This past weekend, a far-right group hosted a large anti-mask rally in the city of Mossyrock, Washington, as a rouse to protect COVID-19 related restrictions.
The city, which comprises 820 people, is known for ignoring coronavirus public health orders to combat the spread of the deadly disease.
When Mayor Randall Sasser spoke with radio station KIRO, he explained that he believes that some of the restrictions were made to “get us accustomed to always following what they say” for “something bigger that they have planned to keep us under their thumb,” referencing the gun control and monetary policy.
The party responsible for the Saturday gathering was Patriot Prayer, a far-right group that previously held rallies for pro-gun and pro-Donald Trump, NBC News mentioned.
Their “primary focus is to instigate acts of violence with leftists, which they then use as a recruiting tool — and an excuse to hold another rally,” Cassie Miller, a senior research analyst at the Southern Law Center, said.
The group was founded in 2016 by Joey Gibson. Over the years, the organization has formed relationships with other extremist groups including, Proud Boys, a misogynist pro-Trump group.
The organization is known for counter-protesting “leftist rallies” in areas across the Pacific Northwest, particularly Portland. They also upload videos of violence to the internet with the intent of going viral.
“What Patriot Prayer really does is create propaganda and pose the idea that antifascists pose an existential threat to the nation, and they’ve been very successful at that. Their goal for years was to get the attention of right-wing media, and the president in particular,” Miller continued.
