Source

Though these findings are preliminary and should serve as a basis for future research, we can draw several conclusions from what we discovered:

•An online structure supporting anarcho-socialist extremism appears to be rapidly growing.

•Many of the features of anarcho-socialist extremism seem to parallel the key tactical structures documented in libertarian-anarchist and Jihadi extremism: Use of memes,cloistering in fringe and private online forums and organizing militias.

•The appearance of posts with anti-police outrage and/or memes and coded language increased over 1,000% on Twitter and 300% on Reddit in recent months during social justice protests.

•Extreme anarcho-socialist fringe online forums on Reddit use memes calling for the death of police and memes for stockpiling munitions to promote violent revolution.

•Extreme anarcho-socialist fringe online forums on Reddit underwent growth in membership and participation during the quarantine and recent social justice protests.

•Anarcho-socialist militias which explicitly glorify Martyr narratives, classic authoritarian narratives, and revolutionary narratives are now formally organizing—and are growing.

»Groups such as the Socialist Rifle Association have more than doubled in membership since quarantine.

•We find evidence that both militia and anarchist networks play key roles in the recent social justice protests from controlling perimeters at CHAZ [CHOP] to coordinating nation-wide anarchist-inspired violent protests online.

A qualitative investigation on Reddit revealed evidence of a network of interconnected subcultural forums, several with attached, private chat groups, which broadcast socialist, anarchist, and/or communist leanings, and evince themes like demonization and dehumanization of police andpolitical opponents as well as violent insurgency.

These subcultural forums include the recently banned Chapotraphouse and related subcommunities such as r/moretankiechapo (in which “tankie” refers to authoritarian, hard line Stalinists), r/dankleft(roughly 100,000 members), a radical board which produces cartoonish and dehumanizing political memes, and r/socialistRA (roughly 55,000 members), a left-wing gun-enthusiast activist group and spoof of the NRA known as the Socialist Rifle Association (SRA), which describes itself as “working class, progressive, anarchist, socialist, communist, eco-warrior, animal liberator, anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, PoC, LGBTQ-plus.” Along with its group for posting memes depicting violence, r/SRAweekend, it boasts tens of thousands of followers on Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook.

    • Glass [he/him,they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Believing in climate science is actually exactly the same as believing in the Rapture, no I will not be taking questions.

  • KrasMazovThought [comrade/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    "Lone wolf terror attacks" by 'anacho-socialists' what the fuck do they think it is, 1911? The few examples of such like torching a cop car are immediately blown up by the media with glee, there is a quantitative degree of frequency, intensity and notoriety for right-wing domestic terror attacks. That the left is capable of organizing a small committee meeting without collapsing into theoretical or bureaucratic impasse, let alone organizing militias is some positive thinking on the feds' part.

    The organizing construction of what the threat is here doesn't need to be based in any information or factual practice, it's an ideological structure which supersedes material truth. Evidence and motive will be planted, actual information or data obtained will be carefully selected to produce a picture of what they want to see, since they control the flow of information and what is accessible they dictate the entire grounds on which the organization or people will be viewed. They've determined the goal of what they want to find ex-ante, guided by what they believe will lead to the most favourable means of disruption and prosecution. It doesn't matter whether they sincerely believe it or just act like they do, because the structure and result is the same.

      • KrasMazovThought [comrade/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        Just to be certain about my own feelings on the matter, I personally do not consider the destruction of property, especially police property, to be terrorism. They're engaged in daily and overt acts of terror on the populace in multiple avenues and on multiple populations, anything to the contrary is self-defence. Just how it was or is framed by the media.

      • OgdenTO [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        Cops are civilians. They aren't military, as much as they wish they were.

        Cops are just really shitty civilians, and their own belief that they aren't is one of the reasons they are so good at shooting innocent people.

        But cop cars are property of the state, so it's not civilian property.

          • OgdenTO [he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            Having a weapon doesn't make someone not a civilian. They may be the primary agents of state violence, but they're not military personnel. They're not members of the armed forces, they're paid by public funds through municipal or state budgets, like any other public servant. They live in houses in amongst other people, not on military bases.

            They consider themselves outside the sphere of being a civilian, and they act that way, but that doesnt change that they have none of specific details of being military personnel. They have a certain amount of qualified immunity, so do doctors. They can carry guns, so can some security guards or parks personnel.

            Literally they are violent, have military-like equipment, and they wish they weren't just regular citizens. But they are.

              • OgdenTO [he/him]
                ·
                4 years ago

                I think this disregards who has oversight. On paper at least, elected government has oversight over the police. This is the difference - I will agree that they certainly want to be so badly an occupying , non-civilian force, but they really just aren't. I don't disagree that they act, look, and present as an occupying force, but at the end of the day, they could be completely defunded by a vote.

                They won't be, but they could be.

  • MarxMadness [comrade/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    A qualitative investigation on Reddit

    Kids, this is how you say "I scrolled through some reddit pages" when you have to make it sound official.

    Also lol at "highly strategic recruitment/operational security measures"

    • CthulhusIntern [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      That's literally when you make your resume sound better by using fancy words for mundane jobs.

    • CthulhusIntern [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Since their actual jobs are really boring, the alphabet guys have to make up stories to pretend they have exciting jobs. Spy work hasn't been exciting since World War II.

      • curmudgeonthefrog [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I just remember this CIA Commercial and cant help but laugh when the coolest spy thing they show is handing someome a fucking USB: https://youtu.be/KvG8c8aVtl8

        • ToastGhost [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          The youtube page for that video isnt a typical one, normally there is either an "expand comments" button that previews the top comment, or a label in the same place saying the channel disabled comments for the video. Did the cia really have to pretend comments arent even a thing on their video?

  • crispyhexagon [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    :cat-vibing: yeah, im a nacho-socialist extremist, and i believe in crabitalism, we exist :hexcrab-party:

      • SoyViking [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Anarchism is when you dye your hair to piss off your dad. Socialism is when you do it to piss off your boss. Anarcho-socialism is when you do it to piss off both.

      • Weebus [comrade/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        My branch at least leans very heavily ancom, it keeps me from interacting very much because I'm an ML and feel a little out of place lmao. They good folks though 8)

          • Weebus [comrade/them]
            ·
            4 years ago

            Hell yeah. We have so much more in common than we have differences. Thank you for this small gesture of left unity, I really needed to hear it today. ☺️

  • PorkrollPosadist [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    The Grayzone put out an article about these guys.

    https://thegrayzone.com/2021/03/14/anarchist-alexander-reid-ross-cops-cia-dhs/

  • dead [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    Police:

    Apocalyptic Beliefs - War on Drugs, Crime bills, etc

    Utopian Legends - Nostalgia for the good ol' days. MAGA

    Use of private internet forums - private facebook groups, cop forums, cop subreddits

    Organized Militia - increased usage of military gear, hiring veterans, etc

    Use of memes and online propaganda - /r/convenientcop , /r/justiceserved , dogs with jobs aka cute pupper police doggo

    Martyr narrative - thin blue line

    Cell-like terror attacks - honestly not sure what this means. don't want to google "cell-like terror attack" to find out and be put on some list

    Lone wolf terror attacks - the ever expanding list of cops killing people

    Highly strategic recruitment - cops in schools propagandizing children

    • Nakoichi [they/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      I'd file police gangs like the infamous one in the LAPD under cell-like organizations and just the very nature of their decentralized structure counts as cell-like and they definitely do plenty terrorism.

  • acealeam [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    hello, i saw the advertisement for the organized militia. I'm interested in joining

    • Alaskaball [comrade/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Literally what I was saying, what militias. Most "fringe leftists" I've seen either follow the lib anti-gun line or can't even organize a consistant book club meeting