Colin O'Malley of Metro Justice. Credit: PHOTO BY KEVIN FULLER

Members of Metro Justice and Eastside Antifascists are tracking the actions of local individuals who participate in regional and national white nationalist and white supremacist rallies and are spreading racist ideologies on far-right message boards.

Metro Justice’s organizing director, Colin O’Malley, says in the last year he has received word of individuals planning Rochester meetings through the neo-Nazi site The Daily Stormer. And he says the March Against Sharia Law, held in Syracuse in June, was a gathering of a similar assortment of the far-right groups that congregated in Charlottesville for the Unite the Right white supremacists rally.

“There’s increasingly this actual organized basis for which people on the far, far right are coming together and sharing, really at its core, a violent ideology,” O’Malley says. “At this point we need to be having real conversations about the fact that these folks are organizing in our communities, and how do we respond.”

On message boards, residents of the Rochester area have posted hate messages referring not only to African Americans but also to Jews, gays, and lesbians and have discussed crashing local anti-racism rallies.

In June, Metro Justice’s office was the target of intimidation when two men arrived at the door asking for O’Malley, who was in a meeting. They handed a flier with a picture of Pepe the frog — a cartoon drawing that has become an alt-right mascot — to Metro Justice fundraising and membership director Andrew Thomas.

Shortly thereafter, O’Malley discovered that the same flier was dropped at his home — indicating that the men knew where he lived.

There have been other documented instances of race-based intimidation in Rochester. During the Trump presidential campaign, white supremacist fliers were left at Brighton and Pittsford residences. And someone runs a hate-filled Facebook page, called Rochester NY Crime, which targets and insults black people and where people gather online to unleash epithets and violent discussions. The many petitions asking Facebook to take the page down have been unsuccessful.

News broke last week that Honeoye Falls man Jarrod Kuhn attended the Charlottesville rally. Kuhn was identified in photographs and videos taking part in the tiki torch demonstration and lunging at counter-protestors the next day. The Democrat & Chronicle reported that he was also at the Syracuse rally in June.

Members of Eastside Antifascists distributed hundreds of fliers in Honeoye Falls saying that Kuhn was involved in the rally. Kuhn has denied being a white supremacist and told the Democrat & Chronicle that he was there simply to protest the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee.

Perinton resident Robert Sayer Jr. was at the Charlottesville rally as well – and was identified in a photo taken at the Syracuse rally. On August 17, Sayer was arrested after he engaged in an unprovoked attack on an elderly man at a Fairport gas station. Sayer told officers that he attacked the elderly man because he thought he was a communist.

Eastside Antifascism volunteer Peter Berkman says some people have suggested that outing racists and white supremacists is a call for violence against them. “We’ve never called for violence,” he said last week. “We don’t believe that that’s the appropriate response to this situation.”

“I think the way that we address this is by simply informing the community of who these people are,” to bring them “out of the shadows,” he said.

Related Stories

This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2017.

15 replies on “Activists track local hate movement”

  1. So, with all of the critically important anti-racist work occurring in Rochester — the only people City Newspaper can find to write about are local, WHITE “heroes” — RIGHT!!!

    New anti-racism group calls for hiring more teachers of color
    James Goodman, @goodman_dandcPublished Aug. 7, 2017
    http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/…
    —————————————————————————————————

    New anti-racism organization aims to begin work in RCSD
    by WHAMMonday, August 7th 2017
    http://13wham.com/news/local/new-anti-raci…

    —————————————————————————————————

    MAMA focuses on anti-racist ministry and action

    By CAITLIN WHYTE WXXI

    http://wxxinews.org/post/mama-focuses-anti…

    —————————————————————————————————-

    From Information to Understanding

    Aug 07, 2017
    New Christian-Based Group to Focus on Anti-Racism in Education

    http://minorityreporter.net/new-christian-…

    —————————————————————————————————–

    RCSD board candidates gather for first forum
    Justin Murphy, @citizenmurphyPublished Aug. 10, 2017 |
    http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/…
    ——————————————————————————————————
    MAMA Holds RCSD School Board Candidates Forum

    Aug 11, 2017

    http://minorityreporter.net/mama-holds-rcs…
    ——————————————————————————————————-

    After being on Evan Dawson’s show — we received this note (below). We found it to be very interesting.
    —————————————

    “Hello! I heard the wonderful and thoughtful discussion yesterday on WXXI. I am originally from Honeoye Falls and recently graduated from American University in DC. I wrote my senior thesis on structural racism in Rochester – https://medium.com/@bt8002a/race-and-place…
    How can I get involved?

    Brennon”

    ———————————————————————————–
    http://wxxinews.org/post/connections-react…
    Connections: Reactions to the events in Charlottesville
    By EVAN DAWSON AUGUST 21, 2017
    Across the country, communities are grappling with how to handle white supremacists and neo-Nazis in their midst. In Honeoye Falls, a recent HF-L grad was spotted marching with the throngs in Charlottesville. Now there’s a community debate about what to do — protest in front of his home? Distribute signs of warning? Ignore him?

    Our panel discusses how we got here, and where to go from here. In studio:

    Rev. Judith Davis, member of the steering committee for the Movement for Anti-Racist Ministry and Action (MAMA)
    Pastor Wanda Wilson, member of the MAMA steering committee
    Howard Eagle, member of the MAMA steering committee
    Rachael Harris, member of MAMA and student at MCC
    Rabbi Peter Stein, senior rabbi at Temple B’rith Kodesh
    Julia Ortenzi, HF-L graduate and student at Sarah Lawrence College

  3. Kudos to these organizations’ concerns regarding Neo-Nazi white-supremacists. However, I find it telling that these same “concerned” people and organizations somehow display absolutely zero interest in tracking violent Left-wing anarchist individuals and organizations who have arguably caused the majority of problems at protests nationally. Or did I miss something.

  4. Yes Cupid, those left wingers are so violent! Standing around with creative signs and yelling at the KKK and Nazis! So violent!

    I mean the Nazis aren’t violent at all, not one bit. Be damned by the fact that one caused a terror attack a few weeks ago. Guess that means nothing.

    Honestly, we aren’t fighting Nazis or the KKK, we are just flat out fighting stupidity in this nation. Cupid is the best example of that.

  6. Love City for not only covering but truly dedicating much space to crucial issues.

    That said, I agree with Howard J. Eagle on this, and also echo what Cupid said. Metro is an amazing local group that has done terrific work over the years; they are comprised of many solid volunteers who give much to ROC. I agree with most of what Metro stands for, and have many friends who give their time to this thriving organization. (But with a big) HOWEVER, Metro leaders I’ve engaged with and seen demonstrate have been anything but nonviolent. They tend to like using their middle fingers and profanities toward people they disagree with (and not in defense but in selfish provocation).

    They aim to provoke for attention like a child does – distracting from the activists who actually have something to say and even want to listen to those with whom they disagree. Mr O’Malley and his colleagues speak and act with a mightier and greater than thou kinda vibe…”we are the movement and if you disagree with a single thread of who we are , then your opinion is garbage.” Not all MJ people are like this, but Mr O’Malley and some of his close volunteers are- in my observation over many years of attending rallies and protests and parades, their collective goal seems to be gaining publicity and not a true focus on the disenfranchised populations they claim to put at the forefront. Many of these guys and gals provoke fights so they can get coverage. And it’s kinda messed up because that’s not what the true leaders of these movements are about- those who are actually disenfranchised. At the anti-Trump rally following the election, these were the people wearing masks and bandannas- I’m not sure if this is an attempt to intimidate? To be cool anarchists? Feels more like angry white kids who think they know suffering and think it’s their right to lead the fight. I didn’t find it cool when they provoked violence in front of kids all because a guy was taking their picture.

    What MJC should consider is intentionally hiring people who are fighting the movement not as allies but as literal fighters- POC should be talking about Charlottesville and Mr O’Malley, when approached for his input, should know it’s his job to find a more authentic voice than his to take the mic.

    Howard J. Eagle hit it right on…the only darned person you could find to talk about local hate is a white man? Kinda just a little embarrassing, ROC.

  7. Hannah,

    I’m sorry if that’s how you’ve at any point been treated by members of our organization. From most of what you’ve said though, it’s pretty apparent to me that you haven’t been very close to the organization much at all. The vast majority of what we do isn’t around publicity. Strangely enough, the parts of what we do that are about publicity tend to have more attention paid to them.

    You’ve got some claims there that I think need some real substantiating if you put them in writing. For instance, your quote is clearly not an actual quote. To say we don’t listen to those we disagree with is an interesting take, especially today. Today we are planning a public candidates forum for mayoral candidates in Rochester – all of them. As an organization we don’t even endorse candidates. So this is simply about ensuring greater dialogue in democracy locally.

    As for claims of violence, those are some serious allegations. You really can’t throw those around without something to back up the claim.

  8. Howard,

    I totally agree with your perspective in some sense and not in others. If this article is about the deeper and more insidious white supremacy that faces our country, you’re absolutely right that I’m not the person to interview.

    Institutionalized racism as it exists within our schools, workplaces, health care systems, “democracy” and political institutions are all incredibly vital places to be fighting. Metro Justice is engaged in work in each of these arena, and you’ll notice that I’m not the spokesperson for that work.

    The emergence and work of MAMA is exciting to many, myself included, within the city. In fact, not long ago Metro Justice co-sponsored and helped publicize a candidates forum alongside you all. I’d be very excited about future opportunities to collaborate.

    This article however, isn’t about tackling that sort of institutionalized racism. It’s about identifying and challenging the growing neo-fascist movement that has followers in our area. If there is something MAMA is doing in those regards, I’d love to know so we could collaborate there as well, but what you’ve shared doesn’t seem to indicate that.

    That said, the recent emergence of explicitly white supremacist and neo-fascist organizing can’t be separated from the on-going fight against all forms of white supremacy. So I do think this article would have been strengthened by making those critical ties. But we’re going to need to start developing strategies that do the work of uncovering and dismantling deeply embedded white supremacy AND begin to address the growing threat of an actively organized and violent white supremacist movement that is growing in numbers and boldness. I hope we can actually figure out a way to work meaningfully together to do that.

  9. Colin, with all sincerity, thank you for your response- although you do seem to get a bit aggravated (understandably so) after your apology. I would definitely substantiate my claims had this been a formal piece. However, this is just the comments section- so I didn’t and don’t think it necessary that I do so. My experience has not been positive with you- literally you, Colin O’Malley. I’m not making wild claims here- just stating what I have experienced as an activist here in ROC who has wanted to work with MJC but has been pretty much shunned and shamed by some (and I’ll reiterate again- not all) of you.

    All that said, and intersectionality of issues aside, let’s get back to what’s important here (and not focus on my hurt feelings)- this piece was about white nationalists and white hate- so the voice should have been one other than a white one. I grew up off Genesee Street- my parents still live there. Half of my family members are POC; but as a white person it can’t be my voice that is published. I can speak, yes, but only as an aside- not as the focus. I understand your speaking about this is good in and of itself, but it isn’t what’s needed. White voices cannot stop white nationalists- we can support the fight and engage and provoke and on and on, but the problem Howard spoke of needs to be respected – because he’s right- there are plenty of POC who could have taken this interview, so why was it yours?

  10. I was reached out to because they targeted me personally and Metro Justice more broadly. I was reached out to because they came to my house and my job to threaten me. I was reached out to because I helped share information specifically related to Robert Sayer and Jarrod Kuhn, two leaders who are organizing in this work.

    I also don’t subscribe to the notion that white supremacy is something that white people can’t stop. In fact, I hear the same line of thinking that you’re using now used to say that white people are critically responsible for taking up this work. I’ve heard leaders in the black community call for both increased white engagement in dealing with white supremacy and for white people to step back. I can respect both positions, but fundamentally I think that defeating white supremacy will take all of us and I think we are living in times when we need far more activity and far less stepping back. I’m not going to step back and put the entire burden of dismantling white supremacy at the door-step of communities of color, and frankly I think in dealing with the most entrenched, problematic and dangerous folks, there is a clear responsibility for other white people to engage and confront.

  11. Hannah…are you equating the middle finger and profanity with actual violence? You speak about people provoking violence, but was there actual violence? Or are you using inflammatory suggestive words to provoke a response?

  14. @Eric- exactly.

    Hi Tom, yes, I do find the middle finger and profanity (when directly targeted at a person/group) to be actual violence. I make use of profanity, don’t get me wrong, but I try not to
    use them at people- and I do not use them when attending events that promote nonviolence and civic engagement- not when I know the profanities have the potential to be a catalyst for physical violence.

    Follow the link below – these were the folks at the Women’s March who distracted from the greater collective cause. I’m sorry, but I really don’t get the whole wearing black and covering our faces strategy- is the goal to look intimidating? To look cool? Not sure. What I do know is these groups who show up at ROC events (and elsewhere), seem to be interested in attracting attention so they can in return scream and yell about how they don’t want attention. It’s quite confusing, you see. I remember one of my brothers-in-law, who works security down near Alexander and is a black man, talking about the BLM protest last year…he said he was so fed up with this group of white people who were acting like fools- seemingly trying to get attention and cause confrontation. So yes, again, I do think profanity has a valid place in our dialect; but I do not think it should be used as a tool for provocation (or as a way to garner publicity).

    And again, I’ll reiterate that I admire much, much of the work Metro Justice does. My point in commenting was to share 1. my disappointment in the voice chosen for this interview and 2. my experience with some members of MJC. I would’ve shared the same comment had a man been interviewed about anti-feminism or had a cisgender person been the voice about the anti-trans bathroom bill.

    I never said Mr O’Malley shouldn’t run MJC nor that he doesn’t have the right to be within the movement to dismantle fanatical-white supremacist-Trump loving-nazis (we ALL must be involved in this fight as much as we possibly can)…what I’m questioning is why his voice was the ONLY one present for this particular piece. One must always look at the list of names and ask: Who is missing..? If City really thought O’Malley should have his voice in this, they should have also included other nonwhite voices. And one would think O’Malley would want this, too. And it’s okay to make mistakes…to speak when we should pass the mic…we all do- but not to own the mistake is problematic; it is weak or selfish or ignorant or what have you (I won’t claim to know a person’s motives).
    http://www.whec.com/news/seven-protesters-…

    I’m sorry Mr O’Malley has been intimidated by fliers left at his home and workplace. This is never okay. That said, if you choose to engage in intimidation yourself (and yes, I have experienced it first hand from Mr O’Malley and a couple of his close comrades), I find it a bit nonsensical to be shocked when you become the recipient of similar acts. Just sayin.

Comments are closed.