“You had a group on one side who was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now,” The President had told a hostile press. “You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent.”

I remember watching the prime time news in that hotel room on the 12th with my fellow White activists when we heard our Commander in Chief not only tell the truth about what had happened on the ground, but then give a cold shoulder to a hostile corporate media as they called on him to say something to “White nationalists who say they support you.” The President gestured to the media and walked back to the podium. The reporters grew silent waiting with bated breath. “They’d like me to sign the bill here, instead of outside, so I think we’ll do that. Ok? Thank you.” Knowing how triggered this would leave our enemies in the press and those who attacked the permitted rally, our hotel room erupted with laughter.

We hadn’t seen the fighting. We arrived late and heard that the rally had been moved out of the park and pushed through a gauntlet of violent Antifa. The images playing out on every major news network was the first violence I had seen from rally.

The night prior, the University of Virginia had hosted a 700-strong torch-lit march through its campus, where the marchers ousted counter-demonstrators at the monument to Thomas Jefferson — the slave-owning and soon-to-be-expunged -from-the-American-pantheon founder of UVA. Several marchers were forced to defend themselves. One, appearing stoic and unwavering on the news footage, was taken into custody.

I returned home Sunday evening, August 13, satisfied that though we had not made our voices heard in Charlottesville, the President I had worked so hard to elect had made an honest statement to the press about the terrorist thugs that had attacked our people on the streets of that cesspool of anti-White hatred. As I skimmed the headline a Lancaster area website hosted the headline “Palmyra man arrested amid violence in Charlottesville released from jail.” Another goy from Pennsylvania? I wasn’t that surprised. I’d met a handful of fellow activists from Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Lancaster in town for the Virginia rally. We’d exchanged information and agreed to mutual vetting after the weekend festivities. The mugshot of this young man was priceless. Good looking, clean cut. It could have been his profile pic on Ok Cupid. A slight squint to the left eye and upturned corner of the mouth suggested a suppressed smile.

Ian Hoffmann had been charged with assault and battery after his arrest at the torchlight march. I didn’t think much of it at the time, other than to pass on the word to fellow activists in Lancaster County that they may want to reach out to him.

A month and a half later would find many of us meeting up in Ephrata, PA for what is deemed America’s largest street fair. A Whiter event could not have been found. We rode carnival rides. Checked out local delicacies — if you’ve never had an Elk Cheese steak you are missing out. Believe me. I’m from Philly. We know cheese steaks. For details of our experience feel free to download the inaugural podcast of Caerulus Rex’s “Taking the Stand” where Identity Evropa representatives recount the day’s events.

I met Caerulus and the rest of the Identity Evropa activists in a church parking lot that day — September 30th — and one man immediately caught my eye. “Hi! I’m Ian.” He said, offering his hand. “I know!” I replied. Slightly puzzled Ian cocked his head and asked “How do you know?” With a grin I told him I recognized him from his mugshot. He sighed. The video included above (edited by the talented Illegal Aryan) shows what we accomplished in downtown Lancaster city, with Ian Hoffmann — banner in hand — looking just as confident as he did in the news footage of the UVA march. That night over a glass of Bulleit Rye I asked him about his name. “My father was born in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. When he immigrated to America as a skilled laborer he decided to keep the traditional German spelling of the family name. Two N’s.” He sipped his glass and told me he was five days away from returning to Charlottesville to face the judge. After court he returned to the mountain town for what pro-White activists are now calling “Charlottesville 3.0” We sat down for a chat about his experiences and thoughts on public activism and the direction of the movement. . .

How long have you been with Identity Evropa?

I have been involved with Identity Evropa since early February of 2017.

What is your position in the organization?

Currently I am Identity Evropa’s Pennsylvania Coordinator. This entails coordinating all public actions with our activists as well as our various fraternal activities with our auxiliary members.

What were your intentions going down to Charlottesville?

Having been at Charlottesville 1.0 (as it is now called) in April 2017, I was quite eager to return again and demonstrate against the removal of the historic Lee Statue. I — like many in the Alt Right — see the removal and denigration of statues and history as part of the great erasure. An attack on the collective history of European-Americans, their identity and accomplishments. In classic cultural Marxist fashion the hard left are attacking the most controversial symbols of our history beginning with Confederacy. The Confederates are certainly the easiest targets at the present time. I have no doubt that every founding or influential European-American figure —from Lincoln to Washington, Columbus to Vespucci will be targeted for denigration, slander and removal. Even milquetoast but prominent authors such as Hemingway and Dr. Seuss(!) are on the historical chopping block for holding views on gender, race and religion that are out of vogue from the modern religion of the hard left. This is political correctness, egalitarianism and equality-at-all-costs.

It has been made abundantly clear that the hard left will not stop at the Confederacy. If we give these people an inch, they will surely take a mile. This is why it is important to take a stand, to raise awareness of these issues and the impetus behind them — while we still have a fighting chance, demographically.

You were arrested the night of the torch march through University of Virginia Campus. Video of you shows a young man, stoic and unafraid. Please describe your experiences from the moment the local police took you into custody.

I was arrested while defending myself and another demonstrator from an assailant. The police apparently were willing to ignore the plethora of other crimes happening on all sides and chose to apprehend me.

Initially, I was grabbed from behind by a man without a word (later this was revealed to me to be my arresting officer) whereupon I broke free and dashed out of the riotous area, only to find the police ordering me to stop, it was at this point I surrendered and made myself very cooperative to all legal orders. When asked “why did you hit him” (in reference to the individual assaulting myself and another demonstrator) I replied that “I was protecting my friend.” It was after this point that I decided to completely button my mouth. I was then handcuffed, read my Miranda rights and marched to a police SUV a few blocks away. Then we headed to the magistrate at Albemarle County Prison and proceeded to booking.

How were your exchanges with the police?

After the initial chaos was over, the arresting officer was quite amiable. We made small talk on the drive to the station about his time in the military and the features (or lack thereof) of our identical Fitbit watches. It seemed clear to me that he was a man doing only what he was ordered to do. Without putting him at any professional risk. . . . I got a sense that there was possibly a bit of regret behind his actions. It’s difficult to wager a guess on what his actual orders were that evening, but the fact that he chose to arrest me, ignoring the other assaults and attacks, predominantly initiated by leftist agitators lends some credence to a healthy amount of doubt that the officers of the City of Charlottesville were ordered to enforce the law equally. I would still maintain that the arresting officer — who I will leave unnamed — is a good man who found himself in an uncomfortable position.

Let’s talk about your mugshot. It looks like it could be your profile pic on tinder. You don’t seem scared. I detect a hint of smirk. Any comment?

Haha! I appreciate that. Personally I much preferred the first photo that I took. The booking officer actually demanded that I take a second photo “without smiling this time,” which is the one that you’ve seen. I definitely wouldn’t say that I was scared. Nervous though. Since I knew there would be video backing up my claim that I was defending both myself and another individual, it helped me stay calm.

What charges were you facing?

I was charged with Assault and Battery Va, Code 18.2-57 which is a Class 1 Misdemeanor

What possible fines or jail time were you facing?

Assault and Battery carries a maximum of 12 months in Jail and a $2500 fine. There is no minimum sentence.

Were there other legal penalties you could have suffered that may affect your work or private life?

A Class 1 Misdemeanor would have revoked my Concealed Carry Permit in the state of Pennsylvania.

How was jail?

Immensely boring! I was kept in isolation — which is essentially a 9′ x 7′ room with a Plexiglas front and a toilet. All that I had to keep myself occupied was a pencil, a couple sheets of paper and my own thoughts. The meals were more or less satisfactory, I spent much of my time writing letters and some personal thoughts as well as doing what few body weight exercises that the space permitted.

What is your advice to any other activists that might find themselves in that predicament?

Simply put: stay calm and don’t say something that might incriminate yourself in a court of law. Use your time in confinement to gather your thoughts and begin writing a plan to restore order to your life once you are released.

It may be wise as well to memorize — or write with permanent marker on your lower leg —the phone numbers of reliable people in your group or network before you begin your day’s events. I was fortunate enough to be allowed the opportunity to write down a few numbers from my cell phone with a correctional officer observing over my shoulder. I’m well aware that not everyone gets this opportunity.

So Ian, you spent the weekend in Abermarle jail and left on Monday after major protests were finished and the media frenzy began. Being a Pennsylvania boy myself, I noticed that another activist from the area had been arrested. You were doxxed. Did you lose your job?

Yes. My arrest was feverishly covered by local papers and online publications. A number of local news organizations tried to bother my parents — stopping by their homes unannounced multiple times. This was devastating to my mother who, simply put, is a kind and uncomplicated woman. She’s an absolute egalitarian in the nouveau-Christian sense. She doesn’t understand my worldview. Fortunately my father – who is a bit more fiery and outspoken — was out of the country at the time.

Clearly there was a push and desire to create a narrative from the corporate media. Assault and Battery’s happen on a near daily basis in the Central PA region. A truly uninteresting story if it were not for the political slant they could insert. Once the local media found that there was no narrative push, they pretty much gave up.

But couple of PA hard left and Antifa websites put up some information about me. I lost my job. They told me that regardless of the outcome of my case, my participation in the events of the Unite the Right Rally went against that particular institution’s values of going “all in” on diversity and inclusion. Pennsylvania is a “right to work” state, so I did not find this particularly surprising.

Were you able to find employment?

Yes, fortunately I was able to find work for a corporation working parallel to the interests of the Alt Right. I have both the opportunity to earn a higher salary than before, plus the added benefit of extremely flexible hours. Now I am essentially ‘un-fireable’ so long as I perform my expected duties to their satisfaction. It would seem that Antifa have done me a huge favor.

What are your suggestions for activists who have also been doxxed?

I would point people towards two immensely helpful articles on Attorney Kyle Bristow’s organization: Foundation for the Marketplace of Ideas: “How the Alt Right Activist can avoid being doxxed,” and “ What Alt Right Activists can do when doxxed by the politically correct left . ”

Here’s the basics: Set all social media to private if it is not already. Document any and every threat, or correspondence with hostile actors, media or otherwise. If you still have your job, do not quit. DO NOT engage or respond online to any threats, articles or inquires. DO NOT apologize for your views or back down in any way.

We’ve learned that groveling before the “Cathedral” reinforces to the hard left that doxxing and the pressure of social shaming is an effective tactic. It will not make things any easier for yourself. The hard line left will never “forgive” you and may find yourself losing allies you might have had. Strive to weather the storm. Trust me. It DOES get easier.

Were there suggestions from your legal counsel?

I was asked to keep a low profile until my court date, which I did. . . more or less. For this reason I was asked not to publicly raise funds until the conclusion of my court date.

On Thursday, October 5th you returned to Charlottesville for court. How did that go?

It could have not gone better. The case was dismissed with prejudice. The entirety of the lead up to my trial, my lawyer — the same lawyer that Christopher Cantwell has retained — was extremely confident. He was never interested in a plea and was very keen to — in his own words — “beat these Bolsheviks down in the court room,” which it seems, he did.

It turned out that not only did the officers claim to not have seen the incidents leading up to me defending the other individual and myself, but their testimony was not consistent with the video evidence we had on file. This gave my case a large amount of plausible deniability with the result that the judge decided to dismiss the case with prejudice. The District Attorney was very disingenuous. He seemed especially keen on a conviction. To have a total victory merely standing before the judge … made the sour look on the DA’s face all that sweeter.

Were you worried about your own safety coming back to town?

No, not especially. I never allowed myself to become a high-profile individual in the lead up to my trial. In addition, mainstream publications on both the political left and right have declared me a party on the other side. To the left wing publications I was declared your usual racist, KKK, neo-fascist blah, blah blah, while at the same time I was considered a probable antifa agitator by one prominent right-wing publication. There was just enough discreetness and confusion surrounding my case to make it thoroughly uninteresting to local agitators.

Well Ian, I see that none of this slowed you down. You can be seen prominently holding an Identity Evropa banner with your fellow activists in front a monument in downtown Lancaster the weekend before your hearing. What is the importance of Identity Evropa’s activism in Lancaster?

Lancaster City is small metropolis of historically predominantly White-European culture and demography. There are a number of government initiatives and NGO’s operating within the city to bring in as many foreign invaders — in their own words “as humanly possible.” Lancaster city has taken in 20 times more so-called refugees than your average American city, per capita. This influx will fundamentally change the cultural, social, and indeed racial fabric of a small, beautiful historic American city. The immigrants that created Lancaster city are those who formerly succeeded in creating and maintaining successful nations and societies. The so-called refugees that are being brought into Lancaster city are those who have utterly failed to create or maintain successful societies and in many cases failed to keep any pretense of modern civilization. If Lancaster City wishes to remain uniquely Lancaster City, with all of its cute little boutique shops, its good schools, its high trust neighborhoods, its open community events, it will need to change its current course. Our banner read “Import the Third World–Become the Third World” A simple, yet impactful message understood by all.

What has been the reaction, so far of the people of Lancaster to your efforts there?

As you might expect, reactions are polarizing. People either love it or hate it. The situation in the American zeitgeist is definite fracturing, and there is clear evidence that the center cannot hold. We received a good amount of local press, much of it emanating from a hard left blog, very aptly named something to the effect of “Chicken Coop Press” that purposely mis-transcribed the speeches delivered. Nevertheless the response has been predominantly positive. A large number of people have reached out to us through email and behind the scenes, applying to our organization, offering us support and thanks. The demonstration generated a significant buzz on our Twitter page, the internet being of course, our main audience. A few small families on the ground also had some kind words to say about us and demonstration as we concluded.

48 hours after leaving the courtroom a free man you returned to Charlottesville with Richard Spencer, Mike Enoch, Eli Mosley and a large contingent of identitarians in what is now being called Charlottesville 3.0 Speeches were made — unimpeded this time — at yet another torchlight rally. This one seems to have gone relatively smoothly. What was the reaction to your triumphant return?

Right. Well, we in the Alt Right are rather spoiled by the media, aren’t we? A small, peaceful ten-minute demonstration garnered international news. We became the top trending story in Twitter, were the subject of pieces in WaPo, the NYT, the BBC and nearly every other publication. The left-wing contingent of the town lost their collective minds. There was a woman in the park having a mental breakdown — positively shrieking at the top of her lungs. Wes Bellamy, the pro-rape anti-White Vice-Mayor of Charlottesville implored the Attorney General to press charges, citing an obscure and extremely specific piece of legislation. However, unfortunately for Mr. Bellamy, it is not yet illegal to demonstrate-while-White in the town of Charlottesville just yet.

The fact remains, we broadcast our message safely and effectively. The speeches delivered were heard in millions of Americans living rooms and through their smartphones. Without the presence of left-wing agitators our demonstration was successful and 100% peaceful.

Can we expect more of these flash demonstrations?

Certainly. Flash demonstrations are proven to be extremely effective. They allow us to safely and boldly deliver our message in a public square without giving radical left-wing anti-Whites a chance to mobilize violence against us. It is a model that has proven extremely effective among European Identitarians and one that we seek to continue to emulate stateside.

What message would you like to give young folks reading this interview about Identitarian activism?

As far as activist involvement in the Alt Right is concerned, we require two sorts of people: The first are those who are willing to work pseudo-anonymously — infiltrating and subverting existing (possibly sympathetic/possibly hostile) institutions. This is essentially what the left did from the 1940’s to 1970’s in what was called “the long march through the institutions.” This is the reason Marxism, egalitarianism, and general leftism have been “baked into the cake” at a foundational level. This is the reason that every American institution from the furthest left-wing sociology department at Berkeley to the recruitment office at the CIA all hold, at their core, fundamentally the same values. We wish to replicate their success and stranglehold on America’s cultural zeitgeist and are currently fairly well positioned to do so.

The second sort of person is one who is willing to be a public activist. They ought to be a young(ish) articulate sort possessing an understanding and, remaining an unapologetic advocate of an Identitarian worldview under fire. An Alt Right activist is a risk taker, and at times an attention seeker (the Shia Labeouf He-Will-Not-Divide-Us photo-bomb is a perfect example of this positive attention seeking). Identitarian activists must be brave, truthful and understand their risks fully. The threat of doxxing is a threat on your social capital, your ability to earn income and your family life. In complete honesty the actual risk of being doxxed is fairly slim. Many of Identity Evropa’s most public faces have not been doxed. Not having a photograph of yourself attached to your true identity — as well as deleting Facebook — goes a long way. Were I not arrested and subsequently had my name published, I doubt I would ever have been doxxed

I would encourage both of these sorts of people to fully integrate themselves into their local Alt Right community, whether through an organization such as Identity Evropa, TRS’s 504um or elsewhere. Having a large Alt Right social network of friends and associates is a personal and emotional safety net. I would not have bounced back on my feet as easily as I did were it not for my interpersonal connections with other Alt Righters.

Finally, I would encourage every young activist of both varieties to read at the bare minimum: Why We Fight by Guillaume Faye and Generation Identity by Markus Willinger. Both of these books will flesh out and broaden your understanding of our worldview and arm you with the necessary vocabulary and context to articulate our ideas persuasively and accurately.

If you do not fit either of these two categories, I would still urge you to get yourself vetted into your local Alt Right network — if only for the camaraderie. Some of the finest and most intelligent people that I have had the pleasure of meeting are in my own social network. It is also quite a relief to find and meet exceptionally normal people who share the same political understanding and worldview as yourself.

What message would you like to convey to self-declared enemies of the identifiable movement?

Identitarians and the Alt Right are not your typical fuddy-duddy impotent “constitutional conservative” foe. We talk about issues at their root. For the first time in perhaps fifty years, you have groups of young men and women talking about these issues that matter on a broad civilizational level. We do not shy away from controversy. We do not cower in fear at buzzword accusations of “racism, antisemitism, homophobia or xenophobia.” Anything is possible with proper execution and political willpower, and we certainly are a goal-oriented group.

We know that our position is one that is socially and morally defensible and no threat of vandalism, bad press or even violence will sway us from it. We have reached the point that even doxxing people has little to no detrimental effect. Doxxing Mike Enoch and Eli Mosley turned them from essentially 9–5 office workers into full time Alt Right activists and some of your worst enemies. I would put myself in that camp as well.

Oh, and hey…thanks for the promotion fellas!