Fast Forward

White Nationalist Group Rebrands, But It’s Still Doing White Nationalist Events

The white supremacist group Identity Evropa placed flyers on the campus of Rutgers University, one of the most heavily-Jewish colleges in the country. Image by Twitter

By Alyssa Fisher May 21, 2019

The “alt-right” group Identity Evropa has rebranded to the American Identity Movement — and it’s planning its next action for July 4th weekend in Washington, D.C.

Identity Evropa promotes a white nationalist ideology, with members who see themselves as “identitarians” preserving Western culture. The group rebranded after the left-wing media collective Unicorn Riot leaked tens of thousands of internal chats that revealed its strategies. Unicorn Riot has continued to disclose new chats, which confirmed that American Identity Movement is carrying on Identity Evropa’s original mission of spreading white nationalism.

AIM leader Patrick Casey had instructed members to steer clear of making obviously racist comments, but some were noted in the latest leak — including anti-Semitic conversations about “Jews control[ing] the media.” On Wednesday, Casey shared plans for activism in the “Weekly Address,” which Unicorn Riot found to be a continuation of Identity Evropa’s “fireside chats.” One event was a gathering of members in Washington, D.C., over July 4th weekend, in addition to South Dakota and Texas in August.

Unicorn Riot reported that the chats and AIM’s latest action seem to indicate that the group is reverting back to its earlier strategy — before its involvement in the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally — of finding “soft targets” to spread its message to, such as on college campus events and at speaking engagements.

Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO