The transnational nature of the extremist far-right groups that the Christchurch shooter belonged to is slowly coming into focus. As is the role several media outlets have played in mainstreaming the violent and extremist white power movement.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Wednesday said there was a financial link between the man who killed 50 people in mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the far-right Identitarian Movement in Austria.
Hansjoerg Bacher, spokesman for prosecutors in Graz, said Martin Sellner, head of the Identitarian Movement – which says it wants to preserve Europe’s identity – received 1,500 euros ($1,690) in early 2018 from a donor with the same name as the man charged with murder following the Christchurch attack.
“We can now confirm that there was financial support and so a link between the New Zealand attacker and the Identitarian Movement in Austria,” Kurz said. — www.haaretz.com/…
Tucker Carlson has repeatedly featured and defended Martin Sellner and his girlfriend, Lauren Southern. Sellner along with others, tried to stop ships from rescuing refugees stranded in the Mediterranean. Tucker however, was upset when the UK barred Sellner from entering the country.
Tucker Carlson used his prime-time spot on national TV this week to defend a group of white nationalists who believed in the Pizzagate conspiracy theory and who had previously tried to stop humanitarian ships from rescuing drowning migrants.
Noted Twitter troll Brittany Pettibone and her boyfriend, Austrian far-right activist Martin Sellner, were barred from entering the U.K. when they landed at Luton airport on Tuesday. Separately, far-right YouTube personality Lauren Southern was stopped by Border Officials at Calais and barred as well, with authorities saying her presence was “not conducive to the public good.” Immigration authorities removed Pettibone and Sellner based on intelligence that the two were planning to meet with far-right figure Tommy Robinson, and that their visit was designed “to insight [sic] tensions between local communities in the United Kingdom.”
On Tuesday night, Carlson dug in. “American YouTube personality Brittany Pettibone and her Austrian boyfriend were barred from entering the U.K., because they planned to interview Tommy Robinson, an outspoken critic of Islam,” Carlson said. “Then, on Monday, British police halted a visit by Canadian journalist Lauren Southern, on the grounds she was, quote, ‘a radical Christian,’ and therefore, possibly a terrorist.” — thinkprogress.org/…
The admiration goes both ways, the Austrian extremist has repeatedly expressed admiration for Tucker Carlson:
Tucker Carlson calling out the great replacement! https://t.co/VyxgoW9uVL
— Martin Sellner (@Martin_Sellner) January 20, 2018
Among the proponents of the Identitarian movement is Lauren Southern, a Canadian anti-Muslim extremist, and Sellner’s girlfriend. She was given White House press credentials and tweeted white power symbols from the White House press briefing room. She also made a conspiratorial film which made wild claims about South African farmers and “race war”. Exactly the type of person you’d expect to associate with the White House. Turns out, she’s also a frequent visitor on Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire.
"the daily wire" has actually hosted southern several times. andrew klavan, another show host on the network, has also had her on, as has the head of the network, ben shapiro. she seems to be a favorite there. pic.twitter.com/6XgDclJl93
— Becca Lewis (@beccalew) March 27, 2019
There is no evidence yet to suggest that anyone involved in the Identitarian Movement had anything to do with the New Zealand attack. But the connection reveals how the group acts as a node, connecting the ideologies of violent white supremacists with the views of more mainstream far-right figures.
The group has particularly gained a large amount of sympathy from members of the U.S. far right.
In September 2018, King, on a visit to Austria, gave an extensive interview to Caroline Sommerfeld who, as HuffPost noted, is a prominent far-right intellectual within the Identitarian Movement. In the interview, King talked at length about the “Great Replacement,” a conspiracy that claims white populations are slowly being replaced by a nonwhite majority due to declining birth rates and mass immigration. The conspiracy was also a central point of alleged gunman’s manifesto. […]
There are other U.S. links to the Identitarian Movement. Breitbart, a far-right news site spearheaded previously by President Donald Trump’s former adviser, Steve Bannon, has repeatedly given the group extremely positive coverage. Lauren Southern, a Canadian YouTuber who remains a popular figure within the U.S. far-right ecosystem, also helped crowdfund nearly $75,000 in 2016 so that the Identitarian Movement could rent a boat to disrupt migrant rescues during the height of the refugee crisis. — thinkprogress.org/…
You’ll notice that this “great replacement” ideology is also featured in Tucker Carlson’s show regularly.
— @subirgrewal
This is a Creative Commons article. The original version of this article appeared here.
