ACT for America鈥檚 'Back the Blue' rally attracts 'Unite the Right' attendee
As first by One People鈥檚 Project, a recent 鈥淏ack the Blue鈥� rally sponsored by the anti-Muslim hate group ACT for America drew an activist who has associated with white nationalists. This is just the latest example of the anti-Muslim group attracting these types of figures to its events.
On August 4, ACT for America sponsored a pro-law enforcement rally in Philadelphia that drew local activists in the area. ACT works primarily to manufacture fear and hate of Muslims in America. This year, however, the group launched a new initiative called 鈥淏ack the Blue鈥� aimed at showing support for local law enforcement.
The campaign appears to be a public relations move on ACT鈥檚 part after the it received last summer following its national 鈥淢arch Against Sharia鈥� rallies. ACT鈥檚 events last year, which took place in more than two dozen cities across the country, attracted all sorts of figures from the radical right including white nationalists, neo-Nazis and antigovernment militias.
About a dozen individuals the 鈥淏ack the Blue鈥� rally earlier this month, as evidenced by photos posted by Scott Presler, ACT鈥檚 lead activism strategist. One People鈥檚 Project identified Deborah Nemeth, who has been spotted cozying up to the racist 鈥渁lt-right,鈥� among those pictured in attendance.
Nemeth traveled from Philadelphia to Charlottesville, Virginia, last summer to attend the deadly 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� event, and openly marched with white nationalists there. Nemeth was the day after the event and claimed that James Alex Fields, the alleged driver of the car that plowed into counter-protesters killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring others, was acting in self-defense. 鈥淚 know that people were being chased,鈥� she told Public Radio International. 鈥淎nd I have an idea that, you know, whoever that person was [in the car], they were probably being chased.鈥�
Another attendee at ACT鈥檚 鈥淏ack the Blue鈥� rally was Zach Rehl, a local right-wing organizer who runs the group 鈥淪ports, Beer and Politics.鈥� Rehl is known for organizing rallies in support of President Donald Trump that have attracted alt-right figures, including a June 2017 鈥淢arch for Trump鈥� event where activists sported alt-right imagery such as Kekistan flags.
Nemeth seems to enjoy a cozy relationship with the Philadelphia chapter of the hate group Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights (FOAK), described as the 鈥渢actical defense arm鈥� of the Proud Boys and known for engaging in street violence. Rehl has also been hanging out with Philly FOAK members.
ACT played a prominent role last year in what the alt-right dubbed the 鈥渟ummer of hate.鈥� Many of the groups and individuals that attended its 鈥淢arch Against Sharia鈥� went on to attend the violent 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� event.
ACT鈥檚 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, event on June 10, 2017, the alt-right group Vanguard America, which is the same group that Fields marched with in Charlottesville. Notorious neo-Nazi Billy Roper was originally scheduled to host one of the events in Arkansas until Hatewatch reported on it, prompting ACT to drop him as an official organizer.
Following the violence in Charlottesville, ACT for America claimed it would enforce a 鈥渮ero-tolerance policy for hate and intolerance鈥� at its events. Clearly, the group does not appear to be enforcing that rule very well.
