The vast majority of white supremacist domestic terrorists fall into one of two categories: active/former military, and active/former cops. Understand that there's a vast network of people armed and trained to kill who swear to white supremacist dogma, and my biggest fear remains them all going active at the same time.
A retired Boise police captain — one of multiple officers who brought forward allegations about former Chief Ryan Lee — was scheduled to speak at a conference this weekend held by an organization known for white supremacist views.
Matthew Bryngelson, who retired in August after nearly 24 years with the Boise Police Department, appeared on the American Renaissance Conference speaker list under the apparent pseudonym Daniel Vinyard.
American Renaissance is a website and former print magazine that founder Jared Taylor characterizes as “race realist.” Posts on the site focus on white superiority and arguments that people of color are inherently less intelligent than white people and contribute more to crime and other societal ills.
The conference was held in person in Burns, Tennessee, where local faith leaders denounced the gathering.
Blog posts that appear to be authored by Bryngelson include him recounting the point in his police career when he “became aware of the violent tendencies of Blacks.” Bryngelson did not return a phone call or text from the Idaho Statesman.
This comes nearly two months after Boise Mayor Lauren McLean asked Lee to resign in light of multiple complaints from officers, along with an investigation into allegations that Lee injured a subordinate officer in a neck restraints demonstration last year. Lee is Chinese-American.
Bryngelson’s involvement in the conference sparked backlash online, when Twitter user Molly Conger posted a thread Saturday depicting the speaker list and other ties to American Renaissance. The thread, which has garnered over 1,000 retweets and 4,000 likes, brought Bryngelson’s involvement with the white supremacist group to the Idaho Statesman’s attention.
On the conference webpage, he’s described as “a retired, race-realist police officer with 30 years of experience, including gang enforcement, SWAT, and narcotics detective.” An accompanying photo of Bryngelson, who appears to be wearing his Boise Police Department uniform, is on the webpage. According to a tweet his photo appeared blacked out when the conference was first announced prior to his retirement.
In a statement Sunday afternoon, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean called Bryngelson’s participation in the conference and contributions to American Renaissance “racist, dehumanizing propaganda.”This weekend, I learned of retired Boise Police Department officer Matt Bryngelson's participation in a white nationalist conference and his ongoing contributions to racist, dehumanizing propaganda.— Mayor McLean (@boisemayor) November 20, 2022
“The fact that such an individual could serve in the department for two decades is appalling,” McLean said. “The people of Boise deserve a police department worthy of their investment and trust, and we are launching a full investigation accordingly.”
White supremacist terrorist network members serving in places of power like police departments and the US military is a massive issue. They've been in power for a very long time. These terrorist networks are heavily entrenched and ludicrously difficult to root out.
They're not going away anytime soon, either.
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