The day after the white riot in Washington D.C., Leonard Zeskind wrote an op-ed on the event using data collected by Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights (IREHR) and submitted it to the Kansas City Star newspaper. They printed it the following week, on January 14, 2021 as “Capitol insurgents didn’t appear overnight. KC can lead the fight against radicalism.” It can be found today https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article248475435.html .
On February 16, IREHR’s Leonard Zeskind made a ten minute presentation on the current status of white supremacist organizations in Missouri during his local Kansas City, Missouri NAACP meeting. A smart series of questions about the link between Oath Keepers and police departments followed. Zeskind noted that one of the Proud Boys indicted on conspiracy charges for the January 6 white riot was in fact a former policeman in the Blue Springs suburb.
On February 24, the Kansas City Jewish Community Relations Bureau / American Jewish Committee sponsored a webinar entitled “Close to Home: White nationalism and far-right groups in our region” with Leonard Zeskind speaking and taking questions. More than 90 people attended the webinar, and discussion was brisk.
On February 26, Leonard Zeskind answered questions on public radio, KCUR, on Steve Kraske’s “Up to Date” program. It is available at https://www.kcur.org/podcast/up-to-date/2021-02-26/tracking-white-supremacists-in-missouri .
On Sunday, February 28, The Kansas City Star ran a front page article by reporter Judy L. Thomas entitled, “KC Proud Boys had big role in Capitol riot and may be growing. ‘It’s a huge concern’.” The story featured several quotes from Leonard Zeskind. It is worth reading and can be found at KC Proud Boys among prosecutors’ key targets in Capitol case | The Kansas City Star .
The next day, March 1, The New York Times ran a print story featuring quotes from IREHR President Devin Burghart. It is available at Far-Right Groups Are Splintering in Wake of the Capitol Riot – The New York Times (nytimes.com). Burghart spends more than 20 hours a week responding to calls from print, radio and television reporters.
