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Jason Kessler
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Jason Kessler (1983–) is a member of the alt-right and the organizer of both the 2017 and 2018 Unite the Right rallies. Kessler received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Virginia in 2009.[1]
He was formerly a supporter of Barack Obama in 2008, working for a Democratic polling organization.[2][3] He participated in the Charlottesville, Virginia branch of Occupy Wall Street in 2011, where he was regarded as violent and contrary to the Occupy ethos.[3]
In 2013, Kessler claims to have been "red-pilled" "when a PR executive was publicly excoriated for a tasteless Twitter joke about AIDS in Africa."[4] By 2016, Kessler started creating awful literature, Badland Blues, about "a homeless dwarf madly in unrequited love with a local waitress, Marissa."[5][6] This was at about the same time that he became a Trump supporter.[3] In 2016, he was accused of promoting racism at a Charlottesville city council meeting and accused the Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy, an African American, of being a black supremacist.[3] Bellamy's view was that Kessler was taking deliberate offence because he was mad that a black man who was his age had a job and Kessler didn't.[3] Also in 2017, Kessler met Richard Spencer and the conversion to the alt-right became complete.[3]
Kessler has written for VDARE GotNews, and The Daily Caller.[1] Kessler's infamy became so great that The Daily Caller removed him from their website following the first Unite the Right rally.[7]
As of 2018, Kessler is living at his parents' home[8] to save money for the numerous lawsuits brought against him for the violence and death at the first Unite the Right rally.[3] His father supports him as a son, but is totally opposed to his politics.[3]
Crime[edit]
Kessler "was convicted in 2005 for shoplifting, obstructing justice and for a string of failures to appear and register, in addition to numerous traffic violations and citations."[4]
In 2017, Kessler pled guilty to "misdemeanor assault after he punched a man while gathering signatures for his petition against Bellamy."[4] He was convicted of civil conspiracy and race-based harassment or violence and awarded $200,000 in punitive damages.[9][10]
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 About Real News w/ Jason Kessler (archived from November 7, 2017).
- ↑ Jason Kessler participated in Occupy, says another activist (2017) WINA News Radio.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Inside Jason Kessler’s hate-fueled rise by Ian Shapira (August 11, 2018) The Washington Post.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Jason Kessler Southern Poverty Law Center
- ↑ Badland Blues by Jason Kessler (2016) New Pulp Press. ISBN 1945734027.
- ↑ Midnight Road by Jason Kessler (2016) Mad Dimension Press. ISBN 0692627677.
- ↑ The Daily Caller Removes 'Unite the Right' Organizer Jason Kessler’s Bylines From Web Site. The conservative site has deleted articles by a white supremacist who organized the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. by Bethania Palma (18 July 2018) Snopes.
- ↑ Watch Unite the Right Organizer Jason Kessler Get Owned by His Dad During a Livestream: "You get outta my room!" by Allie Conti (Aug 15 2018, 11:21am) Vice.
- ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Sines v. Kessler.
- ↑ Jury awards $25m in damages to victims in 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ assault in Charlottesville by Alex Woodward (23 November 2021 22:47 GMT) Independent.