Robert Evans (journalist)

Evans has produced a variety of content about facets of internet culture, including reporting on 8chan, an anonymous message board, as well as the Gamergate controversy movement, a movement he describes as largely organically generated, with some direction given by white supremacists and extremists with long experience in radicalizing people on internet forums.[13]

Following the March 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, news outlets including Rolling Stone, Vox, and The Atlantic referenced Evans' warning about the nature of the shooter's manifesto. Evans argued that the manifesto was merely a red herring full of references and memes meant to distract observers.[14][15][16] Following the 2019 Poway synagogue shooting, Vox relied on Evans' work to explain how the shooter's manifesto again constituted a 74 page in-joke meant to further radicalize other 4chan /pol/ users.[17]

In a Bellingcat article, Evans discussed the emergence and qualities of the boogaloo movement, a loose-knit group of individuals who express interest in fomenting American civil unrest.[18] Evans says that he became aware of the boogaloo movement when he observed members at 2020 Virginia Citizens Defence League Lobby Day.[19][20]

In early to mid 2020, Evans covered the George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon, beginning in the first days of the protests by taking footage of protesters, counter-protesters, and police and reporting via Bellingcat and other mediums.[21][22] His reporting on these events has been highlighted by the New York Times, which interviewed Evans after the 50th day of protests about the experience of covering the events.[4]

In July, Evans joined a class-action lawsuit against the City of Portland for police use of force at the protests. The suit is non-monetary, seeking instead "declaratory and injunctive relief — asking the court to find the plaintiffs within their rights and to order police to stop brutalizing and unlawfully arresting protesters." Evans joined freelance journalist Bea Lake and housing services specialist Sadie Oliver-Grey as a plaintiff. The suit alleges that police officers were unlawfully violent, stopped journalists from reporting, and interfered with the right to free speech. The suit describes incidents that occurred to Evans including the "police allegedly threatening him with arrest if he did not leave the area, shooting him in the foot with a tear gas grenade and spraying him, and repeatedly shoving him".[23]

On Saturday, August 22, a right-wing protester wielding a baton broke Evans' hand while he was filming.[22] In a conversation with The Guardian, Evans said the right-wing counter-protesters "absolutely came prepared to fight", were "very aggressive from the jump", and were equipped with "knives, guns, paintball guns with frozen pellets, batons".[22]

In August, the song "No Cock Like Horse Cock" became a popular protest song in the Pacific Northwest. It was unclear exactly how it became popularized, but Pepper Coyote, the artist who produced the song, surmised that protesters became aware of his work through a cover song that appeared on Evans' Behind the Bastards.[24]