United States and Canada Overview: August 2024

In this Regional Overview

1. United States: Democratic National Convention put a focus on demonstrations in Chicago
2. Group highlight: Patriot Front

Demonstration trends

This section provides key figures on demonstration events, which includes incidents categorized as 'Protests,' and 'Violent demonstrations' as recorded by ACLED. For more information on event and sub-event types, see the ACLED Codebook. This month's trend figures reflect comparisons between 1-30 July and 1-30 August, rather than the whole calendar month. Data for 31 August will be available with the next data release.

• United States – 686 demonstration events
• 12% increase – compared to last month
• Canada – 129 demonstration events
• 22% increase – compared to last month

United States: Democratic National Convention put a focus on demonstrations in Chicago 

Between 19 and 22 August, the Democratic party held the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, coinciding with a doubling of demonstration activity in Chicago compared to the previous month. Demonstrators’ calls for the protection of reproductive rights, labor rights, and LGBTQ+ rights were generally in line with Democratic policies. However, many demonstrations also condemned the Democratic party and its policies related to Palestine and Israel. Additionally, around half of all demonstrations in support of immigration recorded in the month of August occurred in Chicago during the DNC. Similarly, just under a third of demonstrations that occurred this month in support of access to abortion occurred in Chicago during the DNC. The Democratic and Republican parties maintain disparate stances on both these issues.

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Radical group trends

This section provides key figures on far-right and white nationalist groups.

Far-right groups:

ACLED uses this term to refer to a variety of actors, from 'traditional' militias to militant street movements. Though they are also analyzed separately, this figure also accounts for white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups.

White nationalists:

ACLED uses this term to refer to groups that openly describe themselves as white nationalist, white supremacist, or neo-Nazi.

This month's trend figures reflect comparisons between 1-30 July and 1-30 August, rather than the whole calendar month. Data for 31 August will be available with the next data release.

• 64 events – 54 involved white nationalist groups
• 13 radical groups active – 9 are white nationalist

Radical groups were most active in California

White nationalist groups were most active in California

Group highlight: Patriot Front

On 31 August, Patriot Front members gathered at the state capitol building in Florida in support of white supremacy and to promote their group.¹ Patriot Front, a white supremacist and neo-Nazi group led by Thomas Rousseau, often uses these flash demonstrations in front of capitol buildings for a ‘shock and awe’ factor and as an opportunity to snap photos for propaganda materials. Around a third of all Patriot Front demonstrations take place in a state capital. 

Patriot Front has become one of the most prominent white supremacist groups in the US since its creation in 2017, when the group splintered off from Vanguard America in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Rousseau, a former senior member of Vanguard America, seized control over the group prior to the schism, leading many former members of Vanguard America to transfer their membership over to the newly created Patriot Front. While the two groups share many ideological similarities, one of the main differences is the way they present themselves to the public: Patriot Front dresses up its rhetoric with more patriotic fervor.²

Recorded Patriot Front activity represented close to a third of events involving all militia, far-right, and militant social movements in August. This represents a trend over the past year where Patriot Front activity consistently represented over a third of all monthly recorded militia activity. The prevalence of Patriot Front activity is partially explained by the group’s ever-expanding chapters, which it refers to as ‘Networks,’ and partially by the group’s efforts to publicize as much of its activities as possible.³ While many other groups may choose to reveal their activities in public channels in more selective ways, Patriot Front regularly updates its online presence with posts about members’ low-level propaganda efforts. The scale of Patriot Front’s activity may therefore reflect a highly public-facing propagandistic strategy, rather than it truly being significantly more active than other groups. Most of the Patriot Front activity is banner drops, flyering, and other low-level propaganda dissemination. Patriot Front has been active in 45 states since January 2020, with the most active being Texas and Massachusetts.

On 11 June 2022, over 30 members of Patriot Front, including their leader, Rousseau, were arrested on charges of conspiracy to riot in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Members of the group — armed with sticks, shields, and smoke bombs — were preparing to demonstrate against an LGBTQ+ event nearby. Patriot Front typically demonstrates support for white supremacy, antisemitism, and anti-immigration sentiment as a part of advertising and recruitment for their group. They also espouse rhetoric in opposition to the LGBTQ+ community and access to abortion. The majority of Patriot Front’s demonstrations are peaceful and unarmed. In armed demonstrations where Patriot Front is present, they are found alongside multiple other white supremacist groups such as the Three Percenters, the Proud Boys, and White Lives Matter affiliates.

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