Sometimes I'm reminded of the importance of the work we do, the people it angers and what they're willing to do in retaliation.
Yesterday was one of those times.
I worked with journalist Jordan Green for more than 15 years, first at Yes Weekly and then when he helped us get Triad City Beat started in 2014. For most of that time, Jordan went hard against the extreme right with deeply reported investigative pieces that exposed these folks for what they are: liars, cowards and racists, among other negative attributes.
Jordan left TCB a couple of years ago to focus on right-wing extremism reporting for Raw Story. This week he published a piece years in the making, an exposé of right-wing agitators the 2119 Blood and Soil Crew, a hate group comprised mostly of white, male teenagers itching for a race war in the US.
But before the story came out, they began to harass him — first online and then by phone. They sent a pizza to his
house and photographed him accepting it at his door. And then a crew of them showed up at Green's house in Lindley Park, carrying road flares, a sign threatening "consequences" for his work and flashing the Nazi salute.
Pigs.
Hopefully, we'll have some reporting on this soon. In the meantime, Green told me, "Law enforcement is aware of the situation," and that he will never back down.
I'm bringing this up because people need to know how emboldened the fascists among us have become, how far they're willing to go to intimidate and threaten, that they showed up with their trash in a peaceful Greensboro neighborhood to threaten one of the best reporters in the business.
We'll be using the proceeds to cover the rest of campaign season, which will be dense with candidate appearances, stump speeches, scandals and probably a few things we'd never expect. We'll have anther guide for the General Election coming out in October, before early voting begins.
Share the fundraiser link, if you would. Give if you can. And even better, start a fundraiser of your own and enlist your circle in the TCB mission.
And I've got a couple of free tickets to see the Copper Children at the Flat Iron in Greensboro TONIGHT! First one to reply to this email can have them.
A reminder: Out 10th anniversary party will be at the Flat on March 20 — as always, FAS members get in FREE.
Until then, keep an eye out. The bastards are on the move.
