Chicago-Based White Supremacist Nick Fuentes, Leader Of 'America First Present At The January 6 Insurrection, Aligns Himself With Black Antisemites, Spreads Antisemitism And Racism Online – A 12-Month Review Of Online Activity

print
December 2, 2022

 

On Tuesday 22, former President Donald Trump dined at his Mar-A-Lago resort with musician Ye, formerly known as Kanye West – who has made headlines in recent weeks for his antisemitic comments – as well as with one of the most notorious white supremacists in the United States, Nick Fuentes.[1]

Fuentes has been a vocal supporter of Trump for years and was a prominent leader in the riot outside the Capitol building on January 6. Seven people involved with Fuentes' America First group have been charged with crimes committed on January 6. Fuentes has received donations totaling over $125,000 stemming from his involvement in the riot. The House Select committee charged with investigating January 6 has also issued Fuentes a subpoena hoping to learn more about his involvement in that day's events, although Fuentes responded by saying that he would likely "plead the fifth" if he were to testify.[2]

Fuentes' almost daily online streams have become increasingly antisemitic and racist over the past 12 months. Fuentes has engaged in conspiracy theories, specifically making use of the Great Replacement theory and conspiracy theories around Jewish control to fuel his antisemitic rants online. The America First movement has close ties to neo-Nazis online, and Fuentes and his supporters have in the past praised Hitler and denied Holocaust.

During the AFPAC III conference on February 26, 2022, Fuentes led a crowd in cheering "Putin" and praised the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also favorably compared Putin to Hitler.[3]

In December 2021, Fuentes was suspended from Twitter for "repeated violations" of the platform's Terms of Service. Additionally, he has also been suspended from YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, Spotify, Venmo, and Stripe.[4] Following suspension from mainstream platforms, Fuentes created the Cozy.tv platform, where he releases his "America First" livestreams a number of times per week.

The following report is an overview of Fuentes' social media presence and online activity during the last 12 months.

 

YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO THE MEMRI DOMESTIC TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR (DTTM) TO READ THE FULL REPORT. GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA CAN REQUEST A COPY BY WRITING TO DTTMSUBS@MEMRI.ORG WITH THE REPORT TITLE IN THE SUBJECT LINE. PLEASE INCLUDE FULL ORGANIZATIONAL DETAILS AND AN OFFICIAL EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR REQUEST. NOTE: WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A COPY ONLY TO MEMBERS OF GOVERNMENT, LAW ENFORCEMENT, MEDIA, AND ACADEMIA, AND TO SUBSCRIBERS; IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE CRITERIA PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST.

About Nick Fuentes And America First

Nick Fuentes is a 24-year-old white supremacist based in La Grange Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Fuentes gained popularity following the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and has claimed that he had received death threats after the rally.[5] While a freshman at Boston University, Fuentes began his livestream titled "America First." The livestream grew in popularity and Fuentes' supporters are referred to as "Groypers."

Fuentes' supporters differentiate themselves from other rightwing nationalists and conservative groups, whom they view as "Conservative Inc." or "fake conservatives," who have sanitized their views on "traditional values" in order to maintain the "optics" of mainstream acceptability, thus betraying the true heart of conservativism as defined by the Groypers.[6] The Groyper Army gained national attention when they publicly heckled Donald Trump Jr. during a national tour to promote his book.[7] This is part of the "Groyper War," in which Groypers attend conservative events on college campuses and troll the speaker with homophobic and racist questions, including ones relating to popular antisemitic conspiracy theories.[8] [9]

A picture containing text, person, person, hatDescription automatically generated
Fuentes held a rally at the Lansing Capitol in Lansing, Michigan on November 11, 2020. (Source: Nicole Hester, MLive.com)

In October of 2021, Fuentes began his own streaming platform. The platform now hosts roughly 70 different ultranationalist and white supremacist streamers. A social media account affiliated with the platform claimed that the website had 20,000 concurrent viewers on the previous night's stream.

Fuentes also hosts the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC), an annual conference set up to serve as an alternative to CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee). The event began in 2020 and takes place in February every year. Former speakers include white supremacists Vincent James, Patrick Casey, Jared Taylor, Peter Brimelow, and ultranationalist Michelle Malkin. Prominent politicians have also spoken at the event including former Representative Steve King, Arizona representative Paul Gosar, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers, and Lieutenant Governor of Idaho Janice McGeachin.

Logo, company nameDescription automatically generated
AFPAC's featured speakers.

Fuentes Attended The January 6 U.S. Capitol Riot

Fuentes attended the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot but has not been accused of entering the building itself. Following the riot, Fuentes wrote on Twitter: "The Capitol Siege was fucking awesome and I'm not going to pretend it wasn't."[10]

A group of people walkingDescription automatically generated with medium confidence
Fuentes at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2022.

He reposted on his social media channel a video from his "America First" livestream in which he talks about the storming of the U.S. Capitol, stating: "It was awesome, and it was historic, and the people that did it were heroes, and we should lionize and remember their names and honor them, NOT disavow them."

Graphical user interfaceDescription automatically generated
Fuentes forwarded a post summarizing his reaction to the January 6th riot.

In January 2022, Fuentes along with Patrick Casey, and "America First" members, were issued subpoenas by the House committee. Fuentes and Casey had urged other extremists to come to the Capitol on January 6 and cheered on the rioters on that day. Committee Chair Bennie Thompson wrote that Fuentes called on his supporters "to continue occupying the Capitol until the election results are overturned."[11]

During a livestream, Fuentes reacted to the subpoena. He said that the fact that he's "subpoenaed by the U.S. Congress at the age of 23 just gives me credibility... I take great pride in this... I'm banned from everything, I'm debanked, I'm on the no-fly list... and now a subpoena from the U.S. Congress... [I am] the number one political dissident in America... I feel badass, I think it's hardcore. Who else has the credibility that I do? I'm trying to get across a very important message about white genocide and the destruction of our people... I'm trying to save this country... And every step of the way, they treat me like I'm radioactive." During the stream, he also joked about how going to jail would give him time to write a book. However, he reiterated that he doesn't want to go to jail and that he's trusting "the plan."

A person in a suit and tieDescription automatically generated with medium confidence
Fuentes discusses the subpoena.

Nick Fuentes Fundraises Via Cryptocurrency And Streaming Site, Sells America First Merchandise

Fuentes is one of the most successful white supremacist personalities, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations. Most of these donations come from cryptocurrency donations and through various livestream platforms he has utilized.

 

He previously used a platform that was utilized by many neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Prior to his suspension Fuentes reportedly made over $140,000 from his livestreams and was allegedly the most viewed account on the platform.[12]

After Fuentes was banned from that particular platform, he created his own platform. On the platform users can send money along with messages known as "superchats." The superchats can be paid for using a credit card. The superchat feature was created by the creators a software that allows white supremacists to monetize their livestreams utilizing credit cards. The payment processor for this service is Stripe.

Graphical user interface, applicationDescription automatically generated

Fuentes announced on one of his social media accounts that he had opened two online merchandise stores. Customers can purchase merchandise utilizing bitcoin.

Graphical user interfaceDescription automatically generated

Graphical user interface, websiteDescription automatically generated

Graphical user interface, text, applicationDescription automatically generated
Merchandise can be purchased using BTCPay.

A report by Chainanalysis, a company that tracks cryptocurrency donations, showed in late January 2021 that some extremists – including Fuentes – received funding via cryptocurrency prior to January 6 U.S. Capitol riot. It said that "On December 8, 2020, a donor sent 28.15 BTC – worth approximately $522,000 at the time of transfer – to 22 separate addresses in a single transaction... Many of those addresses belong to... activists and internet personalities" including Nick Fuentes.[13]

On his website Fuentes also lists a P.O. Box in Western Springs, Illinois where supporters can presumably send him donations via check or cash.

TextDescription automatically generated

Nick Fuentes Recent Social Media Activity

Fuentes Spouts Antisemitism, Racism And Misogyny On His Near-Daily Livestreams

Most of Fuentes' content online comes from his near-daily livestreams on his livestream platform. Clips of these streams, which range from two to three hours, are then made into shorter clips that are shared on other platforms.. During the livestreams, Fuentes discusses politics and current events through a white supremacist lens.

Fuentes often spreads antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jewish control of the United States and makes racist, xenophobic, and misogynistic remarks. He has frequently discussed his desire to create a Christian nationalist dictatorship.

During a stream, Fuentes responded to a recent suspension effort by Twitter against Groypers, calling for a mass migration to another platform, which he referred to as the movement's new "homeland." He also called for his followers to fight the government, asserting that the Groypers are "righteous" and that the government "will not stop on its own." He also called for the nuking of Israel in a hypothetical future case in which two Groypers are in a position to mutiny against the Pentagon and launch nuclear missiles.

He began the stream by discussing a recent purge of his accounts and those of his followers from Twitter. Fuentes referred to himself as "the most oppressed person in America" and called for all of his suspended followers to join another platform utilized by white supremacists, stating: "If you were caught up in the Groyper holocaust. If you were exterminated, systematically, by our idiot overlord on Twitter, get on __." He praised the platform and its founder repeatedly before proclaiming that platform would be the homeland for the Groypers.

Fuentes portrayed the widespread suspensions of accounts related to the Groypers as an existential threat to the survival of his movement. Fuentes declared that the issue is not limited to his inability to tweet or post on Facebook, arguing: "Digital life is becoming inseparable from normal life and digital life is becoming essential to getting along in the real life, it's not just inseparable, it's essential... this is the level of persecution that we're talking about... this is a violation of my God-given rights. This is not a free society."

Fuentes Argues That Vaccine Passports Are A Gateway To Complete Government Control

Fuentes proceeded to attack recent vaccine mandates introduced in New York City, which he claimed require everyone over the age of five to be vaccinated. Fuentes argued that such requirements will lead to a situation in which "a parent can't even protect their child from the government." He continued saying: "at this point the hole is deep. The lies, the deception, the hypocrisy, the inconsistencies, it's so deep, where do we even begin with this stuff, you know? ... I've been saying it all along, this will not stop on its own."

The idea of the government continuously trying to maximize its power was a prominent theme throughout Fuentes' livestream. He asserted that "Nobody should assume that there's anything the government won't do," and "if nobody does anything, it is going to be catastrophically worse than it is today." Fuentes declared that his followers have no option but to act, stating: "This whole thing is pushing us to the brink in every way. In terms of pushing us to the brink and making us question fundamental things about who we are and what we're doing here in reality." He followed up this call for action by preemptively justifying any actions his followers may "be forced to take" since "[The Groypers] are righteous and we do have god on our side."

Fuentes summarized his call to action, stating: "[We need to] find the strength to set things straight, and we have to go through this. This is part of it. It's not gonna be easy and that means it's gonna be hard... it's gonna be really hard and you are not going to know what to do sometimes and it's gonna be miserable sometimes and you're gonna feel bad, have to make sacrifices and you'll be in pain and you're gonna wish you weren't doing this. And you're gonna wish, sometimes, you were dead... it's gonna be something that will transform us and it will transform you personally. But that's what it means to do a hard thing and that's what it means to take up the cross... if you want to be part of the solution, this is the dark forest that we have to walk through and feel alone and feel cold."

Fuentes Answers Questions From Followers, Calls For Nuking Israel

Viewers were then allowed to pay to ask Fuentes questions or leave comments that he then read on the livestream. A series of questions regarding future Groyper action and the need to stop the government from taking total control led Fuentes to declare that "We all recognize that society is broken and failing and almost irredeemable so we need to step outside of it." He continued: "Maybe we can't win, but we're going to throw sand in your eyes... that's the attitude we have to have. Disrespect your enemies." He finished with an implicit threat, stating: "I could do so much damage if I was a bad actor. I mean really, people don't realize that."

Fuentes later responded to an innocuous question from a Groyper who wrote, "Glo Gloyper" at the end of his question. Fuentes enthusiastically embraced the motto, stating: "we need a new salute and to say 'Glo Gloyper' [...] you know, in five-six years in the new Trump administration, you know one of you guys is going to encounter somebody else in the elevator and you'll be like, 'hey, Glo Gloyper' and then like hit the nuclear launch button and like, nuke a certain country... nuclear missile bursts through the waves of the Mediterranean, the Eastern Mediterranean... Glo Gloyper." Fuentes then broke down laughing before playing out a hypothetical situation in which a Groyper in the Pentagon assassinates high-level officials who are confused about the missile launch. Fuentes concluded the hypothetical nuclear attack and assassination of military officials by stating: "Mr. Trump, patriots are in control. Glo Gloyper."

A picture containing text, personDescription automatically generated

In another stream Fuentes took calls from various friends and associates to celebrate Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter. He also spoke about the importance of getting on mainstream social media platforms in order to "redpill" the masses and bring attention to the white supremacist cause. Moreover, Fuentes claimed that radicalizing others on Twitter could be a "great opportunity for us to flip the script." In addition, he argued that for the past seven years, Twitter has been controlled by their "political adversaries" and said that you "just can't compete with the Jewish media." In discussing Kanye West's recent "White Lives Matter" demonstration and antisemitic tweets, Fuentes declared: "Down with the Jesus killing shekel collectors."

Fuentes Speaks About Radicalization On Twitter: 'A Great Opportunity For Us To Flip The Script'

Fuentes celebrated billionaire Elon Musk's completion of the acquisition of Twitter. Fuentes emphasized the significance of Musk's removal of three top Twitter executives immediately after his acquisition of the company. He proclaimed that the firing of former CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, and the head of the company's legal department, Vijaya Gadde, marked a "changing of the guard" and a "new era" at the company. Fuentes commented that these "big three" were "in charge of banning the groypers... the goyim who are too awake... the politically conscious." In accordance with his understanding, the simultaneous firing of the top Twitter executives meant that Musk would fundamentally change Twitter to allow "free speech" to return to the platform.

He then stressed that the alt-right needs Twitter in order to effectively spread its message. He remarked that social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram receive hundreds of millions of views daily, as opposed to "alternative media" platforms, which, combined, only reach around 50 million views. He said that if the alt-right individuals "want to have any fighting chance at changing hearts and minds, and creating armies, and raising money, and fielding candidates, and competing in elections, and on a deeper level of behaviors and attitudes and worldview, we have got to be in that arena where ideas are formed and where these ideas are debated. We've got to be in there to have a fighting chance." Fuentes went as far as to say that "It's going to be like the American Revolution. It's going to be like any other Great Awakening in the history of the world. It's truly a great opportunity for us to totally flip the script and change the balance of power in America back in favor of the people... it may prefigure a total regime change in America... the order that has planted its roots in the last sixty years is about to be uprooted."

Fuentes discussed at length the effects of Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter with his callers. During a conversation with multiple callers, one caller remarked that in the past few years, fascist and white supremacist personalities were banned from social media platforms; specifically, he noted how the backlash against Kanye West was unfolding, and he could "do nothing but watch as you are being character assassinated and hijacked and destroyed."

In the call-in section of the stream, a caller celebrated the occasion with particularly foul and violent language: "It is time for 15,000 rapist groypers to descend on Twitter... Nobody can stop us! Unsheathed cocks raping!" Fuentes responded: "It's going to be a total fucking rape. It's almost going to rival the rape of Rose Wrist [a progressive YouTuber] in brutality and in gore and viciousness and, sort of hateful, hateful fucking."

Fuentes Espouses Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories: 'Down With The Jesus Killing Shekel Collectors'

Fuentes spouted antisemitic conspiracy theories during the livestream. At one point, he declared: "You know they're shitting their pants that the goy is waking up. Between Ye, and everything with that, and this. The goy is waking up. The devil is a defeated foe, and the goy is a wakened hero! Let's go. The goy is an awakened race of people." He commented that in the preceding seven years, Twitter "was being run by our ideological political adversaries, wielding the platform for ideological and political ends." He expanded on this, noting that "There's a limited finite number of people that are redpilled and are able to think in this country... but you just can't compete with the big media, the Jewish media, every single minute of every single day, striking at the brains and hearts of everybody constantly with incessant propaganda on the mass communication platforms." At the end of the livestream, Fuentes listened to a superchat that read: "People think what Kanye said will make me dislike him but it only makes me love him more. Down with the Jesus killing shekel collectors."

A picture containing text, personDescription automatically generated

A picture containing text, person, personDescription automatically generated

In another stream, Fuentes and another noted white supremacist held a livestream together. During the livestream, Fuentes spoke about Kanye West and rising antisemitism saying: "It's being driven by Ye. Ye is right now the engine of it. If he were to stop talking or go away it would dissipate. He's the leader. He's the engine. He's gotta keep harping on this and keep talking about it because the longer that he does, the more people are gonna start to get the message. People like Kyrie Irving and others and, you know, the hope is that other celebrities and particularly other Black people, like rappers or ball players, and, you know, I would hope even non-Black people too. "

A couple of men wearing headphonesDescription automatically generated with low confidence

During an America First livestream over the summer, Fuentes spoke about his aims for the future saying: "We have gotta talk about the fundamentals of our worldview and what it would look like to build a society based on our distinct worldview... it looks like a society where women don't have the right to vote and it looks like a society where boys and girls get married as teenagers and start having kids... and it looks like women wearing veils at church, and it looks like women not being in the workforce."

A person in a suit and tieDescription automatically generated with low confidence


[1]Nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/f-ing-nightmare-trump-team-damage-control-dines-ye-white-supremacist-n-rcna58780, November 25, 2022.

[2] Nytimes.com/2022/11/25/us/politics/trump-nick-fuentes-dinner.html, November 25, 2022.

[3]Forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/11/26/nick-fuentes-meet-the-gen-z-white-supremacist-who-dined-with-trump-and-kanye-west/?sh=6a31ff683f0f, November 26, 2022.

[4] Forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/11/26/nick-fuentes-meet-the-gen-z-white-supremacist-who-dined-with-trump-and-kanye-west/?sh=6a31ff683f0f

[5] Forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/11/26/nick-fuentes-meet-the-gen-z-white-supremacist-who-dined-with-trump-and-kanye-west/?sh=6a31ff683f0f, November 26, 2022.

[6]Vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/11/20948317/alt-right-donald-trump-jr-conservative-tpusa-yaf-racism-antisemitism, November 11, 2019.

[7] Nationalreview.com/2019/11/why-donald-trump-jr-was-heckled-by-america-first-nationalists, November 14, 2019.

[9] Knowyourmeme.com/memes/groyper, accessed November 15,2019.

[10] Thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3750328-trump-met-with-white-supremacist-nick-fuentes-alongside-ye-at-mar-a-lago-report/, November 25, 2022.

[11] Nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/jan-6-committee-subpoenas-two-far-right-activists-n1287747, January 19, 2022.

[12] Time.com/5881595/right-wing-conspiracy-theorists-coronavirus/, August 20, 2020.

[13] Blog.chainalysis.com/reports/capitol-riot-bitcoin-donation-alt-right-domestic-extremism, January 14, 2021;

Forbes.com/sites/jasonbrett/2021/02/23/in-aftermath-of-capitol-insurrection-congress-worries-crypto-may-fund-

domestic-extremists/?sh=6bd8baa46aa7, February 23, 2021.

The full text of this post is available to DTTM subscribers.

If you are a subscriber, log in here to read this report.

For information on the required credentials to access this material, visit the DTTM subscription page

Subscribe to DTTM

Join U.S. and other Western government agencies and law enforcement, as well as leading businesses and business organizations, in subscribing to the MEMRI Domestic Terrorism Threat Monitor (DTTM) Project, for the latest alerts, updates, and reports on imminent and potential threats from around the world.

ONLY GOVERNMENT, MEDIA, AND ACADEMIA WITH FULL CREDENTIALS CAN REQUEST ACCESS TO DTTM REPORTS.

Subscribe to DTTM

The Cyber & Jihad Lab

The Cyber & Jihad Lab monitors, tracks, translates, researches, and analyzes cyber jihad originating from the Middle East, Iran, South Asia, and North and West Africa. It innovates and experiments with possible solutions for stopping cyber jihad, advancing legislation and initiatives federally – including with Capitol Hill and attorneys-general – and on the state level, to draft and enforce measures that will serve as precedents for further action. It works with leaders in business, law enforcement, academia, and families of terror victims to craft and support efforts and solutions to combat cyber jihad, and recruits, and works with technology industry leaders to craft and support efforts and solutions.

Read More