Gosar’s Groyper Staffer: From /pol/ to D.C. Politics
+ the "Q Shaman" returns, another TPUSA creep + more in May...
‘Sup. Sorry I’m late, I’ve been sick.
ICYMI: Rep. Paul Gosar’s digital director, Wade Searle, was exposed as a dedicated loyalist to white nationalist cult leader and live streamer Nick Fuentes. Operating under the online pseudonym “Chikken” and “The Chicken Right,” Searle built up a semi-large following amongst “groypers” (followers of Nick Fuentes) before wiping his socials. One of the “Chicken Right” accounts also had a co-mod, Landen Peterson, who also works for Gosar, currently as an intern.
Searle’s socials were packed with content showing off his dedication to Fuentes and disdain for LGBTQ, Jewish, Black, and Indigenous people. He even took the “loyalty pledge” right before donating $150 to Fuentes — the “I swear I will defend the white race, my nation America, and my savior Jesus Christ, and my loyalty to the America First movement, Nicholas J. Fuentes, so help me God” pledge, not the “I will rape, kill, and die for Nick Fuentes” pledge.
A former groyper loyalist referred to Searle as Fuentes’ “spy in Gosar’s office,” while Fuentes called Searle “one of the strongest soldiers” of their white supremacist movement. The Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix and the Republican Jewish Coalition, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and President Biden condemned Gosar, some have called for an investigation.
Hunter Walker of Talking Points Memo connects all the dots in “EXCLUSIVE: Capitol Hill Staffer Is A Prominent Follower Of Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes” featuring research and quotes from yours truly and the brilliant Nick Martin of The Informant.
Then I made my professional writing debut with TPM breaking down Gosar’s long standing relationship with fascist hate movements — at home, abroad, and online. (Quick, bump my numbers so they ask me back, I’m broke af.)
You can also check out some podcast interviews I did on the story with Did Nothing Wrong, Adventures in HellwQrld and coming soon on THE ABSOLUTE STATE (this one will feature Hunter Walker of TPM too).
Down by the Border: Immediately following the end of Title 42, white nationalist vigilantes rushed down to the AZ-Mexico border to play cop and harass migrants. Neo-nazis and other far-right extremists joined the longstanding border militias that patrol Southern Arizona.
Phoenix-area neo-Nazi and serial harasser Ethan Schmidt-Crockett filmed himself alongside a member of the Arizona Proud Boys, Chris Roach, violent Patriot Prayer member Chandler Pappas, and other gun-toting losers as they bragged about destroying water tanks, harassed humanitarian activists, and mockingly patrolled refugees at the wall. Schmidt, who is currently on probation following another incident of serial harassment, faced no issue from border patrol as he posed as an authority. This tracks with the other tradition of border cops ignoring the racist vigilantes who make the border their playground.
Following the online virality of these activities, border patrol then claimed they MIGHT later take action against this group of right wing vigilantes. (But IMO, that’s a bunch of bullshit and I’ll believe it when I see it.) They will arrest a 75-year old woman providing water to migrants though.
USA! USA! 🇺🇸: Speaking of America’s sick obsession with with fascist vigilantism… In a podcast episode alongside Kyle Rittenhouse, Sheriff Mark Lamb’s son, Cade Lamb, expressed his jealousy of Rittenhouse for getting the opportunity to murder in the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“I'm not going to lie, me and all my buddies were really jealous,” Cade Lamb said on his podcast, Fear Not Do Right, according to a report by Media Matter for America.
“We were in Iraq at the time, and, you know, when you're in Iraq, you think of war and being in a war zone. And, you know, we train for so long, so much to have the opportunity to just punch that time card, right? So when we saw, dude, this kid, the 17-year-old kid in Wisconsin is out there getting action when we're not, a lot of my buddies were like, ‘Oh, dude, we should be home right now, we should — because it was so frustrating to be overseas when all that stuff was going down.’”
Cade’s lust for blood and desire to violently patrol his fellow citizen seems par for the course lately. From Daniel Penny, the murderer who choked Jordan Neely to death on the NYC subway, to the thousands of vocal supporters rushing to his defense, dubbing him a “good samaritan” and stuffing his GiveSendGo fundraiser with $2.8 million (and counting). Real cool society when Rittenhouse has become a blueprint for a type of murderous, far-right celebrity.
Sheriff Lamb, who is currently running for Kyrsten Sinema’s seat in the U.S. Senate, has also appeared on Cade’s Fear Not Do Right podcast in the past. As well as freshman Congressman Eli Crane and failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. More recently, Cade Lamb was noted for sharing an edited “Sheriff Lamb for Senate” poster directly mimicking a recruitment poster of the Rhodesian Army.
Down In Douglas: An intentional fire severely damaged the First Presbyterian Church and completely destroyed St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Both Douglas, AZ churches were over 100 years old. The buildings served as an inclusive place of worship and also served as a temporary home for migrants and refugees. 58-year-old Eric Duane Ridenour was arrested in connection with the fires.
Also At the Border: The FBI and Tohono O’odham Nation police are investigating the murder of Raymond Mattia, a Tohono O’odham man killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents. It was reported that Mattia called Border Patrol to assist with a group of migrants allegedly passing through his property. Agents showed up and killed Mattia in his doorway — he was shot 38 times. This further highlights the brutality of the militarization near the U.S.-Mexico border and their bloody relationship with the Tohono O'odham Nation (which exists on both sides of the border, with tribal members also residing on both sides of our imaginary lines). The Border Patrol agents involved in the murder of Raymond Mattia are currently on leave with pay.
Creepy Kirk: Turning Point USA has long been on a quest to drench this country in their brand of Con. Inc. Christian nationalism. TPUSA CEO Charlie Kirk has recently taken the wannabe pastor route, opened a K-12 Christian academy and hosted a 2-day “Pastor Summit” conference (another addition to their annual events). Kirk’s newest conference brought together far-right pastors with far-right influencers seeking to radicalize the next wave of Christian youth pastors and megachurch grifters. Guests included some of the most vocal anti-trans bigots, like Riley Gaines, an NCAA swimmer who lost so hard she had to substitute her mediocrity for transphobic propaganda, and Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, who has openly called for the eradication of transgender people.
As the Pastor Summit speakers were smearing all LGBTQ+ people as “groomers,” their own event was being co-sponsored by a man who served time in federal prison for attempting to sexually assault a minor: Shawn Bergstrand, the owner of Rightside Up Lifestyle Apparel. Kirk defended Bergstrand after Rolling Stone broke the news, saying “he's a nice person who did something wrong over a decade ago, and unlike Target, he repented and the experience led him to his faith.” Bergstrand is currently on the sex offender list in North Dakota, where he will remain until 2030. Hey, isn’t this an organization that gears itself towards teenagers?
More TPUSA, More Bullshit: Local reporter (and noted actor from The Room) Philip Haldiman exposed a regular face at Phoenix-area board meetings, Tiffany Benson, as a special projects administrator for Turning Point USA. Benson has been regularly appearing at board meeting in Chandler, Phoenix, Peoria, and Higley to express their hatred of all things LGBTQ+ and call LGBTQ+ board members and their allies “pedophiles.” Turning Point initially denied Benson’s affiliation, before finally admitting she did work with them.
The Chansley Formerly Known as Q-Shaman: On May 25, Jacob Chansley was released from a Phoenix halfway house after serving time for his charges stemming from the January 6 insurrection. Chansley was far from being a mastermind of the J6 chaos, but his attention-drawing, Q-heavy style and personality made him the face of the day. Now that he’s out, Chansley has rebranded to “America’s Shaman” where he seems to be attempting to profit off his now-popular image (he even got himself an agent). On a website launched alongside his release, Chansley is now offering consultations and lots and lots of merchandise with his screaming face on it, including a matching yoga set or a signed photo of his mugshot. More concerningly is the “I AM”-style ascension bullshit he’s also peddling but local media also seems more than happy to promote Chansley’s newest wannabe cult grift.
The Most Terminally Online State Legislature: Freshman state senator Janae Shamp hosted a 2-day committee hearing giving free range for multiple COVID conspiracy theorists to repeat the same bullshit they’ve been repeating for the last 3 years. The event was hosted by Shamp’s newly formed “Novel Coronavirus Southwestern Intergovernmental Committee,” which they broke down and promoted using the QAnon acronym “NCSWIC” (which means in the community “nothing can stop what is coming”).
9/11 “truther” and scheduled guest speaker Kristen Meghan backed out from the event saying she “did not appreciate the acronym.” Shamp tried to deny the dog whistle, but her social media is littered with QAnon and direct references to the “NCSWIC” acronym. Shamp’s social media reveal means that more than 10% of the Arizona state senate has promoted QAnon in some way.
Your L, Ma’am: Kari Lake lost again. But we’re in a never ending cycle of Kari’s Kraken cases so naturally she announced at a rally in Scottsdale that she will be appealing her election case. The grift continues. She also announced a “ballot chasing operation” a few months too late and released a song called 81 Million Votes, My Ass so there’s also that.
Failed Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem also got sanctioned again for wasting the court’s time. Eventually the fines have to outweigh the profits for lying, right? RIGHT?
Let’s end it on a different note: Phoenix Forest Defenders dropped a banner at the Nationwide Insurance headquarters in Scottsdale. Nationwide is only one of many corporations investing in Cop City, a massive police compound planned to be constructed in the Weelaunee Forest of Atlanta, Georgia. The pressure campaign to Stop Cop City has gone global, if you’d like to find out who is supporting this destructive and deadly project, Stop Cop City Solidarity has an interactive map and other ways to take action.