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| Members of a neo-Nazi group, heads blurred in photo from VICE, infiltrate Montpelier after the July flood, offering to "help." |
Everyone is grateful to all the volunteers who have helped us recover. Except for one group of "volunteers" who are decidedly not welcome. It turns out this batch of young men are neo-Nazis using the disaster to conduct an underhanded recruiting effort.
According to a report in Vice by Tess Owen:
"The men, who called themselves PINE - The People's Initiative of New England - responded to the aftermath to assist clean-up efforts, clear debris from the streets and homes, and pass out bottled water.
PINE describes itself as a 'grassroots effort founded to advocate for and advance the interests of New Englanders,' which sounds innocuous enough - and that's by design.
But PINE is a new front for the neo-Nazi street gang NSC-131, which formed in 2019 and has chapters across New England. While NSC-131 brazenly touts Nazi symbols and throws up Hitler salutes during public appearances, PINE is intended as a softer, more socially acceptable mask. The goal of this is for NSC-131 to broaden their appeal, especially to those who agree with their messaging but may not want to publicly affiliate with an explicitly neo-Nazi organization."
I reached out for comment to Vermont Flood Recovery Officer Doug Farnham about the neo-Nazis. I haven't heard back yet, mostly because I first sought comment late Friday afternoon, which wouldn't have afforded Farnham much time to respond, given his array of responsibilities.
If I hear back from Farnham, or receive additional information about the neo-Nazis, I will of course provide updates.
EVIL PLAYBOOK
As Vice points out, this all is a pretty familiar playbook to anyone who knows even a little about extremist groups and how they infiltrate communities. They exploit moments of crisis and confusion and instability to make gains.
This type of group will point to either real or imagined government incompetence in responding to a disaster and show themselves as the real "saviors" in place of a "useless" bureaucracy.
The administration of Vermont Gov Phil Scott has reacted pretty skillfully to the disaster so far. The complexity of the flood calamity and its aftermath will inevitably lead to a few blunders, delays, paperwork, miscommunications and other issues, no matter how competent state and federal leaders might be.
This street gang, NSC-131, takes their act right out of the authoritarian handbook, which is full of tricks to advance the cause of right wind terrorists.
Sure, it's nice to distribute water, shovel mud out of basements, move damaged property away and that kind of thing. However, that's comparatively easy compared to managing the bureaucracy and complexity of government disaster recovery.
NSC-131 would of course pounce on what I just said. They'd probably describe me as a elitist dismissing the hard work of all these great volunteers who get their hands dirty, spending time, energy, sweat, effort and money helping their neighbors.
But the neo-Nazi group ignores a critical element. There's two essential pieces of heroism. There's what you do, and perhaps more importantly, why you're doing it.
If I asked you why you distributed water and food, moved ruined furniture to the curb, mucked out a muddy basement, etc. and you reply, "My neighbors, friends and fellow Vermonters were in trouble. I had to help,'" that makes you a hero. Full stop.
If your motivation for "helping" - like this group of neo Nazis - is a sneaky way to influence people to be like minded in this sordid ideology, you're a wimp, not a coward. You can't support your disgusting ideas, so you resort to subterfuge. I hope they've left Vermont already, but these weird groups don't usually give up so easily.
Vermont's experience with NSC-131 in the aftermath of our flood disaster is by no means an isolated case. As Vice reports:
"This is a trend that experts say they expect to see more of in the coming years. As the effects of climate change grow more severe, communities that have been destabilized by natural disaster may increasingly find themselves leaning on wolves in sheeps clothing - extremists dressed up as good Samaritans."
Although there are racists and others in Vermont that might be open to these disgusting entreaties, I like to have hope that most of us are sober enough to resist this bullcrap.
That's not guaranteed, though.
Messaging among PINE members on Gab and Telegram showed they were encourage about the possibility of exploiting Vermonters during the flood crisis in July. They found hints of support in the Green Mountain State, apparently.
"VT is so far left I too assume there are no like minded people. Good to see this," read one of those messages.
I'm also not as confident about how people might react in other places in the U.S. or the world in general to this neo-Nazi messaging. It's why authoritarianism is on the march. It's not just climate change that's destabilizing everything. There's income inequality, political lies, out of control technology, corruption, gullibility among large swaths of the population and plain stupidity that neo-Nazis are exploiting.
Still, right wing extremists have a solid partner in weather and climate disasters to advance their loathsome agendas.
"Militias like the Oath Keepers have historically pounced on any opportunity they can to expose weaknesses in federal agencies like FEMA (which is a go-to source of anti-government conspiracy theories). Members of this group, including their founder Stewart Rhodes, who was recently convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 riot, responded to calls for volunteers in the aftermath of Category 4 Hurricane Harvey in 2017."
You can see how easy it can be for these groups to conduct their exploitation. It's inevitable that many people, many Vermonters will be disappointed in FEMA. They won't get enough relief funds. The application process might be kafkaesque, and FEMA decisions will be unpopular an hard to appeal.
Oath keepers and other militias hopscotched to a series of other disasters, such as hurricanes in Puerto Rico and Florida in 2017, Hurricane Michael in 2018, and a series of destructive tornadoes that trashed parts of Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee in 2021.
For all I know, neo-Nazi groups are on their way to Maui to interfere with the deadly wildfires there.
Among all the problems Vermont has to face after the flood, the last thing we need is this crappy group of thugs invading our space. It's sad that we now have to remember to be careful about who we accept help from when trouble arises.
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