| No Images? Click here   The mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, on August 3 shocked the nation. But in the four weeks since, over 40 people have been arrested on suspicion of being potential mass shooters — an average of more than one per day. Christoper Mathias, who tracked the arrests along with Ryan Reilly, talks about the cases that mainly did not register as national news. So when did you and Ryan really notice that these disrupted shooting plots had become a trend?Really within the first week after the massacre at the El Paso Walmart. There were all of these horrifying stories. A guy was arrested for plotting an attack against a Planned Parenthood. Another guy was found with explosives and a notebook in which he described forming a militia to carry out attacks. A couple people were arrested for threatening more mass shootings at Walmarts. There were many more too.How many of these cases do you think would have qualified as domestic terrorism if they were carried out?That's really hard to say because America doesn't have a specific domestic terror law. Dylann Roof, for example, the white supremacist who massacred nine people in a black church, was never charged with domestic terrorism. Now, have there been ideologically motivated terror plots since El Paso? Certainly. In the cases we reviewed, it appears about nine or 10 were motivated by far-right ideology. They include attacks targeting synagogues, Planned Parenthoods, gay bars and Hispanics.Which of these plots was the most alarming — that is, had the most potential for bloodshed?The most alarming to me I think is the case of Connor Climo, the guy in Las Vegas. He was one of the few people we saw arrested who appears to have connections to organized white supremacist groups. In his case, he allegedly had ties to a branch of the Atomwaffen Division, a particularly violent and bloodthirsty neo-Nazi group whose members have been connected to five murders over the last five years. The FBI had been tracking Climo for months.You traveled to Portland recently to cover a fascist rally put on by the Proud Boys, but their event pretty much flopped. Why do you think that was?Oh man, so many reasons! I think the Proud Boys knew they were playing with fire. A lot of their buddies had gotten arrested in the lead up to the rally on charges related to violence at previous rallies. I think they knew going in that police were watching them very closely and that if they stepped out of line they'd get arrested. Also, anti-fascists not only outnumbered the Proud Boys, but put on an absurd spectacle, kind of mocking the Proud Boys in the process. There was the "banana bloc," an anti-fascist marching band whose members dressed up like bananas. Some people dressed up like poop emojis. People danced and sang. Also they organized a fundraiser: For every Proud Boy or other fascist that showed up for the rally, people pledged a small amount of money to a local Latino rights group, essentially enlisting Proud Boys to raise money for a cause they hate. Ultimately, over $35,000 was raised for the Latino rights group. It was just kind of a sad display for the fascists in Portland. 🔥 More Must Reads 🔥
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