Austrian activist Martin Sellner, the leader of Defend Europe, made his first trip to the United States this week to spend time with American and Canadian figures from the right, including Brittany Pettibone and Lauren Southern. We met up with the three of them to discuss the parallels and differences on each continent’s “new right” movements, as well as what they plan to do next.
“I think it’s important to point out that they have mastered activism on the streets, while we have mastered it online,” Pettibone said of Defend Europe. “So, we have a lot that we can teach each other. It’s not so much about uniting our movements, it’s about sharing information and helping each other strengthen our movements.”
Sellner’s movement, Génération Identitaire, has made global headlines with their Defend Europe mission, which aims to stop human trafficking by blocking NGO ships that are bringing illegal migrants into Europe instead of returning them to their home nations. Southern faced massive backlash, including having her Patreon account deleted, over her joining the group of activists for a mission in May.
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Pettibone and Southern both joined Sellner on the Defend Europe mission.
Prior to the actual mission, Southern and others were detained by the Italian Coast Guard for attempting to halt a ship called the Aquarius, a German NGO boat, which has been illegally bringing migrants from the Libyan Sea to Sicily. Southern explained that the ship was on their way to go pick up more migrants and was empty at the time of their demonstration.
Still, Patreon alleged that the group’s actions could lead to a “loss of life” and permanently banned Southern and others involved from the platform.
Southern is a Canadian activist, journalist, and YouTuber. She released a book last year titled “Barbarians: How Baby Boomers, Immigrants, and Islam Screwed My Generation.”
Sellner is the leader of the Austrian chapter of Generation Identity and has been a full time activist for most of his adult life. He has also authored a book titled Identitär! which can be purchased on his website.
Pettibone is an American free speech advocate, author, activist, and YouTuber.
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