Time to unmask the white supremacists among us. Who are the racists trolling SLO County? | Opinion

Somewhere nearby, it seems, we have a handful of wannabe Nazis skulking around living double lives.

We don’t know who they are or where they’re from, but they’ve certainly taken a liking to San Luis Obispo County.

If you passed them at a farmers market or brew pub, you’d likely pay them no notice, because they look no different than anyone else.

At least, no different when their faces are exposed, because they are closet fascists.

It’s when they play dress-up on the weekend that they ironically reveal their true selves. That’s when we see who they really are, in what has become matching white masks and black outfits.

Since April, they’ve periodically popped up to unfurl racist banners along high-profile streets across the county.

First it was the Vineyard Drive overpass in Templeton, after which they were spotted having a post-banner drop picnic.

Then it was a street corner near a gas station in Paso Robles. Then the Los Osos Valley Road overpass in San Luis Obispo.

A couple weekends ago, they appeared in front of a fire station in SLO, of all places.

At each spot, it’s three or four men who show up with a sheet they’d be better off wearing as a robe and hood.

Instead, it’s a banner decorated with some white supremacist language and symbols that are only slightly less overt than a swastika. They also can be seen regularly flashing Nazi “sieg heil” salutes, if anyone had any remote question about where their alliance lies.

Recently, they’ve also taken to littering local neighborhoods with their recruitment fliers, which end with the exhortation to “Live with pride! Die with honor!”

Their presence has become noticeable enough that SLO Mayor Erica Stewart called out the men’s “racist behavior and hate.”

“In San Luis Obispo, we believe in the power of unity, acceptance, and love. Our vision is a city that is welcoming, inclusive, and safe for all,” Stewart wrote in an Instagram post accompanied by a video. “We stand firmly against racism, bigotry, and discrimination of any kind.”

Since they first arrived here a few months ago, we’ve tried to engage with the anonymous members on social media, asking for interviews where they can defend their beliefs under questioning.

Twice, they have initially sounded open to a conversation, that is, until we press for a meeting in person or at least on video, at which point they quickly scurry back under their rocks like cockroaches, hurling anti-semitic slurs along the way.

Why? Because at their heart, these men are cowards.

They spout some of the most loathsome views you’ll ever hear, but like their Ku Klux Klan forebears, they will not stand up face to face to defend them.

Regular citizens have confronted them on the street, challenging them to drop their masks.

They refuse.

Media have invited them to interviews, urging them to explain their views.

They gaslight.

They spew bile on social media, as neo-Nazi gym rats in a collective called the NorCal Active Club on the former Twitter and now as the California Blackshirts on Telegram, a nod to Mussolini’s fascist followers from World War II.

All anonymous.

They claim it’s because they’ve received death threats.

But the truth is, as tough as they sound, they’re just afraid little boys who long to restore a white-dominated, Eurocentric world (as though that doesn’t still exist), who live in a fantasy of made-up oppression, who envision themselves as the marginalized group battling for recognition they already possess and respect they don’t nearly deserve.

It’s all an elaborate farce, as indefensible as it is outrageous.

If they believe what they say, if they truly want to “live with pride,” we challenge them to show up and man up, not hide behind anonymity.

Since we now know they don’t even have the guts to do that, we’ll instead call on our community to out these racist trolls.

Someone knows who they are. Someone knows where they work. Someone knows where they shop and eat.

If you are one of those someones, we want to hear from you, and you can help us hold them accountable for un-American hate masquerading as free speech.

Because our community will not be a haven for beliefs like this.

Racists, you have no home here.

Anyone who has information about the California Blackshirts or sees one of their banner drops can send tips or photos to reporter Chloe Jones at cjones@thetribunenews.com.

This story was originally published August 3, 2023 at 5:00 AM.