DATA RELEASE: “Unite The Right” Planning Chats Demonstrate Violent Intent
Charlottesville, VA – As white supremacist groups continue to hold “free speech” events in the wake of the deadly hit-and-run attack in Charlottesville, many elements of the self-named “alt-right” have come under increased scrutiny. Organizations have been refused service by web providers and payment processors. Many individuals are facing personal consequences at home and work. The insurgent neo-fascist movement is being repeatedly shamed, confronted, and rejected in the wake of the murder of Heather Heyer by neo-Nazi James Alex Fields, Jr. after the Unite The Right rally ended in failure on August 12 in Virginia. We are releasing another 428 screenshots from the main white supremacist chat server used to organize the Charlottesville rally, highlighting the web of far-right racist organizations involved and their extensive preparations for violence.
While the aftermath of Heather Heyer’s death still unfolds, many people are also wondering why so many of the racist assaults captured on camera in Charlottesville, including several beatings of black men by white supremacists with clubs, remain unaddressed. As many locals and antifascists had told Charlottesville authorities for months, the racist groups planning to converge there had been openly preparing a violent offensive.
The contents of a Discord chat server called “Charlottesville 2.0,” used by organizers and attendees of Unite The Right to coordinate nearly all aspects of their quasi-paramilitary campaign, were leaked to Unicorn Riot by an anonymous source earlier this month.
Discord, a group communication platform first intended for team raids in video games, has recently been widely adopted by neo-fascist groups, whose members now often include extremely young men or boys who identify as gamers.
The selection of leaked material we publish here today shows how the Discord server run by Unite The Right organizers, including Eli Mosley and Jason Kessler, was used to openly celebrate and incite violence.
The chat logs also show how white supremacist groups collaborated on shared symbolism (mostly avoiding swastikas and embracing other less known, more media-friendly, fascist imagery), and distributed memes and talking points as part of an organized propaganda operation.
Here is a slideshow of the 428 images:
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