Since June 2020, the Placer County For Trump Facebook group has organized truck caravans to support Donald Trump in the Sierra Nevada foothills northeast of Sacramento, and the demonstrations have continued beyond the failed Jan. 6 insurrection and Jan. 20 inauguration of President Biden.
The truck caravans and other events, including a March 21 “MAGA Wedding,” have provided a welcoming community for Trump loyalists to rub shoulders with Proud Boys — the nationalist street gang whose members face conspiracy charges in the Capitol siege — while also nurturing relationships between the party base and leadership. The private Facebook group for Placer County For Trump has attracted a robust 4,600 members, drawing energy from a steady run of events, most recently a Memorial Weekend parade from Rocklin, in Placer County, to the state capitol.
Chelsea Knight, one of seven admins for the Placer County For Trump Facebook group and one of the group’s most ardent promoters, is also linked to a channel on the social-media platform Telegram that aggressively pushes Nazi propaganda. The “Mr. and Mrs. Knight” channel on Telegram uses a profile photo of Chelsea Knight and her husband, Victor, that is modified so that both have laser eyes while substituting a backdrop with a full moon and barren mountain-scape. The “Info” field for the channel includes the text “14 things and 88 more,” utilizing two numbers that are significant in the Nazi belief system. “14” references the “Fourteen Words,” a distillation of white supremacist ideology that was coined by the late David Lane while he was serving a prison system for his role in the murder of Jewish talk radio host Alan Berg. “88” is a numerical code for “Heil Hitler,” substituting “88” for “HH” as the eighth letter of the alphabet. “Victorious Knight” and “Mrs. Knight” are the admins of the “Mr. and Mrs. Knight” channel. Beyond the similarities between “Victorious” and “Victor,” the username for “Mrs. Knight” is @Chelsea_Jo_Knight, matching the name of the Placer County For Trump organizer. Continue reading.