Slate "A Photographer on the Most Disturbing Thing He Saw at Trump Rallies"

[NRaleighLiberal]

“We Don’t Have a Plan”
A photographer who covered five years of Trump rallies on the most disturbing thing he saw—and his fears for the future.
By AYMANN ISMAIL
NOV 16, 20209:47 PM

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/11/donald-trump-rally-photographer-interview.html

Photographer Zach D Roberts has been chronicling Donald Trump’s rallies from the beginning. And he was there last weekend for one of their last gasps during Trump’s presidency, the Million MAGA March in Washington, where he documented a now-familiar sight: Violent far-right groups like the Proud Boys mingling interchangeably with rank-and-file Trump supporters, intent on instigating the protesters and counter-protesters as much as possible.

Roberts kept his nerve for five years. His photos have appeared in both right- and left-leaning publications, which is good, he told me, because it makes himself easier to pass himself off as “neutral” when covering groups like the Proud Boys, Patriot Front, and the Boogaloo movement. Roberts was documenting right-wing rallies long before Trump was on the scene—he covered NRA marches back in 2006—but he says he’s never seen marches like the ones he has recently. Over the phone, we talked about what he’s captured in four years of rallies, whether he believes his work might amplify the extreme groups he covers, and what happens once Trump leaves office. Our conversation has been condensed and edited.

What was the scene at the march this weekend?

I just got back, so I’m starting to process everything. I went to the White House just to see what was going on. The MAGA people were in town, and it was Friday night, so you know they were going to be getting drunk. And a bunch of them showed up specifically to start things. I just happened to walk by a place called Harry’s Bar, next to the Hotel Harrington in D.C., which is the hotel Proud Boys typically stay at anytime they’re in town. They were instigating people. They threatened me twice.

What do people do in situations like that?

The real problem is, I have never seen the police ever arrest a Proud Boy. I’ve witnessed multiple fights between Proud Boys and I guess you could call them “antifascists,” but unless you’re willing to walk away after getting shoved and being spit in the face by a Proud Boy, then shit is going to happen. And they’re not the ones getting arrested. In every place I’ve ever covered these fights—in Portland; Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia; New York City; or Washington—the person that gets arrested is not the Proud Boy. The Republican Clubs in NYC was a big anomaly, but that’s what generally happens.


snip. Well worth a read. Very disturbing.

[Kid Berwyn]

1. Seems to be a pattern.

Like protects like.

[H2O Man]

26. +1

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Cops tend to not arrest their friends.

[Fla Dem]

5. Wouldn't be surprised if a number of them are cops.

[barbtries]

18. that's clear.

police are comfortable with a police state. they call that job security. and many if not most are die-hard racists.

[dem4decades]

6. Or other cops.

[crickets]

12. +1

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

3. K&R!

[Aristus]

4. The cops ARE Proud Boys.

Bottom line...

[volstork]

42. Exactly.

You never see a cop arrest a proud boy for the same reason you never see Superman and Clark Kent in the same room together.

[colsohlibgal]

7. All Brought Out Of The Shadows By Baby Donnie

Disgusting and disturbing.

As an aside, living in a Columbus suburb.....you notice in that list of cities Columbus is the only one where it also lists the State. This is not an outlier and it is puzzling and annoying. Why? There are other cities with that name, like a lot of cities but none of them are anywhere near the population of Columbus,OH. Not sure why this is so.

[LuvNewcastle]

34. Columbus is a common name in America,

and Columbus, OH isn't a really well-known city, like Cleveland or even Cincinnati. A lot of states have a Columbus. In Mississippi we have a Columbus and a Columbia, so they get confused even by natives of the state. When somebody writes down Columbus or Portland or Jackson or any other common place name, he'd better cite the state, too, or he's going to get calls asking which state was meant. So adding the state saves a lot of aggravation down the line.

[dalton99a]

8. "The real problem is, I have never seen the police ever arrest a Proud Boy."

Not surprising at all

[cilla4progress]

9. Suppose

they are afraid of them?

[tblue37]

17. More like they are a part of them.

[wnylib]

37. Militias, Proud Boys, etc. have been

recruiting cops for a long time, especially Oath Keepers. The FBI reported on this around 2006 or 2007. Imagine how many successful recruitments they've had since then.

[ancianita]

10. White supremacists are fascist. Fascists don't arrest fascists. So no, Proud Boys are NOT antifa.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

11. There needs to be a mandatory national standard for all law enforcement personnel.

Requirements should include rigid psychological testing, and a four year degree in Law Enforcement from an accredited university.

This will weed out most of the ignorant, violent, psycho wackos from police agencies nationwide.

[milestogo]

29. "rigid psychological testing"

[wnylib]

38. Also a background check for associations

with militias and other hate groups.

[llashram]

13. police? what police

would arrest one of their own. Kenosha anyone, remember that. Told the entire world, police are RW racists if white and shamefully quiet if not.

[Dukkha]

14. same reason why you never see cops at Klan rallies

They are one and the same.

[GopherGal]

24. As I read somewhere recently:

It's the same reason you never see Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana in the same room.

[Dukkha]

40. or Clark Kent and Superman

[LAS14]

15. Thanks. We need detailed, on the ground, reliable information. This reminds me...

... of something the newly promoted black female police chief of some violence torn city said (I THINK it was Raleigh). Words to the effect... "We don't need people like that in the the police force." I wish I knew for sure which city. I'd like to follow her. It won't be an easy job to change the makeup of the police force.

[tblue37]

19. Don't need what?

[LAS14]

20. Oh. I'll fix that. It turns out I put stuff I couldn't remember...

... exactly in angle brackets and everything after the first angle bracket disappeared.

[liberalla]

16. Bookmarking

to read later...

[BSdetect]

21. The police generally have an introverted culture of us vs them and that is very unhealthy

Ask Serpico

[not_the_one]

22. These cops need to be purged. Let them go join the Proud Boys, or whichever

fetish is their taste in fascism. Then we would know who and where they are. They certainly should not be masquerading as cops.

They want the freedom to "associate"? Then let them go "associate". The second they commit a crime, arrest their ass.

[BobTheSubgenius]

23. This appalling dereliction of duty flies mostly under the radar.

It's usually only the cases where the cops have an actual death in custody that anyone hears about. Suddenly makes the "one or two rotten apples" seem like they're multiplying, doesn't it? It's almost certainly been this way for a long time, though.

[H2O Man]

25. Recommended.

Very important. Thank you.

[calimary]

27. I wonder whether it's because so many far-right sympathizers

have been drawn into police departments.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/27/white-supremacists-militias-infiltrate-us-police-report

I think it at least partially explains why so many blacks, in particular, have met a bad end in encounters with police.

If you send officers out - who have a “if you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail” mentality - you ARE going to get some very specific one-sided results.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

28. Thanks for te great link.

[DENVERPOPS]

30. The most appalling thing

is that you are JUST NOW figuring that out.............along with a whole big bunch of Dems.

It has been going on for a long time. Many of us on DU have been talking about it for some time........

[NRaleighLiberal]

31. we definitely are ahead of the curve on most things

[Hekate]

32. KnR

[lunatica]

33. Far Right reactionary groups are here to stay

The FBI has always kept track of them. Before Trump there were a few hundred of them scattered around the country and listed by the FBI.

Trump has really boosted their numbers and their power. I truly believe Trump wants them to be his private little army, following his stochastic directives to wreak violence and terror on his enemies. It would be twofer for him. A private army and he wouldn’t even have to pay them or do much for them in return. And he wouldn’t have to be held accountable for what they did. His dream come true.

[LittleGirl]

47. Now don't give them ideas! eom

[lunatica]

49. We're the ones who have to wake up to the fact they exist

I’m trying to work past the denial stage of realizing they exist. The time must come to accept they’re a fact of life.

I hope laws are passed that never allow this to happen again. Trump is blatantly committing treason with his scorched earth tactic and someone somewhere knows he’s giving State secrets to our enemies just to save his own skin. But there are no laws stating his crimes to be treason, so he goes on doing it. And practically in plain view.

[LittleGirl]

50. Ikr!

The gop are a bunch of weasels! Lock them up!

[Crunchy Frog]

35. So basically, the police forces are fascist,

and are there to protect and enable the fascist movement in this country.

Scary AF.

[Ferrets are Cool]

36. This is so GD'd wrong!!

I guess I need to stop reading stuff like this. It makes my blood pressure go to insane levels.

[FakeNoose]

39. K & R bookmarked

Recommended!

[ecstatic]

41. People are finally starting to see the corruption

Police departments across America support trumpism and white supremacy.

[Hortensis]

43. "People" DO not drive across states and cities to GET in situations like that.

Except a few young "I guess you could call them antifascists" heavily outnumbered by white power troublemakers really hoping they'll show up.

That's what you do. You DO not blow up the numbers, DO not turn the temperatures on high, in other words, DO not give the troublemakers exactly what they come hoping for. And DO need.

And if you're an honest journalist, you do NOT seek out highly abnormal situations and present them as illustrating a new normal.

Fwiw, I've been watching with alarm the increasing authoritarian/fascistic actions on the right, including at the highest levels of government for most of the past two decades. Trump is not the first, just the worst so far. I'm not exactly a denier, and I'm unbelievably relieved that we've had what were clearly mostly successfully monitored elections and suppressed RW domestic terrorism through this election. Very much including the Proud Boys types who went missing in action while Biden was elected by peaceful majorities across the nation.

Wannabe fascists aren't just disappearing, of course, but for now the sick feeling that's been my norm is gone.

[Ilsa]

44. Police don't arrest thugs in khakis and Polo shirts.

They have severe biases.

[BigmanPigman]

45. My first and only encounter with Proud Boys was at an anti-tRump

rally in my city. I had been to many protests but this was the first time I had seen people with bullhorns at the front of the group of speakers, trying to cause havoc. I was right up there in front, high up on the steps with the speakers. You could see the police (later I learned they were sheriffs, not the police, and they love tRump big time) standing around but they did nothing. Finally, one of the speakers who was a city council member, called the sheriff's dept and told them to instruct their sheriffs to do their job and separate the Proud Boys from the rest of us. I was standing next to one sheriff who was finally telling the Proud Boys to move to a different area. I smiled at the Proud Boy the sheriff spoke with and flashed the "peace sign" in his face. I think it was better at diffusing their angst/hate than the sheriff. They hate "peace".

[Hermit-The-Prog]

46. It will take federal action to root out RW terrorist sympathizers from police forces.

[radius777]

48. Cops tend to have a victim/hero complex

where they expect everyone (especially those they deem lower, ie non-whites) to put them on a pedestal - and when this does not happen they become enraged. Explains why they so strongly support the crybaby in chief.

It is we taxpayers who pay their salary and it's their job to enforce the law in a politically neutral fashion. If they can't do this then they need to be fired.