’s description of neo nazis and our police being cut from the same cloth: “(The) far right (white supremacists) are treated more fairly by police. The cops are probably in these groups. That’s why we help to protect people, the cops have no desire to.” Never was a statement accurate or true. Police decimate public safety in our city as a clear and present danger to the quality of all out lives. It emerges after infancy in most places Americans live that police are the enemy of the people, the enemy of justice and of peace.
The community defense group mentioned is an antifa offshoot,a group responsible for murdering about 2 dozen people in riots that caused over 2 billion dollar’s worth of damage in 2021 and named after a noted terrorist murderer.
Also,if it’s so easy to attack fascists,doesn’t that make what this terrorist group is doing “punching down”?
Try attacking a BLM demonstration and see what happens. They’re literally sponsored to the tune of billions by huge international corporations in a nepotistic relationship with the government.
Your ideology is incoherent,violent,and victimizes actual powerless grassroots peace and democracy advocates on behalf of the government,corporations, and their lapdogs.
Hello Mr. Steinblatt, this is the author of the article.
I am not a member of the Connecticut John Brown Gun Club. I am a student who became aware of the group after witnessing fliers for NSC-131 appear in my home town, and became concerned for my well-being and the well-being of others in my community. In an effort to see what steps I could take to help prevent such actions, the organization appeared, and was willing to conduct an interview with me.
While I cannot directly answer every one of your concerns, I would suggest reaching out to the CTJBGC or reviewing some articles recently written about them to learn more about the topic.