Alt-right provocateur James Allsup makes WSU appearance, advocates for Identity Evropa
James Allsup, the controversial former president of the Washington State University College Republicans, again sparked protests on the Pullman campus this week when he appeared at a College Republican event as a member of the white supremacist group Identity Evropa.
The self-stated goal of Identity Evropa “is to create a better world for people of European heritage – particularly in America,” according to the group’s website.
In recent weeks, the group’s Twitter account has posted photos of its recruiting materials on the campuses of Eastern Washington University, Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane Community College and WSU.
Allsup stepped down from his role with the College Republicans last fall after attending the white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is also a well-known alt-right internet personality, with more than 230,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, where he posts white-nationalist leaning and anti-feminism videos.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has characterized Identity Evropa as “the forefront of the racist ‘alt-right’s’ effort to recruit white, college-aged men and transform them into the fashionable new face of white nationalism.”
Reached by phone this week, a spokesman for Identity Evropa, Sam Harrington, disagreed, saying the SPLC is using shame and political correctness to silence European Americans.
Harrington wouldn’t comment on the number of chapters or members of Identity Evropa in the area, but said it was safe to assume there were members at all the state university campuses.
Current WSU College Republican President Amir Rezamand said Allsup cannot participate in club events beyond showing up as a member of the public, because he is no longer a WSU student. He said Allsup was not a planned part of the club’s demonstration, which focused on caravans at the U.S.-Mexico border, and was not specifically invited.
Rezamand added that as someone of non-European descent, he could not support Identity Evropa’s goals and that the WSU College Republicans were not affiliated with the group.
Over Facebook Messenger, Allsup said he doesn’t have a formal relationship with the College Republicans, but he and the Republican party have overlapping interests, protecting America’s “founding stock.”
In videos on Identity Evropa’s YouTube channel, Allsup appears with the group’s president, Patrick Casey, and as a solo speaker, describing his strategy of infiltrating local Republican groups by behaving in a way that is defensible and palatable to average Republicans. He offers strategies to normalize the group’s views and recruit friends and family.
Whitman County Republican State Committeeman Art Swannack said the local Republican chapter had not had contact with Allsup since he resigned as president. He said he hadn’t heard of Identity Evropa, but he couldn’t support the causes Allsup was advocating for.
“I don’t know where his philosophy and political direction is headed,” Swannack said. “But I don’t believe … (it’s) where the Republican Party would fall. Our party is not about white supremacy or racism.”