Charlottesville: Man 'outing Nazis' on Twitter says he will continue despite receiving death threats
Modified from the Independent. Lucy Pasha-Robinson, 2017
The man gaining international attention for outing alleged white supremacists onTwitterhas said he will continue his campaign despite receiving death threats in the wake of theCharlottesville violence.
Logan Smith runs theYes, You’re Racist Twitter account, which has shared a number of posts since theweekendcalling for users to publicly identify members of the Virginia rally.
Mr Smith's controversial posts have provoked a mixed reaction. While some support his efforts, others have warned of the dangers of doxxing -the act of sharing someone's personal information, usually a phone number oraddress, online. They say the wrong people could be identified, that people should have the right to express their views (even if terrible and demeaning to others) without losing their jobs or being kicked out of school and that doxxing will lead to violence against those who are identified.
Supporters argue that doxxing is necessary to show that white supremacist views are not acceptable and should not be accepted as valid perspectives in debates on how we should structure our country and teach our children. The point of calling out and naming white supremacists is to show them and others that these views are not acceptable and should not be thought acceptable – that people should feel shame and keep hidden these views if they have them; they should not feel they can proudly march through streets waving flags and shields while yelling fascist slogans and making Nazi salutes (an American tourist did this in Germany outside a cafe recently and was beat up by a random German man passing by – giving the Nazi salute in Germany is a criminal offence punishable by possible jail sentence, though courts tend to just fine people instead).
Mr Smith said he would continue to do what he believes is right despite the furious backlash that has seen death threats lobbied at his family.
“They are saying they are going to kill me, insulting my wife, insulting my family,” Mr Smith toldWRAL.
“One thing I did was to ask people if they recognised any of these people to just send me the names and public profiles and I will make them famous.”
“These aren’t just random faces in a crowd, these are real people. A lot of times, they are in our communities. They could be your neighbours, your co workers, people you pass in the grocery store and I think it’s really important to put a spotlight on these people.”
It is already having effects: white nationalist Cole White resigned from his job at a Berkeley hot dog restaurant after being identified by Mr Smith's account.
University of Nevada student Peter Cvjetanovic was also named on the Twitter page. Apetitioncalling for the university to expel him has since reached 22,250 signatures.
Another family said their adult son (who was outed as attending the rally) is no longer welcome at their home and called his views disgusting and that they felt it was necessary to stand up and say that this racism is not acceptable.