In late February reports began to circulate on the web alleging that the Second Vermont Republic (SVR) was fostering ties to racist and extremist rightwing organizations and intellectuals. John Odum, a writer for the Green Mountain Daily website (www.greenmountaindaily.com), used information initially gathered by a certain John Rowley, to connect the dots in his damning article ‘Second Vermont Republic Tied To Racists.’

By Natasha Voline

Catamount Tavern News Service, Windsor, Vermont -In late February reports began to circulate on the web alleging that the Second Vermont Republic (SVR) was fostering ties to racist and extremist rightwing organizations and intellectuals. John Odum, a writer for the Green Mountain Daily website (www.greenmountaindaily.com), used information initially gathered by a certain John Rowley, to connect the dots in his damning article ‘Second Vermont Republic Tied To Racists.’

The most damning of the connections involve a number of individuals who serve on the groups Advisory Board. These, including a Marco Bassani, Thomas Dirolenzo, and Jason Sorens. None of these people live in Vermont or have any Vermont ties other than to SVR. CT News has been informed by a source high up in the SVR leadership that all Advisory Board members were appointed by SVR founder and current Chair Thomas Naylor. According to this source, Naylor named these people to the position without any feed back from the organization’s members. Most SVR members, including the leadership under Naylor, did not know who any of these people were until the story broke in Green Mountain Daily. So who are these controversial board members?

SVR Advisory Board member Marco Bassani, a college professor in Milan, is a member of an Italian political party called the Northern League. This party favors the dismemberment of the Italian state, in favor of an independent republic in the industrialized north. The party is overtly racist, xenophobic, and boarder line fascist. Its extreme and violent distain for immigrants resulted in one of the party’s Members of the European Parliament being imprisoned for firebombing an immigrant camp. Party leaders are also quick to use race and nationality as a means to excite crowds and garner votes among Italy’s more reactionary citizens. Party leaders have, among other things, publicly called for forced segregation on trains, keeping immigrants separate from northern Italians. Party leader Umberto Bossi has also called on the Italian military to shoot up any immigrant boats approaching the Italian coast with live ammunition. Giancarlo Gentilini, the former Mayor of Treviso and also a party member, has called on Italians to kill immigrants, who he referred to as slackers. “We should dress them up like hares and bang bang bang,