Far-Right Extremists Are LARPing as Emergency Workers in Los Angeles

Extremists including white supremacists and border livestreamers have descended on Los Angeles in the midst of the wildfires there to gain followers, juice social media engagement, solicit donations and, experts claim, recruit new members, while in some cases LARPing as emergency workers. Sánchez, who was a member of the now-defunct white supremacist fight club known as the Rise Above Movement, is an ally of white supremacist Nick Fuentes and is sometimes known by his online moniker “Culture War Criminal.” Sánchez, who did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment, claims on his social media accounts that his group “got much more support than anticipated” and said that all of the donations were given to the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall, a building said to be sheltering veterans as well as charities involved with military and veterans affairs. These groups are essentially just traveling to disaster zones to create propaganda, solicit donations, and in some cases actually stealing donations from people on the ground.” On Monday, Sánchez said that while his group was no longer collecting goods for the relief effort, it was still interested in meeting potential new recruits. Thanks to your support, the Nationalist Network will be here for our fellow Americans,” Sánchez wrote on his Telegram and X accounts on Monday, before asking for further donations “if you would like to help keep our activists fed and in the fight.” As well as Sánchez and the Nationalist Network, multiple MAGA livestreamers traveled to LA in recent days to begin posting content from the aftermath of the fires while at the same time soliciting money from their followers.