I am Alexandria Brown, a dominatrix who recently published a book on my relationship to Charlottesville organizer and former neo-Nazi candidate for U.S. Senator—Augustus Sol Invictus. AMA.

Given that his normal name is ridiculous as fuck, how did you come up with a slave name for him that was adequately insulting given his total lack of shame?

I actually never dominated Augustus in a sexual sense (though I felt I did so when we argued philosophy sometimes). I was very submissive in relation to him, so if anything he called me pet names, not vice versa. However, I did sometimes have the urge to call him on the phone and just repeat his name over and over in the voice of a pro wrestling announcer or a metal singer. Try saying it in that voice—it's pretty great.

Sol Invictus basically means “unconquered sun” in Latin and was a late Roman god. Augustus means basically the same thing as the modern word august: majestic in a royal sense. It was a common Roman name as most people probably know. Edit: To clarify based on some comments, it was a common Roman epithet worn by many emperors over the centuries as an homage to the OG Augustus, adopted son of Julius Caesar and the first emperor of Rome. When I say common name, I don’t mean people were walking around calling themselves Augustus, so styling himself with it in 2018 is just as absurd as using the name of a god.

To apply those names to yourself in 2018 is a sure sign of insanity, and the dangerous, messianic kind at that.

I imagine him walking around his house in roman armor speaking pig Latin to himself In the mirror while talking in third person to his close associates

His accent when he gives speeches sort of sounds like Foghorn Leghorn doesn't it? https://i.imgur.com/cgrXdZl.jpg

When did you decide to speak out?

Well, I decided to speak out as soon as I learned about the domestic violence allegations. I should be clear that Augustus never hurt me physically—his ex-fiancée Victoria, with whom he was also involved during the time we were close, is the person who alleged that he was committing domestic violence against her. After I'd stopped talking to Augustus, she contacted me in the middle of the night because she saw a note on his calendar that said "ANNIHILATE VICTORIA." She was afraid for her life, and told me about everything he had done. (There is audio of her describing it here: https://soundcloud.com/alexandria-fanella-brown/victoria-rices-statement )

That was when I decided to speak out—right from the very moment I knew. As a domestic violence survivor myself, I knew that I couldn't just sit by and watch this happen to a 19-year old girl, even if I loved Augustus very much.

Did you and Victoria know about each other during the time you were both involved with him?

Yes we did. It was a non-monogamous relationship, and she and I were friends. Later on in the relationship, he became more committed to Victoria—they were going to get married—so any time I was intimate with him, she would also be present. I never felt I was competing with her, though. We played very different roles.

What was the turning point for you, when you recognized you had to ditch your loyalty to the personal relationship with him, and focus on exposing him instead? What all factored into that?

It was a complicated process. Technically, once I learned that he was a fascist, I didn't see him in person again—and once I learned he was allegedly committing domestic violence, I knew I had to expose him. At the same time, that was a decision based on ethical principle, and it didn't immediately change my feelings for Augustus. So I wavered back and forth a lot—for several months, I would continue to text message or e-mail him when I got drunk, even though I had asked my lawyer to tell Augustus never to contact me again. I would tell him I loved him, or apologize, or just talk to him about whatever was on my mind, because I missed him. But I also continued to fight that impulse in order to make it clear that I did not endorse his alleged violence.

That fight was very important to me even in relation to my friendship with Augustus. I felt that I owed it to him as a friend, on some level, not to let him sink so low as to beat a girl, and to hold him accountable in some way. Nietzsche says that you should not necessarily always show compassion to a friend just because they are your friend, and that is how I feel about the situation that unfolded with Augustus.

I'm a member of my local BDSM community, and I have to say I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, I dislike the "alt-right" as much as anyone, and think this guy is slime and his views are horrendous. Also, I think the allegations against him deserve serious investigation and should absolutely be looked into, and every bit of testimony regarding that, including yours, absolutely should come out and be taken seriously when it does.

Okay, so I've prefaced this, now let me get to what I'm less than enthusiastic about. For those not aware, in the BDSM community, at least the portion of it I have experienced, we have a sort of unofficial rule against "outing" someone as being involved in BDSM. We have this rule for multiple reasons. Law enforcement in many areas isn't accommodating to alternate lifestyles (in some places, even so much as spanking your wife with her consent can be construed as assault), many places are prejudiced against those involved in BDSM (a person could lose their job, or custody of their child), and while things like open relationships are starting to gain some traction in society as a whole, many see it as infidelity, a damning offense in many social circles.

It's somewhat comparable (albeit with distinct differences, as well) to outing someone as gay.

Elsewhere in this post, you have said that Augustus never hurt you physically, so it would seem that your BDSM dynamic with him was unrelated to the accusations of abuse being placed against him. Why, then, are you "outing" him, when you could simply stick with the relevant facts - things specifically pertaining to his alleged spousal abuse?

I'm not sure I understand this question. How am I outing Augustus as anything? I mention I'm a dominatrix mainly to pre-empt someone "exposing" me as one. When I helped publicize the allegations, Augustus outed me as a sex worker to his neo-Nazi followers and defamed me by claiming I was pimping out his ex Victoria by feeding her meth, which led to a campaign of harassment and threats from them which both traumatized me and ultimately made it impossible for me to work at all, for a long time up to present day. He repeatedly used my status as a sex worker to try to discredit the allegations, even though to do so implies that sex workers are inherently untrustworthy and/or that sex workers are impossible to assault because they've "asked for it."
A recent example of his bullshit is here: http://therevolutionaryconservative.com/blog/lesbian-sex-scorched-earth-campaigns/

That's the part I wasn't getting. Thank you for filling this in.

In the future, when you talk about this, might I suggest that you bring this up sooner? Your response seems much more reasonable when it's clear that he was the one responsible for the "outing", rather than the other way around.

Thanks, that's a good idea. I'll keep that in mind. The thing is I am not really ashamed of being a sex worker, nor am I as invested in hiding it as many might be. So I think I just completely forget about how hard he tried to make me feel embarrassed about it sometimes.

Augustus joined the Republican party and tried out a failed primary bid again in Florida. Do you think White Nationalists are finding a home in the GOP?

That's a good question. My understanding is that a GOP insider named William H. Regnery II helped to create Richard Spencer as a public phenomenon, due to his concerns about whites becoming a minority in the United States.

I think that the set of values currently espoused by the Republican party has always been overlapping with the values of white supremacy. Although our country is a grand experiment in democracy, the founding fathers themselves were slave owners who were to a degree complicit with a white supremacist society. It was hard for them to fully live out their ideals of democracy and equality, even though they seemed to aspire to do so. In a very general sense, I think white nationalism has had a home in all of American politics historically, and will continue to have one until we push it out.

Specifically, I think that there is backlash against 8 years under Barack Obama, which has certainly inspired white nationalists to speak out more vocally and made them feel they have support among the masses. Today, a lot of more moderate Republicans seem to be finding that while they are not so zealous as the alt-right, they're still willing to turn a blind eye to the movement—so long as alt-righters don't interfere with their own interests.

When fringe groups bent on violence/racism/oppression appear, such as Gamer Gate, the Proud Boys, and the alt-right, there seems to be a somewhat dismissive reaction that can basically be summed up as "Look at these silly, impotent virgins" (see /r/beholdthemasterrace for a reddit example).

Recently, however, some such as Senior Vice gaming report Patrick Klepak have come out and said that perhaps dismissing Gamer Gate allowed it to grow into something that, for a time at least, had real impact on people's lives, spread a lot of hate, and caused a lot of pain.

As someone who has been close to these figures and sexually intimate with them, and how has experience as a sex worker, do you think the dismissal of these fringe hate groups is helpful or hurtful? Do you think there is a connection between sexual frustration and joining such a group? Do you find you have sex work clients that fit this pattern?

This is a great question. I have had this exact experience you describe—a community of people in a libertarian Facebook group who were initially very supportive of my story ultimately became rather cruel in how they reacted to me talking about it, because, they said, Augustus was just a "silly goth LARPer" who I am enabling by taking so seriously.

It's hard to say whether dismissal is helpful or not as a rule. I think the question needs to be more specific—what type of dismissal, of which specific groups, in what context? I obviously believe that completely dismissing Augustus is not wise. I feel that many of these men will fade away when ignored, but others are a ticking time bomb. If I had to guess, I'd group Augustus in the latter category. Immediately after I learned he was a fascist, I entertained the idea of trying to validate him and engage him further in conversation to try to change his views, but I realized that was futile pretty quickly.

I do think there's a connection between sexual frustration and joining this type of group. Men are taught that their prowess with women is one of the fundamental determinants of their worth as a man, yet we live in a world where 1) it's often pretty hard for men to find intimacy even if they try, and also 2) men are told that they are only allowed to want sex, not emotional intimacy and vulnerability. This sets them up for failure, since not tons of women really want to be with a completely emotionally illiterate man. When you join a fringe group like this, you are able to derive your sense of masculinity from other sources than the approval of women—especially since these groups tend to diminish women's agency, creating a sort of world where the man can act as he likes completely regardless of the thoughts or opinions of women around him.

I have definitely had sex work clients who fit the reactionary and/or incel stereotype. Sometimes they are extremely hateful towards me, and act like I am a predator who forces men to give me money. Usually, though, it's not that harsh. When I sense a client is sort of on the fringes of society and genuinely has a serious lack of social skills, I try my best to validate their emotions without either endorsing any pathological views they might have, or embarrassing them by making it too obvious that they are emotionally vulnerable. I often get to successfully challenge some of their attitudes about gender and sexuality in the conversations I have with them, especially if they become regular customers. It's a fun part of my job.

I hope that makes sense!

Given your experience with him, can you think of specific or general set of events that may have influenced him to become facist? Also were there any possible red flags thay you noticed that could have tipped you off that he could be facist (whether prior to your finding out or in hindsight)?

I have answered the question about red flags a little earlier in the comments. However, I want to answer your first question, since that is something I think about a lot.

I am not a professional psychologist, but I think to some degree Augustus has personality traits that are innate to him which contributed to the likelihood of his becoming a fascist. HIs predilection for violence, such as it is, was probably ingrained in him from birth, but then certain life events made it become more activated. However, he was very secretive about any trauma or suffering he had experienced in his life. Even though I knew there definitely was something awful he had gone through in the past, I didn't know what it was at all since he would never talk about it. The only clue I ever got was during the second interview when I asked him about his mother—he said that he had no relationship with her whatsoever, effectively that he had no mother, and completely refused to discuss it. I feel like that might be a sign of something painful.