A virulently antisemitic group with a reputation for mounting propaganda stunts staged what one expert on extremism described as a “surge of incidents” over the past weekend in eight different states across the country. Private homes in California, Texas, North Carolina, Idaho, Vermont, Alabama, Illinois and Florida were targeted with antisemitic leaflets proclaiming the COVID-19 pandemic to be a Jewish plot. The leafleting was carried out by supporters of the so-called “Goyim Defense League (GDL)”, a neo-Nazi group that has carried out several similar stunts over the last year in several cities, pushing antisemitic COVID-19 conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial. The words “goy” and “goyim” are pejorative terms in Hebrew and Yiddish for non-Jews. Carla Hill — associate director of the Center on Extremism of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) — told The Algemeiner on Monday that the weekend’s “surge of incidents” had been sparked by a promise from the founder of the “GDL”, Jon Minadeo Jr., to send $100 of merchandise to any supporters who engaged in propaganda distribution. Minadeo is also the founder of an online merchandise store called “Goyim Gear” which deals in t-shirts glorifying Adolf Hitler, the Waffen SS and other individuals and groups lionized by white supremacists.
“It’s purely and simply the monetization of hate,” Hill said. Hill explained that the group’s method was to tour different parts of the US staging high profile incidents which are filmed and shared with “GDL” supporters through various platforms, including the group’s video streaming channel and its channel on the Telegram app. The videos are accompanied by appeals for donations. The group has organized tours in California, Texas and other states involving small convoys of supporters bearing signs such as “The Jews Want a Race War,” “Vax the Jews” and similar epithets. Despite the fact that the “GDL” is a “small network of individuals,” Hill said that the group’s voice is “much louder because it has thousands of supporters.” The group “spreads hateful propaganda and harasses the Jewish community just so they can get attention online,” she said. “The more egregious the behavior, the more money they raise.”
via algemeiner: ‘The Monetization of Hate’: US Neo-Nazi Group Distributes Antisemitic COVID-19 Propaganda Across The Country During Weekend Campaign