A small announcement in EW’s Calendar last week stated: “National Socialist Movement: An insider’s view of America’s radical right.” Pacifica Forum, a free-speech group known for its anti-Zionist bias, was sponsoring the event at the UO.
My naive assumption was that we’d be hearing from a former National Socialist Movement (NSM) member who’d had a change of heart. That notion was quickly dispelled when Jimmy Marr, attired in full Scottish regalia, began reading a section of Torah detailing how Jews became “the Chosen People.” His conclusion: “What does that make the rest of us? Slaves to the Jews!”
Among two dozen attendees, it became apparent that at least six were NSM devotees. The giveaway moment was when Marr concluded his introduction by inviting all to join him in a “Sieg heil!” A half dozen arms were raised to chests and thrust high — “Sieg heil! Sieg heil! Sieg HEIL!”
A lone voice in back called out, “I strongly object!” The rest sat in stunned silence.
We were shown video footage from an NSM demonstration in Phoenix, Ariz., against illegal immigration. Police stood between brown-shirted “troops” and anti-fascist protestors. NSM speakers in the film took turns spouting their doctrine and haranguing opponents, bellowing epithets that were returned in kind.
And yet DHS Secretary Napolitano apologized for a security assessment conducted under the Bush Administration that correctly identified these groups as a problem and disillusioned veterans as a subset of their recruiting focus.
Update: Democracy Now reports on the rise of (surprise) Right Wing Militias.