DEFEND EAST COUNTY SITES REMOVED BY FACEBOOK; FOUNDER ALSO BANNED AMID SWEEP OF SITES ADVOCATING ELECTION WEEK VIOLENCE

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: A defenders' group in La Mesa, armed with knives, confronted racial justice protesters

November 8, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) –Facebook has removed the Defend East County (DEC) page along with other Facebook pages linked to the site, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported on November 6.  Facebook also banned DEC founder and administrator Justin Haskins, after he posted the message “Lock and load, then pray.  Today’s the day. We pray for peace and prepare for war,” on Election Day.  

Facebook announced in August that it would be taking action to restrict “militarized social movements and violence-inducing conspiracy networks.”  That effort took on new urgency after the FBI arrested members of a right-wing militia group who were reportedly plotting to kidnap Michigan’s governor.

Locally, Defend East County was formed after the May 31 riot in La Mesa, ostensibly to protect businesses across East County from looters after La Mesa Police became overwhelmed. The group claimed to have 22,000 members.  However it quickly became a lightning rod for criticism after some reportedly racist posts as well as racial taunts directed at protestors and violent skirmishes in which several protesters were injured in Santee and La Mesa by individuals who, in some cases, had been standing among or beside the Defend East County group before engaging in fist fights and rock throwing incidents, some caught on video.

Last weekend, Facebook took down the Defend East County site, which briefly reappeared before it was again taken down.  Haskins, who is from Arizona and also posts under the pseudonym “Justin Bama,” confirmed on his personal Facebook page that his site was removed by what he termed “Fascistbook.” He called the takedown “fascism, censorship, and voter suppression” in his post.

The Union-Tribune reports that the site and satellite versions have been up and down. DEC has blocked East County Magazine so it is unclear whether the site is currently online again or not.

John Sepulvado has suggested in interviews with other media that complaints over a bizarre video smearing Darrell Issa and urging voters to write in DEC founder Justin Haskins may also have been a factor in the DEC site being taken down, though that is unverified. The video on Vimeo, since removed, claimed to have been made by “Q,” perhaps a reference to the conspiracy group Q-Anon. (Disclosure: Sepulvado did technical and production work on several candidate forums for ECM as an independent contractor under a short-term grant project, but had no involvement in coverage of the Congressional race.  He has not worked for ECM since completion of the grant.)

Haskins, who also posts under the pseudonym Justin Bama, then posted defamatory statements including one on Next Door which falsely stated, “That video was made by BIPOC with the help of East County Magazine to use the popularity and name recognition of DEC to take votes away from conservative candidates.”  He urged voters not to write in his name.

East County Magazine has informed Haskins in written comments that he acknowledged receiving. Our editor posted, “That is libelous, Justin. East County Magazine had NOTHING to do with this!  That is a lie and you need to remove this post. I don’t know who posted the moronic video, but it certainly was NOT ECM.” In fact, ECM's editor was sent the video, vetted it and determined it to be a hoax.  ECM did not publish or link to the video on its news site,nor on social media. 

Moderators on Next Door removed Haskins' post due to its defamatory nature, though Haskins has repeated similar libelous statements on other social media.  He and his followers also alleged that Sepulvado made the video, after Sepulvado told other media that the BIPOC coalition, a group advocating for racial justice, had a coordinated campaign urging Facebook to take down the DEC site. At least one BIPOC member has alleged that she received threats serious enough to move her child to a different day care center after organizing a Black Lives Matter march in Santee earlier this year.

Asked by ECM’s editor about the Issa video, Sepulvado stated, “I did not make the video…All I did was flag that video because it represented a major uptick in sophistication.”

Haskins has repeatedly denied that his group’s intent is racist, but did acknowledge in an interview with Times of San Diego, “Maybe there are racist people that come out and help us defend, but there’s also a very diverse group of people. We welcome everybody.”

The site also drew controversy for its touting and trashing of candidates for local political offices. Issa and his opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, both did interviews with Haskins. (Campa-Najjar has today conceded the race to Issa.)  Many posts on the site labeled Campa-Najjar as a “socialist.”  Cajon Valley Union School District trustee Jim Miller slammed his opponent, suggests in posts that she was recruited by BLM and that her supporters were “Antifa” members who tore down his signs. She has denied all of those claims. 

A self-proclaimed cofounder of the DEC, Dustin Trotter, is a candidate running for Santee’s City Council. His opponent, Samantha “Samm” Hurst, has drawn criticism on the site and had fake tombstones left anonymously in her yard on Halloween, though it is unclear if there is a connection. (Photo, left)

At times, extremists in East County have resorted to more than just silent forms of intimidation.  A Santee mother told CBS that her son was beaten up by a group of men and had to get a metal plate put in his eye. DEC had organized its members in the parking lot where the attack occurred, though they claimed they were stopping looting. The teen has denied any attempt at looting. 

An ECM photographer found another teen on the ground with a bloody nose across the street from DEC members rallying; he claimed to have been attacked unprovoked. (Photo, right)

Later that evening at the same intersection, another ECM photographer documented a physical skirmish involving men who ran across the street from where DEC members where rallying, shouting racial slurs, throwing punches that provoked counter blows, and hurling rocks at vehicles as teen protesters fled from the men.

In La Mesa, where Defend East County and others came out to stand against protesters, young protesters told ECM that "white supremacists" told them their lives didn't matter, then stabbed and defaced their sign. 

An ECM photographer in La Mesa was twice attacked  by individuals who tried to knock a camera out of his hand after making profane threats. The incidents were caught on video. One of them was standing alongside defenders during a rally this summer before harassing the photographer.  ECM has since received a tip that that the DEC was working on a plan to “take down” after ECM reported on these and other disturbing incidents at rallies where the DEC organized counterprotests. View videos of ECM photographer being harassed/assaulted:  video 1, video 2.

Photo, left:  Bearded man physically attacked an ECM photographer in La Mesa on August 1. If you know his identity please contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.

The DEC has repeatedly told media that it does not condone violence and has denied that violent incidents were initiated by its members.