Hate and domestic terrorism go hand in hand — and Modesto area isn’t untouched

Following are my opening remarks at Thursday’s town hall meeting on domestic terrorism sponsored by the local NAACP chapter and the ACLU in downtown Modesto. Asked to moderate a panel composed of FBI Special Agent Christopher McKinney, Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse and Modesto Police Chief Brandon Gillespie, I prepared this opening to help frame the discussion.

A few years ago, while living in nearby Keyes, a young man viewed online beheadings at the hands of terrorists overseas and researched here how to join ISIS there. He was arrested in North Africa in 2016 and imprisoned for two years before being returned to the United States where he faced more terrorism charges.

In 2018, a Modesto tow truck driver was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for plotting a Christmas terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS at San Francisco’s popular Pier 39. Our FBI panelist tonight was involved with that investigation and stopped the attack before it could happen.

In June 2020, a group of self-styled militia members dressed in camouflage fatigues armed themselves with assault rifles and other firearms to keep in check a rumored Black Lives Matter event in Oakdale that never happened.

In September 2020, someone painted the n-word on a fence across the alley from a Black family’s home in Turlock, and set on fire the family’s wood fence.

The Proud Boys, who have been associated with racism, misogyny, intolerance and violence, played a role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the nation’s capitol in Washington, D.C. A few months later, at a June meeting of the Modesto City Council, Proud Boys members were captured by Modesto Bee photographer Andy Alfaro as they flashed hand signs associated with white supremacy. Proud Boys boasted that they would continue harassing elected officials at public meetings, and said they intend to run for office at all levels of government.

In a podcast, local Proud Boys said Chief Gillespie here was wrong to fire an officer after the officer shot and killed an unarmed man at a Modesto church. They said Sheriff Dirkse here is a traitor and a leftist activist in disguise — because he hopes to improve his department’s community relations with all races.

The Proud Boys also said Modesto City Council members all violated their oaths of office when they voted unanimously to proceed with an effort aimed at improving policing.

These local Proud Boys members said that 100% of law enforcement training these days is about respecting cultural diversity and not protecting the public. And they think it’s funny to mock Blacks and Eastern Europeans with voice impersonations.

A few years ago, a white supremacist in Oakdale (Nathan Damigo) who had served a prison term for a violent hate crime formed a group that gained national notoriety for helping stage the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.

This man blamed high rates of poverty among Blacks on “genetics.” He mocked feminism for “promoting body positivity, in which women basically don’t take care of their health. They expect people just to accept them when they’re fat and sloppy and nasty.”

The alt-right movement, he said, is “a rejection of multicultural, multiracial doctrine.” He talked about race-based differences in intelligence, saying, “The idea that discrimination is always morally wrong is completely absurd. Anyone saying this is saying, ‘Hey, don’t use your brain; be an idiot.’ ”

In November, a jury ordered him and 16 other extremists and groups to pay a combined $26 million in restitution to plaintiffs from the Charlottesville riot.

Also in November, a teen was charged with a hate crime for stabbing a homeless man while citing his ethnicity and telling the man to leave a Turlock park.

And again this past November, the Ceres City Council appointed a man (John Osgood) to fill a vacancy on the council. While reviewing podcasts he had produced, I found a 20-minute stretch of air time when he repeatedly spewed the n-word. The Ceres council rescinded his appointment at its next meeting.

These are but a few reminders that our Modesto and Stanislaus region have not escaped the stain of hate and domestic terror.

If you think it can’t happen here, you’re wrong. It already has.

For these reasons, tonight’s discussion is timely, it is appropriate, and it is necessary.

Modesto town hall reflections

Some thoughts after Thursday’s event:

The hosts accomplished something valuable — bringing people together to talk about something divisive. That’s no small feat. Here’s hoping they continue efforts to help us grow and improve.

The presenters knew they were going into a den of lions, so to speak, and they didn’t flinch. McKinney, the FBI agent, even asked for “hard questions” that might put him on his heels. That’s the right approach.

I was disappointed at some of their comments, though. For example, suggesting that getting to know your neighbor is an effective way to confront white supremacy. This, from white men who carry guns and badges and have no fear anywhere in the county; do they really think a person of color can approach a guy with a gun rack and confederate flag on his pickup and glibly offer a beer? It’s a nice thought in theory, but smacks of misunderstanding the reality that many of our people face.

From the other side, I was disappointed that some in the audience were far more interested in airing grievances than in asking questions of the panel. Maybe I was naive; it was billed as a town hall meeting, after all, which by definition has the audience playing an integral role.

Lastly, the forum should have been livestreamed and recorded for viewing later. Failing to do either prevents those who could not attend from learning, which is an important step toward healing.