EXCLUSIVE: Assaulted Red Ice Cameraman Speaks Out

Following the hullabaloo outside the recent NPI Conference in Washington, D.C. I got a chance to sit down with Aryan Gondola (as he’s known on the TRS Forums), the Red Ice cameraman who was viciously assaulted by up to ten Antifa as he and correspondent Emily Youcis were being escorted back into the Ronald Reagan building. Still sporting a couple of bumps and bruises from the fight, he took time out from his busy schedule to tell Occidental Observer readers about his experiences with the melee and the conference — and his path to the Alt Right. Readers will find invaluable information on how to stay safe and aware whenever Antifa slime are near.

Aryan Gondola. . . You went a round with ten men at once, and you still have a little shiner to show for your efforts, I see!

I fought for it!

Before we get to the gritty details, tell me a little about your upbringing.

Well, I was born and raised in New Jersey. I was home-schooled my entire life. I’ve actually never been in a public school. My parents always encouraged me to find my own path in life, not to just take the path others told me to take. Basically the college-to-corporate pipeline. The same path my parents were pushed into. I had a well-rounded curriculum of math and history. I explored astronomy and electronics. From home school I went on to community college. I went about halfway through, but found that I really wanted to pursue my entrepreneurial passion. After a few failed attempts with marketing and other things I settled on [redacted] as a path to independence economically, and the Alt Right as a way to chart a future for myself and my eventual children.

How long have you been working to build the Alt Right?

I’ve been on the Alt Right since before it was called the Alt Right. About nine years. I started as a teenager on image boards, unfortunately. 4Chan, even Stormfront — that sort of thing. Exposing truth in the most brutal way possible. Trolling took off, and then I began to see posts in an 8chan sub forum for IRL meet ups two or three years ago. Those unfortunately did not take off. There just weren’t enough people in New Jersey who were attracted to this through the image boards. You also had the trust factor — everyone was completely anonymous. Eventually I coalesced with the TRS community and the other Alt Righters on the forums and I was absorbed into the Greater Philadelphia Alt Right community — which was thriving! It had actual, normal individuals. Productive individuals and not the kind of people you’d meet from image boards. It’s kind of incredible how just at the same time I was ready to get out there and meet others there who were other people were already planning in places I wasn’t even aware of.

What were some of the Red Pilling experiences you had along the way?

One of the main influences for me was the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, which red pilled me on the JQ. It turned me into a hard line libertarian and almost a separatist to the federal structure because at that time they bailed out the big banks like JP Morgan and Chase. It showed me one vector of a failing system. In addition it was the sense of failure from not having a heritage. Having no sense of identity or community. I didn’t want to think of myself as just another self-hating White American…

You were part of the dispossessed majority?

Exactly. Just another part of the dispossessed majority. At this time I was talking to people from all over the world online. I would hear about different systems that other cultures had in place, like the Scandinavian system. They would take you through a free education — it almost made me like one of the Bernie socialists these days. A libertarian with some “sense of entitlement.” I had to find a way to reconcile these ideas, and at this time I was still living a sheltered suburban existence — fortunately! But I was aware of the rot that was going on near me. In Atlantic City for instance. I knew that there were these certain people that existed in these communities who were kept in a state of  dependence through drug addiction and welfare — dependency on the government. These types of people are the ones you don’t want to associate with. The system was broken and I didn’t see any real future. I was ready to chart a course towards economic and social independence. It was just a matter of finding people who were ready to do that with me. From there I became more of a race realist and learned more about the isolating effect that stripping away of identity had.

How long have you been working for Red Ice TV?

Four months. Since the DNC in late July. We organized teams to do some “guerrilla photography.”

Had you been to an NPI Conference prior to this one?

Yes. This was the second. The first was March of this year.

Was that at the Ronald Reagan building?

Yes.

What were your general impressions of security at that event?

Security for the building was very tight. At the first conference we were there discussing the rise of Donald Trump. A handful of Antifa was out there protesting what they called “suit and tie Nazis.” People just walked through, there were some bants, but no problem getting into the building. The only issue was having your face recognized and you could take a different entrance if you were worried about that.

How have things changed since then?

There was a total failure on the part of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to protect our rights to assemble and have free speech at this recent conference. Those are civil rights. The MPD failed to uphold them or even respond in any way to the violation of those rights. Whites in this regard were treated as second-class citizens, but you won’t hear about that in the news.

Let’s dial it back a little. You went down with Emily Youcis. How was the ride down and the night prior to the conference? What were your impressions of Emily?

The ride down was fun. We had talks from prior NPI conferences playing in the car. We discussed various aspects of the Alt Right. I was really impressed with how Emily (because she’s somewhat new to the movement) had great talking points to pull normies into the movement. She has a lot of insight. There was no ominous feeling or sense of what was to come. The hotel was fantastic and the staff were very accommodating.

The night prior to the conference, things started heating up. That was the first warning sign that something was wrong. Emily and I visited a few monuments to take some photos. We had plenty of time to go back and get ready to meet at the muster point in front of Trump Hotel. The plan was to meet there and head to a venue. Then we received an email from Richard Spencer saying the plan had been canceled and everyone went into Trump hotel to relax and have a few drinks while we waited to find out which venue would host us that evening. While there, we were informed the new venue would be Maggiano’s.

We had no problem getting into Maggiano’s. We were there for about an hour when Antifa showed up and began to protest outside. Richard Spencer went out to assess the situation and was sprayed with some kind of noxious chemicals and had to remove a layer of clothing. Antifa forced their way inside, onto the private property of this establishment. You heard the chanting as they came in, disturbing good families who were enjoying themselves and even disrupting a Sweet Sixteen party. They were taking photos and video. The only people preventing them from coming upstairs to disturb our party were the Maggiano’s staff — who were predominantly black. The Chef called the police. It took the MPD an hour to show up and deal with this mob. The people they were assaulting were African Americans, the very people they claim we hate. But those folks — the Maggiano’s staff — treated us well. We treated them well, we tipped them well. We thanked them and shook their hands. Antifa on the other hand were simply thuggish. By the time the police arrived, everyone had left. The Chef took us through a back door and we split into smaller groups and took the metro back to the Trump Hotel. Antifa were protesting there as well, but they were always protesting there anyway.

Tell me about the day of the NPI conference.

I started the workday at 8 am. Richard Spencer offered early registration so we took advantage of it. I got a chance to meet Dr. Jorjani on the way. There were no Antifa at the 14^th Street entrance. Everything was normal. I met with Red Ice TV to go over the technical stuff, and the conference started without incident. Peter Brimelow and Sam Dickson were the early speakers, I believe.

There had been a post on Antifa media saying they would be protesting from noon to 3:30 pm. We went outside around 12:30 to film them before taping quick interviews with willing attendees. We walked outside and got a broad shot of the Antifa crowd just as they were turning onto 14^th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue. We got some great footage with Emily in the foreground and the Antifa in the background as she explained what the protesters were doing there. That footage was later lost.

Then you decided to venture out into the crowd. We’re there other press out there among the protesters?

Yes. Local press, BBC, ABC, CBS and Deutsche Welle, as well as Alexander Rubinstein — he’s Antifa press. Law enforcement was there. National Park Services were there to protect the property of the Ronald Reagan building, and there was a strong MPD presence as well. But we left the property of the Ronald Reagan building and ventured out into the street to do the interviews. The police were never more than twenty feet away from us, at the perimeter of the property.

We interviewed some people around the periphery of the protest group. Most of our questions were met with threats and obscenities. Occasionally some older hippie-era protesters would come over and say a few things, but the others tried to drown everyone out with sirens and curse words shouted into bullhorns.

For the most part there was no sincere discourse and everyone just kept shouting “Nazi” at us. Emily began the bants and that’s when things began snowballing downhill. They tried to separate us. One of the antifa tangled himself in our microphone cord on purpose and began to complain about it. I had to unhook the microphone for a moment to free it. Then they lowered a flag onto our faces to disorient us and block the cameras while a masked protester whipped out a can of insect repellent and tried to spray Emily in the face with it. It got in her hair, a little got on her chin. One man with a folder and a pen used a common antifa trick — he walked up to Emily with a folder and pen and started asking for signatures on a (nonexistent) petition. Turning as he spoke he bumped and shoved her several times. I’ve learned now that this is how they escalate the violence. First the throw, spit and spray. Then bump and shove. Once they’ve gotten away with that and they feel confident, the planned attack begins.

They surrounded Emily and got in between us. A tall black officer from NPS came to the rescue and stood behind Emily to escort her back to safety. I followed and filmed with my phone, my arm outstretched. I was behind the officer and he couldn’t see what happened next. Someone snatched the camera away — a short, pudgy manlet with slicked back hair, a beard and glasses. I grabbed him and tried to take the camera back. I put him in a hold. With my hands occupied the punches began to rain down, undefended. They were screaming “die, die!” We went to the ground. The fight went on and I pulled him into my guard and slapped in a choke hold. That’s when one of the protesters put me in a choke hold as well — not a very effective one though. It seemed like a few minutes, but now that I’ve reviewed the video I can see that it was only seconds. On the video I watched the neck-bearded vermin I held onto hand my phone off — so that’s another antifa tactic when they steal things. The police rushed in (as well as some of the older protesters to be honest) and began to tear people away. When I was pulled away I resisted at first — thinking that it was antifa — then realized I was surrounded by law enforcement and relaxed.

That’s intense! I noticed in the video once you were aware of the police you kept your arms down at your sides and complied. At any time did they put you in restraints or tell you that you are under arrest?

No, not at all. They showed sincere concern for my well being. The NPS officers were incredibly professional and helpful — no matter what the race of the officer. They sought medical treatment for me. There was a gentleman named Officer Dan Rieger who I was very impressed with. He seemed very sympathetic for what happened to me and gave me his card. A very professional individual. One of the African American NPS Officers asked me if I wanted EMS and got them for me. He even lent me his phone so I could call Verizon to shut off my phone and wipe the data remotely. They just wanted to help me. They seem to be well aware of what these antifa thugs are all about.

The press on the other hand kept sticking cameras in my face, trying to trip me up. They refused to acknowledge we were press as well. Instead they kept screaming questions at me, trying to get me to reveal my identity, asking me who am I associated with and if I hate blacks, etc. It was obvious they were trying to depict me as some kind of antagonist. Only the NPS officers acknowledged that I was an innocent member of the press who’d been attacked.

Did you go back inside to the conference?

I declined a ride to the hospital. Two black EMS guys patched me up pretty well and then I was escorted inside by NPS. Red Ice was incredibly compassionate. They didn’t want anything like this to happen. A friend of mine got me a cab to the hospital after I got online with the Red Ice computers and changed any doxxable information that was on the internet. A detective from MPD came out to the hospital and stayed with me through the whole ordeal of my CT scan and getting stitches. He was great. I got back to NPI in time to enjoy the rest of the conference. In fact I was there for the “Hail Trump, Hail our people, Hail Victory!” finale. Which, incidentally, made more news then the “innocent cameraman who got assaulted” did. Thanks Lügenpresse!

. . . Did you sleep well that night?

[Laughs] I did, actually!

Aryan Gondola… You are the third Red Ice cameraman to be assaulted. First there was Sacremento, then Matt Forney at the DNC. Forney had been chased down several times, the last of which they threatened him in front of the cops. I remember Forney telling me “it’s ok because I got them on camera.” I looked at the footage and it was two antifa thugs in masks and costumes — covered head to toe. He didn’t seem to understand that meant nothing and couldn’t help or save him. These people show up with masks on because they intend violence. As someone who has been involved with several live broadcasts for Red Ice TV what kind of safety and security tips can you offer to future Red Ice volunteers and Alt Right activists?

The message I want to get out to everyone on the Alt Right is to NEVER enter a crowd of these people. Never let yourself be surrounded. Don’t go out there alone. Always be with friends. Stay in a group, and don’t go into their group. Stay close to police officers and keep a good rapport with them. Make sure, if you do decide to go out and film, you prepare for the worst eventuality by erasing yourself as best you can off of social media — you don’t need that stuff anyway. If you have any valuables, then leave them in a safe area. Know how to remotely wipe your phone. Have a back-up plan if you lose your phone, and an escape route if you’re making contact with these antifa thugs. They intend to disrupt and cause violence to you. Even if you’re not associated. I had no name tag on, no Red Ice shirt. For all they know I could have been hired as just a private cameraman, paid for his services — someone from the D.C. area. They didn’t know me from Adam. They don’t care. In the future, moving forward we may be able to hire private security. But remember: Keep a safe distance. There’s no ego loss in blending in.

That’s the best way to stay safe for everyone, not just Red Ice videographers. The Alt Right is now a target because we had an impact in getting Trump elected. Hillary Clinton said we’re irredeemable. That means open season on White guys and anyone who doesn’t bend the knee. That’s what we’re up against. We’re in a war and we need to act like it, unfortunately. So harden yourselves.