Responding to Charlottesville shocking car attack with a message from a ex-white supremacist.
By Jason Williams
Taxpayer Association of Oregon
The violence is still fresh and the details are still coming in on Saturdays violence at a White Supremacist rally where a supporter drove a car through a crowd of counter-protesters — a textbook terrorist attack method I might add. I saw this video from a Morgan Freeman National Geographic [1] series earlier this year and found it a fitting response.
Too often White Supremacists live in a perverted bubble where they feed off public attacks. The video shows this exact point as ex-white supremacist Brian Wydner explains that in getting a Nazi tattoo brought him attention and fights — which is, as sick as it sounds, exactly what he wanted. This is why we need to fight extremism and supremacistism in more ways than one. Highlighting an ex-white supremacist is one of the bigger insults you can deliver and it is a chance to try to change their minds and pull people out. The video is surprising on how difficult it was for Brian Wydner to leave once he changed his mind — it almost cost him his life.
The media reports that there were 15 people injured due to fighting at the Charlottesville event even before the car attack happened (read report here [2]). My thoughts and prayers to the victims.