Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia

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The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (Антиглобалистское движение России, AGMR) is a Russian government-funded[1] anti-globalization astroturf organization, consisting of a single member, Alexander Viktorovich Ionov (Александр Ионов)[2] and two "Honorable" Members, Bashar Hafez Al-Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[3]

Calexit[edit]

A Calexit ballot initiative, sponsored by Yes California (a.k.a., "CalExit"), has received financial aid from and partnered with AGMR.[1] AGMR had a Calexit "embassy" in Moscow in 2017.[4] Yes California is itself an astroturf organization, the president of which is Louis J. Marinelli III (1986 or 1987–).[5] Marinelli is a US citizen from New York who has lived in Russia. He admitted to voting for Donald Trump in 2016.[6] Both Marinelli[7] and Ionov[8] suggested that California might follow the Crimean scenario in which Crimea voted for independence before being immediately annexed by Russia. In 2017, Marinelli indicated that he would be seeking permanent residence in Russia and that the current petition would be withdrawn.[9] In 2023, Marinelli was still blowing hot air about another ballot measure ("CalExit 3.0"),[10] which did not materialize in 2023 or 2024.

Other secession movements[edit]

Russia has also funded other astroturf secession movements in the United States, including in Texas, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The largest secession group in Texas, "Heart of Texas" (txrebels), turned out to be a Russian front with over 225,000 followers on Facebook as of summer 2017 before it was removed by Facebook. The Facebook page was xenophobic, nativist, and anti-immigrant; it had many posts targeting Muslim immigrants and refugees, liberals, LGBT activists, vegetarians and Hillary Clinton.[11][12]

The stated aim of AGMR is "against the global dominance of transnational corporations and supranational trade and financial institutions",[13] but is more likely specifically against the economic dominance of the United States and the EU.

Curiously, despite being funded from the Russian government (or perhaps to distract from the obvious astroturf of the site), there are three news feeds from radical partner organizations on the main webpage: Black Agenda Report, Fight Back News, and Rsf.ie News (Republican Sinn Féin).

African People’s Socialist Party/Uhuru House[edit]

Uhuru House and its lesser-known parent organization, African People’s Socialist Party (APSP), have been associated with AGMR, having sent delegates to Moscow in 2015 for an anti-globalization conference organized by AGMR.[14] In 2023, four American members of APSP (Omali Yeshitela, Penny Joanne Hess, Jesse Nevel and Augustus C. Romain Jr.) were charged with conspiring to act as unregistered foreign agents for Russia under the direction of Ionov and two other Russians (Yegor Sergeyevich Popoov and Aleksey Borisovich Sukhodolov).[15][16] In 2024, those same four were convicted of interfering in an election in St. Petersburg, Florida.[17]

Black Hammer[edit]

Infamous Juggalo wannabe Gazi Kodzo.

The African People’s Socialist Party also operates under the name Black Hammer in Georgia.[15] Black Hammer is led by Augustus Cornelius Romain Jr., who also goes by the name Nazi Bozo "Gazi Kodzo". The group is notorious for their antisemitism, such as burning copies of Anne Frank's diary.[18][19] In 2021, they tried to buy land in the Colorado desert in order to build an ethnostate, but they failed miserably.[20] Ultimately, the group, dubbed as a cult by many of its former members, fell apart in 2022 after Kodzo was arrested because a dead body was found in a house rented by Black Hammer.[21]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Advocate's Russian ties cause concern in state secession movement by Melody Gutierrez (February 3, 2017 Updated: February 3, 2017 10:08pm) The San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. ↑ Our Team The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (archived from 5 Feb 2017 01:17:26 UTC)
  3. ↑ Honorable "Members The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (archived from 3 Jan 2017 20:33:03 UTC)
  4. ↑ 'Calexit': Yes California movement opens ‘embassy’ in Moscow The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (archived from 3 Jan 2017 20:31:01 UTC)
  5. ↑ Louis J. Marinelli, III Ballotpedia.
  6. ↑ How to Make California Great: Secede, With a Little Help From Putin: A leader of ‘Calexit,’ the Golden State’s independence movement, sees Trump—and the Kremlin—as a boon by Leonid Ragozin (December 7, 2016, 5:00 AM PST) Bloomberg Business Week.
  7. ↑ California to leave US under Crimean scenario 20.09.2016 Pravda.ru
  8. ↑ California dreamin': California Secessionist movement opens first "embassy" — and it’s in Moscow by Alec Luhn (Dec 21, 2016) Vice.
  9. ↑ Louis Marinelli's Farewell Statement by Louis Marinelli (April 17, 2017 1:37 PM) Yes California (archived from April 20, 2017).
  10. ↑ Announcing CalExit 3.0 (January 15, 2023) Yes California (archived from April 22, 2024).
  11. ↑ How Russia Created the Most Popular Texas Secession Page on Facebook: When is a Texan not a Texan? by Casey Michel (Sep 7, 2017). ExtraNewsFeed.
  12. ↑ How the Russians pretended to be Texans — and Texans believed them by Casey Michel (October 17, 2017) The Washington Post.
  13. ↑ About December 22, 2016. Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (archived from 3 Jan 2017 20:32:51 UTC)
  14. ↑ Russian national charged with U.S. political influence operation: Florida activist group was used to sow discord and spread pro-Russian propaganda, Justice Dept. says by Devlin Barrett (July 29, 2022) The Washington Post.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 U.S. Citizens and Russian Intelligence Officers Charged with Conspiring to Use U.S. Citizens as Illegal Agents of the Russian Government: Defendants Sought to Sow Discord, Spread Pro-Russia Propaganda and Interfere in Elections Within the United States (April 18, 2023) The United States Department of Justice.
  16. ↑ U.S. charges four Americans with aiding Kremlin efforts: Charges are the latest Justice Department effort against secret foreign propaganda networks on U.S. soil by Devlin Barrett (April 18, 2023 at 2:02 p.m. EDT) The Washington Post.
  17. ↑ Activists convicted of working with Russian government to interfere with St. Pete elections, Nathaniel Rodriguez, WFLA 12 September 2024
  18. ↑ Mira Fox (December 12, 2022). "How could anyone ever hate Anne Frank — why a fringe group declared war on the Holocaust’s most famous victim". The Forward.
  19. ↑ The Black Hammer Organization, Anti-Defamation League
  20. ↑ A Black separatist group’s utopian dream for land near Telluride withered after an armed standoff, Grant Stringer, Colorado Sun 8 February 2022
  21. ↑ Infamous ‘Cult’ Leader Arrested After Dead Body Found in Home, Will Sommer, The Daily Beast 20 July 2022
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