the brooklyn boys insurrection

Maddow: That proverbial fire that Father Coughlin had set in the city of Boston, through Francis Moran, it was spreading uncontrolled all across the city. Coughlin loved Mussolinis embrace of Fascism. That tyrannical language is not just, kind of, metaphor. Our executive producers are Liel Leibovitz and Stephanie Butnick. The leader of the Mobilizers, Joe McWilliams, spoke next. Dr. Gary Zola is the director of the American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College. A lot of Americans saw it as a referendum on Coughlin. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. No informed person denies that the day for tolerance towards the Communist front has passed. Yet another media innovation, thanks to Father Coughlin. After a trial . So the FBI put them on trial and it became a media frenzy. In this case he was told there was nothing. The Capitol insurrection was based on a lie about the 2020 election. Those young men in the photo, accused of trying to violently overthrow the U.S. government, they were all holding these big rifles in that front page newspaper photo. To the honorable Benito Mussolini, may it please your excellency. Gallagher: Francis Moran is a Boston, Irish Catholic. Radio Announcer: The Little Flower choristers with Mr. Cyril Guthrill at the organ before me will sing for you the advent hymn, Come O Come Emmanuel. Immediately following, Father Coughlin will come to the microphone. Charles Gallagher: I think we need to talk about the speech from November of 1938 that puts Coughlin on the map as a full blown anti-Semite. Charles Coughlin: While I do not belong to any unit of the Christian Front, nevertheless, I do not disassociate myself from that movement. Charles Coughlin: But as long as misguided Jews and gentiles both and in such great numbers continue to propagate the doctrines of anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-patriotism and anti-property so long there will always exist some defensive mechanism against Communism. Blinded by conceit, bewildered by events beyond the scope of little minds, he still sings his hymns of hate and spreads confusion and distrust. Social Justice magazine has a million readers and will be happy not only to publicize your article, but to support it editorially. He told Christian Front rallies that President Roosevelt was a secret Jew he called him Mr. He said the whole prosecution was all ginned up just to try and make him look bad. J. Edgar Hoover charges that they had plotted widespread terroristic activities, bombings, and antisemitic outbursts. While he was going to college at the time, he was also a working police officer. Maddow: Real violence. The majority of those arrested were either actively serving in the New York National Guard or theyd served in other branches of the military. I mean, it sounded weird, but it seemed like maybe a serious threat to the country. Radio Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, once more it is my privilege to present to you Father Charles E. Coughlin from the Shrine of the Little Flower at Royal Oak, Michigan. in association with The WNET Groups reporting initiative. They were getting put on trial in federal court. Never heard of 'em. A man named Edwin Westphal, one of the leaders of the Christian mobilizers, took the stage to denounce international Jewry and Jewish bankers. Additional support is provided by the Tiger Baron Foundation, Nancy and Morris W. Offit and Josh Weston. On December 5th, 1938, Social Justice printed a piece titled Background of Persecution, a point-by-point litany of the horrors inflicted on the European people by Jewish Communists and Socialists. So, I copied it down. But though the modern scribes and Pharisees call you Fascists, but though they accuse you of scoring up a multitude, but though that they maintain that you consort with sinners, be they Nazi or antisemitic or whatnot. Maddow: They found the file. Only certain leaders who have no other way of crowding their temples on the sabbath tried to twist bona fide criticism of the actions of some Jewish leaders into a libel on the Jewish race or into an act of antisemitism. His lead in announcer set the stage: Radio announcement: He is encouraging the growth of the Christian Front. He asked Coughlin to rethink his choice of words, especially when it came to accusing Jewish bankers of starting the Depression. Charles Coughlin: This is the Fischer Building, Detroit, from whose tower, the home of radio station WJR, have emanated many of the broadcasts of the Rev. It even had its own office in Copley Square. But the protocols were, by this point, decades old. After the Christian Fronter defendants all walked, the federal government, in the wake of that trial, they were facing this brand new reality: The threat of actual violence from ultra-right groups, some getting support from the Hitler government abroad, the rise of an anti-democratic, violent movement on the right, here, that was well-organized, well-supported, well-armed. Malachim. The question of the Jew and of the Christian and of persecution. Wise patiently unpacked Coughlins declarations that most of Americas outstanding debt was owed to Jewish international bankers. Real attacks. The play premiered in 2004 at South Coast Repertory and then on Broadway in 2005. Maddow: The local environment of enthusiastic support for the defendants, that was not the only challenge to prosecutors in trying to convince the jury that these defendants were bad guys. His father, a wallpaper salesman, played show tunes on the family hi-fi and, despite a limited income, often took his children to . Maddow: A group of armed, American men led by a Catholic Priest with a plot to overthrow the government of the United States, forgotten about and filed away in a stack of old newspapers. He was concerned by the loyalty of the audience towards Father Coughlin, as well as what he described as their emotional intensity toward him. Andrew Lapin: Then he compared them to Jesus. A new letter goes out back to Detroit. Now these two have plenty to say about whatever dumb stuff . By the time the government the Justice Department had started asking those crucial questions, it was too late. Charles Coughlin: And now, my friends, the title of this address is I take my stand.. Was this a victory for Father Coughlin? And particularly, thanks to those young men on the cover of that newspaper holding .30-06 rifles. During his speech, Westphal declared it was the mission of the mobilizers to go out and sell copies of Social Justice for Father Coughlin, to spread the word of what they intended to do with America. Just like his idol, Henry Ford, Coughlin employed his newspaper to disseminate the notorious anti-Semitic hoax. Andrew Lapin: Instead, Coughlin egged them on. It is inflammatory! Meanwhile, as a response to heavy criticism in the mainstream press, Coughlin rebroadcast that Kristallnacht episode supposedly as a means of clearing his name. Edward Lodge Curran: In your heart, you know that Father Coughlin is consumed with fighting Communism, with denouncing Jewish as well as non-Jewish Communists, something which neither you nor whose proud name you bear have ever had the courage to do. Finally, wrote one person who attended the meeting, McWilliams promised that attacks launched against Christian free speech were to be tolerated no longer. Maddow: Father Coughlins Christian Front militia was a nationwide operation. One Nazi headline read America is not allowed to hear the truth. Certain segments of Coughlins audience were ready for his version of the truth. Charles Gallagher: The headquarters of the Christian Front in Boston was being bought and paid for by a Nazi SS officer who had been sent to Boston in 1938 to turn the screws on a former chancellor of Germany who was living in Boston at the time, Heinrich Brning and it was decided by Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler that Brning needed to have the clamps screwed down on him, so they sent a heavyweight SS officer to Boston. And they did train for and plan for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government, the installation of the kind of fascist dictatorship that Father Coughlin so admired overseas. Did you know that the first military or the first religiously motivated terrorist attack in the United States was put forward by Christians who armed themselves in 1940 to overthrow the government of the United States and created bombs and trying to, try to, foment a, a revolution, in the United States? I was a little agitated. It was one of the most lethal weapons on the battlefield. Those explosives and that ammo went missing because the commander of a New York National Guard machine gun company took the stuff and gave it to the Christian Front. It had started coming into focus for the FBI and the Justice Department over the whole course of the year 1940, in the months leading up to Senator Lundeens death. Charles Coughlin: All week long, the daily papers and newsreels, particularly those of the East, have been headlining and screening a fantastic story of an alleged seditious plot to overthrow the government of the United States. Federal law enforcement officials have uncovered contact between the Trump White House and a member of the far-right extremist organization, the Proud Boys, just days before the January 6 attack . Andrew Lapin: Coughlins hate was no longer confined to the airwaves. Coughlin: Show me a man whose policies completely ostracize God from our public institutions and I will show you a person who indirectly is working hand in glove with the Bela Kuns, the Trotskys, the Stalins, and the Lenins. I knew what they were holding. Radioactive is hosted by me, Andrew Lapin, and is a production of Tablet Studios in association with The WNET Groups reporting initiative Exploring Hate: Antisemitism, Racism, and Extremism, and with support from Maimonides Fund. For a complete list of funders, please visit pbs.org/exploringhate. Charles Coughlin: Were not more scarlet epithets than these hurled at Jesus Christ? Fortunately, the FBI was aware of what Father Coughlin's Christian Front was up to. Andrew Lapin: What were those facts? Christian Front rally: I pledge divided allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. He graduated from college. He starts a raffle system about, you know, if you buy so many books, you can be entered into a raffle and then the winner of the raffle wins more Nazi books. They were going to assassinate members of Congress and forced the government to bring in the troops. Gallagher: I was being trained on semi-automatic weaponry. Maddow: One Boston minister who was in the crowd at one of these rallies reported later to the FBI that he was concerned by what he had seen. South Brooklyn Boys (abbreviated as SBB) is a famous New York City street gang. Madeleine Haeringer is our Head of Editorial. Father Coughlin's Christian Front militia did soon have chapters in New York City and in cities all across the country. She used her newspaper to condemn the Christian Front and the Catholic leadership for refusing to stand up to them. Its actual author? He holds back in no way whatsoever. Andrew Lapin: Coughlin began openly encouraging the growth of a Christian militia movement on his radio show in 1937. In some cases, a mistrial was declared. Two prominent affiliates of the Proud Boys face new conspiracy charges related to the US Capitol riot, and another was arrested Wednesday, as the Justice Department laid out a planning and funding . Father Coughlin already had a huge radio audience to tap into, particularly in Boston. Gallagher: He kind of gave a whole hour-long speech where he talks about kind of the Jews in Germany deserving Kristallnacht. The series is executive produced by myself and Mike Yarvitz, and it's produced by Kelsey Desiderio. EAST NEW YORK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Police are investigating what led to a shooting in East New York, Brooklyn that left one dead, and another injured. Behind the scenes, the FBI knew their case was flimsy. In Boston, they were particularly strong. They were angry at what they said was a violation of his First Amendment rights. Maddow: Today, Father Coughlin sometimes gets referenced like there's a direct throughline from him to modern, ultra-conservative radio and TV personalities in the United States. Gallagher: I was told by the National Archives that the FBI file did not exist. Maddow: The message of revolution, of the need to overthrow the government by force, that was in keeping with what Coughlin's Christian Front units were being told all over the country, by their leader, on his radio show. Westphal said that many young people had recently taken up their groups cause. Charles Coughlin: Recognizing also that in one sense, the opposition to Communism is on trial, I freely choose to be identified as a friend of the accused. The Proud Boys are a violent "Western chauvinist" organization designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. That's what they were worried about. Im Andrew Lapin and this is Radioactive, an eight part series from Tablet Studios and Exploring Hate about Father Charles Coughlin, the famous radio priest, notorious antisemite, and a man who changed American culture and politics forever. The Vatican is at a standoff with how to deal with Coughlin. Gallagher: Through his kind of sales wizardry, he gets all of the members of the Christian Front to basically go out and push Nazi propaganda into the streets of Boston. Two nights later, on November 9th, mobs took to the streets of Germany, Austria and Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Andrew Lapin: After all, it was Jesus who really needed protecting. And he now had the government and his direct superior determined to destroy him once and for all. Prosecutors were blamed for not appreciating not factoring in to their jury presentation just how favorably the Christian Front was viewed in the community where the trial was held. Charles Coughlin: The picture printed in the papers made interesting and profitable publicity at the expense of facts and truth. Andrew Lapin: The Christian front escaped justice. But the Justice Department also brought in for the trial the head of the criminal division from Main Justice in Washington D.C. His presence on the Brooklyn prosecution team indicated just how important this case was to the federal government, how big a priority this was. Radio Announcer: In New York, the alleged ringleaders of a fantastic Christian Front plot to overthrow the United States government by force are now behind federal bars. Curran used the airtime to angrily defend Coughlin from growing charges of antisemitism coming from, among other people, Elliot Roosevelt, the presidents son: Edward Lodge Curran: I feel and duty bound to reply to one of the most false and fictitious assaults ever made against Father Coughlin in recent years. Coughlin: The Christian Front is no longer a dream. He prophesied, quote, the march of these young men across America, supplanting the Democratic and Republican parties, which are based on tolerance, democracy and so-called peace. Like other speakers that day, Westphal also took time to praise the man he believed to be the father of this nascent movement, the man whose fiery rhetoric inspired both the style and substance of the Christian Mobilizers: Father Charles Coughlin. Attack it forthright and the errors and the spread of Communism together with all our co-nationals who support it. He saw the Christian Front as the kind of ripe picking for his espionage work and successfully recruited Father Coughlins regional leader, Francis Moran, who was in Boston. Collecting evidence. . Plot. But things really got cooking with the kind of phone call that makes your stomach flip over. But in the immediate aftermath of the arrests, Father Coughlin claimed that he had no idea who these people were. And in 1936, Father Coughlin came through Boston and Moran met with him. Faced with political defeat, Father Coughlin drops all pretense at diplomacy. The room swelled and cheered, and the mobilized young men grabbed whatever weapons they had brought with them, along with their copies of Father Coughlins magazine, and stormed the streets of New York. Christian Mobilizers. The enthusiastic crowd gave shouts and cheers whenever a speaker insulted Jews, slammed President Roosevelt or quoted Adolf Hitler. Shots were fired Saturday night on Drew Street . Tarrio faces federal conspiracy charges for attempting to obstruct. Back when he was a sophomore in college, years before he got that stomach-flipping call from the FBI, he was struggling with a research paper that was coming due for a class he was taking on national security. Christian Front rally: Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Fritz Kuhn. All speeches and material of Father Coughlin, as well as music and other audio from his radio program, are authentic to the source. And he started making derogatory comments about religion being kind of the effective kind of motivator for terrorism that allowed those, those buildings to be, to be attacked. One newspaper story from 1939 reported that thousands of Christian Fronters got into an egg and milk bottle melee with the left-wing American Labor Party in the Bronx. Radio announcer: New York Times Thursday, November 10th, 1938, Berlin. All of them got off. And assure Your Excellency that the light he is giving us is making us better Christians and Americans to the end of bringing all things in Christ. The FBI had a different idea. I went back to Washington, went to the National Archives, and they went through their database with that case number and, miraculously, they actually found it. Charles E. Coughlin, the voice of thought and sympathy from the heart of Michigans greatest city. In a day of terror surpassing anything even the Third Reich has seen, National Socialist cohorts took vengeance on Jewish shops, offices and synagogues for the murder of a German diplomat by a young Polish Jew. Andrew Lapin: American Jews were hesitant at first to make an enemy of a powerful persona like Father Coughlin. The hands move forward on the clock of Fascism whenever such outbreaks go uncondemned by the democratic forces. His rhetoric is an embarrassment to the American people and shame on the Catholic Church. Many Italian fascist newspapers were writing admiringly about the priest, calling him a true hero of Christianity. Many future members of the Christian Front were radicalized by the Kristallnacht episode. They mounted a defense in court that said they weren't plotting against the country, they were the most patriotic Americans imaginable. Like, I knew that the .30-06 shell is about a three-inch-long bullet, full metal jacket. 2021, insurrection. Charles Coughlin: Now to be effectual in our discussion, which is not content merely with offering sympathy for the innocent German Jews, it is necessary to record the following facts. A 15-year-old boy is free after a harrowing ordeal that started when one of his friends accidentally locked him a vault at an abandoned Brooklyn building late . He, in many ways ideologically wound them up and then let them actively partake in anti-Semitic and anti-communist activities on their own turf while he kept up his national radio career. That momentum led them to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, where a large battalion of members - led by Proud Boys Joseph Biggs and Ethan Nordean, among others - entered the building as part of an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. It was more than 2500 pages long. News 4's Myles Miller reports. Feeling the coup attempt was imminent, the bureau . Additional voiceover work in this episode provided by Q.M. Hitlers propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Donald Margulies. Maddow: In January 1940, it really was front page news all across the country when the head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, personally announced this round-up, the mass arrest of the Christian Front in New York. Not that it is his organization, but that he speaks to its promoters a word of encouragement and a word of advice. The other challenge was just the extreme nature of what they were accused of. You know the history of the Ku Klux Klan in this country? 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