Smash MAGA developers Jason and Jeremy Hammond talk on the Twin Trouble podcast about the continued fallout of Jan 6 and the current state of MAGA in the year since the right-wing insurrection, including a new section, “Where Are They Now?”, about the so-called “political prisoners” of Jan 6, portrayed as martyrs by the fascistic GOP. In seamless transition, the twins then discuss the new version of their game Smash MAGA.
Also appearing in this podcast is Gabriella Coleman, esteemed Harvard professor and historian of Anonymous, as well as Manilo and Paul of the hardcore band La Armada, whose music is featured throughout the episode.
Jason:
We are living in a dark age of disinformation. Formerly pro-establishment, the so-called patriots have ripped open up a parallel universe where they lose all faith in their country and engage in open rebellion. They are Anti-System now, fresh after licking Trump’s boot. We’ve seen the Big Lie, the stop the steal coup attempt, the failed insurrection, now were in the midst of the far-rights pivot to defy the vaccine and mask mandates, in which they see as proof of Biden’s tyranny and a worthy battleground for these wannabe civil war secession types.
Jeremy:
But the pivot is based on a conspiracy theory and a terribly deadly lie, that this virus is not a big deal, it’s COVID denialism. Antivax propagandists spread misinfo and cause people to not trust legitimate medical information, refuse life-saving vaccinations, and thus extending the pandemic and contributing to mass death. Even the biggest denialist Trump himself has been begging his supporters to take the vaccine because he wants to claim that it was his idea. But his base supporters are in too deep now and don’t wanna hear about that shit, so now the GOP can’t mention the vaccine without potential political blowback from their radicalized base.
We could be having conversations about basic information and best practices to resist plague, coming up with reasonable solutions for society to safely function, addressing global vaccine inequities, but instead we argue with the cult of ignorance over basic truths to the virus. So many of the antivax culture warriors are volatile, eager for a soapbox, eager to livestream themselves getting kicked out of restaurants by cops they claim to support. They say they feel like they’re being treated like second class citizens, insultingly comparing their struggles to that of the civil rights movement, saying the mandates are like racial segregation and apartheid. They compare the unvaccinated to the victims of the mass murderers of the holocaust under the Nazis. They say this with a straight face as they rail against the teaching of actual history and current reality of racism in America. They say My Body My Choice about vaccines and simultaneously want to end Roe v Wade. They talk about electoral integrity while meanwhile the GOP using these very conspiracy theories pushing harder than ever to further erode voting rights, with many states passing racist laws designed to prevent people from voting, all in plain sight. This mindfuckingly offensive upside-downedness signifies that the problems in this country run deeper than just what happened on Jan 6.
Jason:
But Neoliberalism also is on the same spectrum of denialism, also committed to apocalypse capitalism, with the rush to “go back to normal”, ending pandemic relief and ushering everyone back to work and school amidst the Omicron surge. The sociopathic lack of empathy is also exemplified by this growing belief that the pandemic will last forever and we should get used to it. That the new variant is ‘only mild’. It’s fine, it is only the most vulnerable who are affected by this new variant. The loss of life was always in the economic calculus inherent to the logic of capitalism, there exists a level of disease and death that is to be acceptable. So we’re not forgetting the Dems complete failure to handle the pandemic response adequately to the magnitude demanded of the moment, they are kicking people to the curb as well.
We are glad to see people rejecting and resisting apocalypse capitalism. Particularly moving recently are the CPS students in Chicago who have walked out of classes for their rights to a safe education during COVID times. This is an inspiring sign that the kids are alright, despite this city which continues to fail them with massive funding for cops and not for schools, and forcing in-person classes despite the teachers and students struggling for the continuation of remote learning during the surge of the Omicron variant.
Jeremy:
Others, however, seem to be working to help spread the plague: these foaming at-their-infectious-mouth antivaxxers, these MAGA zombies have not given up the fight. Just listen:
(GHASTLY RENDITION OF US NATIONAL ANTHEM)
Jason:
You are listening to the sounds of Jan 6 capitol rioters singing the US national anthem in the so-called “patriot wing” of the DC jail. Haunting! Apparently in a cult-like fashion, they sing it every night at 9, and according to MTG, they sing with “such passion and true devotion for their country, you can hear it in their voice”.
She, Matt Gaetz, and other pro-insurrection GOP lawmakers had visited the imprisoned insurrectionists in a publicity stunt to rally support for Jan 6 “political prisoners”, as they call them, who they claim are suffering abuse in a “two tiered justice system”
Earlier this month was the anniversary of the jan 6th right wing-coup attempt, and as fallout from that fateful day is still ongoing, we reflect on the significance of the attack on congress to overturn the 2020 election. Trump’s insurrection failed that day, but the violent white supremacist extremism in which Trumpism is a symptom of remains as a constantly looming fascist plague that haunts the country.
The same people who went on a rampage over the election at the end of 2020 and at Jan 6 continue to wreak havoc and now have “gone local”, pivoting to harassing school board over mask and vaccine mandates, causing disruptions, even sometimes at health care facilities, demanding Ivermectin and making death threats, complaining about being discriminated against for their “medical status” being denied service, all while denying the realities of COVID as we are in the midst of the surge. As we enter the midterm election year, the likelihood of far-right mobilizations and insurgent violence remains higher now than ever before.
Since Jan 6, right-wing media has done everything they can to minimize the significance of the attack. They first tried to deny the whole thing was MAGA, saying it was antifa infiltrators. Then they tried claiming it was an FBI setup, then it was merely a group of tourists, and finally the whataboutisms, making a false equivalency between the capitol rioters and the George Floyd uprisings of the summer, the latter they claim was far worse. “Entire cities burned!”, they cried.
But it was Trump who whipped up his fascist supporters into a frenzy and after the election they came out in droves to DC. Jan 6 came on the heels of the “Million Maga Marches”, practice runs for Jan 6. Of course it’s numbers were more like in the ten of thousands, but they were fucking fascists who were very open about their plans for violence. Proud Boys, self-proclaimed “militia”, the “army for Trump” they marched each evening and attacked people in the street and terrorized the city and country. Similar rallies had also been happening at state capitols as well: each night was inches from becoming deadly, yet it was only after Jan 6 did the DOJ say their priority is to investigate and prosecute these white supremacist extremist groups.
Jeremy:
Around 750 individuals so far have been charged by the feds for participating in the capitol riots, many low-level misdemeanors like “parading on restricted grounds”, but there were also hundreds of felonies, including assaults against police, interruption of federal official processes, and most recently conspiracy and sedition in the cases of Stewart Rhodes and 10 other members of the Oathkeeper militias. 350 felonies, but almost everybody, except like forty people, are out of jail: most were granted bail, or already had their cases adjudicated. Many have already accepted cooperating plea deals. Almost everybody got extremely light sentences, such as probation or a month or two in jail. Only a few have received any real time, the most so far is Robert Palmer, who got five years for beating a cop with a fire extinguisher, and then there’s the QAnon Shaman Jake Chansley who got 40 months, he’s at the low FCI Safford. There’s still other cases pending, and some of the more serious and complicated conspiracy charges could drag out for some time, in what they have called the largest federal investigation in US history.
Jason:
While the pawns have taken some heat, the architects of the jan 6 coup attempt continue to skirt accountability. The Jan 6th committee is finally getting around to issuing subpoenas for Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Nick Fuentes, and others high profile leaders and propagandists of the Big Lie. Trump and his closest minions have so-far refused the subpoenas and dragging it out in the courts, filing lawsuits against releases of information, and slamming the Jan 6th commission on investigation as a “Marxist witch-hunt”. He is still out there still saying he won in 2020 while he and the GOP are plotting the next coup in 2024. None of them have spent a day in jail for their crimes, and probably won’t.
Jeremy:
And all these Trump officials refusing the subpoenas, you know they lock people up all the time for contempt. Hell I did an extra six months for contempt, really a year, as we’ve talked about in earlier episodes. So it’s like, what the hell? It’s infuriating to see these powerful, horrible people just get away with this, like fascist horror show Steven Bannon, who was pardoned by Trump after scamming millions on that racist border wall, so now he’s got two criminal contempt charges, but they let him out on bail, and you know when any of us had asked for bail they’re like well that would undermine the coercive purpose of detaining you for contempt. Bannon’s trial’s still like half a year away. All of them, just walking around like it wasn’t nothing, and the Jan Sixers too, nearly all of them got bail or probation, never saw jail. And there’s just so many examples of the gross disparities with how Trump’s crew, how the January 6 insurrectionaries have been treated so lightly as compared with how most others experience the criminal justice system – which is to say, when it’s us, if there is any way to interpret or manipulate the law to be against us, the worst case scenario, that’s what’s happening. But here they are, basically cashing in on the full benefits of white privilege, and their political connections to those in power.
Jason:
One thing we have seen over Jan 6 is the cry from the right about so-called “political prisoners” of Jan 6. Much can be said about the imprisoned insurrectionists’ complaints about conditions in the jail. Much liberal knee-jerk reaction is to say “Lock em up! They deserve every ounce of misery they get!” While relishing in the irony of Back The Blue’s “don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time” is momentarily amusing, nobody should be sourcing their pleasure in the suffering of our enemies by the prison system. This is the rub we want to get into – What is the abolitionist perspective in regards to Jan 6 prosecutions?
Jeremy:
Prison abolitionists have consistently held that police and prisons aren’t ever solutions, that they need to be shut down immediately, that everybody needs to be freed unconditionally. We aren’t with “Lock Them Up!”, as much as we may detest their politics or actions. It’s actually a little worrisome that these liberals are looking for catharsis or revenge or closure or whatever through imprisonment. And how often have they also argued the same for us? So we’ve got to beat back the liberal lust for carceral solutions.
Jason:
The enemy of our enemy is not our friend – and central to anarchist, antifascist, or any kind of organizing is the refusal to work with or rely on the state to solve our problems. The punitive act of incarceration is an act of harm itself, and instead of keeping people safe, it destabilizes the community. Has imprisoning a few of the rioters prevented those on the outside from engaging in the same kind of violent agitation that we’ve seen on jan 6? Maybe in the immediate aftermath, but here we are a year later, Proud Boys are still regular fixtures of right-wing mobilizations, the violence continues, likely to increase as we enter midterm election year.
Jeremy:
And look at how they’re rallying behind January 6 defendants as heroes, patriots, political prisoners. There’s a lot of websites, “Patriot Freedom Project”, “Citizens Against Political Persecution”, “American Gulag”- that one run by Jim Hoft founder of alt-right disinfo site “The Gateway Pundit”, these are support sites for Jan Sixers, plus the hundreds of fundraisers on GiveSendGo.com, the Christian fascist alternative to GoFundMe. They’re like, “It’s shocking to say, but America now has legitimately political prisoners, en masse”, as if the government is somehow targeting them for their politics or race, as if their murderous fascist coup attempt is some great political act worthy of defending. to defend as say raising millions and millions of dollars, definitely some grifting going on. So they’re trying to gain sympathy about their cases, their jail conditions, while at the same time making sure to spit out their delusional belief that BLM was supposedly treated so lightly by comparison. Basically, their grievances and analysis extends only to freedom and better conditions for their own, the fascist warrior clowns that Trump used up and kicked to the curb. They don’t ever speak up for others affected by the prison industrial complex. They deny the existence of actual political prisoners and prisoners of war. They defend the cops every single time they get away with murder, or defend people like Kyle Rittenhouse, who basically fulfilled their blood lust fantasies.
So after they’ve riled up their most rabid Trump cultists to throw their sore loser riot at the capitol, and a few of them end up in jail, now they want to cry persecution, they want special treatment unlike the other “criminals” who they believe deserve to be in prison. They believe they are the exceptions, really hitting home the point that the prison system was from the beginning never designed for people like them. And so it’s understandable why some would find enjoyment and poetic justice in seeing the tables turned for a change. These Jan 6ers, majority middle upper class cis white men of privilege, they’re just now experiencing a taste of what everybody else had always been subjected to, had to eat the same baloney sandwiches we all had to eat. and they’re crying, writing manifestos from jail, “this isn’t what America is about!” Really tho? People have been fighting against that notorious DC Jail forever, and now, only when these special right wingers, these white people start complaining about it, the government felt like it had to do something to address their astroturfed fury.
So last month the US Marshals did an unannounced inspection of the DC Jail, and found they we’re in not in compliance with the minimum detention standards. First off – there’s never an “unannounced” inspection, obviously, they’re always scheduled and carefully choreographed. the inspectors are good friends with the warden, they’re often former wardens themselves, they’ll already have repainted the walls, already have lined up several bootlicking inmates if they want to question anybody, they’ll just rubber-stamp the process, make themselves look good – the dog and pony show. Anyways, I’m very familiar with the US Marshals detention standards – stuff like, square footage per person, number of toilets showers and sinks, food conditions, access to hygiene, recreation, medical care, etc. So there’s like fifty thousand federal prisoners, mostly pretrial or in transit, currently held outside of the Bureau of Prisons in these raggedy county jail and detention centers, and they’re really terrible places, basically none of them follow the standards, and it’s only gotten worse since pandemic. I remember two summers ago during the height of COVID they suspended all transfers, and we were stuck in transit in Oklahoma City, not the FTC but the local overflow jail in Grady Countyl, and it was just the worst place to be caught during the pandemic, dorms of triple stacked bunks, they were in staunch denial that COVID had completely swept the dorms, and people were trying to get lawyers and congress to look at these obvious detention standard violations, we got no traction, no answers, so literally everybody caught COVID, people died. People are still dying, and it’s like this everywhere, because the prison system is simply unable and unwilling to protect people, even three years into the pandemic, and we still haven’t seen the mass releases that people have been demanding, that are so urgently needed.
So when I read the statements of these Jan Sixers, once you get past the rhetoric, most of their complaints are really kind of basic jail conditions, for example, bad food, or the 23 hour a day lockdown. And I don’t mean to say this to trivialize the conditions people are complaining about, because we’ve experienced it ourselves, and it is terrible, and it all needs to end. But you don’t see them interested in advocating for prisoners rights as a whole. They’re not linking up with existing abolitionist groups, of course, or demanding an end to solitary confinement. They’re not going on hunger strike in solidarity with those at Rikers Island, or Stateville or in Palestine.
Jason:
Really, it’s because they support these systems, “law and order”, they’re part of it. It’s an anomaly that any of them are in jail at all, which is what they really mean when they claim they’re being discriminated against for “being conservative” or “being white”. Most of them used to just getting away with shit, their crimes are the officially sanctioned ones, done in the name of business. In actuality with the millions of dollars raised and support from high profile backers, they have so much more power, influence, and protection than everyone else, not just when it comes to how their cases are being handled in the courts, but also in the prisons themselves. Prison administrators are going to treat them very carefully to avoid retaliatory lawsuits and public attention. There’s been some claims that individual guards have insulted them for being white or whatever, one guy claims he was beaten by guards because he was trying to start a bible study group, supposedly, but it sounds like there’s more to that story then they’re letting on. I’d bet many prison guards are supporters!
Jeremy:
So with all their connection and influence, with support from people like MTG, they finally got the Marshals to admit that the jail is a dump, and they immediately began moving four hundred people into the federal prison in Lewisburg PA. But hilariously, the inspectors actually found that the treatment unit that most of the Jan Sixers are being held at, was actually in compliance with the standards, was actually in far better shape than the other units that the Marshals had denounced: turns out they had it sweeter than everybody else, but still crying. One Proud Boy who had been moved to Lewisburg actually requested a transfer back to the DC jail and a week later was back with the others.
Yes, most of the Jan Sixers are all being held in their own unit, where they have developed cult-like rituals, and are being groomed by the right as patriotic martyrs, the whole experience is sure to push them deeper into the reactionary rabbit hole. One Jan Sixer Thomas Sibick requested and was granted transfer out of there, because he couldn’t deal with the toxic environment. So they’re in this reactionary echo chamber, most have had basically no interaction with other prisoners, and some might not ever, really for their own protection. But the few that may actually be sentenced to some real time – I think the longest so far got five years, one of the dudes who hit a cop with a fire extinguisher – they might be transferred to real prison, and it’s hard to say how they going to make it, especially on their own away from their compatriots. They’re hardcore Back the Blue supporters, “Law and Order” and all that, and many of them former cops themselves, so they probably think they are somehow above other prisoners, well they are going to have rude awakening in general population, Unless they’re sent to like a camp or a low, it’s likely many of them would “check in” and request protective custody, do the rest of their bid by themselves in the hole, people like Derek Chauvin or Dylann Roof. It’s also probable they would seek protection from white supremacist gangs like the Aryan Brotherhood with whom they share an obvious affinity. Because these groups, they are very organized, in almost every prison, and really it’s an unaddressed problem that prison is basically a factory that fosters conditions that create white supremacists from the same fake victimhood and racial resentment these insurrectionaries are espousing now. There is the potential these groups reinforce alliances and imprint lifetime commitments to their “cause”, even if they’re a bunch of ineffectual ignorant clowns, they could become far more dangerous when they are released and return to their fanatical hordes, now heralded as heroes.
Jason:
And if you look at what the jailed and arrested insurrectionists are saying, it is quite clear that even after a whole year, most of them regret nothing and are proud of their actions on Jan 6. They still buy the Big Lie, they still believe and talk about how patriots are rising up and are going to overthrow this fake Biden and bring back Trump. And unfortunately, we are probably going to be seeing more high-profile insurgent violence, as extemist researchers are noting that the level of activity and violent language eminating from far right circles is as high as it was just before the Oklahoma City bombing. They are still on some Turner Diaries shit, imagining violence inflicted on BLM and antifascist activists, who they see as race traitors and communists.
Jeremy:
So the DOJ announced on Jan 6 the formation of a new domestic terrorist task force, ostensibly to deal with this, and although carceral liberals have cheered it on, we should really be worried, especially about this whole “both sides” language around extremism this task force seeks to undertake. They always have and will continue to weaponize this against leftist and BIPOC communities, and probably a whole lot moreso, considering the long and well-documented racist history of the FBI.
Jason:
Look at the vagueness of the language to see the clearness of the problem. They say the biggest threats are from extremists “driven by racial or ethnic beliefs”, which they note includes white supremacists…but also would include “black identity extremists”, a term invented by the feds to delegitimize BLM activists so they could pursue more serious terrorism enhancements.
They also talk of “Anti-government sentiment”, including militia and anarchists, as if they are the same thing. Although the FBI has previously stated that antifa is an idea, not an organization, but that has not at all slowed their continued targeted harassment of antifascists, as we have already seen DHS earlier this year try blaming Portland riots on another new term, “violent antifa anarchist inspired individuals”. A lot of the uprising arrests that happened during the height of Trump’s rage when he sent feds to all the cities are still fighting these trumped-up-charges with the full weight of Biden’s DOJ.
Jason:
So we oppose the expansion of the DOJ terrorist task force. But fuck the DOJ for a second, let’s talk about ways everyday people have been resisting the MAGA menace. Antifascists have been documenting and confronting the rise of fascism since before Trump, and in the wake of Jan 6, it is good to see that more people are ‘getting into’ anti-extremist work than ever, but in doing so we need to be careful to not reinforce carceral “antifascism”. Abolitionists envision and practice accountability outside the prison system, can we not imagine other tools to fight fascism except the ones primarily used to oppress black and brown people?
In the wake of Jan 6, groups like Sedition Hunters have done a lot of online sleuthing, pouring over the massive amounts of available video, creating hashtags for the rioters until true names are identified. It is of course helpful to know who these fuckers are: they should be exposed for their actions that day. But then many people are tagging the FBI as if they are on the same side. Aiding a federal law enforcement investigation in order to put people in prison should not be the purpose of researching extremists. These are not long-term solutions: not likely preventative of future attacks nor likely to de-radicalize their base, as we are seeing, the jailing of the Jan Sixers bolsters the MAGA mythology, that Biden has reigned in the tyrannical new world order, giving further cause to the wannabe patriot revolutionaries.
What everyday antifascists are doing and have been doing is paying attention to what the far-right groups are doing in their area and around the country/world. And then, taking action and putting some pressure on them to disrupt their organizing. Some ideas that allegedly exist include documentation or doxing of local fascists, organizing call or email campaigns to get them fired or removed from office, flyering their neighborhoods or hangout spots, calling venues to get their events canceled. And of course organizing counter-protests, and showing up when they show up to the school boards or town halls with an alternative message. This does far more to put the fash on notice than to call the cops, and besides, we already know whose side they are gonna be on anyway.
While we were recording this episode, a major development has taken place”: Unicorn Riot and DDOS released about 500 gigs of leaks from Patriot Front chats and emails. The leaks were dropped as these white supremacists were in DC, escorted by cops as they marched alongside the anti-abortionist organization March for Life. AMAZING! The leaks are massive and are available now for researchers to get into. Included is documentation of their various hate crimes, embarrassing videos of their pathetic training, their internal communications which reveal plenty of identifiers, already leading to plenty of their members being exposed and doxed. It shows the laughability of their security. It shows the deep connections PF has with Proud Boys. It also shows that mosty members of PF self identify as National Socialists, as nazis. Utterly destroying the ridiculous attempts at distancing by right wingers, who claim that PF is not real, but a fed operation. It shows that if you are a nazi, you will be exposed. It shows a lot, we are excited to see the depth of shit to come out on this PF leaks..
Most importantly the leaks show that it is antifascists who are the ones doing the real work to handle the nazi problem in this country. The US government is committed to ignoring the threat besides slapping a few light sentences on some of the insurrectionists from Jan 6, when PF comes to town, you always see the cops leading the march and protecting them, allowing them the street, allowing them safe escape when invariably people chase them down, shouting chanting and laugh at the pathetic sight of the white-hooded modern day klan.
Jeremy:
The chuds are still active, standing back and standing by just waiting for the next insurrection, They are back in full revolt again, rallying all the goddamn time, worse now that we are entering midterm election year. Best to stomp ‘em down before the hordes get too big again. I guess you can say, it’s time to … SMASH MAGA!
Jeremy:
Hey, so have yall played our game Smash MAGA yet?
Jason:
We dropped a new version on the anniversary of January 6, in contemptful observance of that cursed day when America showed it’s ass. The story of the game is that a fascist plague sweeps the nation, entering a dark-age dystopia of zombified Trump supporters that threaten the free world. The events depicted in the game are based on real-life occurrences during the Trump regime. It’s satire, but it’s also a call to action: we wanted to recreate and reimagine these events, as if it could have gone differently if people were mobilized to stop the plague of fascism before it spreads.
Jason:
There’s also one new level that takes place in Mars-A-Lago, where Trump teams up with rich man villain of the year Elon Musk in a plan to spread MAGA toxicity to Mars, to escape a planet undergoing mass devastation by climate change!
Jeremy:
The biggest update in this new version is the multiplayer feature. Firstly, you can plug in a gamepad and do local two-player co-op, which is way more fun taking on the brainwashed masses as a team. But there’s also internet multiplayer, you can jump on our game servers and play with or against others online. There’s the regular modes like cooperative, deathmatch, capture the flag – we got laser tag! And you can compete in the high scores table, we’re doing a monthly tournament to win prizes like zines, tshirts.
Jeremy:
We’re also pleased to say that Smash MAGA is also now available on the Steam gaming platform. If you’ll remember, Steam, just like Apple and Google, had previously banned us from their platform for some suspect justifications. Remember for Google it was “political violence”, for Apple it was “offensive references to targeted groups such as MAGA”. So Steam claimed it was “copyright infringement”, and initially wouldn’t point to any specific violation, obviously we have full fair use, public figures, parody, satire, etc
Jeremy
So after months of appeals and assurances we don’t have any copyrighted content, they eventually gave it the ok, and so we’re on, and getting a lot more exposure too, way more than our initial release last September, which you know says a lot about how these corporate platforms position themselves as gatekeepers as to what apps make it or not, and of course what people are even allowed to run on their devices.
Jason:
So we released the game, it’s been fun playing multiplayer, and also reading the reviews and comments we’ve received so far. Now most people thought it was a blast, some also had some constructive criticisms. But we also got some hateful comments from these right-wingers. You know, usual ignorant shit, Rittenhouse supporters, posting racist memes. And talking about how they’re going to report us,how we should be taken down, which is hilarious cause cancel culture, right? These toxic parts of the gamer community, our game is calling them out, mocking them, and now they’re crying, we knew that was going to happen, They’re mad, it’s cool.
Jeremy:
So what’s next? Nobody believes that the events on January 6th signaled an end to Trumpism. It only showed how real the fascist threat has been, with no clear end in sight. What is the next battleground for the MAGA insurgents, how will they pivot and how best can we turn the tide? We will speculate on these trajectories in a future update – Smash MAGA! United Front Against Fascism. New levels, enemies, features, new twists, so stay tuned.