Since the pandemic, conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric have also gone viral in the state.
Measures taken to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus have been sparking protests since the pandemic began in 2020. Emmy Bersa Shutterstock.com
Outside the cities, blue-state California turns angry red. In its series “Extremism in California: A McClatchy Investigation,” the Sacramento Bee compiles a harrowing overview of extremist politics.
Jason Pohl, Ryan Sabalow, and Lydia Gerike of the Sacramento Bee look at the anger aimed at even solidly Republican elected officials. Everything from recall attempts to death threats face politicians who are trying to carry out the once-dull business of local governing, of getting the roads fixed and the schools financed. “From Modesto to Placerville, Sacramento to Oroville to Redding, the dangerous, conspiracy theory-driven spirit behind the deadly Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots has spread across California as far-right extremists and anti-government activists mobilize,” the article states.
Meanwhile, Mila Jasper of the Bee writes that the Southern Poverty Law Center—the nation’s premier anti-hate group lobby—has identified 72 different extremist groups operating in California. (The good news: a few groups have only a mild fear-factor, such as Chino’s Chick Publications, printers and distributors of Jack Chick’s preposterous ultra-fundamentalist comics.)
It’s not just male-dominated groups who are stirring the pot. Reporters Hannah Wiley, Lydia Gerike and Maria Luisa Figueroa describe women who share right-wing ideologies: anti-vaxxers, constitutionalists, and “the gun-toting ‘Mamalitia’ and the Central Valley Liberty Belles, a group of ‘strong, beautiful, and patriotic women who shows loyalty and pride to our sorority and country,’ according to a private Instagram account.”
Read more at SacBee.com:
“Angry, violent, toxic: How extremists are drowning out local California governments”
“72 hate groups operated in California last year. Here’s where and what they are”
“Equal opportunity extremism: How women seized the moment in California’s far-right radical politics”
