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With the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump about a month away, the public broadcasting radio station KQED included some comments by Brian Levin, professor of criminal justice and director of the Cal State San Bernardino Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, in a report about the alt-right.
“When Trump takes office, his senior counselor will be Steve Bannon,” the report said. “He is most famous for his time running the website Breitbart, which he describes as the site as ‘the platform of the alt-right.’ The alt-right is a white nationalist movement re-branded, and it's got the attention of many California educators and students, including one college course” taught by Levin.
Reporter Steven Cuevas said Levin, in his more than 30 years of research, has not encountered anything like what he’s hearing now. “Messages previously segregated, and not allowed into mainstream politics has now changed. And what we’re seeing is an elevation of bigoted messages, which appeal to people who feel fearful, disenfranchised and that our traditions are being sold down the river.”
The online report was posted Dec. 20, 2016, and was also heard on KVCR.
Listen to it at “Alt-right movement permeates California educators and students.”
Levin was also interviewed for his perspective on the Dec. 19 assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, and the possible affect it may have on Turkish-Russian relations and their respective roles in Syria. Among the gunman’s comments during the incident was, “don't forget Aleppo,” the besieged Syrian city.
In response to a question on “anti-Russian” hysteria in Aleppo and elsewhere because of western news media coverage and its possible influence on the assassin, Levin said: “Certainly there’s been massive media coverage. But remember, this is probably the longest siege of a city that we’ve seen since World War II. And we’re talking about massive amounts of deaths here. And, indeed, non-media entities, including the United Nations and various governments, have condemned the Assad regime and also the Russian government as well. So certainly there has been significant media coverage in the West, and some of it has been extraordinarily critical.
“But nevertheless, there has been legions of civilian deaths that are taking place, and that has taken place at times when both the Russians and the Syrian government under Bashar Assad have been launching offenses into Aleppo, including what’s called … ‘double-tap’ attacks … when first responders are coming into to rescue people. Those are some devastating images as well.
“So I wouldn’t say it was, somehow, biased coverage. But there has been some significant coverage.”
The interview was posted online Dec. 20, 2016, and can be viewed at “Brian Levin talks to RT.”