The horrific scenes of destruction in the wake of Hurricane Helene are being exacerbated by a massive coordinated right wing misinformation and disinformation campaign. Far right media outlets, politicians, and 'influencers' are pushing bogus claims of refugee and migrant linked FEMA funding shortages, donation seizures, and eminent domain land grabs.
Georgia Congressional Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has previously blamed California wildfires on Jewish space lasers, is making bat-shit public claims that 'they' can manipulate weather, and are using these powers to influence the upcoming presidential election. Infowars host Alex Jones' brings similar accusations a little closer to home alleging the Pentagon having 'dozens of giant weather control platforms' aimed directly at the United States. X.com owner and richest man-child in the world Elon Musk has not only let his social media network be overrun with confusing and conflicting disinformation, he is personally disseminating false claims to his 200 million followers.
Bad actors can also be found on the ground with a variety of violent fascist and neo-Nazi groups including chapters of the Proud Boys, Patriot Front, American Blackshirts Movement, and various regional 'Active Clubs' attempting to co-opt the tragedy for recruitment and propaganda purposes. All of these groups are, to varying degrees, acting as de-facto far-right militias or freikorps styled vigilante fighting groups. Many of the Proud Boys leadership are currently serving long prison sentences for sedition and other serious crimes committed during the January 6th, 2021 insurrection. The Active Clubs, Patriot Front, and various other more openly neo-Nazi groups are actively conducting paramilitary and martial arts training in furtherance of an imagined race war that will bring about an end to civil society and enable them to establish an all-white ethno-state.
One dramatic example is the neo-Nazi 'Gentile News Network' which currently has a whopping 133,000 followers on Elon Musk's fascist friendly X.com and is spewing a mix of antisemitic and racist themes and overall disinformation to their massive audience.
When bad actors do 'good' deeds…
Natural disasters provide a perfect opportunity for extremist groups to prey upon desperate and traumatised communities by providing emergency supplies and manpower while spreading their disinformation and propaganda. The distribution of food and water and clearing of fallen tree limbs is part of a broader tactic aimed at laundering their undeniably vile ideological foundations and genocidal ambitions. Mutual aid is a critical component to these communities' recoveries, but the organised and established social media networks which these groups rely on for recruitment will disproportionately claim credit as 'white saviours.'
The now-defunct neo-Nazi National Justice Party attempted to build their brand using this exact playbook. The group could be found staging small scale 'demonstrations' around local tragedies like the Wassau, Wisconsin holiday parade car crash and the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment in an attempt to center the entire conversation around 'white grievances.'
While the National Justice Party and its successor, the Nationalist Coalition, suffered humiliating public implosions, one of their Tennessee based regional leaders, Carson Ford Brooks, aka 'Carson Kilgrey,' has been promoting a fundraising campaign on Give Send Go which has already raised nearly $15,000. Give Send Go is a purportedly 'Christian' crowdfunding website that has attracted controversy for allowing far-right extremists, including neo-Nazis, white supremacists and hate groups, to fundraise.
Tennessee native Carson Brooks was one of the National Justice Party's most prominent bigmouths for in-person events. Sporting a bullhorn, Brooks was regular fixture at regional protests where the National Justice Party ghoulishly attached themselves to local tragedies and hot button culture war issues where the group harassed and attempted to intimidate members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Carson Brooks is a failed musician whose quest for any level of celebrity hit rock bottom as a mouthpiece for concurrent unabashed Nazi grift organizations. Undeterred by the successive failures of the NJP and the Nationalist Coalition, Brooks is attempting to use this tragedy to rebuild his tainted personal brand.
Even if these raised funds go mostly towards the stated purpose, this is an absolute grift. Carson Brooks is using this tragedy to burnish his credentials, propagandise, and recruit on behalf of white supremacy. Given his recent history with at least two failed white nationalist groups, it is safe to assume he is using this situation to lay the groundwork and recruit for a new organisation.
To a casual observer, Carson Brooks' fundraising pitch is seemingly innocuous, with carefully coded language that is vague enough to mask any obvious link to white supremacy and neo-Nazism. A statement by Brooks on his Give Send Go campaign page reads:
We are volunteers from groups throughout the Southeast and beyond who are coming to the aid of a demographic our system clearly cares nothing about: Appalachians. We are being told that FEMA is out of money while our government sends billions overseas. Our people are suffering and dying right here, right now, and they don't have time to wait for government services that may never come.
But a quick scan through the social media networks where Brooks is promoting the fundraiser, reveals a cesspool of racism, antisemitism, and blatant disinformation. Thoroughly debunked rumours about the lack of federal funding, lack of attention to white persons in need, and other 'white grievances' are mixed with tinfoil hat-worthy weather manipulation nonsense and racist propaganda.
The Give Send Go campaign comment section is even more revealing with donors linking their contributions to antisemitic conspiracies and references to helping specifically 'Our People,' meaning white persons of European descent. The neo-Nazi Jon Minadeo, aka 'Handsome Truth,' of the notorious 'Goyim Defense League' gave a $250 donation with the racist instruction to 'Make sure this donation goes to Europeans only.'
Given the sheer amount of conflicting information being generated, vigorous due diligence is required. Neo-Nazis are coming armed with cameras and established platforms with which to exaggerate their role and manipulate the discourse. They are spending more resources on documenting their presence than actually helping because the needs of the broader community are secondary to the longer game plan of expanding their potential membership base.
Bad faith conspiracy theories aside, FEMA, the federal and local governments, and private insurers will surely fall short in the face of this monumental catastrophe. It is important to prevent bad actors from exploiting that gap to create a propaganda and recruiting campaign on behalf of their imagined white supremacy. There is a tremendous ongoing need for donations and volunteers all throughout the storm damaged areas. Shane Burley has created an excellent resource list of reliable mutual aid groups which is available here. Please help if you can.