Identity Evropa

Identity Evropa
American Identity Movement
Also known asAmIM,[2] AIM, IE (formerly)
Leader
  • (Founder) Nathan Damigo (2016 – Aug. 2017)
  • Elliot Kline (Aug. – Nov. 2017)[3]
  • Patrick Casey (Nov. 2017 – Nov. 2020)[4]
FoundationMarch 2016
DissolvedNovember 2020[5]
CountryUnited States
MotivesTo seize control of the US government, establish a white ethnostate, and spread support for white nationalism
HeadquartersWashington D.C.
Ideology
Political positionFar-right
Sizeroughly 800 as of July 2018[6][7]
Flag
Websitewww.identityevropa.com
www.americanidentitymovement.com[dead link]

Identity Evropa (/juːˈroʊpə/) was an American far-right, neo-Nazi, neo-Fascist,[8][9][10] and white supremacist[10][11][12] organization established in March 2016. It was rebranded[16] as the American Identity Movement in March 2019.[2][17] In November 2020, the group disbanded.[5] Leaders and members of Identity Evropa, such as former leader Elliot Kline, praised Nazi Germany and pushed for what they described as the "Nazification of America".[9]

The white supremacist slogan "You will not replace us" originated from the group.[18] In an attempt to boost its numbers, Identity Evropa allied itself with the broader alt-right and identitarian movements[11] and the group targeted college campuses and students in particular[19] by distributing slogans on fliers, posters, and stickers.[7][11][12] According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Identity Evropa was one of several groups which contributed to the growth of white supremacism in the United States during the 2010s, with the organization being designated by it as an influential hate group during its four-year existence.[19][20][21]

In March 2018, it was reported that the group was seeing steep declines in membership. The collapse was similarly seen in other alt-right groups, and was attributed to a widespread public backlash against white supremacist organizations that occurred after the 2017 Charlottesville rally.[22] In March 2019, following a leak of the group's Discord messages published by the non-profit left-wing media collective Unicorn Riot, Patrick Casey, the group's leader, rebranded[13][14][15] the group with the new name "American Identity Movement" with an Americana aesthetic, despite initially claiming they were unrelated organizations.[2][17]

The Identity Evropa organization distances itself from „Les Identitaires“, the identitarian nationalist movement that emerged in France in 2003.[23] While the latter is a French movement that also includes Far-right approaches and Nationalism, their focus is on French Nationalism and, in addition to anti-Islam their ideology consists of Anti-Americanism, as they see the United States and Islam as the two primary imperialistic threats to Europe.[24][25]

The organization's founder, Nathan Damigo (/dəˈmɪɡoʊ/), is a self-described member of the identitarian movement.[21] Damigo grew up in San Jose, California,[21] and was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps from 2004 to 2007.[11] In November 2007, Damigo robbed a La Mesa, California, taxicab driver at gunpoint, believing that the man was Iraqi.[11][26] Damigo was convicted of armed robbery and was incarcerated for a year in county jail and four years in state prison.[21][11] He said of the event that "it's something that I'm certainly not proud of," attributing his behavior to "major issues" after returning from Iraq.[21]

In prison, Damigo began to read works by far-right figures, including David Duke.[21][11] He was also influenced by J. Philippe Rushton and Nicholas Wade.[11] After being released from prison in 2014,[27] Damigo led the National Youth Front,[27][11] the youth wing of the American Freedom Party.[11] The group was classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Anti-Defamation League,[27] with the SPLC reporting that it was founded by "racist Southern California skinheads that aims to deport immigrants and return the United States to white rule."[11] The National Youth Front later disbanded.[27][11] Damigo founded Identity Evropa in March 2016.[11] His activities with "racist organizations" has been disavowed by his father.[28]

In the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally, the leadership position passed onto Elliot Kline, aka Eli Mosley.[3] The group participated in the planning for the October 19, 2017 speech by Richard B. Spencer, a white supremacist, at the University of Florida, where Mosley also spoke. In addition to Spencer and Mosley, the speakers included Mike Enoch, a white nationalist blogger.[29][30] The event drew about 2,500 protesters, vastly outnumbering Spencer's supporters.[31][32]

  1. ^ Pearce, Matt (August 14, 2017). "A guide to some of the far-right symbols seen in Charlottesville". LA Times. Archived from the original on March 18, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference unicornriot_2019-03-06 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Staff (September 26, 2017). "Identity Evropa and Arktos Media — Likely Bedfellows". Hatewatch. Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  4. ^ Staff (December 5, 2017). "Patrick Casey, Identity Evropa's new leader, wants to ditch the "alt-right" for "identitarianism"— another euphemism for white nationalism". Hatewatch. Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement". Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  6. ^ "White nationalist leader is plotting to 'take over the GOP'". NBC News US. 2018-10-17. Archived from the original on 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  7. ^ a b Shukman, Harry (February 15, 2017). "Meet the neo-Nazi coming to put up white pride posters on your campus". The Tab. US. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  8. ^ "Meet the neo-Nazi coming to put up white pride posters on your campus". The Tab US. 2017-02-15. Archived from the original on 2019-08-03. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  9. ^ a b Kelley, Brendan (27 November 2017). "Identity Evropa's Controversial New Ringleader". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2023. But not that long ago, in spring of this year, Mosley a/k/a Kline wasn't shy about the bigotry in his polemics whatsoever. In a report for Andrew Anglin's Daily Stormer about a pro-Trump demonstration in March, Mosley wrote, "In Philadelphia, the city of faggotry love, played out an alliance between the Nazi led marchers and local police departments against their oven-dodging enemies… Spoiler, the Nazis won bigly." He continues, "This is a sign that we have moved into a new era in the Nazification of America. Normie Trump supporters are becoming racially aware and Jew Wise."
  10. ^ a b Gardner, Elena (2018-02-24). "White supremacist decals found at Gonzaga University". KXLY. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Branson-Potts, Hailey (2016-12-07). "In diverse California, a young white supremacist seeks to convert fellow college students". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  12. ^ a b Dugan Arnett (March 31, 2017). "For white nationalists, college campuses are a new recruiting ground". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Cheney-Rice, Zak (20 March 2019). "Racism Is Good at Hiding. Just Ask This White Nationalist Police Officer". Intelligencer. New York Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019. ...an organizer for Identity Evropa, a white nationalist group also known as the American Identity Movement.
  14. ^ a b Hegyi, Nate (March 19, 2019). "White Nationalist Groups Increase Recruiting And Propaganda Across The West". NPR. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2019. ...and another white nationalist group, Identity Evropa — recently rebranded as the American Identity Movement.
  15. ^ a b Negovan, Tom; Davis, Kelly (March 19, 2019). "Police investigating after white nationalist stickers found along South Side Irish Parade route". WGN-TV. Tribune Broadcasting. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2019. The stickers had the name of the American Identity Movement, which is a rebranding of Identity Europa, a well-known white nationalist and neo-Nazi group.
  16. ^ [13][14][15]
  17. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference splc_2019-03-12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference adl_2017-06-09 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ a b Hauslohner, Abigail (February 15, 2017). "Southern Poverty Law Center says American hate groups are on the rise". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  20. ^ Sara Ganim; Chris Welch; Nathaniel Meyersohnl (February 15, 2017). "'A resurgence of white nationalism': Hate groups spiked in 2016". CNN. Archived from the original on April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  21. ^ a b c d e f Alexis Terrazas & Atticus Morris (15 December 2016). "Alternate Reality: Growing acceptance of white nationalism in Trump's America". El Tecolote. Archived from the original on 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  22. ^ Walters, Joanna (March 14, 2018). "Prominent US neo-Nazi arrested on domestic violence charge". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2018. And the SPLC reported that its team monitoring far-right hate groups had seen recent signs on extremist chat boards that members of the racist US group Identity Evropa have been leaving in significant numbers.
  23. ^ "Les Identitaires". Counter Extremism Project. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  24. ^ "Raus ! L'idéologie identitaire face aux « migrants musulmans »". sciencespo.fr (in French). 2019-03-12. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  25. ^ Forestier, Mathilde (February 2014). "Le mouvement identitaire en France – Un portrait" (PDF). JEX Journal EXIT-Deutschland. Zeitschrift für Deradikalisierung und demokratische Kultur (2 / 2014): 80 – via JEX.
  26. ^ Sepulveda, John; Johnson, Bert (August 14, 2017). "Berkeley was training ground for some in Charlottesville protests — Berkeleyside". Berkeleyside. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017. During a psychological evaluation conducted for the court as part of the criminal case, Damigo said he attacked the cab driver, Changiz Ezzatyar, because he mistook him for an Iraqi.
  27. ^ a b c d Alex MacLean, White nationalist leader not from Sonora Archived 2017-04-19 at the Wayback Machine, Union Democrat (December 14, 2016).
  28. ^ Gaffey, Conor (August 16, 2017) "Unite the Right Organizer Disavowed by Family After Charlottesville Violence" Archived 2017-09-04 at the Wayback Machine Newsweek
  29. ^ "WATCH: Richard Spencer gets drowned out by boos at UF speech". 19 October 2017. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  30. ^ "'Go home, racist!' Richard Spencer shouted down at University of Florida speech" Archived 2023-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, USA Today
  31. ^ "Richard Spencer Shouted Down in Florida, Cuts his Speech Short" Archived 2022-12-05 at the Wayback Machine, Newsweek
  32. ^ "Behind-scenes logistics at protest let officers control chaos" Archived 2021-10-09 at the Wayback Machine, The Gainesville Sun