Arizona Army National Guard Sergeant posted link to white supremacist site, "likes" burning mosques

 Sgt. Berry, on the right, uses a poster to harass a videographer (Ray Stern/Phoenix New Times)

Arizona Army National Guard Sgt. Van Berry, of the 856th Military Police Company, found himself in some hot water last month after he was captured on video menacing and assaulting a videographer at a pro-police rally in Scottsdale.  Berry, along with Ken Harris, a former cop and  member of the Blue Knights MC, harassed videographer Dennis Gilman in an incident captured by Phoenix New Times reporter Ray Stern.

The thuggish behavior of Van Berry, Ken Harris, and others occurred under the watch of the Scottsdale police chief, the mayor of Scottsdale, a Scottsdale city council member, and dozens of current and former police officers who were present.  This pro-cop rally, far from being an organic display of appreciation for the institution of policing, was instead a gathering of those on the extreme right. Anti-immigrant organizer Barb Heller was present, and organizer Nohl Rosen has counter-demonstrated against a May Day rally and considers himself a "second amendment advocate."

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Felipe Hemming, a writer at Photography Is Not A Crime, followed up on the New Times story with an article that identified Van Berry as a sergeant in the Arizona Army National Guard's military police unit.  Hemming was able to identify Sgt. Berry through Facebook after noticing that he was wearing his Arizona Air National Guard sweater which had his first initial and last name printed on the front.  Hemming was able to confirm with the Arizona Army National Guard that Sgt. Berry remains active in the 856th Military Police Company, he also reported that Berry's chain of command was aware of his actions at the protest and that Berry would be disciplined.

Berry had posted photos from the pro-cop rally on the event's Facebook page, in which he bragged that the counter protesters were "unarmed and very undangerous [sic]," he also took a shot at the Phoenix New Times, calling it the "Pravda Phoenix Times," Pravda being the news organ of the Russian Communist Party. Despite his position as a sergeant in a military policing unit, Berry was comfortable posting his extremist opinions for public view on his personal Facebook page. Browsing through his timeline there are frequent posts about the perceived threat from radical Islamists, undocumented immigrants, the "communist" Obama administration, and the "anti-white and anti-police thuggery" of the Ferguson demonstrators.

While Sgt. Berry is entitled to his opinions, there was one post on the page which stood out from the others. It was a link to thewhitevoice.com, a white supremacist website that claims to fight against the "large anti-White agenda going on in the United States and globally." The article Berry posted celebrates the burning of a mosque in Sweden, which the author describes as a "rape chamber," and declares that mosques have no place in "Western European Society."

We have posted a screen shot from Berry's page of the article, notable is the comment from Charlene Fossett, who commented "Burn them all!" The comment received one "like," it came from Sgt. Berry.

Berry also posted photos from Nevada, and claimed that he "couldn't find the Bundy Ranch."  These photos were posted in late April of last year, during the armed standoff between rancher Cliven Bundy and the small army of armed militiamen who came to challenge the federal government.  Sgt. Berry seems unconcerned with publicly endorsing acts of terrorism against Muslims and supporting armed confrontations with federal agencies.

In an article by David Sterman published in The Atlantic last year on the danger of right-wing extremists with military training, former Department of Homeland Security domestic terror analyst Daryl Johnson cited a "government survey of 17,080 soldiers found that 3.5 percent of them had been contacted in order to recruit them into an extremist organization and that 7.1 percent said they knew another soldier who they believed to be part of an extremist organization."  While there is no public knowledge of Berry's involvement in any far right-wing extremist organization, he is an active member of the US military with no qualms about posting content from far right-wing outlets on his public Facebook profile or participating in aggressive protest activity.

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The only terrorism being discussed in relation to the rally in Scottsdale had to do with some anti-police graffiti reading "Cops Kill so Kill Cops" that was found in a park the week before. Scottsdale mayor Jim Lane described the graffiti as a "terrorist act" in an interview with KTAR. Lane continued: "It was done in order to intimidate or bully the police department from doing their job. Somebody who makes those kinds of threats is completely outside the realm of the law."  Yet, Lane was comfortable standing alongside anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim extremists like Berry who shared a white supremacist article, or Barb Heller who would wear surgical masks at anti-immigrant protests mocking immigrant demonstrators with "No TB please" written across the front.

Heller has her anti-Muslim credentials as well, in a public post to her Facebook wall in 2013 she wrote "WE WILL DIP OUR BULLETS IN PIGS BLOOD & URINE!!" in response to a news article about a wall with "jihad" written across it in Florida. And Heller wasn't the only one on the far right with such anti-Muslim sentiment.  A group of "patriots" from Idaho were selling boxes of "Jihawg Ammo," with individual bullets dipped in pig blood in an effort to force Muslims shot with that ammunition to be Haraam, or unclean, upon entering the afterlife. 

And it was Scottsdale Police Chief Alan Rodbell, and his officers, who shook hands and thanked these supporters of the police. The pro-cop demonstrators who had intimidated, threatened, or assaulted anti-cop counter-protesters had the support of the establishment.  This overlap between police, military, and far right extremists must be of concern to anyone who believes that people should be able to freely organize and assemble to challenge the actions of the government without coercion from state sanctioned vigilantes.  

Gunning for that Number One Spot

In the four months since the Sandy Hook school massacre the debate around gun control has polarized a section of American opinion on the types of firearms available to the public for purchase, who should have access to them, and how difficult should it be to acquire one.  A paranoia persists amongst the American right wing that the Obama administration will be using the mass shootings as pretext to initiate a federal "gun grab."  Scenarios amongst the right have ranged from the President of the NRA alleging that the government will be going door to door to confiscate weapons, to a pair of US congressmen from Oklahoma who have charged the Obama administration are behind the months long ammunition shortage. The impact of the shortages on ammunition and firearm sales, when combined with an apocalyptic fear of the federal government carrying out a gun seizure (of majority white gun owners nonetheless), has resulted in handsome profits for the firearms industry.

While there has been no attempt at gun control in Arizona, proponents of firearms have responded to calls from right wing political organizations to mobilize at the state capitol for a series of rallies to denounce any potential "gun grab" by the federal government. Hundreds gathered at various rallies at  the Arizona state capitol to demonstrate against any proposed legislation to further regulate the sale of firearms, ammunition, and magazines by the federal government.  The rallies are a mixed crowd of gun enthusiasts, anti-immigrant biker gangs, border militia members, and political opportunists looking to capitalize from the far-right's latest bout of persecution complex.

The rallies at the state capitol were not in response to any specific gun control laws being passed in the Arizona state legislature since there is no chance any bills advance in the Republican majority, gun friendly legislature. Quite the opposite, in recent years the state legislature have passed a number of laws over the years which reinforce gun owners' rights, and facilitate the accessibility with which guns are available to purchase from dealers and private citizens.  It's not surprising that Arizona is considered the number one state to be a gun owner in the United States.

 The February 16th Second Amendment rally at the Arizona state capitol.

Arizona was recently ranked as the friendliest state for gun owners by Guns and Ammo Magazine based upon a criteria of a person's ability to open carry or carry a concealed weapon in public, the ability to purchase MSRs (Modern Sports Rifles) such as AR-15s and AK-47s without restriction, the lack of restrictions to obtain Class 3/NFA firearms beyond the federal law, the passing of Stand Your Ground laws regarding "self defense", and any other laws on the book which restrict gun or ammunition purchases.  In addition, Arizona is one of the top states for individuals who have applied for manufacturing licenses to begin producing or customizing firearms.

Arizona scored a near perfect score of 49 in the magazine's ranking, and this is in no small part due to Republican state legislators have sponsored a slew of pro-gun legislation in recent years.  While few of the more recent bills have made it to the governor's office for final approval in to law, there have been a handful of eye brow raising bills which made national news headlines. The most controversial bill is HB 2291 which would prohibit any federal law enforcement agent from enforcing federal gun laws in Arizona, making any such enforcement a Class 6 felony, and require local law enforcement to arrest the federal officer enforcing the law.  Given the supremacy clause of the US constitution it seems unlikely that legislators will approve the bill that is as likely a political stunt as it is a genuine attempt at secession.

Another which was passed last week prohibits city gun buy backs from destroying the weapons turned in, the new law will require cities to resell these firearms.  In Arizona it is the poor and working class who are compelled to disarm with offers of  "guns for groceries", however there is the Armed Citizens Project which seems keen to buck the perception of the white male gun owner by offering free shotguns in limited numbers to single women and homeowners in "high crime" neighborhoods in Tucson.

Most amusing are some of the hypotheticals of the state's slide into weaponization as a prescription for society's problems, for example could it be possible for working class and poor folks in the near future to turn in a firearm for a grocery credit, and, due to the "buy back" law, that same firearm could be back in their home courtesy of the Armed Citizens Project. It's a doubtful scenario, but the politic of the gun is a driving force in right wing ideology across the state and there may be unforeseen consequences to come from the push to the weaponization of Arizona.