Right-wing extremists are operating as emergency workers in Los Angeles

Extremists including White supremacists and Live broadcast on the border They went down to Los Angeles on In the middle of forest fires There to gain followers, engage on social media, ask for donations, and recruit new members, experts claim, while in some cases LARPing as emergency workers.

Last weekend, Ryan Sanchez and three other members of the National Grid group set up shop at the entrance to the Santa Monica Pier. Sanchez, who was He was captured on video giving the Nazi salute During last year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, his staff drove overnight from Arizona, where they live.

Sanchez, who was a member of the defunct white supremacist fight club known as Rise above the actionis an ally of white supremacist Nick Fuentes and is sometimes known by his online nickname “Culture War Criminal.”

Sanchez, who did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment, claims on his social media accounts that his group “got much more support than expected” and said all donations were made to the Bob Hope National Hall, a building said to house veterans as well as charities. Concerned with military and veterans affairs. (She did not respond to a request to confirm that Sanchez’s group had made donations.)

While Sanchez and his colleagues claim they are in Los Angeles to do good, experts who track the activities of far-right groups tell WIRED that what they are really engaging in is “disaster tourism” to advance their own agenda by appearing to be doing good for the community. .

“Based on a lot of their past activities, this is likely being used as a recruitment effort, something that has happened frequently over the past year as far-right groups engage in disaster tourism,” says Freddy Cruz, the program’s director. Director of Monitoring and Training at the Western States Center. We saw it with Hurricane Helen, and now we’re seeing it again. These groups mainly travel to disaster areas just to create propaganda, solicit donations, and in some cases actually steal donations from people on the ground.

Sanchez said Monday that although his group is no longer collecting goods for relief efforts, it is still interested in meeting potential new recruits.

“We will not be accepting any more donations tomorrow, but if you are still interested in volunteering, contact us,” Sanchez wrote on Telegram and X on Sunday morning.

The donation link Sanchez posted on his Telegram channel links directly to his personal Cash App account, and it’s not clear where any donated money is going, although Sanchez indicated it was used to fund his group’s travel and accommodations.

“The crisis in Los Angeles continues, with strong winds expected in the coming days. Thanks to your support, National Grid will be here for our fellow Americans,” Sanchez wrote on his Telegram and X accounts on Monday, before asking for more donations “if you want to help feed our activists and in the fight.”

As well as Sanchez and the National Multinational Network MAGA live stream They traveled to Los Angeles in recent days to begin posting content about the aftermath of the fires while at the same time asking their followers for money.