一名来自内华达州的国会候选人运营着一个充斥着种族歧视言论、淡化纳粹德国以及为白人民族主义阴谋论辩护的在线论坛。
A congressional candidate from Nevada operates an online forum that's rife with posts containing racial slurs, minimizations of Nazi Germany and defenses of white nationalist conspiracy theories.
智慧·豪威尔，布赖恩·斯洛迪斯科 华盛顿 — — 在参加国会选举之前，马蒂·奥唐纳早已是热门“光环”电子游戏系列的获奖音乐作曲家。
WISDOM HOWELL, BRIAN SLODYSKO WASHINGTON — Long before running for Congress Marty O’Donnell was an award-winning music composer for the popular “Halo” video game franchise.
他的作品吸引了大批粉丝加入一个在线论坛，而这位内华达州共和党人试图将其转化为一种凝聚力量，以期在拉斯维加斯地区一个可能决定众议院控制权的选区击败一名民主党人。奥唐纳实际上担任该群体的领导人，自称为其“仁慈的独裁者”，同时从成员那里筹集竞选资金，并利用他们的热情支持他的竞选。本月，竞选团队在一家赌场为论坛成员举办了为期两天的活动，内容包括电子游戏比赛、小组讨论和演讲。
His work drew legions of fans to an online forum, which the Nevada Republican has tried to turn into a galvanizing force as he tries to unseat a Democrat in a Las Vegas area district that could help decide House control O’Donnell has served as the group’s de facto leader, referring to himself as its “benevolent dictator” while tapping its members for campaign cash and harnessing their enthusiasm in his bid. The campaign held a two-day event for forum members this month at a casino that included a video game tournament, panel discussions and speeches.
然而，“马蒂军队”这一名称背后还有另一面。美联社对该论坛在2022年至2026年间发布的数千条帖子进行审查后发现，其中充斥着种族歧视言论、对纳粹德国的淡化以及为白人民族主义阴谋论的辩护。
There is another side, however, to what is known as “The Marty Army.”An Associated Press review of thousands of posts made on the forum between 2022 and 2026 found racial slurs, minimizations of Nazi Germany and defenses of white nationalist conspiracy theories.
“这不是只有几个疯子。主流观点是，‘是的，奴隶制应该合法化，’”前群体成员迪肯·达默龙说道，他表示奥唐纳因他称另一名用户为“呆子”而将他禁言。该论坛由奥唐纳及其手挑选的版主控制，其中许多观点与该候选人及其竞选团队所宣扬的一些价值观相悖。例如，奥唐纳一直坚定地捍卫以色列并谴责偏见。
“It wasn’t a couple of crazies. The popular sentiment was, ‘Yes, slavery should be legal,’” said Deacon Dameron, a former group member who said O’Donnell banned him for calling another user a “dork.”Many views espoused in the forum, which is controlled by O’Donnell and his handpicked moderators, are at odds with some of the values articulated by the candidate and his campaign. For example, O’Donnell has staunchly defended Israel and condemned bigotry.
在一份声明中，竞选发言人 Keith Schipper 表示，O’Donnell “在他的论坛上对仇恨持零容忍态度”。自今年春天意识到该问题以来，竞选团队“专门安排了一名工作人员进行监控”，并“清除散布种族主义和反犹太主义言论的人”，Schipper 说。“不幸的是，多年来有些帖子被遗漏了。”
In a statement, campaign spokesman Keith Schipper said O’Donnell “has zero tolerance for hate” in his forum. Since becoming aware of the issue in the spring, the campaign “dedicated a staffer to monitor” and “remove people that spew racist and antisemitic vitriol,” Schipper said. “Unfortunately, some posts have been missed over the years.”
Schipper 表示，近 200 名用户因“仇恨言论”被禁止使用，其中包括许多被美联社标记的人。Marty 对以色列的支持是明确且毫不含糊的，正如他在各种采访和网络帖子中所展示的那样，他不会容忍本国反犹太主义的蔓延。Marty 将继续反对针对以色列的偏见、错误信息和仇恨，因为这是正确且道德的事情。”O’Donnell 获得了总统唐纳德·特朗普的背书，他将在 11 月 3 日的选举中对抗四届众议员 Susie Lee，因为共和党人希望保住他们微弱的多数优势。
Schipper said nearly 200 users have been banned “because of hateful rhetoric, including many of the people flagged by the Associated Press. Marty’s support of Israel is unequivocal and, as seen in various interviews and online posts, he will not tolerate the rise of antisemitism in our country. Marty will continue to fight bigotry, misinformation, and hate toward Israel because it is the right and moral thing to do.”O’Donnell, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, is running against four-term Rep. Susie Lee in the Nov. 3 election as Republicans look to hang onto their razor-thin majority.
作为共和党人在艰难环境中如何评估自身胜算的一个迹象，他们本周在几场国会选举中削减了支出，其中包括 O’Donnell 的选区。
In a sign of how Republicans are triaging their chances in a tough environment, they pulled back spending this week in a handful of congressional races, including O’Donnell’s.
从《光环》到表情符号辱骂 该聊天群组的大多数评论涉及视频游戏和游戏策略。有一个专门用于讨论 O’Donnell 在“光环”游戏方面工作的板块。O’Donnell 在 2024 年宣布首次参选国会后，当时他在党内初选中排名第四，一些讨论转向了新闻和政策。
From ‘Halo’ to emoji slurs Most of the chat group’s comments concern video games and gaming strategies. A section is reserved for questions about O’Donnell’s work on “Halo” games. After O’Donnell announced his first run for Congress in 2024, when he finished fourth in the party primary, some discussions centered around news and policy.
许多具有冒犯性和争议性的言论出现在对时事、政治或游戏的中性评论的自由发挥的回复中。
Many of the offensive and controversial remarks came in freewheeling replies to otherwise anodyne comments about current events, politics or games.
例如，2022年5月，一名成员写道：“我们支持马蒂。”其他人使用字母表情符号回复该帖子，试图拼出 — — 一个针对黑人的种族歧视性侮辱词，但拼写错误。随后又有更多人加入，使用表情符号字母暗示另一个反黑人种族歧视性侮辱词。由于平台设计限制，用户可能无法正确拼出这些词，因为平台禁止在对一条帖子的反应中多次使用同一个表情符号。
In May 2022, for example, a member wrote, “WE STAND WITH MARTY.”Others reacted to the post using letter emoji to spell out — incorrectly — a racial slur for Black people. More soon chimed in, using emoji letters to invoke another anti-Black slur. Users were likely restricted from properly spelling out such words because, by design, the platform prevents emoji from being used more than once in reaction to a post.
在2025年1月关于言论自由的讨论中，一名论坛成员表达了想使用种族歧视性侮辱词的欲望，但克制了自己，因为“那样不是马蒂想要的关注。”前群组成员达默龙和另一名前用户表示，发帖者依赖暗语，因为更直白的种族主义言论很可能引起管理员的审查。另一名用户因担心报复，要求匿名发言。
During a January 2025 discussion concerning free speech, a forum member expressed a desire to use a racial slur but refrained because “that’s not the attention Marty wants.”Dameron, the former group member, and another former user said posters relied on coded language because more overt racist comments were likely to draw scrutiny from moderators. The other user spoke on condition of anonymity over fears of retaliation.
“马蒂军团”最初是一个粉丝论坛“马蒂军团”最初是一个内部笑话。
“The Marty Army” began as a fan forum“The Marty Army” began as an inside joke.
《光环》游戏的开发者于2001年在一个专门致力于该游戏的网站上创建了该聊天室。他们选择的名称旨在唤起一个狂热粉丝俱乐部的形象，该俱乐部是为华丽摇滚乐队Kiss的粉丝而设。奥唐纳加入了该聊天群并接管了论坛的管理权。
Developers of “Halo” created the chat room in 2001 on a website devoted to the game. The name they chose was meant to invoke a club for rabid fans of the glam rock band Kiss. O’Donnell joined the chat group and assumed control of the forum.
他将其迁移到了Discord，一个流行的在线平台。他的候选人网站包含指向该Discord聊天群的链接，他也曾通过自己在社交媒体平台上的账号进行宣传。“嘿，大家！如果你们想参与我竞选国会的活动，可以加入马蒂的军团，”奥唐纳在启动2024年竞选后的一条X帖子中说道。
He relocated it to Discord, a popular online platform. His candidate website contains a link to the Discord chat group, which he has also publicized from his account on the social media platform“Hey all! If you’d like to be part of my run for Congress, you can be part of Marty’s Army,” O’Donnell said in an X post after he launched his 2024 campaign.
奥唐纳多次表示，持有种族主义或反犹太主义观点的用户将被禁止。他也曾多次威胁要删除帖子。
O’Donnell has stated repeatedly that users who espouse racist or antisemitic views will be banned. He also threatened, at times, to delete posts.
美联社发现，一些持有纳粹同情倾向的用户被踢出了论坛，但他们许多的帖子仍然存在。
The AP found some users who espoused Nazi sympathies were kicked off the forum, but many of their posts remain.
一位用户在2024年3月建议，纳粹“曾做过一些好事”，这些好事“完全被他们所做的可怕事情所掩盖”。同一月份，另一位用户问：“希特勒真的就是一个邪恶的人吗？”
A user suggested in March 2024 that the Nazis “did some good things” that were “completely overshadowed by the terrible things they did.”Another that month asked, “Was Hitler really an evil guy?”
“除了大屠杀之外，”该用户补充道，“他真的甚至做错了什么吗？”
“Like aside from the Holocaust,” the user added, “did he really even do anything wrong?”
2月，第三位成员发帖称：“希特勒万岁。”奥唐奈尔表示他戴了一个墨索里尼面具。当代和历史上的法西斯人物也获得了赞同。
In February, a third member posted, “Heil Hitler.”O’Donnell said he wore a Mussolini mask Current and historical fascist figures have also drawn approval.
奥唐奈尔在论坛上写道，他反对法西斯。但他也分享了一张自己佩戴他所说的贝尼托·墨索里尼面具的照片，他表示自己曾在万圣节派对上戴过这个面具。奥唐奈尔的竞选团队否认他曾装扮成墨索里尼。
O’Donnell wrote on the forum that he rejects fascism. But he also shared a photo of himself wearing what he said was a mask of Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator and key Hitler ally, that he wore to a Halloween party. O’Donnell’s campaign denied he dressed up as Mussolini.
“这个面具是近二十年前他参加万圣节恐怖服装的一部分。他购买时它并未被标注为墨索里尼面具，他也并未在节日期间装扮成墨索里尼，”希普尔说。“他之所以购买它，是因为货架上它是最丑陋、最令人毛骨悚然的面具。多年后，他开玩笑地称它为‘墨索里尼面具’，因为他意识到它 vaguelly 看起来有点像墨索里尼。”
“This mask was part of a scary Halloween costume nearly two decades ago. It was not labeled a Mussolini mask when he bought it nor was he dressed up as Mussolini for the holiday,” Schipper said. “He purchased it because it was the ugliest, creepy mask on the shelf. He jokingly referred to it as a ‘Mussolini mask’ years later because he realized it vaguely looked like Mussolini.”
奥唐奈尔今年表示，他当时并不知道反犹太主义的复苏。他在9月接受一家保守派新闻媒体采访时表示，他认为“反犹太主义是我们不必再担心的事情了。”
O’Donnell stated this year that he had been unaware of the resurgence of antisemitism. He told a conservative news outlet in September that he thought “that antisemitism is something we don’t have to worry about anymore.”
“我猜它只是潜入了地下，一直在那里酝酿，”他在接受《华盛顿记者报》采访时补充道。该媒体由共和党政治策划人创立。
“I guess it just went under the surface and it has been percolating there,” he added in the interview with the Washington Reporter, which was founded by Republican political strategists.
奥唐纳德在新闻网站《犹太内幕》报道称他主持了拥有纳粹同情倾向的极右翼影响者查尔斯·科尼什-戴尔，在自己的播客节目《马丁·奥唐纳德秀》之后发表了上述言论。
O’Donnell made the comment after the news site Jewish Insider reported that he hosted Charles Cornish-Dale, a far-right influencer with Nazi sympathies, on his own podcast, “The Marty O’Donnell Show.”
奥唐纳德曾承诺禁止那些鼓吹反犹主义的人。今年春天，奥唐纳德警告论坛用户，如果出现“甚至只是一丝反犹主义”的迹象，相关成员将被“立即封禁”。用户回复他的帖子时使用了一个夸张鼻子的表情符号以及“GOY”——这是一个有时带有贬义的意第绪语词，用于指代非犹太人。
O’Donnell pledged to ban those who espouse antisemitism In the spring, O’Donnell warned users on the forum that if there was “even a hint of antisemitism” the offending member would be “instantly banned.”Users responded to his post with an emoji of an exaggerated nose and “GOY,” a sometimes disparaging Yiddish term for non-Jews.
一些反仇恨组织认为使用鼻子表情符号具有反犹主义意味，而“goy”一词则被一些鼓吹反犹主义观点的人所挪用。
Some anti-hate groups view the use of the nose emoji as antisemitic, while goy is a term that has been appropriated by those who espouse antisemitic views.
美国大学新闻学副教授温迪·梅利洛，她研究极端主义聊天室，表示这些评论显然是“编码化的反犹仇恨言论”。梅利洛表示，她审查的其他帖子则更为直白。
Wendy Melillo, an associate professor of journalism at American University who researches extremist chat rooms, said such comments were clearly “coded antisemitic hate speech.”Melillo said other posts she reviewed were more explicit.
她说：“‘ Heil Hitler ’（希特勒万岁）这类话根本就没有什么‘编码’可言。” “马丁军队”的一些成员意识到该论坛可能构成法律风险。
“There is nothing coded,” she said, “about ‘Heil Hitler.’”Some members of “The Marty Army” are aware the forum could pose a liability.
2024年，一名用户写道，如果有人进行漏洞研究并发现这个服务器，奥唐纳德的政治生涯可能会陷入麻烦。
In 2024, a user wrote that O’Donnell’s political career could face trouble “if someone does a vulnerability study and they find this server.”