A collection of musing, comments and pleas for the future of our lovely town of Berkeley Springs West Virginia. Would you like to join the choir of voices representing the best of Berkeley Springs on this page? Contact us at [email protected].
Peter Brimelow of VDARE has recently come out claiming that VDARE has been "murdered" and is suspending operations. At the Castle Watchers we are skeptical of Peter's claim. As Peter Brimelow himself refutes this by stating that "The Berkeley Springs Castle, which is where we’re filming this, is owned by a separate foundation that is based in West Virginia. It will continue to host Dissident conferences as well as normie events like weddings and so on—if any of you want to get married and battle the Great Replacement."
Peter clearly states that the shell company Berkeley Castle Foundation will continue to host "dissident conferences" as well as "normie events" to "battle the Great Replacement." As many of our readers know "dissident" is a term used by the alt-right, far-right, and other insurrectionist groups that wish to overthrow the American Government such as on January 6th. As detailed on our section on John Derbyshire a self proclaimed member of the dissident right has his expressed a desire for American institutions such as schools to be bombed. The dissident right repeatably makes it clear that they are an un-American extremist group with terroristic intent.
According to Peter Brimelow in regards to VDARE's social media "We do think that our social media, however, will still function." This implies that only the website is being shut down. Their social media will still be active.
While it is good news that Peter and VDARE have decided to shut down one of the most hateful websites on the internet, we have no reason to believe that Peter and Lydia Brimelow are planning on packing up their shop. But rather we suspect that they are planning to re-brand under a banner that has yet to be classified as a hate group. All we can say for now is that their plans include the continued use of the Samuel Taylor Suit and the Berkeley Castle Foundation. We will continue to document the actions of Lydia and Peter Brimelow as well as anyone in the Town of Bath and Berkeley Springs West Virginia who seek to normalize them as a part of our beloved community.
Received August 04 2024 from Berkeley Springs Castle Watchers
People in our lovely community have been feeling increasingly nervous and unsafe due to allegations and accusations tossed around with no evidence. We strongly condemn the opportunistic behavior of people taking advantage of the spreading influence of hate to hurt their fellow community members. It strikes us as odd how much time and energy has been be put into baseless attacks and threats against our own community rather than simply condemning a hate group that is infiltrating our town.
This hostility against people in town is not new. There has been numerous high profile vitriolic attacks against members of our beloved community in recent years. Since 2020 when VDARE first came to our quiet mountain town there has been a rise in terroristic threats and rhetoric. Many in town still remember when David Floyd DeGraw made terroristic threats against the organizers of a small peaceful rally. Leading to his felony arrests when posting such vitriolic statements as "I see you. I'm gonna kill you, not fight not argue kill you."
Or in the Winter of 2021 when according to court documents, a local business owner allegedly attacked another trying to hang a pride flag on their private property to signal all are welcome and hate has no home in our hollers.
Now in 2024 people seem increasingly interested in swiftly silencing anyone who speaks up against the hate that has moved to town instead of simply doing what’s right. We are losing our way more and more each day. All it takes evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.
We are the hearts and spirits of Berkeley Springs. We are the people who have made the town one of the most friendly and welcoming places in all of the US. A place that the national media would recommend as one of the best and welcoming tourists spots in the entirety of the US. We must remember who we were before VDARE started taking over our town.
We used to love and care for each other and now we are doing VDARE’s work for them by driving away our historically diverse tourists. Individuals and business owners alike are allowing VDARE to control the future of our economy and culture with our silence.
This is the time for us to stand together against the threat to all of us because if things continue as they have soon we only be known as the Nazi town with a Nazi castle and a destination for only those with hate in their hearts. Berkeley Springs is on the path to become a sundown town. We can't allow this to happen. It will become a place where the pillars of community that keeps the town vibrant and friendly could no longer find home or safety and everything you love about our town will turn sour.
We strongly implore that everyone take a step back and consider the implications of their actions. We must be better than those who sow conflict to tear us apart. We know that many are afraid of speaking out having seen what happens to those who do. We understand that being careful have become a necessity to not become a target of VDARE and its network.
That is why we came up with The Castle Watchers project. A place where everyone in town can safely voice their concerns and experiences with VDARE without fearing punishment for doing so. Its created as a beacon for people to know that they are not alone in their feelings and experiences. We too live under this fear of reprisal and this is why we have gone to great lengths to ensure that both the website and work will continue even if we are personally prevented from updating the website.
Use this beacon that we have lit to find each other and organize to fight this threat to our town. We will be there too. When you are ready to move forward then we can finally begin to step out of the shadows.
Received May 26 2024 from Berkeley Springs Castle Watchers
Since its original founding in 1747 -- then Medicine Springs, our wonderful town of Berkeley Springs have always been known as a place of healing and hope. It has a rich history of being shelter and reprieve from hardships and stress.
In our home they found freedom and restorative forces not simply from the healing waters or our rich connections to historical figures and landmarks. Berkeley Springs was always made great by its people. A community so kind and nurturing that all who would come felt safe and welcome.
Unfortunately this legacy is actively being eroded since VDARE has moved in and since sullied one of our historical landmarks with their hateful rhetoric. Tourism is dwindling and too many people report feeling unsafe in town. We are a family torn apart by a seed of hatred and unless we stop fighting each other and throwing around accusations our lovely little town will simply be remembered as the home of one of the most virulent White Nationalist groups with deep connections to the Tanton Network founded by eugenicist and neo-nazi John Hamilton Tanton.
We must consider the legacy we will leave behind for our children.
Received May 22 2024 from Anonymous in Town of Bath