Matthew Colligan: Difference between revisions

|birth_place = [[Southborough, Massachusetts]], [[United States]]<ref name="MassLive">{{cite news|url=https://www.masslive.com/news/2017/08/the_man_behind_the_torch_massa.html|title=Behind the torch: Massachusetts resident identified in viral photo taken at white nationalist rally in Charlottesville|last=LaFratta|first=Kristin|date=AugustMay 1819, 20172019|work=[[The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts)|MassLive]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116192537/https://www.masslive.com/news/2017/08/the_man_behind_the_torch_massa.html|archive-date=November 16, 2020|url-status=live|access-date=DecemberNovember 912, 20202021}}</ref>

'''Matthew Colligan''' is an online personality who posted [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] memes under the handle '''Millennial Matt''' alongside [[white nationalism|white nationalist]] [[Baked Alaska (activistlivestreamer)|Baked Alaska]]. His identity was revealed through his participation in the 2017 [[Unite the Right rally]] in [[Charlottesville, Virginia]]. One of Colligan's repeated memes is the phrase "[[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] did nothing wrong]]", which he has said in radio, tweets, and videos.<ref name="Gizmodo-Aug2017-TellNeoNazi">{{cite news|last1=Novak|first1=Matt|date=August 15, 2017|title=How to Tell If You're a Neo-Nazi|work=[[Gizmodo]]|url=https://gizmodo.com/how-to-tell-if-youre-a-neo-nazi-1797849935|url-status=livebot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.isorg/Yvs0Dweb/20200820044642/https://gizmodo.com/how-to-tell-if-youre-a-neo-nazi-1797849935|archive-date=August 2220, 20172020|access-date=August 25, 2020}}</ref>

Colligan participated in the torchlight tiki rally at the [[2017 Unite the Right rally]] in Charlottesville.<ref name="Gizmodo-Aug17-VeryConcerned" /> Shortly following the rally, one of Colligan's former Boston neighbors and friends noticed Colligan in the evening's most infamous photograph.<ref name="MassLive"/> His identity was later verified through social network posts, including a cropped driver's license photograph that contained a photo appearing to be Colligan along with his correct birthday.<ref name="BG-Aug17-outed" />

On Friday, August 11, 2017, the day of the tiki rally, Colligan and [[Baked Alaska (activist)|Baked Alaska]] were ejected by a black [[Uber]] driver who said they had said racist things, calling the country "white America" and making her feel unsafe.<ref name="Gizmodo-Aug17-VeryConcerned" />

Colligan spent several years leading up to the [[Unite the Right rally]] posting white nationalist advocacy and neo-Nazi slogans such as "Hitler did nothing wrong". He was friends with and often interacted online with Baked Alaska.<ref name="Gizmodo-Aug17-VeryConcerned">{{cite news|last1=Novak|first1=Matt|date=August 14, 2017|title=White Supremacists Suddenly Very Concerned About Tolerance After Getting Maced|work=[[Gizmodo]]|url=https://gizmodo.com/white-supremacists-suddenly-very-concerned-about-tolera-1797811701|url-status=livebot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.isorg/N6fhBweb/20201024161900/https://gizmodo.com/white-supremacists-suddenly-very-concerned-about-tolera-1797811701|archive-date=DecemberOctober 24, 2020|access-date=August 1013, 2020}}</ref> During one 52-minute video, Colligan questioned the history of [[the Holocaust]], suggesting that his viewers search for "[[Holocaust denial|revisionist histories]]" instead.<ref name="Gizmodo-Aug2017-TellNeoNazi" />

Following Unite the Right, Colligan joined ''[[The Gateway Pundit]]'''s [[Lucian Wintrich]] and right-wing activist [[Ali Alexander]] on the ''Pundit's'' podcast. During this podcast, the group discussed Unite the Right, Richard Spencer, and the distinction between the New Right and the alt-right. During the show, Colligan described white nationalist [[Richard B. Spencer]] as a "good guy", showed Nazi flags and "Hitler did nothing wrong" memes, and argued that he himself was not a member of the alt-right. Akbar described Colligan as "a little bit racist" but "so funny" in a now-deleted [[Periscope (app)|Periscope]] video promoting the dialogue.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Holt|first1=Jared|date=October 19, 2017|title=‘New'New Right’Right' Activists Pivot Backwards, Share Laughs With ‘Unite'Unite The Right’Right' Demonstrator|work=[[Right Wing Watch]]|url=https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/new-right-activists-pivot-backwards-share-laughs-with-unite-the-right-demonstrator/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516201100/https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/new-right-activists-pivot-backwards-share-laughs-with-unite-the-right-demonstrator/|archive-date=May 16, 2020}}</ref>

In June 2020, Colligan joined two other [[groypers]], leader [[Nick Fuentes]] and far-right student organizer [[Jaden NcNeilMcNeil]], at a [[George Floyd protest]] in [[Queen Creek, Arizona]]. After the group asked two black men to take a picture with them while holding a sign labeled 'I can't read', they escalated tensions. One demonstrator tried to take the sign away, and another removed Colligan's glasses, at which point Colligan called the police saying he had been "physically assaulted." Fuentes told one demonstrator the police would "kneel on that guy's neck for taking my friend[']s glasses", referencing the manner in which [[George Floyd]] was killedmurdered. Following the event, several protesters were harassed online, leading them to delete social media accounts.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Petrizzo|first1=Zachary|date=June 11, 2020|title=Nick Fuentes attends BLM protest, tells demonstrators cops will kneel on their neck|work=[[The Daily Dot]]|url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/groypers-nick-fuentes-black-lives-matter/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129003511/https://www.dailydot.com/debug/groypers-nick-fuentes-black-lives-matter/|archive-date=November 29, 2020}}</ref>

Indian-American scientist and conspiracy theorist [[Shiva Ayyadurai]] appeared with Colligan on a livestream during his [[2018 United States Senate election in Massachusetts|2018 Massachusetts election campaign]] against [[Elizabeth Warren]]. Colligan requested that Ayyadurai bless a small statue of the [[Pepe the Frog#Kek|Kek]], the green frog that came to prominence as a symbol of the alt-right during the [[2016 United States presidential election]]. Ayyadurai obliged and described Colligan as "one of our greatest supporters".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kaplan|first1=Juliana|last2=Fisher|first2=Alyssa|date=July 11, 2018|title=These 9 Candidates Have Ties To White Nationalists Or Nazis — And They’reThey're All Republicans|work=[[The Forward]]|url=https://forward.com/news/national/405237/these-9-republicans-have-ties-to-white-nationalists-or-nazis/|url-status=live|url-access=limited|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805025040/https://forward.com/news/national/405237/these-9-republicans-have-ties-to-white-nationalists-or-nazis/|archive-date=August 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Minkowitz|first1=Donna|date=April 18, 2018|title=Election 2018 Is Off to the Racists|work=[[The Nation]]|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/election-2018-is-off-to-the-racists/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002165259/https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/election-2018-is-off-to-the-racists/|archive-date=October 2, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Holt|first1=Jared|date=February 5, 2018|title=Massachusetts Senate Candidate Meets Alt-Right Troll And Blesses ‘Kek’'Kek'|work=[[Right Wing Watch]]|url=https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/massachusetts-senate-candidate-meets-alt-right-troll-and-blesses-kek/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516051420/https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/massachusetts-senate-candidate-meets-alt-right-troll-and-blesses-kek/|archive-date=May 16, 2020}}</ref>