“Arizona Grunge Flag” by Nicolas Raymond (modified) | Flickr/CC BY 2.0. “Groyper cartoon” via Wikimedia Commons, used under fair use doctrine. /Photo illustration by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy / Arizona Mirror
And one of its biggest boosters is a Republican state senator
By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror
The Republican state senator was clear in what she wanted in a recent post on Telegram, the encrypted messaging app that has become a haven for far-right politics and extremists.
“Dear Groyper army, please hit Ron Watkins. Love, Wendy,” she wrote.
State Sen. Wendy Rogers was asking her fans and allies in the “groyper army” to go after the QAnon conspiracy theorist turned Congressional candidate because he had alleged Rogers, who has built her political brand on spreading lies about the 2020 election, was involved in some sort of “backroom deal” that was preventing Splunk logs and routers from being examined for alleged election fraud. There is no evidence of such a backroom deal.
But who or what is the “groyper army” that Rogers, a Flagstaff Republican, was calling to act?
The self-styled online “army” that Rogers was imploring to rally to her aid is a collection of white nationalists who often use online trolling tactics against people they don’t like. Their goals broadly include normalizing their extreme and racist views by aligning them with Christianity and so-called “traditional” values.
“It’s a pretty unprecedented move,” Devin Burghart, president and executive director of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, said about Rogers’ request. “These are things that help their ability to move from the margins to the mainstream.”
Burghart and the IREHR have been tracking white nationalist extremist groups for decades, and Rogers’ request for groypers to help her startled their researchers. And they fear it could help the group find legitimacy, something that they’ve been attempting for some time now.
The movement was birthed in part over 2,000 miles away and nearly five years ago in the warm glow of tiki torches.
The violent “Unite the Right” rally held in Charlottesville, Va., brought white nationalists together from across the country. It was marred by bloody fistfights between the racists and counter-protesters, and culminated in the death of anti-racist activist Heather Heyer, who was mowed down by a white nationalist who drove into a crowd leaving the rally.
The rally organizers faced a lawsuit for conspiring to commit violence, and a jury found them liable for lawsuits. A number of lawsuits descended upon many who helped organize the rally and a recent ruling hit the organizers with a $25 million judgment.
This is an attempt to mainstream white nationalist ideas. This isn’t just about meme wars, this isn’t just about trolling. This is an effort by Holocaust-deniers and supporters of fascism to move these ideas into mainstream Republican ideas.
