The Western Journal Tries To Give The Patriot Front a Veneer of Respectability

 

(Cheney Orr: Reuters)

America's 250th anniversary may long be remembered for the image captured by Reuters photographer Cheney Orr of an African American woman who has now been identified as Bernita Bowlding surrounded by members of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist riding the D.C. Metro.

It is an unsettling image. 

Even more unsettling are those who make excuses for these white supremacist groups.

Take a right-wing rag like The Western Journal which posted an article complete with pro-Patriot Front tweets trying to give the group a veneer of respectability. The article highlights posts on X contrasting the Patriot Front with the murder of the Ukrainian refugee named Iryna Zarutska who was stabbed to death on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina last August by an African-American male. 

What the Western Journal doesn't tell you is that the man who took Zarutska's life was found not competent to stand trial last month. Simply put, those who invoke the murder of Zarutska in simply wish to paint African Americans with a broad brush. 

Another tweet from an account called Mostly Peaceful Memes highlighted noted the following:

So a black lady road on a subway with a bunch of “Nazis” and they made sure she had a seat and didn’t harass her in any way? Wow really makes you think

Of course, this assumes that Bowlding boarded the train after the Patriot Front members did so. We don't know if "they made sure she had a seat". And until we hear from Bowlding, we won't know if there was any interaction between them - positive, negative or neutral.

The Western Journal also does not mention that the fact that the Patriot Front viciously assaulted an African American man while hurling racial epithets against him when they marched in Boston's Back Bay on Fourth of July weekend in 2022. Last year, a federal judge awarded Charles Murrell III $2.75 million in civil damages.

In view of these facts, Bowlding or any other African American riding on that subway car with the Patriot Front had grounds to fear for their life. 

There is nothing respectable about the Patriot Front nor those who try to glorify them like The Western Journal.