The Far-Right John Birch Society Wants Anti-Mask Protests to Fuel Its Comeback

[babylonsister]

The Far-Right John Birch Society Wants Anti-Mask Protests to Fuel Its Comeback
OPPORTUNISTS
The John Birch Society used to boost segregation. Now it’s back to attack schools over mask mandates.
Kelly Weill
Reporter
Updated Oct. 11, 2021 9:49AM ET / Published Oct. 11, 2021 5:02AM ET


On a sunny Saturday in a Knoxville, Tennessee park, a man with a microphone told a crowd of parents to bar entry to their children’s schools.

“Starting Monday morning and until this is over, we need to bring Knox County schools to a screeching halt,” he said to applause. He called on parents, students, and staff to participate. “We have a moral obligation to our children’s future. Block the entrance to the school with your car. That’s my suggestion. Block the entrance to the drive—don’t even let a bus in your schools. If you can be that bold in your groups, do it.”

The event, “Parents In The Park” was billed as a meet-up for parents who objected to a mask mandate in Knox County schools. But the Sept. 26 gathering was more than just concerned caregivers. It was organized and hosted by the John Birch Society (JBS), a far-right organization that found the peak of its power in the 1960s and ’70s—when it fought civil rights legislation, attracted segregationists, and believed that communists were poisoning Americans with fluoride—before rejection by mainstream conservatives sent it into decline. But the organization has made efforts to rebuild since the 2010s. And in its opposition to COVID-19 restrictions, the once-fringe group is hoping to tap into a popular right-wing grievance.

A Facebook event for the “Parents In The Park” event described it as hosted by the JBS’s Tennessee chapter. That chapter’s “field director” Jon Schrock also spoke at a recent “Patriot Church” meeting about the need to demonstrate against Knox County school mask requirements.

Paul Dragu, a JBS spokesperson, confirmed that Shrock had hosted the Sept. 26 event, but said the JBS did not endorse an event speaker’s calls to block school doors with cars.

more...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/far-right-john-birch-society-wants-anti-mask-protests-to-fuel-its-comeback?ref=home

[Ocelot II]

1. I didn't know those loons were still around.

[Thomas Hurt]

4. Birchers, Patriot Movement, KKK, sovereigns, constitutionalists, minute men....

randian acolytes, militia groupies, tax protesters, tea party, reconstructionists, dominionists, Army of God, Aryan Brotherhood, etc.

All the same type of people, christofascists, just call themselves by different names.

[sop]

6. You're right. These people are shapeshifters; they're the same nazi, racist, white supremacist

scum from the last century.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

2. I've got a crazy former friend who randomly started posting about them

Dude fell down the Ron Paul rabbit hole and emerged a racist homophobe. Just discovered the JBS and is now sharing all sorts of weird racist shit.

[Leith]

3. Don't contaminate my drinking water with fluoride!

Or, do. My teeth are strong and healthy.

They also have one called "The George Bush Society" and it's a hoot!

[Haggard Celine]

5. I think Alex Jones has JBS roots.

He seems to share some characteristics of the Birchers, especially the conspiracy-mongering. And many of his young followers are ignorant of the Birchers and the evil they represent.

[njhoneybadger]

7. What do think the Koch Political Machine is?

[Brainfodder]

8. This is starting to feel as dumb as arguing over seatbelts?

Nuisance maybe, but can save your life if used properly?

It feels like a fight over nothing, like fighting over who gets to open the front door when you are all 3 years old and the doorbell rings?

It feels like it should have stopped, but they are stuck on repeat without ever pausing for a rinse?

If this were a ride I'd have puked dozens of times by now and sued them after I got off?

How many light bulbs does it take to change a Republican?

[Ocelot II]

9. Anybody remember this song?