Washington: The far-right group planning a ‘straight pride’ parade in Boston is upbeat with their story going ‘viral,’ though they are yet to get permission from the city mayor.
Mark Sahady or Super Happy Fun America, its principal organiser, had previously organised events that had turned violent, reports The Guardian.
The left-leaning American website The Daily Beast describes it as a ‘front for [the] far-right group.’ But his events in Boston have often been small, with attendees vastly outnumbered by opposing groups, the paper says.
In August 2017, they organised Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a counter-protester was killed. A ‘Free Speech Rally’ in Boston soon saw tens of thousands of opponents.
A ‘Rally for the Republic’ was similarly small scale, as was a counter-protest to a pro-gun control ‘March for Our Lives’ event, it says.
In 2018, American progressive website ThinkProgress reported that Resist Marxism had links with white nationalist groups and that members had expressed antisemitic sentiments in leaked chats.
Mr Sahady organised another event in Portland, Oregon, with Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson in June 2018. It degenerated into extreme violence, declared a riot by Portland police, the report says.
Resist Marxism was founded by Kyle Chapman, better known as ‘Based Stickman’ since footage of him brawling with anti-fascists in Berkeley – complete with armour and a club – made him a cause celebre on the far right in 2017.
A convicted felon, Mr Chapman, is awaiting trial on charges of carrying a leaded stick into a pro-Trump rally in March. He also faces felony assault charges in Texas.
He has been celebrating media attention to the Straight Pride Rally on his account on Telegram, an instant messaging platform which has become popular among rightwing figures such as Gavin McInnes, Milo Yiannopoulos and the Proud Boys who have been banned from more mainstream social media.
Linking to a New York Times story, Chapman wrote to his 600 followers: “The New York Times has picked up this story as well. Thanks for the free advertising NYT!”
Later, linking to a t-shirt for sale on a Proud Boys-linked online store featuring the slogan “It’s great to be straight”, he wrote: “Do I hear triggered leftists? Order now and watch them meltdown! #StraightPr- ideParade.”
