Current Events > American racist arrested for shooting protesters in Chile

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/11/john-cobin-chile-shooting-protesters-video/

John Cobin, a U.S.-born economist and former member of a neo-Confederate group, is so passionate about a free market and about Chile that he has devoted the past two decades to marrying the two.

But Cobins unusual story took a violent turn this weekend, when he drove through one of the many crowds that have paralyzed Chile in recent weeks as they protest income inequality and a high cost of living.

The 56-year-old was arrested Sunday, police said, after he repeatedly fired a gun into a crowd in the beachside town of Reaca, seriously injuring at least one person.

I did not do anything wrong, Cobin said in a video filmed just before his arrest. It was very dangerous, very scary time for me. Thankfully, I had my gun to be able to defend myself."

After speeding his pickup truck through a crowd of people, video of the scene shows, Cobin shot his gun at demonstrators five times.

The shocking incident underscores the violence that Chilean protesters have been facing at the hands of their government, and occasionally other civilians. As of Friday, at least 20 people have been killed and about 1,600 have been injured, according to human rights observers, as crowds face water cannons and tear gas and pellets are shot in close range.

The protests erupted in mid-October, when student-led strikes against a metro fare increase quickly widened into massive anti-government demonstrations that blocked off streets and set subway stations aflame. Even as the Chilean government reshuffled its cabinet and increased taxes on the wealthy, crowds have continued to rail against decades of neoliberal economic policies, including the privatization of water, highways and the pension system.

It was those policies that first made Chile such an attractive destination for staunch free-market Americans like Cobin.

A professor with a PhD in public policy, he moved his family to Chile in 1996, setting up a business to help other recent arrivals from the Anglophone world and teaching courses at Andrs Bello National University.

In the United States, he had grown sick of political correctness, eroding family values and high taxes, and his attempts at political relevancy had proved futile. He had participated in the League of the South, a neo-Confederate hate group, and failed in his libertarian bid for a U.S. congressional seat in South Carolina. Days before the election, he was arrested on charges of domestic violence.

In Chile, however, he emerged as a prolific conservative commentator, hosting a talk radio show called Red Hot Chile, traveling to every major town around the country and remarrying a Chilean woman. He dubbed himself the biggest neoliberal in the entire country. (Chilean media outlets would later describe him as a white supremacist.)

In 2012, he helped three other Americans found a libertarian compound in the mountains, Galts Gulch, named for the fictional capitalist haven in Ayn Rands Atlas Shrugged. Cobin quickly split and founded a competing sustainable farm and libertarian compound, called Freedom Orchard.

A brochure for the mountainside compound advertised an idyllic 400-unit paradise, where liberty-loving people from all over the world could enjoy low taxes, organic produce, and freedom from intrusive and abusive government meddling. One group, however, was not welcome on his orchard: liberals from the United States.

Youve already messed up your country, Cobin told Mother Jones in 2014. We dont need you.

In countless interviews and letters to the editor, he also expressed a particular admiration for the anti-communist policies of Augusto Pinochet, Chiles disgraced former military dictator.

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crazy capitalists
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Antifar posted...

It was very dangerous, very scary time for me. Thankfully, I had my gun to be able to defend myself."

Antifar posted...

In the United States, he had grown sick of political correctness, eroding family values and high taxes, and his attempts at political relevancy had proved futile.

Antifar posted...

Days before the election, he was arrested on charges of domestic violence.

Antifar posted...

In 2012, he helped three other Americans found a libertarian compound in the mountains, Galts Gulch, named for the fictional capitalist haven in Ayn Rands Atlas Shrugged.

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all this over bus-faire?

Sounds like a loon.
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Milkman5 posted...

all this over bus-faire?

It's rather troubling that that's your main takeaway from this

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This is the lifestyle libertarians pine for
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I didnt realize this was still going on. Im genuinely confused why people have been rioting for weeks over bus faire. How much did they raise it by?

Antifar posted...

In the United States, he had grown sick of political correctness, eroding family values and high taxes, and his attempts at political relevancy had proved futile. He had participated in the League of the South, a neo-Confederate hate group, and failed in his libertarian bid for a U.S. congressional seat in South Carolina. Days before the election, he was arrested on charges of domestic violence.

In Chile, however, he emerged as a prolific conservative commentator, hosting a talk radio show called Red Hot Chile, traveling to every major town around the country and remarrying a Chilean woman. He dubbed himself the biggest neoliberal in the entire country. (Chilean media outlets would later describe him as a white supremacist.)

In 2012, he helped three other Americans found a libertarian compound in the mountains, Galts Gulch, named for the fictional capitalist haven in Ayn Rands Atlas Shrugged. Cobin quickly split and founded a competing sustainable farm and libertarian compound, called Freedom Orchard.

A brochure for the mountainside compound advertised an idyllic 400-unit paradise, where liberty-loving people from all over the world could enjoy low taxes, organic produce, and freedom from intrusive and abusive government meddling. One group, however, was not welcome on his orchard: liberals from the United States.

Youve already messed up your country, Cobin told Mother Jones in 2014. We dont need you.

In countless interviews and letters to the editor, he also expressed a particular admiration for the anti-communist policies of Augusto Pinochet, Chiles disgraced former military dictator.

A very fine person indeed.

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So just your typical broken-brained american
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That's what Squadder has been up too....
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Lock him up, yeet the key.
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Galts Gulch what a fucking dweeb
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That's a former racist (he married a Chilean woman), however it is still political violence and thus he still need to get his punishment under Chilean law.
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Hop103 posted...

That's a former racist (he married a Chilean woman)

I don't get how that makes him any less racist.

Richard Spencer was once married to a Black woman, I believe.

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U.S A.
U.S.A.
U.S.A.

/s
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I can't believe an American racist would be a fascist. Shocked, shocked.

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man some of you are rabid for reasons to hate america
it's a messy place, but god damn, what's wrong with you?
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Antifar posted...

he repeatedly fired a gun into a crowd in the beachside town of Reaca, seriously injuring at least one person.

Antifar posted...

It was very dangerous, very scary time for me. Thankfully, I had my gun to be able to defend myself."

Merica
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the dudes mindset is one heavily influenced by american ideaologies. he's basically the american right made manifest. he's the action to everyone else's talk. of course bringing up america is valid in light of that context

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With whats currently going on I dont think theyre going to be showing him much leniency
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