Situation Report: #WhiteHouseSiege Hedges Their Bets

Only two days remain until the start of the scheduled September 17^th “Siege of the White House” proposed by the same Left-wing group behind the 2011 Occupy Movement.

First mentioned in a website announcement on “Adbusters.org” the home of the Black Spot Collective, a Canada-based leftist organization which played a leading role in organizing the original Occupy Movement.

The announcement used sharply militant language. In its first “Tactical Briefing” on August 3rd the group proposed,

“We will lay siege to the White House. And we will sustain it for exactly fifty days. This is the #WhiteHouseSiege. A siege only works if it is sustained. We witnessed this — the multiplying power of a strategic occupation — nine years ago. You dig in, hold your ground, and the tension accumulates, amplifies, goes global.”

The second “tactical briefing” continued this trend on August 14th, referring to “phases” of the operation, with the end goal of removing President Trump from office:

Phase One runs from Occupy’s ninth anniversary, September 17th, to Election Day — a fifty-day siege on the White House. This is the #WhiteHouseSiege. And, if need be, we will be ready to reconvene at any time after that to ensure the peaceful transition of power.

These tactical briefings aimed at the White House appeared to coincide with the reported movement of antifa and allied anarcho-communist groups transitioning from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast. U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement detained the Seattle-based “Riot Kitchen” in Wisconsin while allegedly filling up gas tanks in preparation for riots which rocked the city of Kenosha. Other violent unrest has targeted East Coast cities, including Rochester, New York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, both locations of recent officer involved shootings.

Following events in Kenosha, media and Pro-Biden figure began expressing concern that the violent riots were hurting the Democrat’s electoral chances. CNN’s Don Lemon noted, “The rioting has to stop… It’s showing up in the polling. It’s showing up in focus groups. It is the only thing right now that is sticking.”

On September 3^rd The White House Siege group’s tone had changed dramatically.  While still identifying itself as “tactical briefing #3,” the group now emphasized a softer face, writing,

“#WhiteHouseSiege has an ominous ring to it. But it could turn out to be the most beautiful, festive, and effective uprising that America has seen since the Revolution.”

Now instead of siege language featuring images of smoke engulfed White House, the group is releasing posters calling for “50 days of non-violent improvisational jazz.”

A September 12^th post by the group claimed that the attention by the “Far-Right”, including a One America News broadcast focused on the #WhiteHouseSiege (which included this author) led to the decision to restate their attentions.

It’s worth noting that while every tactical briefing from the group has included the phrase “non-violence,” for the radical left rioting, looting and violent destruction of property are considered “non-violence”.

Law enforcement and security officials should not be fooled. Much in the same way that Antifa organizers shifted gears to emphasize a yellow-shirted “Wall of Moms,” when images of violent rioting began to create propaganda problems for the antifa rioters, this group is now changing its propaganda line in response to negative media. As Post-Millennial editor Andy Ngo noted, in fact the yellow-clad “moms” included some of the same violent rioters who had the night before been clothed in the black bloc uniform of Antifa.

This change in tone from the Black Spot Collective/Adbusters group should be understood as only a tactical shift meant to disarm rising opposition to their tactics and to better facilitate a mass turnout of protestors behind which the radical organizers can operate. It also illustrates that these radical groups are very responsive to growing public sentiment against the unrest, and reevaluating based on how negative sentiment may affect the Democratic candidate’s electoral prospects.