Here’s a lesson for anyone planning to opine about white supremacists and neo-Nazis on Twitter: Make sure not to cross Harry Leslie Smith with any denials about fascism. The 94-year-old British political commentator and former Royal Air Force pilot, Smith served in World War II, and he had a pretty pointed observation about the far-right demonstrations and lethal attack on anti-racist counter-protesters that unfolded this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The reason why Nazis in #Charlottesville torch light parade went unaccosted by the police might be b/c America's President is a fascist.
— John Smith (son of Harry Leslie Smith) (@Harryslaststand) August 12, 2017
And when he was challenged on that point, by someone insisting the protesters were not genuine Nazis but merely “young white men asserting themselves,” Smith was unsparing in his response.
I guess I got confused when they gave the #Hitler salute and chanted "blood and soil" b/c it reminded me of who I fought in my youth. https://t.co/Z8NNfcbGAj
— John Smith (son of Harry Leslie Smith) (@Harryslaststand) August 12, 2017
Smith has been tweeting regularly and forcefully about the Charlottesville incident and what it says about racism and white supremacy in America. Specifically, he’s been calling out people who believe they know more than him about the nature of fascism.
I was born poor in 1923 to a working class family & went hungry in the 1930s but joined RAF in WW2; so I understand #Fascism more than you. https://t.co/wjWByjHtuL
— John Smith (son of Harry Leslie Smith) (@Harryslaststand) August 13, 2017
Suffice to say Smith has lived more of this sort of history than many modern political commentators have even been alive for, and he’s not shy about saying so.