The Alt-Light gathers in NYC

Simon Murdoch - 22 01 18

Originally scheduled to be held in New York’s Jack Studios, the gathering was a party to celebrate the anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration and was organised by central figures within the alt-light movement.

(The alt-light is the ideological cousin of the white nationalist alt-right movement, though more concerned with supposed threats to Western culture than race.)

The event was moved to the FREQNYC nightclub following Jack Studio’s decision to cancel at the last minute because “permits were required”.

Following the event a clash between protesters outside the venue resulted in a Trump supporter being taken to Bellevue hospital.

The “Night for Freedom” was organised by alt-light social media personality and conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich.

Mike Cernovich

Cernovich first gained attention through his website dangerandplay.com, where he has promoted men’s rights, anti-feminism and misogynist pick-up artistry since 2012.

Alongside a pro-Trump campaign MAGA3X, and his involvement in organising the initial alt-light “DeploraBall” Trump inauguration party, Cernovich also promoted anti-Hillary Clinton smears during the election, including that she had various health complications and was involved in a paedophilia ring.

Alongside Cernovich was Stefan Molyneux, a social media personality primarily known for his YouTube channel which features videos such as “How Feminism Destroyed Europe” and “Why Human Rights Are Wrong”.

Molyneux’s videos have a pseudo-academic air, often presented with accompanying slides and his follower’s forum, Freedomain Radio, he dubs “The Largest Philosophy Conversation in the World”.

Given his style, it is no surprise Molyneux has interviewed author of The Bell Curve, Charles Murray, and flirted with the alt-right’s favoured pseudoscientific racist theory of ‘Human Biodiversity’ when interviewing Brian Boutwell.

Given the centrality of race to alt-right ideology, this places him much closer to the alt-right than most in the alt-light; indeed, Molyneux has interviewed leading alt-right figure Jared Taylor for “An Honest Conversation about Race”.

The third central alt-light attendee was Gavin McInnes, known for co-founding the Vice Media platform in 1994 before departing in 2008 to begin a career as a right-wing provocateur first on Compound Media, then on the Canadian Rebel Media platform where he created videos such as “Ten Things I Hate About Jews” (later renamed “Ten Things I Hate About Israel”).

Gavin McInnes

More recently he has been presenting a show on the Conservative Review network. He is also founder of the fraternal, Western chauvinist ‘Proud Boys’ organisation which has various levels of initiation, the fourth of which (according to McInnes) requires members to “kick the crap out of an [anti-fascist]”.

James O’Keefe, head of the corruption investigation organisation Project Veritas (who recently gained attention after infiltrating Twitter), was introduced by Molyneux before giving a speech about his new book, American Pravda: My Fight for Truth in the Era of Fake News.

Also in attendance were a handful of smaller alt-light figures including Lucian Wintrich, reporter for The Gateway Pundit, former Rebel Media reporter Jack Posobiec and InfoWars reporter Owen Shroyer.

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