Category Archives: The far right

Armed man wanted for role in Capitol attack arrested near Obama’s house

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Taylor Taranto found with materials to create an explosive device a few blocks away from former president’s Washington DC home

A man armed with explosive materials and weapons, and wanted for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, was arrested late on Thursday in the Washington DC neighborhood where the former US president Barack Obama lives, law enforcement officials said.

Taylor Taranto, 37, was spotted by law enforcement officials a few blocks from the former president’s home and fled, though he was chased by Secret Service agents. Taranto has an open warrant on charges related to the insurrection, two law enforcement officials said. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing case and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

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After Roe’s overturn, Republicans target trans rights using extremist rhetoric

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Republican presidential candidates attacked trans people and the LGBTQ+ community at a gathering of the religious right last week

Americans are “frustrated and anxious”, lamented former vice-president Mike Pence. The country is “in a precarious position” assessed North Carolina’s lieutenant governor Mark Robinson. And Glenn Jacobs, a former professional wrestling star and current mayor of Knox county, Tennessee, declared that “these are hard times”.

What could be the cause of such hardship? To the Republican presidential candidates who spoke in Washington DC on Friday at a major gathering of the religious right, the culprit was American society’s acceptance of transgender people and the broader LGBTQ+ community.

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Spain’s PM warns of far-right danger after PP strikes coalition deals

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Pedro Sánchez’s comments follow last month’s elections in which PP and Vox made huge gains

Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has warned of the dangers of allowing far-right ideology to seep into the political mainstream after the conservative People’s party (PP) struck a series of coalition deals with the radical right Vox party ahead of next month’s general election.

Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE), which has governed Spain alongside the far-left Unidas Podemos alliance for the past four years, suffered a drubbing in last month’s regional and municipal elections, while the PP made huge gains and Vox doubled its share of the vote.

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‘More extreme, more violent’: experts’ warning over khaki-clad Patriot Front

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Their button-up shirts and chinos have prompted mockery but experts say the far-right group is becoming increasingly violent

For years, there has been an element of the ridiculous to Patriot Front and their rallies, which can look like a sort of cosplay version of a white nationalist movement.

At a Patriot Front demonstration in Washington in May, more than a hundred Patriot Front members marched along the National Mall wearing matching outfits of beige or brown chinos and blue button-up shirts.

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Sarah Palin denies then seems to confirm that Trumpism is a cult

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The 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee’s tongue was tied as she tried to defend the ex-president’s supporters

The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin courted controversy when she denied that supporters of Donald Trump behaved like cult members.

Palin’s attempt to deny that Trump has a cultlike following, however, prompted predictable pushback on social media by those who thought her attempt to define a cult actually precisely described Trump’s enthusiastic fan base.

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Texas gunman who killed eight had ‘neo-Nazi’ ideation, say officials

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Mauricio Garcia, who was discharged from the US army in 2008, reportedly also had Nazi tattoos on his body

The gunman who killed eight people and wounded seven others at a suburban Dallas shopping mall had no prior criminal record but had “neo-Nazi ideation”, authorities said on Tuesday.

Investigators are still trying to determine why Mauricio Garcia opened fire on Saturday at the Allen Premium Outlets, Hank Sibley, the regional director of the Texas department of public safety, said at a news conference.

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Far-right California county’s bid to hand count votes will cost millions

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The move to a costly and experimental hand-count system comes as half the workforce is readying to strike over wages

In Shasta county, a deep red enclave in far northern California, officials are intensifying their push to replace voting machines with a costly and experimental hand-count system that could cost an additional $4m over two years.

The decision of the far-right majority on the region’s governing body, the Shasta county board of supervisors, to press ahead with the controversial plan comes as half the county’s workforce is preparing to strike over wages. Officials on the board recently said the county did not have enough money to pay requested wage increases for workers.

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Proud Boys were ready for ‘all-out war’ before January 6, prosecutors argue

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The neo-fascist group’s leader and four lieutenants are accused of seditious conspiracy to forcibly stop the transfer of power in 2021

Ready for “all-out war”, leaders of the far-right Proud Boys viewed themselves as foot soldiers for Donald Trump as he clung to power after the 2020 election, a prosecutor said on Monday at the close of a historic trial over the January 6 Capitol attack.

After more than three months of testimony, jurors began hearing closing arguments in the seditious conspiracy case accusing the former Proud Boys national chairman, Enrique Tarrio, and four lieutenants of plotting to forcibly stop the transfer of power.

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‘It’s worrying’: Greek election ban on extremist party may be too little, too late

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Crackdown on Hellenes and its Golden Dawn leader Ilias Kasidiaris could cause more problems than it solves

For two years Ilias Kasidiaris, a convicted leader of the now disbanded neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, has used social media to address supporters from Domokos prison in central Greece.

Month after month the former MP has railed against the inability of the “corrupt political regime” to govern the country in a stream of hate-filled speeches. For his 134,000 subscribers on YouTube, the exhortations are a lifeline to Kasidiaris and the Hellenes, the small nationalist party he set up shortly before being handed a 13-and-a-half-year prison term for his role in Golden Dawn. And they seem to be paying off.

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Trump reportedly seeks 2024 campaign role for far-right activist Laura Loomer

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Ex-president has told aides to hire failed congressional candidate and anti-Muslim campaigner, New York Times reports

Donald Trump has told aides to hire the far-right anti-Muslim activist and failed congressional candidate Laura Loomer for a role in his campaign to return to the White House in 2024, the New York Times has reported.

Citing four anonymous sources, the Times noted that Loomer, 29, attended Trump’s speech at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Tuesday night, an angry rant delivered hours after the former president pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges in New York over hush money payments, including to the porn star Stormy Daniels.

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Israeli crisis continues as fired minister apparently refuses to quit

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Questions raised over Benjamin Netanyahu’s control over coalition as he makes concessions to far right

Israeli politics has descended into disarray with questions over whether a fired defence minister is refusing to step down and concerns Benjamin Netanyahu may have promised too much to far-right politicians in exchange for a deal aimed at quelling nationwide demonstrations.

Facing a climax in the 12-week protest movement against his plans to weaken the power of the courts, the prime minister on Monday evening announced a delay to the proposals, saying he wanted time to seek a compromise with political opponents.

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Scores arrested on Israeli day of protest as parliament passes judicial changes

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At least 75 people held across country on ‘day of disruption’ as Knesset approves law designed to protect Netanyahu

Israel’s two-month-old protest movement took to the streets for a “day of disruption” as the parliament passed the first part of the hardline government’s controversial judicial changes into law.

The legislation, designed to protect the position of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was approved early on Thursday, after a heated all-night debate, by 61 votes to 47 – the minimum majority required.

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German officer shot during raids targeting Reichsbürger movement

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One person held on suspicion of several counts of attempted murder after search of properties in far-right investigation

A German police officer has been shot and wounded during raids on properties across the country in an operation related to investigations of the far-right Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich) movement, which is accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

One person, identified as Markus L, was detained on suspicion of several counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm after shots were fired in the southern town of Reutlingen, near Stuttgart, the prosecutors said.

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Spanish government sees off no-confidence vote by far-right party

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Vox motion had been hoping to capitalise on public anger over botched sexual offences legislation

Spain’s Socialist-led minority government has comfortably seen off a no-confidence vote tabled by the far-right Vox party, as the country prepares for regional and municipal elections in two months’ time and a general election before the end of the year.

Although Vox’s motion, which was debated in congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, was never likely to attract support from other parties, Vox had been hoping to capitalise on public anger over the government’s botched sexual offences legislation – which has resulted in reduced prison terms for hundreds of convicted felons – and its overhaul of sedition legislation.

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Four Oath Keepers members convicted of obstruction in January 6 trial

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The four were also convicted of conspiracy stemming from an insurrection at the Capitol in failed effort to keep Trump in office

Four people associated with the far-right Oath Keepers militia were convicted on Monday of conspiracy and obstruction charges stemming from the insurrection at the US Capitol in 2021 by extremist supporters of Donald Trump in a failed attempt to keep him in office, in the latest trial involving members of the antigovernment group.

A Washington DC jury found Sandra Parker, of Morrow, Ohio, Laura Steele, of Thomasville, North Carolina, William Isaacs, of Kissimmee, Florida, and Connie Meggs, of Dunnellon, Florida, guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and other felony charges.

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Israeli minister condemned for claiming ‘no such thing’ as a Palestinian people

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Bezalel Smotrich’s comments come as far-right coalition pushes ahead with judiciary overhaul

An Israeli minister has claimed there is “no such thing” as a Palestinian people as Israel’s new coalition government, its most hardline ever, ploughed ahead with a part of its plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition said it was pushing a key part of the overhaul – which would give the coalition control over who becomes a justice or a judge – before the parliament takes a month’s holiday break next week.

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Rural populist party emerges as big winner in Dutch elections

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Success of Farmer-Citizen Movement in provincial vote is heavy blow to Mark Rutte’s four-party coalition

A new populist party surfing a wave of rural anger at government environmental policies has emerged as the big winner in Dutch provincial elections, dealing a heavy blow to the four-party coalition of the prime minister, Mark Rutte.

The success of the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) in Wednesday’s vote, which will determine the makeup of the senate, casts doubt over the government’s ability to pass key legislation, including its plans to slash nitrogen emissions.

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FBI searches for two Capitol attack defendants who have gone missing

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Joseph Hutchinson and Olivia Pollock, whose brother is also a January 6 defendant, had ankle monitors that were removed or altered

The FBI is searching for a Florida woman who was supposed to stand trial on Monday on charges stemming from the January 6 Capitol attack as well as another riot defendant who has also gone missing, officials said.

A federal judge in Washington issued bench warrants for the arrest of Olivia Pollock and Joseph Hutchinson III last week after the court was notified that they had tampered with or removed the ankle monitors that track their location, said Joe Boland, a supervisory special agent with the FBI’s Lakeland, Florida, office.

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Italy’s referees punish more dark-skinned footballers than light

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Researchers have found a racial bias by match officials in the country’s top league, but say it could be linked to crowd pressure

Referees in Italy’s top football league give more yellow and red cards to Black and darker-skinned players than to their light-skinned teammates, research shows.

Officials in Serie A awarded an average of 20% more fouls per season against darker-skinned players from 2009 to 2019, with 11% more yellow cards and 16% more red cards.

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Remains of anti-Franco activist who died in 1973 recovered in Catalonia

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Forensics identify remains of Cipriano Martos, an antifascist forced to drink sulphuric acid during a police interrogation

Forensic experts in Catalonia have recovered and identified the remains of a young anti-Franco activist, communist and trade unionist who died in 1973 after being forced to drink sulphuric acid during a police interrogation.

Cipriano Martos, who was born to a family of farmworkers in Granada in 1942, was a member of both the Spanish communist party and the Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front (Frap), a far-left group committed to overthrowing the Franco regime that went on to murder six Spanish policemen in the mid-1970s.

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