By Joe Mulhall, HOPE not hate Senior Researcher
In the summer of 2017 Patrik Hermansson came to London from Sweden and offered to volunteer for HOPE not hate, maybe doing some leafletting or perhaps as a photographer. Instead, he ended up infiltrating the far right in both the UK and the USA and the story of the next two years is both fascinating and terrifying in equal measure.
At the time the so-called alt-right was big news around the world but comparatively little was actually known about the inner workings of the movement. Patrik got inside and exposed the truth and, best of all, he filmed it.
Patrik got to the very heart of the UK far right as a trusted member of the infamous London Forum, even interviewing prospective new members.
He then secured the first-ever pictures of leading US alt-right figure Greg Johnson and traveled to America where he delivered a speech on anti-fascist infiltration to a meeting of far-right extremists. In New York, he even captured a leading alt-right figure admitting to having links with the Trump administration.
The first picture of US extremist Greg Johnson
His dramatic journey came to an end with the tragic events at Charlottesville.
The remarkable footage that he captured was made into a film by Bosse Lindquist, the well-known Swedish documentary maker for the Swedish public broadcaster SVT and aired around the world.
The film has already been seen by millions of people having been shown on TV stations in Sweden, Denmark, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Serbia, Belgium, France and Norway.
Now the film is available in the UK and the USA for download from Vimeo and will soon also be available for Amazon Prime users.
Alternatively, we’ve also added a download of the film for current and future CARD patrons. Join our Patreon page at any level and you’ll receive an exclusive code to view the movie. We’ll send out codes to all of our members next week.
Become a CARD Patron and See the Film.
At the end of Patrik’s year undercover we published the story with the New York Times which sent shockwaves throughout the international alt-right.
However, Patrik’s story was just one part of a wider ground-breaking report published by HOPE not hate called The International Alternative Right: From Charlottesville to the Whitehouse.
To coincide with the UK and USA release of the film we have reproduced a mini version of this report that, alongside the full story of Patrik’s year undercover, explains what the alt-right is, how it works and why it is dangerous.
There is also has a whole new section on what has happened to the alt-right since our exposé and since the tragic events at Charlottesville.
This mini-report is essential reading for understanding the continuing threat posed by this international far-right movement.
The alt-right is no longer the united force it was when Patrik first infiltrated the movement and the past year has seen a series of dramatic splits, some of which were the result of Patrik’s work. It has also faced a raft of deplatformings in the wake of Charlottesville which has limited its ability to reach people.
However, despite not being the cohesive movement it briefly was, it still poses a very real threat. Their websites still get terrifyingly large numbers of visitors, their videos huge views and their remaining social media platforms have plenty of followers. While London has become a harder place to do business for the far right due to Patrik’s work, the movement still holds meetings around the world with ideas, people and funding traveling across borders.
Patrik’s work was a hammer blow against the alt-right but the threat remains and the fight continues.
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