During Tuesday night’s Save Your Vote Special Broadcast Event, attorney Gerald Griggs, who serves as the President of the NAACP of Georgia, called for action to counter the increasing threats to voters of color from white supremacist groups.
It’s a threat that the Palast Investigations team knows is very real. Photo journalist Zach D. Roberts, who co-produced our film Vigilantes Inc. which features his footage of white supremacist groups, has reported extensively on the rise of far right armed militias, and has risked his life, sustained injuries, and even had a gun pulled on him while filming for us.
When asked by host Nomiki Konst during the Save Your Vote Broadcast about this rising threat, Griggs noted, “The director of the FBI, who’s from Atlanta, Christopher Wray, said the biggest threat to the homeland is homegrown white nationalists.”
However, though the FBI has acknowledge the threat, Griggs feels that the agency has been slow to take action. “I don’t know if they’ve been forceful enough in pushing back,” says Griggs. “You hear about these armed individuals that are going to be at the ballot boxes and at the election doors, that needs to be stopped.”
“We know that there’s a rise of white nationalism in this country,” Griggs continued.” We need law enforcement, and those that are charged with upholding a law, to be more forceful in their pushing back.”
In our film, Vigilantes Inc.: America’s New Vote Suppression Hitmen, clips from which were featured in the Save Your Vote broadcast, we exposed the far right’s coordinated campaign of intimidation, which includes plans for an armed presence at polling stations and dropbox locations by members of far right militias, including the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters.
“We have a place for individuals like that,” notes Griggs. “It’s called federal detention. It’s called the Department of Corrections. In Georgia, if anybody tries to intimidate somebody, or hurt somebody else, they can expect to be spending a large amount of time in the Department of Corrections. We need to actually be about law and order. Less talk, more action.”
Because of this lack of visible action to counter the coordinated campaign of voter intimidation by white supremacist groups, voters of color, particularly in Southern states, are facing threats of violence just for exercising their right to vote. So, do voters of color trust law enforcement to intervene, asked Konst, in such situations?
“I think they trust trusted messengers to push back, as NAACP has been doing for 115 years,” said Griggs. “Our hope is that many of our partners in law enforcement who truly believe in the rule of law will step forward.
“This is not a time for fear. This is not a time for shrinking back and being shrinking violets. It’s a time to make sure that the will of the people is heard, that the rule of law prevails and that our democracy is truly democratic, by allowing everyone that’s legally able to vote access to the ballot. And not restricting that through these draconian voter suppression laws, which are in fact Jim Crow 2.0.”
If you missed the Save Your Vote broadcast, which featured an all star cast and was aired on Free Speech TV, you can view it on demand on Act.tv’s YouTube channel.
The two hour TV special was hosted by political analyst Nomiki Konst (The Young Turks). Vigilantes Inc. filmmaker Greg Palast was joined by special guests Thom Hartmann (Host, The Thom Hartmann Program), Gerald Griggs (President, Georgia NAACP), LaTosha Brown (Co-Founder, Black Voters Matter), Mondale Robinson (Mayor, Enfield, NC & Founder, Black Male Voter Project), Max Carver (Actor, The Leftovers), and Jay Ponti (Author, Be The Revolution & Director, Voter Justice). In addition, Rosario Dawson (Actress, Ahsoka and Co-Founder, Voto Latino), Dash Mihok (Actor, Ray Donovan), and Martin Sheen (Executive Producer, Vigilantes Inc. & Actor, The West Wing) all shared messages encouraging viewers to watch Vigilantes Inc. before Election Day.
We’ve just made our award-winning documentary, Vigilantes Inc., available on YouTube so as many people as possible can see it BEFORE Election Day. And though it’s FREE, we very much hope you’ll support our work by making a donation.
Help us warn America about the vigilante vote challenges. We are raising funds for free community showings of our documentary and an education campaign in battleground states — the prime targets of the vigilantes.
Watch it, then share it — help us warn America!
Writer, editor, photographer, videographer, social media consultant, and tactivist (tactical activist), Nicole Powers uses art and technology to share ideas that make the world a better place.