Discussion

• @davegershgorn Dave Gershgorn on x

  The CEO of a SoftBank-backed surveillance company is a former neo-Nazi who pled guilty to charges connected to a violent hate crime https://onezero.medium.com/...

• @ozm OneZero on x

  NEW: The CEO of Banjo, a surveillance firm that sells to law enforcement agencies nationwide, was once actively involved in white supremacist groups, and participated in a shooting of a synagogue in his youth, documents show. http://read.medium.com/5Cyn0Hl

• @josephfcox Joseph Cox on x

  Turns out the CEO of Banjo, a tech firm we covered that is creating a vast surveillance system in Utah and also previously made fake apps to trick people into handing other social media data, was involved in the shooting of a synagogue; was a Neo Nazi https://onezero.medium.com/.…

• @dlberes @dlberes on x

  Damien Patton, the CEO of a SoftBank-backed surveillance company called Banjo, is a former neo-Nazi who pled guilty to charges connected to a violent hate crime. Read the story on @ozm https://onezero.medium.com/...

• @ryan Ryan Block on x

  Hi, Damien. Hi, everyone with a racist, violent past. No, you don't get to apologize and explain away and walk away from your history. It's your story. But we all get to decide whether your story should be part of *our* collective story. I decide: fuck no.

• @ozm OneZero on x

  A CEO's unreported history of associating with racist groups could be concerning for any company. But it is especially so for a company that markets its product to law enforcement. http://read.medium.com/nt45wkF

• @ozm OneZero on x

  In May 2015, SoftBank invested $100 million into Patton's Utah-based company. Other investors include BlueRun Ventures and Balderton Capital. Banjo now employs nearly 200 workers. http://read.medium.com/5Cyn0Hl

• @ozm OneZero on x

  Patton's association with racist groups extended into adulthood; in testimony he provided against Brown, Patton admitted to fraternizing with skinheads while serving in the U.S. Navy. http://read.medium.com/5Cyn0Hl

• @sarahbmyers Sarah Myers West on x

  Add this to a growing list of surveillance tech companies with white supremacist/reactionary right origins. https://twitter.com/...

• @sivavaid Siva Vaidhyanathan on x

  Please do not ignore the deep connections between Nazis and the surveillance industry. This story makes those connections even more clear. https://twitter.com/...

• @josephfcox Joseph Cox on x

  Here's the context on what this person is building. Feeds of cameras etc into a system to tell cops of events before they realise https://www.vice.com/...

• @cjane87 Jane Coaston on x

  This is a fascinating piece for many reasons, not least because of the people who talked about their transition out of hate. https://twitter.com/...

• @willsommer Will Sommer on x

  The CEO of a tech surveillance company once helped the KKK shoot up a synagogue. Remarkable story from @MattStroud. https://onezero.medium.com/...

• @ozm OneZero on x

  In a statement to @ozm, Patton wrote: “I did terrible things and said despicable and hateful things, including to my own Jewish mother, that today I find indefensibly wrong, and feel extreme remorse for.” http://read.medium.com/5Cyn0Hl

• @bendwalsh Ben Walsh on x

  In 1990, “Patton and a Klan leader took a semi-automatic TEC-9 pistol and drove to a synagogue in a Nashville suburb. With Patton at the wheel, the Ku Klux Klan member fired onto the synagogue” https://twitter.com/...

• @mer__edith Meredith Whittaker on x

  Holy shit. CEO of Palantir competitor Banjo, “actively participated in white supremacist groups in his youth and was involved in the shooting of a synagogue.” Given who's using this tech - ICE, police, etc. - and who's paying the cost, we can't ignore these connections https://tw…

• @willoremus Will Oremus on x

  Scoop from @ozm: The CEO of Banjo, a SoftBank-backed surveillance company, is a former neo-Nazi who was once involved in the shooting of a synagogue. https://onezero.medium.com/...