Extremists Exploit Racial Tensions in Ferguson, Mo.
A grand jury鈥檚 Nov. 24 decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo., police officer who on Aug. 9 shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, inspired a tsunami of vitriol from extremist elements thrilled to latch on to the national controversy over appropriate use of police force.聽
Front and center among those who used unrest in Ferguson to further their own agenda was Frank Ancona, imperial wizard of the Missouri-based Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Ancona, who not long ago told a reporter that the Klan is a 鈥淐hristian organization鈥 that doesn鈥檛 鈥渉ate people because of their race鈥 threatened to use 鈥渓ethal force鈥 to 鈥渄efend鈥 the Klan and Ferguson police officers. When the hacker group Anonymous retaliated by exposing the identities of numerous members of Ancona鈥檚 group, the self-declared non-hating non-racist called Anonymous members 鈥減athetic n----- lovers鈥 who would soon be 鈥渟trung up next to the chimps.鈥澛
鈥淲e would like to wish Officer Darren Wilson and his family all the best in the future. To Anonymous and the people of Ferguson, we will see you on the streets,鈥 Ancona wrote.
The Klan wasn鈥檛 the only group hoping for violence. On Nov. 21, authorities arrested two members of the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) who allegedly purchased explosives they intended to set off in Ferguson after the grand jury released its verdict. Olajuwon Ali, chairman of the NBPP鈥檚 St. Louis chapter, and fellow NBPP member Brandon Baldwin were federally indicted on weapons charges for allegedly making 鈥渟traw purchases鈥 鈥 buying guns intended for someone else鈥檚 use 鈥 at a St. Louis area sporting goods store. The pair is also accused of planning to set off pipe bombs in the Ferguson area. Ali, it emerged, is also associated with a relative of the antigovernment 鈥渟overeign citizens鈥 movement, whose African-American adherents call themselves 鈥淢oors鈥 and claim to be immune to most U.S. laws.聽
Meanwhile, members of the Oath Keepers, a radical antigovernment group mainly comprised of former and current military and law enforcement personnel, travelled to Ferguson to provide free private security to businesses there. Armed with AR-15s and handguns, the camo-clad volunteers, who have a history complicating volatile situations, stood on rooftops and surveyed the town until local law enforcement, claiming that the Oath Keepers were violating the law by providing security without a license, told them to stop.
Clashes were not limited to Ferguson. On Monday, Oct. 6, St. Louis Cardinals fans greeted anti-racism protesters rallying outside Busch Stadium with racial slurs and insults. 鈥淲e鈥檙e the ones who gave all y鈥檃ll the freedoms that you have,鈥 shouted one woman.聽
In the tiny town of Rosebud, Mo. (population 409), participants in a march organized by the NAACP were greeted by a crowd of mostly white counter-protesters wearing T-shirts supporting Officer Wilson and shouting insults. Elsewhere along the route, the marchers encountered Confederate flags, a white-hooded onlooker, and mocking offers of fried chicken, melon, and a 40-ounce bottle of beer.
While some extremists wreaked havoc on the ground, others chimed in from the sidelines. Antigovernment superstar Alex Jones declared the Ferguson uproar a conspiracy aimed at sparking a civil war, with the end goal of imposing martial law and confiscating guns from patriotic Americans. Glenn Beck and WorldNetDaily predicted race war, and Alan Keyes spied 鈥渁 Hitlerian situation鈥 in the making.聽
David Horowitz, the liberal-bashing, race-baiting godfather of the modern anti-Muslim movement, used the protests as a fundraising opportunity, offering supporters who sent $50 a copy of a booklet titled 鈥淏lack Skin Privilege and the American Dream.鈥 And, speaking at Morgan State University on Nov. 22, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan predicted violence and excoriated black leaders, including President Obama, for asking young people to stay calm, while nativists like Roy Beck of NumbersUSA blamed the volatility of Ferguson on immigration.聽
Former New Black Panther Party leader Malik Zulu Shabazz called on blacks to rebel against the 鈥渋llegitimate鈥 authority of 鈥淲hite America鈥 and a self-declared 鈥渦rban militia鈥 called RbG Black Rebels, operating on Twitter, offered a bounty for Wilson鈥檚 location. A few days after the grand jury failed to indict Wilson, blogger 鈥淛oomiloom鈥 of the Yahoo group 鈥淎ryan Nationalist Army鈥 wrote excitedly, 鈥淲hites in this country are flat fed UP with n------ and want something done..something permanent. 鈥 There鈥檚 gonna be dead black ass from coast to coast when it happens, and all I can say is that it will be long overdue.鈥
Even the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, joined the fray, apparently hoping that protesters outraged at the grand jury鈥檚 failure to indict Wilson could be converted to its bloody cause. Tweeted one ISIS flack, 鈥淎ccept Islam & give bayah [allegiance] to Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi & then we will send u soldiers that don鈥檛 sleep!鈥