… The demonstrations, part of a broader rightwing effort to sow unrest and undermine an alleged “liberal agenda” at US schools, have at times been marked by violence and drawn far-right participants from around the region, including people associated with local Proud Boy and Three Percenter militia chapters and fundamentalist Christian churches.
Manuk Grigorian, one of the organizers of some of the southern California “Leave Our Kids Alone” protests, was also present at the counter-protests at UCLA on 30 April. Grigorian frequently appeared on Fox News to discuss the school board demonstrations last summer, where he leveled false claims that certain public education districts were “grooming” children to develop LGBTQ+ identities.
Michael Ancheta, a former mixed martial arts fighter who in the past associated with southern California Proud Boys and assaulted a journalist at a 2021 anti-vaccine protest in West Hollywood, was spotted among the pro-Israel crowd at UCLA on on 28 April, when pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protesters staged dueling rallies near the encampment, and again on 30 April. Ancheta, who until recently ran an Instagram account under the handle “Antifahunter”, has been a frequent participant in the Leave Our Kids Alone demonstrations. Me again: These are not ‘counter-protesters’. …
They are getting practice for when they will be foot soldiers to roam the streets attacking Democrats in general, or Hispanics, or anyone who challenges or threatens the leader.
I don’t know if they know that, or if it just feels right to them now and they know they’re with their buddies and they have a strong team they feel good about and don’t look into it any deeper than that feeling, but that’s absolutely the plan, once things get to that point.
I mean it’s literally how the brown shirts started. They just need a uniform and some coordination.