What is in a Name? An analysis of the Patriot Prayer Group

Joey Gibson’s “Patriot Prayer” rallies have drawn some of the most frequently violent protesters in the alt-right scene. Oftentimes, media describes them as synonymous with the Proud Boys, an alt-right group of brawling bigots that frequent Patriot Prayer rallies. While I understand that analysis and don’t entirely disagree with the assessment that they are functionally one and the same, there are some observations that can be taken from the Patriot Prayer group in particular that can explain an important tactic used by the far-right in the public sphere. Therefore, we’re going to parse out the Patriot Prayer group from the Proud Boys and treat them as two separate but related entities.

What is in a name?

A fascist by any other name is still a fascist.

The Patriot Prayer name is an incredibly important tell on the tactic. It’s incredibly difficult to walk around with a swastika on your forehead outright calling for genocide, so the alt-right has used various tactics to conceal their hateful ideology behind a more family-friendly guise.

Who could be against patriots who like to pray?

Even an in-depth look at the activities of the Patriot Prayer group would reveal very little activity resembling any kind of interaction with a higher power or other deity. Prayer has very little to do with their activity. A close look at their historical operations will reveal intentional violence and agitation while using deceptive manipulation (often by professional victim, faux journalist Andy Ngo) to play the victim in the national conversation while hyping up violence to their own audience.

The above-pictured Alan Swinney is a frequent member of the Patriot Prayer group, as is his partner in violent crime Tiny Toese, who was recently arrested after… daring authorities to arrest him… after appearing on film violently assaulting protesters while on probation.

We never said they were intelligent.

So, with members showing up armed, armored and ready and welcoming violence, why the name? We can break it up into two parts and observe what it is they mean.

Patriot

Patriotism is a direct appeal to nationalist sentiment, associating any action by Patriot Prayer groups with a pro-America, nationalist motivation. Somehow, the country we live in now is one that views soldiers fighting illegal wars, police beating and kidnapping protesters and brownshirts killing protesters in the street as “patriots” defending American ideals, but the moment someone pissed about the aforementioned murderous violence throws a Molotov at an empty building, they are labeled violent, Marxist insurrectionists seeking to overthrow our great country..

This phenomena has, in part, come from the inherent misinformation surrounding the Patriot Prayer group and other similar groups’ names. Using the word Patriot immediately associates their actions with a pro-America, nationalist motivation. They could be beating peaceful protesters, pointing guns into crowds or macing people in wheelchairs and their name would still associate their actions with a nationalistic, and therefore just and moral, slant to their fans and those who are easy to influence.

The media plays into this game almost every single time they cover Patriot Prayer group activities. Instead of noting the actual activities of these protesters, they often describe them as “pro-free speech, patriotic protesters” instead of violent fascists with a pseudo-religious bent to cover their activity in a Christian veil.

Speaking of which…

Prayer

The Christian victimization line is a favorite one in the far-right pseudo-religious scene. Christian victimization is often used interchangeably with “white genocide” conspiracy theories, spurring chants heard in Charlottesville and elsewhere of “Jews will not replace us” and other such anti-semitic and racist slogans and rants.Remember the Great War on Christmas, when Starbucks tried to remove Christmas from America? It was a favorite line from the right, as if a multi-billion dollar company gives half a damn about who you pray to before you eat a crappy breakfast sandwich microwaved by an underpaid teenager.

The “Prayer” part of the Patriot Prayer name is a way to associate morality with the group and a way to depict any violent action against the gang as an anti-Christian, atheistic assault on their right to pray or associate as a religious group. Due to the heavy protestant population in the US, Christian religion is often by default associated with morality, despite grifters like Joel Osteen living in massive estates with doors closed during natural disasters and a massive child exploitation issue infecting the Catholic church worldwide.

That’s not to say that Patriot Prayer rallies are entirely devoid of any religious activity or prayer, but to say that prayer or any sort of religious observation were an important part of the group’s motivation is laughably incorrect. The entire purpose of the word Prayer being in the name is to associate their actions with some sort of religious morality, a noted fascistic tactic.

Associations

For being a group all about ‘peace and love‘ according to leader Joey Gibson, they have some incredibly interesting associates. Skyler Jernigan, the individual who was arrested in connection with a shooting following a pitched battle between antifascist counter protesters and a “Flag Waving” event, was a long-time follower of the Patriot Prayer group, even after dropping peaceful and loving sentences like “You’re gonna be getting knives put into your throat. You’re going to be getting bullets put into your head if you don’t stop this shit with us.”

Another peaceful and loving member of the Patriot Prayer group is Alan Swinney, a gap-toothed redneck with a penchant for attempting (and failing) to intimidate press, macing and paintballing protesters indiscriminately, carrying a comical amount of lethal weaponry, wearing the silliest LARP get-up in chud history and aiming a revolver at large groups of protesters (pictured above).

Then there are the Proud Boys, the notorious pro-Trump “drinking gang” that frequents Portland protests for the sole purpose of inciting violence. The Proud Boys have had a very close relationship with Joey Gibson and his clan, leading an assault on Antifa under the guise of instigating and playing victim, all while having an Antifa infiltrator literally livestreaming the entire event from within the group. Joey Gibson is still facing litigation at the time of writing for leading a violent assault against antifascist protesters at a local Portland bar.

In Conclusion…

Joey Gibson’s Patriot Prayer group is a clever guise, best described by It’s Going Down as big-tent alt-rightism. The name is intentionally misleading and the mainstream media is playing right into their hands every time they are described as right-leaning or conservative. They are fascism with a fake religious veil, intentionally using patriotic, freeze peach excuses to cover their fascistic, violent motivations.

My recommendations? Don’t give them that win. Every single time the Patriot Prayer group is mentioned in media, associate the violence that they welcome and cause with their name. Don’t let them win that PR victory simply because they had the foresight to pick a clever name to deceive us. Call it how it is, or let them win the war of words.