Appeal to the white, conservative mainstream. Originally created for video gaming enthusiasts to converse via text and calls while playing their favorite games, Discord became a meetup place for members of the far right in the run-up to the 2016 election. Many of the Discord channels Reveal reviewed were shut down by the company in the days following the Charlottesville rally. White supremacists carry Confederate and Nazi flags during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. Organizers of the rally had asked demonstrators to leave Nazi symbols at home. An analysis of the 10 weeks of communications paints the picture of a gradually coalescing movement well aware its actions would almost certainly trigger fierce and violent clashes with counterprotesters. Reveal could not independently verify the authenticity of the messages. A representative from Unicorn Riot, a media outlet that has been has been deeply critical of far-right movements, said that he had seen white supremacist chat rooms in the Discord app while participants were still actively chatting. A reporter for Wired magazine with a prominent Unite the Right organizer that a first batch of messages and recordings published on Unicorn Riot appeared authentic. However, it involved a considerable number of people with no connection to the South. They were celebrating the Confederacy not for its own history, but as a symbol of white supremacy. An analysis of all the links posted to the Discord server showed that, outside of sharing information from mainstream platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Airbnb, the most commonly shared site was Daily Stormer, the neo-Nazi hub. The prevalence of links to the Daily Stormer shows just how influential the site is in the white supremacist ecosystem. The server used to plan the Unite the Right rally, Charlottesville 2. But it remained active during the rally, with more than 1,600 messages posted to its most popular chat room on the day of the event. When Nazi images with Confederate flags during the rally, some Charlottesville 2. A white supremacist carries a swastika flag at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. Keeping these particular symbols of white supremacy out of sight at the rally was part of a strategy to win more followers. In one chat, a user suggests that National Rifle Association members are only a good, strong push away from advocating open white supremacy. Zimmerman did nothing wrong too. I would basically tell anyone who is bringing a gun or bringing a weapon that you should only be using that as a method to save your life. They debated how best to protect themselves when fights inevitably broke out. The chat rooms also included tips on defensive gear like body armor and shields. Some suggested the military-style body armor also served a propaganda purpose, reinforcing the argument that they had reason to protect themselves from violent counterprotesters. Plans for deployment during the rally were complex and detailed, including schematics that resembled battle plans — or football plays. The planning even included what to do if questioned by police following any violent altercations with counterprotesters. The organizers advised falling back on the self-defense defense. Once in Charlottesville, the platform served as a way for attendees to communicate with one another about what was happening. The march across the University of Virginia campus to a statue of Thomas Jefferson on Aug. They threw the first punch and it was on. Within three minutes the statue was ours and Antifa was running scared. Others told them to get a spine — or a gun. The most common first reaction was a realization that the PR campaign had been lost: the only narrative that could come out of the event was that their side might have committed murder. In a Discord chat room, users lament the news of a car plowing into a crowd of counterprotesters. Credit: Courtesy of Unicorn Riot Nevertheless, some looked for other explanations. Numerous posts speculated that James Fields Jr. That formed the basis for a so-called false flag conspiracy theory akin to the one by Infowars host Alex Jones. Within minutes of news about the attack circulating in the chat , a few jokes appeared. The forum was soon filled with memes making light of the tragedy. Examples included callous riffs on photos of Fields plowing through a crowd of counterprotesters. One labeled it a video game. Communists have killed 94 million. Looks like it was payback time. Some suggested Trump was limited in how full-throated he could be in public supporting an openly white supremacist cause. That led to debate about what the president really meant and where his loyalties lie. As a nonprofit newsroom, we want to share our work freely with as many people as possible. We only ask that you follow a few guidelines. You may embed our audio and video content and republish any written story for free under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3. Get their investigations emailed to you directly by signing up at. Our reporter s must be bylined. We prefer the following format: By Emmanuel Martinez, Reveal. If you plan to republish our content, please notify us at. Do not change or edit our material, except only to reflect changes in time and location. PHOTOS You can republish Reveal photos only if you run them in or alongside the stories with which they originally appeared, include the original caption, and do not change them. If you want to run a photo apart from that story, please request specific permission to license by contacting Senior Digital Producer Sam Ward,. 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Additionally, we will not provide indemnification if you are located or publishing outside the United States, but you may contact us to obtain a license and indemnification on a case-by-case basis. Learn more at revealnews. Appeal to the white, conservative mainstream. Originally created for video gaming enthusiasts to converse via text and calls while playing their favorite games, Discord became a meetup place for members of the far right in the run-up to the 2016 election. Many of the Discord channels Reveal reviewed were shut down by the company in the days following the Charlottesville rally. White supremacists carry Confederate and Nazi flags during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. Organizers of the rally had asked demonstrators to leave Nazi symbols at home. An analysis of the 10 weeks of communications paints the picture of a gradually coalescing movement well aware its actions would almost certainly trigger fierce and violent clashes with counterprotesters. Reveal could not independently verify the authenticity of the messages. A representative from Unicorn Riot, a media outlet that has been has been deeply critical of far-right movements, said that he had seen white supremacist chat rooms in the Discord app while participants were still actively chatting. A reporter for Wired magazine confirmed with a prominent Unite the Right organizer that a first batch of messages and recordings published on Unicorn Riot appeared authentic. The communications before and after the event show that: When the rally devolved into tragedy, after a neo-Nazi attending the rally allegedly drove through a crowd of counterprotesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer, Charlottesville 2. However, it involved a considerable number of people with no connection to the South. They were celebrating the Confederacy not for its own history, but as a symbol of white supremacy. The organizers understood their presence in Charlottesville was largely unwanted and it was in their best interest to keep a low profile until the moment the rally began. They worked to distance themselves from the images of the Nazis and Ku Klux Klan, if not actual Klan members. Credit: Courtesy of Unicorn Riot Antifa, the loosely organized left-wing group that frequently clashes with demonstrators at far-right events, was a consistent obsession for people in the Charlottesville 2. This desire to provoke counterprotesters into throwing the first punch was a theme throughout the chats — and has continued since then as well. An analysis of all the links posted to the Discord server showed that, outside of sharing information from mainstream platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Airbnb, the most commonly shared site was Daily Stormer, the neo-Nazi hub. The prevalence of links to the Daily Stormer shows just how influential the site is in the white supremacist ecosystem. The server used to plan the Unite the Right rally, Charlottesville 2. But it remained active during the rally, with more than 1,600 messages posted to its most popular chat room on the day of the event. When Nazi images intermingled with Confederate flags during the rally, some Charlottesville 2. A white supremacist carries a swastika flag at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. Keeping these particular symbols of white supremacy out of sight at the rally was part of a strategy to win more followers. In one chat, a user suggests that National Rifle Association members are only a good, strong push away from advocating open white supremacy. Zimmerman did nothing wrong too. I would basically tell anyone who is bringing a gun or bringing a weapon that you should only be using that as a method to save your life. They debated how best to protect themselves when fights inevitably broke out. The chat rooms also included tips on defensive gear like body armor and shields. Some suggested the military-style body armor also served a propaganda purpose, reinforcing the argument that they had reason to protect themselves from violent counterprotesters. Plans for deployment during the rally were complex and detailed, including schematics that resembled battle plans — or football plays. The planning even included what to do if questioned by police following any violent altercations with counterprotesters. The organizers advised falling back on the self-defense defense. Once in Charlottesville, the platform served as a way for attendees to communicate with one another about what was happening. The march across the University of Virginia campus to a statue of Thomas Jefferson on Aug. They threw the first punch and it was on. Within three minutes the statue was ours and Antifa was running scared. Others told them to get a spine — or a gun. The most common first reaction was a realization that the PR campaign had been lost: the only narrative that could come out of the event was that their side might have committed murder. In a Discord chat room, users lament the news of a car plowing into a crowd of counterprotesters. Credit: Courtesy of Unicorn Riot Nevertheless, some looked for other explanations. Numerous posts speculated that James Fields Jr. That formed the basis for a so-called false flag conspiracy theory akin to the one spread by Infowars host Alex Jones. Within minutes of news about the attack circulating in the chat, a few jokes appeared. The forum was soon filled with memes making light of the tragedy. Examples included callous riffs on photos of Fields plowing through a crowd of counterprotesters. One labeled it a video game. Communists have killed 94 million. Looks like it was payback time. Some suggested Trump was limited in how full-throated he could be in public supporting an openly white supremacist cause. That led to debate about what the president really meant and where his loyalties lie.
