American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
political activist, best known for founding
One People's Project
One Peoples Project (OPP) is an organisation founded in 2000 to monitor and publish information about alleged racist and far-right groups and individuals, mostly in the United States. The group has about fifteen volunteers in addition to its mo ...
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Somerset, New Jersey
Somerset is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Franklin Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.Franklin High School and served in the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
. Upon returning from the service, he became a part of the punk rock movement, producing two public access programs about the scene as well as political activism, which caused some conflict with his position as a reporter and an editor for local newspapers.
Career
Jenkins has been documenting and writing about right-wing individuals and organizations since 1989, while he was still serving in the Air Force as a police officer. In 2000, he founded One People's Project out of a counter-protest to a rally in Morristown, New Jersey by Richard Barrett of the Nationalist Movement.
After anti-abortion activist
Neal Horsley
Otis O'Neal Horsley, Jr. (April 15, 1944 – April 13, 2015) was a militant anti-abortion activist and Christian Reconstructionist who produced a website called the Nuremberg Files, which provided the home addresses of abortion providers in the U ...
published a website that compiled a list of almost 200 active abortion providers and celebrated any act of violence against the providers and encouraged site visitors to take matters into their own hands, Planned Parenthood sued Horsley and other anti-abortion activists that produced similar tactics with "wanted"-style posters of abortion doctors as being a threat to them.
Although Planned Parenthood won the case they lost on appeal when a federal court ruled that the First Amendment protected the Nuremberg Files. That verdict — although overturned on appeal — paved the way for what would eventually be called "doxxing" in 2001, according to Jenkins in an interview. "We didn't see it as a weapon," he said. "We never used it as a threat. We wanted to be open about what we saw and this allowed us to be open."
One People's Project gained a reputation of publicly documenting
hate groups
A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society. Accord ...
, and their activities, but in addition Jenkins has also gained a reputation for helping neo-Nazis leave those circles behind, among them Bryon Widner, whose story was featured in the documentary '' Erasing Hate'' (2011), which has been turned into a feature-length motion picture titled ''
Skin
Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation.
Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different de ...
'' (2018).
While One People's Project and Jenkins had gained some notoriety over the years, it was not until
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's campaign for the presidency and eventual victory that put him, the organization, and the entire Antifa movement into the spotlight. Jenkins has appeared on numerous television news programs, articles, and documentaries, notably ''
The Montel Williams Show
''The Montel Williams Show'' (also known as ''Montel'') is an American syndicated tabloid talk show, hosted by Montel Williams, which ran from 1991 to 2008.
On January 30, 2008, the end of production of new episodes of ''The Montel Williams S ...
'', ''
A Current Affair
''A Current Affair'' may refer to:
* ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network
* ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...
'', ''
The Rachel Maddow Show
''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (also abbreviated ''TRMS'') is an American liberal news and opinion television program that airs on MSNBC, running in the 9:00 pm ET timeslot Monday evenings. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public p ...
Joy Reid
Joy-Ann M. Lomena-Reid (born December 8, 1968), known professionally as Joy Reid, is an American cable television host, MSNBC national correspondent, liberal political commentator, and author. She hosted the weekly MSNBC morning show, ''AM Joy' ...
. In 2018, the documentary ''Alt-Right: Age of Rage'', which features Jenkins confronting white nationalist Richard Spencer, premiered at South by Southwest. Jenkins identifies as an anarchist.