Condemn the
Trump/Pence Regime for Instigating Violence
by Dangerous “Alt–Right” Foot Soldiers

NO! We will not be intimidated. As the fascist Trump/Pence regime moves toward consolidating power in America, a grave danger to humanity and all life on earth, we will meet every outrage it commits with greater and greater resistance, building for the time when millions flood the streets to demand this regime be driven from power.  We recognize, and call on others to proclaim, that Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, Ricky John Best, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher are heroes. They did what everyone should do, stand up to anti-Muslim bigotry and harassment and white supremacy. They did the right thing.

We therefore demand that the City of New York declare a “Day of Honor for Heroes Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche and Ricky John Best”. At this juncture, many will be pulled to turn away, to stay home, to avoid protesting injustice because of the very real dangers of Trump and his bloodthirsty alt-right supporters. We cannot do this; we must recognize that our silence means complicity, our fear means horrors for humanity.”

 On Friday May 26, three people were stabbed, two fatally, on a Portland, Oregon commuter train, after defending two young women, one wearing a hijab, who were being harassed and verbally attacked by a white man, who shouted obscene racist and anti-Muslim slurs.  The killer was identified as Jeremy Christian, a known alt- right white supremacist who sought to attack anti-Trump protesters with a baseball bat as recently as April 29, and who has posted vile comments on social media explicitly expressing Nazi sentiments.

Less than a week before, On Saturday, May 20, Richard Collins, a 23-year-old Black student at Bowie State University, was stabbed to death on the nearby University of Maryland campus by Sean Urbanski, a man known to be involved with the right-wing extremist, white supremacist Facebook group “Alt-Reich: Nation.” Reports state that Urbanski approached Collins at a bus stop and told him to, “Step left, step left if you know what’s best for you.” When Collins simply stated, “No,” he was murdered. Several have rightfully named this murder a lynching.

The murders of Richard Collins and the two victims who lost their lives on this train, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche and Ricky John Best, were perpetrated by fascist thugs. These virulent aggressors, most of whom have long held racist, misogynistic, anti-Muslim sentiments, have been emboldened and unleashed by the Trump/Pence fascist regime. As the regime in power continues to push forth their white supremacist vision through both policy and rhetoric, the blood of these victims is on their hands.

The Refuse Fascism Call to Action states, “Fascism foments and relies on xenophobic nationalism, racism, misogyny, and the aggressive re-institution of oppressive ‘traditional values.’  In Trump’s election campaign he encouraged and fed on the threat and use of violence to build a movement and come to power. In his inaugural address he pledged allegiance only to this movement. What is crucial to understand is that once in power fascism essentially eliminates traditional democratic rights.”

The whipping up of violence in the streets is an integral part of the Trump/Pence fascist program. This growing section of fascist thugs—who often cultivate hatred on social media and are now empowered to commit these vicious hate crimes—can be likened to the “brown shirts” of Nazi Germany, who took it upon themselves to enact Hitler’s agenda, intimidating and killing innocent people. These murders—along with terrifying threats like the many nooses recently discovered on the campus of American University and the grounds of the Smithsonian Institute, both in Washington D.C., or alt-right “doxxing” of anti-Trump protesters, including Refuse Fascism—serve to deeply instill fear in the hearts of Muslims, Black people, Latinos, women, as well as others under attack by the regime and all who stand up to protect them.

NO! We will not be intimidated. As the fascist Trump/Pence regime moves toward consolidating power in America, a grave danger to humanity and all life on earth, we will meet every outrage they commit with greater and greater resistance, building for the time when millions flood the streets to demand this regime be driven from power. We recognize, and call on others to proclaim, that Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, Ricky John Best and Micah David-Cole Fletcher are heroes. At this juncture, many will be pulled to turn away, to stay home, to avoid protesting injustice because of the very real dangers of Trump and his bloodthirsty alt-right supporters. We cannot do this; we must recognize that our silence means complicity, our fear means horrors for humanity.

Instead, we turn to the examples of Namkai Meche and Best, who sacrificed their lives to stop hatred. We honor their memory by calling for a protest against these hate crimes, and we channel our anger and pain toward the entire fascist regime that encourages the violence of these thugs. If Trump and Pence succeed in consolidating power, dissent will no longer be possible, fear will control all, and the hate-driven murders will continue to spread exponentially. The only appropriate response to the lynching of Richard Collins and the murder of Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche and Ricky John Best is to move heaven and earth to drive the fascist Trump/Pence regime out of power.

 In the name of humanity, we REFUSE to accept a fascist America.