Who Is Reclaim Colorado (@ReclaimColorado)? – Colorado Springs Anti-Fascists

Reclaim Colorado is a moniker Lakewood, CO neo-Nazis Joshua Yeakel and Russell Frankland use to coalition with other fascists and right-wingers. The duo previously organized under the banner of Defend Denver until their twitter account was apparently compromised.

This post will provide background into the duo’s activism, prove that @ReclaimColorado is indeed them, and provide insight into what to expect from them.

For additional information, see our posts about Josh and Russell’s previous front group Defend Denver, and the individual write-ups about them.

Russell Frankland was seen protesting the Douglas County Pride Event on August 28th, 2023 alongside a group of self-identified Proud Boys, and in parallel to a bloc of Patriot Front and Active Club members, and a large group of about 70 men from the non-profit Able Shepard.

Russell Frankland seen protesting at Douglas County Pride. He is easily identified by his… distinct hat.

The Twitter account @ReclaimColorado posted photos from that same protest bloc, which was separate from Patriot Front and Able Shepard.

Note that the man behind mr. Skull Mask is wearing a Proud Boys Maine shirt:

Reclaim Colorado’s very first follower is Russell Frankland and the account operates identically to their previous Defend Denver accounts.

The recent alliance with this new batch of Proud Boys is interesting, as it is not Josh and Russell’s first relationship with the fascist group. Josh and Russell had previously worked with the Mile High Proud Boys to counter Drag Queen Story Time at Mile High Comics but ended up doxxing members of the Mile High Proud Boys on their blog after butting heads.

A labeled group photo of the September 29th, 2019 anti-LGBTQIA+ demonstration outside of Mile High Comics. Nate Wicker’s ID comes courtesy of Josh and Russell.

Josh and Russell publicly outted Mile High Proud Boy President Nate Wicker on their blog back in 2020.

What To Expect From Reclaim Colorado?

Josh and Russell aren’t very strong or physically aggressive and probably won’t try to fight you, but they will run to the cops to do their violence for them if they can. They are unafraid of showing their faces in public, and appear to even get a sense a of satisfaction from showing up alongside right-wingers who don’t want to be associated with neo-Nazis. In one instance, they goaded an anti-fascist into physically retaliating their komrade, then ran to the police and showed up to all of their court dates to intimidate them.

Expect to be filmed by them. They will try to dox you if they can. They are not particularly skilled researchers, but will leverage arrests to find information about anti-fascists. If you are doxxed by them, let us know and we will try our best to help.

Reclaim Colorado, fortunately, are not very adept organizers. They have publicly called for three different demonstrations that no one showed up to that we know of. This is not to say that they are not a threat, but something to keep in the back of your mind.

They will be slimy and misogynistic to women and femmes.

They are notorious liars and will deny being white supremacists to coalition with other right-wingers. They will either outright deny their racism, or deflect by saying evidence of their racism is old and should be disregarded. Here are receipts (recent and older) that they are who we say they are: