In the ruins of Greece’s economy, a far-right anti-immigration party calling itself Golden Dawn rose to prominence, earning enough votes to take 18 seats in the Greek parliament.
Last year this group, which has a U.S. headquarters in Astoria, Queens, launched an American website, which was beaten to the ground and driven offline in September, allegedly by Anonymous.
In December, the neo-Nazi group’s American website was relaunched with little fanfare.
The famously violent hate group blames Greece’s woes not on taking money from the European Union opportunistically, nor on joining the EU under false pretenses, nor even on an overemphasis on austerity measures to retain that membership. No, Golden Dawn blames Greece’s problems on foreigners, whom their members attack on the street with some regularity.
Golden Dawn’s North American site was launched to support its efforts in America, where it claims to be “extremely busy organizing and opening chapters all over the United States.” The site serves to “encounter (sic) the unjust propaganda and the misinformation that has been expanding (sic) by anti-Greeks or misinformed people.”
Monday the group sent out an email linked to the latest post on the site, responding to accusations they had planned to attack Alexis Tsipras, leader of the leftist Greek political party Syriza. Tsipras came to New York to publicly criticize Golden Dawn at an event at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center.
Although Mr. Tsipras was apparently not attacked, the group has physically attacked other rival politicians, including beating a female member of Parliament in the face during a television appearance.
“Mr. Tsipras came in the states to gain support from the bankers, some intellectual snobs, and some dirty ‘leftists,’” the group wrote.
Buzzfeed notes that Golden Dawn has also started a podcast, and no less an authority than the American white supremacist platform Stormfront has lent this latest effort of its Greek cousins its much sought-after imprimatur.
Anonymous has not made mention of its intentions vis-a-vis the Greek neo-Nazi group, although a Pastebin document circulated earlier this month gives the names and addresses of the group’s North American leaders.
Image via Golden Dawn North America