(updated 04/16/2021) A concerned Kanab resident asked for a review of Susan Michelle South because their personal knowledge and experience with Susan Michelle South did not warrant her inclusion on Hatewatch. New & Improved. Previous reviews can be viewed here Hatewatch: Request to Reviw Cram, Pattons, Collins & Bunting-Erickson
This posted review is more detailed and step-by-step so readers can see the process and hopefully increase understanding. Believe me, every time I get a request I hope that person can be removed. So far, two people have been removed and one person is under consideration because they had already begun “rehabilitation” before KURW Hatewatch launced, so we are trying to work out a little more evidence of rehab to get that person off of the Hatewatch.
Decision: after careful review of evidence, Susan Michelle South remains on KURW Hatewatch. If your time is short, the main reasons are listed first then the detailed process with evidence follows that.
Summarized Version of Review
- South’s support of Stop-the-Steal rallies against our democracy based on claims proven false by our justice system.
- South’s support of extremist rhetoric across multiple platforms. See Understanding Social Media in Kanab: Groups, Pages & Individuals for more info
- South’s engagement with local extremist FB page “Kanab Patriots”. See Kanab FB Page “Kanab Patriots” Recruits and Radicalizes Extremists for more info
- South supports “Don’t move here” “just leave” rhetoric
Detailed Version of Review
- Susan Michelle South “loved” Stop-the-Steal rallies against our democracy based on claims of election fraud proven false by our justice system.
2. South’s support of extremist rhetoric across multiple platforms. See Understanding Social Media in Kanab: Groups, Pages & Individuals for more info. The platforms include Kanab/Fredonia Rant and Rave, Kanab Patriots and individuals on those platforms or personal pages frequently posting extremist rhetoric (Bill Murphy, Clifford Henry Smart, Kenneth Guinn and Wendy Williams in South’s case). The rhetoric includes
- Distrust of everything, media and politicians in particular
- Distrust science
- Public safety measures are attack on freedom and just the beginning to more
- False narratives and conspiracy theories about social justice protests and the pandemic including
- Black lives can’t matter to YOU if you don’t address the black children killed by gang violence
- Black lives can’t matter to YOU if you don’t address the black-on-black crime
- Black lives murdered by police are hundreds times much fewer than black lives murdered by other black civilians
- After Biden elected all protests & riots gone and no one cares about George Floyd anymore
- Black unborn lives don’t matter
- Black cop’s lives don’t matter
- My black conservative friend’s lives don’t matter
- Black veterans lives don’t matter
- Black business owners lives don’t matter
- Blamed Black Lives Matter protesters for vandalized statue of Black veterans and black abolitionists when it was groups of people angry at other statue removal/vandalism lashing out at Black Lives
- Blamed BLM protestors for killing black police officers, citizens, burn/loot/murder narrative…not BLM
- Nurses/doctors heros now but will soon be hated because they took an oath that all lives matter
- Covid safety out the window for social justice warriors who burn, loot & murder
The evidence of South’s support of extremist rhetoric is posted in chronological order
Sept 4, 2020. South liked Smart’s lashing out with ridicule (don’t tell me that…) and using false narratives or equivalencies (gang violence, black on black crime) in attempts to discredit social justice and local advocates. Note to all: don’t use “black on black crime”, ever. Intra-racial crime is always higher than inter-racial crime, i.e, white on white crime. Clifford Henry Smart, pastor in Fredonia, prolifically posts extremist rhetoric on his personal page, see Series: Expose and Expel or Expose and Reform? Religious Leaders for more on Clifford Smart and how to report.
Sept 7, 2020. South liked William’s post (full post left, reaction right) revealing the extremist rhetoric distrust in everything (media, politicians, science), false narratives (pandemic, social justice, riots, crime), and call for ALL to stand up to drain swamp. These are all attempts to discredit social justice activity, anger neighbors and promote fear.
Oct 3, 2020. South “loved” Guinn’s celebration of Proud Boys just following Trump’s announcement for them to “Stand back and Stand by”. The Proud Boys were always listed as an “alt-lite” division of the far-right nationalist movement, not white supremacists. The homepage has a chart for this and there is an explanation of these groups near end of the blog-post Understanding Social Media in Kanab: Groups, Pages & Individuals. The Proud Boys terrorized social justice demonstrators throughout the summer and involved in Capitol Insurrection https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/us/proud-boys-capitol-riot.html
Nov 7, 2020. South loved Taylor’s post of extremist rhetoric (full post right, reaction excerpt on left) including false narratives and promoting division. Accordingly, Susan Michelle South supports that Biden is a pedophile, a corrupt, forked-tongue, senile Swamp Monster, that media are liars, and she “can’t stand ANY other democrat”. She loved the long list of mostly invalid accomplishments of Trump and referring to Trump as the most under-appreciated president in history.
Nov 13th See #1 above–Stop the Steal
Nov 15, 2020. South loved Guinn’s share from Mooth of Trump accomplishments (full post left, reaction excerpt right). This by itself is of no concern. However, one should always consider the quality of content, the person who posted and others who like it. In this case, there are several inaccuracies, the person who posted, Guinn, is known for posting extremist rhetoric on KFRR and the others that love it, well, Murphy also known see Understanding Social Media in Kanab: Groups, Pages & Individuals and Schwilk see Kanab “Patriots” at the Capitol Insurrection and Local Law Enforcement Praise
Dec 23, 2020. South liked Murphy’s false statement that since the election No one cares about George Floyd and that all riots and antifa are gone. This not only falsely equates riots and antifa with the global social justice movement for Black Lives, it ignores the protests, riots and antifa continued action because of the election and the continued demonstrations and legal advancement for George Floyd and against Chauvin. All extremist rhetoric to dismiss reality and fuel anger and apathy.
Jan 13, 2021: South liked Murphy’s post of Dinesh D’Souza’s podcast denying any complicity of Trump inciting the Capitol Insurrectionists. D’Souza refers to the US legal process of impeachment “even dumber than the first”, claims that the news is not playing Trump’s full speech and they were, and limiting source of incitement to the speech alone. Ignoring our Justice System’s finding of no election fraud and invalidating Trump’s claims, Trump advertised a “Save America” rally on the day of the electoral ratification, encouraged those in congress to invalidate electoral count with his fraudulent claims and then sent ralliers to the location where ratification was happening. Again, consider who posted it, Murphy, the content (more about DSouza https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/dinesh-dsouza-is-making-a-comeback/567233/) and the point.
3. Susan Michelle South’s engagement with local extremist FB page “Kanab Patriots”. See Kanab FB Page “Kanab Patriots” Recruits and Radicalizes Extremists for more info
4. South supports “Don’t move here” “just leave” rhetoric, specifically Trenity Gibbs comment (left image) “We don’t need to be regulated by a bunch of Democrat Biden voting California morons” to Robert Brissette’s original post (right). South recently moved to Kanab from Dallas, Texas. Robert Brissette is nationally famous for his assault on two older women sign waiving for Black Lives in October 2020 https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/trump-supporter-coughs-on-blm-protestors-in-kanab-utah
Kanab Utah Right Watch 
I was going to ask you to take Loretta Ozga off the list, too, as she does so much community service in Kanab, delivering twice or thrice weekly Utah Food Bank and Kanab Cares food to residents in need. Although I have personally heard her use racist language about black folks, esp in Chicago, she also has served a black family here with food bank. I think she is in denial of systemic racism, perhaps owing to her background in the Chicago PD. She says things like “The civil rights movement ended a long time ago, so get over it” about black Americans. Yup. I do think she doesn’t fundamentally understand subtle racism and systemic racism. She is, however, a good person in other ways and does so much community service with the Food Bank deliveries and picks up trash at the reservoir and helps out in so many ways in our community like buying up gift certs to our local restaurants to give as Christmas presents and help keep restaurants afloat during COVID-19. Her good gestures may not compensate for her bigotry, but I would like to give her a chance at being removed from your list.
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I appreciate your attention, compassion and stories about good deeds. Please remember that the hatewatch criteria are objective and not countered by deeds. Given decades old FBI warning that right-extremist are the #1 threat, the shift in characteristics of the far-right to include mainstream people, current alerts of threats to politicians and journalists by new-right individuals not affiliated with far right groups (alt-lite, militia or white supremacists), then people who have engaged in far-right activity and fit the characteristics make the list. I’m glad to see that Loretta is doing good deeds for the community. The Portland Anarchists (the ones doing direct action–provoking police response, breaking windows) are indeed on watchlists and also do amazing community mutual aid work getting so much free stuff to people in need. For Loretta: there are no observed public social media interactions, there are observed public interactions with extremists and with extremist rhetoric, she shares these characteristics with the new-right: over 34, white, white collar, law enforcement background, and unknown: financial problem history, christian theocratic, ties with far-right groups. So, the public events she attended were the 89/89A MAGA rallies. She could have stood on her own corner if she didn’t share the values of Steve’s group and was just there to support police. However, she stood with signs of extremist rhetoric, stayed with chants of extremist rhetoric, stayed when individuals accosted by Steve & his men, stayed when homophobic slurs shouted at LBGTQ individuals and/or supporters, and attended more than once.
I do not think people are complex, I think figuring them out is complex. For example: I’m probably on watchlists because of my activities and I straddle the left/far-left line being DSA but not Anarchist or Communist. Figuring out where I stand may be complex but if I went on a march with the Anarchists then you’d know where I stand. If I joined in with John Sullivan when Black Lives Matter Activists excluded hime, then you’d know where I stand. Should I be on a watchlist? sure. Should I expect to be removed after some time passes and I haven’t engaged with the left extremists? absolutely! Will the same happen with KURW Hatewatch? yes.
I hope that helps. Back to Loretta: I hope she continues good work within the community and distances influence of extremists because the Corsons and Jeff Schwilk are certainly negative influence for her and maybe you can help her make better decisions.
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