Christopher Mathias is a Senior Reporter at HuffPost covering right-wing extremism. You can reach him at [email protected].
Activists in Enid, Oklahoma say a man photographed marching in the 2017"Unite The Right" white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia is Enid City Commissioner Judson Blevins.ENID, Okla. — On the evening of Nov. 7, 2023, Judson “Judd” Blevins, a city councilman in Enid, Oklahoma, took his seat inside the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Municipal Complex and watched as local constituents took turns at a lectern.
The Blevins saga has left progressives in Enid dumbfounded and infuriated: How could their community allow this man, who wouldn’t deny participating in one of the most infamous fascist gatherings in a generation, join the city council? How could Enid let this man, who wouldn’t deny that he once expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler, make policy decisions that will affect people’s lives?
“The First Amendment gives us freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition the government with grievances, which all of you have done tonight,” he told the assembled crowd, some of whom held up photos that seemed to show Blevins marching at the Charlottesville rally. “We either have these rights, or we don’t. And if we find ourselves having to make apologies when we exercise these rights, then we don’t have them.to be clear: I am a different man today than I was yesterday.
As the martial escorted Neal out of the meeting, Blevins openly laughed, his face turning red with delight, Conway had left a lot of clues. He once posted a link to an article in the Enid News & Eagle, a newspaper based in Enid, Oklahoma, noting that the publication was in his “hometown.” He also told his Identity Evropa compatriots that he was moving back to Enid to work for his “father’s business.”at the rally in Charlottesville.
But the three other commissioners demurred or declined to comment to the News & Eagle. David Mason, then just a candidate for mayor, said he didn’t know Blevins and couldn’t “speak for him in any way.” When HuffPost met with Burleson early one morning at Istoria Ministries, a new single-story building in Enid, he’d just finished leading his weekly men-only Bible study.support of Blevins, Burleson held forth on why he thinks trans people are “psychotic”; why Western civilization is “superior” to other civilizations; why Christianity is “superior” to both Islam and Judaism; and why the “real” antisemites are actually pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Joshua Berkau of Irving, Texas, gave $1,944 to Blevins’ campaign. Berkau is 26 years old and, according to public records, and aworked as a field director in 2021 for a county c But perhaps the most compelling evidence that Berkau is mixed up in white supremacist circles comes from examining a series of limited liability corporations registered to his name, including Sphinx Vending LLC, Spanish Horses LLC, and Ghost Dancing Redux LLC. It’s not entirely clear what any of these businesses actually do. What is clear is that Berkau started one of them with a known member of an active white supremacist group.
He thanked his family and friends for his victory. “The credit really goes to them tonight,” Blevins told the paper. “They got me across the finish line.” Blevins lifted up his right hand and took the oath of office a short time later, taking his seat for the first time on the city commission. Then the newly-elected mayor, David Mason, announced the public comment portion of the evening, begging the assembled crowd for “decorum,” and announcing a new rule: a one-minute time limit.“Wow, one minute?” the first speaker, Ben Ezzell, a member of the Enid Social Justice Committee and a former city commissioner himself, said as he took to the lectern.
Outside, another local woman, 65-year-old Trudi Bandi, was walking back to her car. She said she didn’t like the name-calling and attacks against Blevins. Mostly, she said, she didn’t get what all the fuss was about. HuffPost asked her if a white supremacist should be on the city council. “What difference will that make towards the city council?” she said. “That’s what I don’t understand.
Blevins didn’t provide any evidence that this alleged crime was politically motivated, but told police he suspected three members of the EJSC. “I never imagined I would face domestic threats for upholding these beliefs,” he said.“All our group has done … is we are engaging in the democratic process that is afforded to us in the charter of Enid,” she told the Enid News and Eagle.
e told the Enid News and Eagle. “It is unfortunate that Enid is being held hostage by a group of people who harbor so much hate against those with different views that they cannot control themselves in our public meetings.”“The attacks against me are inspired by the same antifa radicals that rioted and burned cities across this country in 2020,” he added.
Solano, also a member of the Enid Social Justice Committee, still believes in the fundamental goodness of most people, including Blevins’ fellow city commissioners. She was just saddened, she said, that Blevins’ “presence on the board has taken a lot of away from what the city actually needs.” Over the last year Oklahoma’s Gov. Scott Stitt has signed one of the nation’s strictest anti-choice laws, banning abortions from the “moment of conception”; he’s advocated sending Oklahoma’s national guard to the U.S.
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