The man who was the Libertarian Party of Florida’s nominee for U.S. Senate last year has resigned from the party, making the explosive claim that it is a refuge for white supremacists and anti-Semites. Paul Stanton was the 2016 Libertarian Party of Florida nominee for Senate after winning the party’s primary election over a man who went on to be a featured speaker at this year’s deadly white nationalist gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Update on Wednesday, October 25: Ryan Ramsey was not available for an interview Tuesday. We interviewed him Wednesday and he denies all the things Stanton says.
Update on Thursday, October 26: you can listen to our interview with Ramsey at the bottom of this page.
Listen:
“I withdrew from the Libertarian Party of Florida, quite frankly, because of white supremacists using tactics of violent threats and intimidation and people just not caring.”
Can you give us an example of specifics that have happened when there was white supremacy and there was violent threats?
“Yes. So, as you probably know, there was a libertarian primary last year with Agustus Sol Invictus. He was one of the speakers in Charlottesville, for example. He brought in quite the crowd, although perhaps there was a bit of a crowd there already. And you know, he was on tape threatening me and threatening other people. Other people like one of his lieutenants from the campaign, Ryan Ramsey, who’s now running for Florida House, I believe, as well as being an officer within the Libertarian Party of Florida, has issued threats both vague and direct. One such example is, I believe about a month ago, he was saying that I should be thrown out of a helicopter. He’s threatened to have people show up at my place of work. He’s threatened to have people show up to other people’s places of work. He’s suggested to the current Florida Libertarian semi-candidate, Joseph Wendt, that he should have a good dental plan.
“This is ridiculous. I mean, normal people should not have to deal with violent white supremacists in their political party and if they do, the leadership should have the courage to actually step up and say something about it.”
Ryan Ramsey was interviewed by floridapolitics.com and he said, ‘Yeah, he used to be a member of white supremacist groups, but, now he’s not.’ ‘He hasn’t made any threats to you.’ ‘He’s with this group now called American Guard Florida, but, even though the Southern Poverty Law Center considers it having roots in the white supremacist movement, that it is not a white supremacist group.’ Yet, you still say that there’s white supremacists, there’s anti-semites in the Libertarian Party of Florida?
“Just a week ago, Saturday, Ryan Ramsey posted an image on his Facebook page: Libertarian Heathen, that was straight from a 1930s German propaganda textbook insinuating that Jewish men are predators against white German girls. It’s disgusting. This is nothing new. He participates in things like Operation Werewolf. ‘Werewolf’ of course being a reference to a 1940s German plan for insurgency and allied occupied territory. This is nothing new, it’s constant from this guy and everyone’s pretending that it’s not an issue or explicitly supporting it.”
And you feel that the Libertarian Party of Florida in not cracking down, I guess, on this type of behavior, you think that maybe it’s endorsing it and that’s why you’re leaving? Are you going to a different party?
“I’m not planning on going to a different party. No. I introduced a motion with the Libertarian Party of Florida Executive Committee to remove Ryan Ramsey for this. About half of the people who voted on the call, voted for it, just under half excuse me, which was under the two-thirds threshold required. Now you have the Chairman, Marcos Miralles, who used to also say that, for example: Agustus Sol Invictus was not a white supremacist. Now he’s saying the same thing about Ryan Ramsey, whom he’s appointed to committee positions, despite being covered in racist tattoos, despite the constant anti-semitic and violent rhetoric from him.
“I’m not going to another party. No. Not at this time. There have been members of the Constitution, Green, and Republican parties who have all approached me since I’ve resigned, but, I really don’t have any interest in joining any of those parties.”
Well, I think those were all of my questions. Is there anything else that our listeners should know about this issue?
“It’s bizarre and it’s disgusting that– Libertarians in Florida deserve better than [the] Libertarian Party of Florida and just, quite frankly, if the Libertarian Party of Florida ever wants to be taken seriously, they need to start acting seriously and one of those things is not to support violent white supremacy.”
Update: here is WMNF News’ interview with Ryan Ramsey responding to what Stanton said:
5 Responses to “Libertarian Party of Florida’s 2016 Senate nominee says party harbors white supremacists”
Leave a Reply
There were a number of Occupy leaders that recently joined the white supremacy movement, and I assume many of the other racists came from many other political parties. Libertarians came out of the Abolitionist movement of William Lloyd Garrison and other classical liberals. It is the Democratic Party that was founded on “positive racism” that goes back to President Andrew Jackson. The Democrats helped to found the original KKK, and brought it back when President Wilson endorsed the KKK during his administrations. The Democrats enacted segregation and Jim Crow laws. Hillary Clinton in 2010 called Senator Byrd her “mentor,” although he had been a leader of a KKK chapter. Whose the party of white supremacists? Not the classical liberals.
If that is true, the Libertarian Party needs to clean house…there is no liberty in bigotry or racism…
The Florida LP was a model party with more people in public office than any other state LP but got slammed by GOP infiltrators after it got 16% of the vote in House elections. This started in 2008.
Most of its members were removed or left in 2010, and the people in there now are either infiltrators, dupes, or people trying to rectify the situation.
It didn’t help that the legislature created crippling regulations targeting the Florida LP, which have not been general reported.
It would be nice if Stanton provided any evidence to support his claims. I tried to get him to do this for months, but he only insisted it was out there and I should go find it myself. Stanton is backed by a handful of supporters that have mostly never met Ramsey, and go into hysterics at the very suggestion that they should talk to him before forming an opinion. And notice that he mentions two people. Invictus left the Libertarian Party and announced his intention to run for US Senate again as a Republican. All of Stanton’s antics are over one person he would have us believe has virtually taken over the party and created a refuge for violent white supremacists. Further, he would have us believe this was accomplished by supporting a Cuban during the the election of the Party Chair earlier this year. There is no evidence provided, but if you don’t buy into this story you will be labeled an enabler. Some have even been “outed” as white supremacists in an anonymously run Facebook page.
Anyone who wants to see what a alt-right nut Ryan Ramsey is can look at his facebook page http://libertarianheathen.com which includes articles about moving the 2018 National Convention because holding it in New Orleans “disses” the confederacy; the extinction of the white race; Ramsey’s whining defenses against others’ criticism of him; and lots of “if you don’t agree with me you’re a left/communist” argumentation. People are compiling screen shots and other evidence of the more disgusting subtle and not so subtle threats, not to mention on their face absurd lies, he’s made vs. others. Given that context his occasional libertarian advocacy only TAINTS libertarianism.