On Twitter, the official Mumford & Sons account tweeted: “We wish you all the best for the future, Win, and we love you man.” He continued, “I hope in distancing myself from I am able to speak my mind without them suffering the consequences.” “I could remain and continue to self-censor but it will erode my sense of integrity.” My love, loyalty and accountability to them cannot permit that,” he added. “For me to speak about what I’ve learnt to be such a controversial issue will inevitably bring my bandmates more trouble. Mumford & Sons' Banjoist "Taking Time Away From the Band" After Andy Ngo Praise Controversy The truth is that my commenting on a book that documents the extreme far left and their activities is in no way an endorsement of the equally repugnant far right,” Marshall writes. “I have spent much time reflecting, reading and listening. He expands on his initial apology but also says he could not continue to “self-censor” his views. In a post on Medium, Marshall outlined the reasons he is leaving the band he had been a part of since it was founded in 2007. I urge you to listen to this book and judge the facts for yourself.Winston Marshall, the banjoist and guitarist of Mumford & Sons, has quit the Grammy-winning British band months after provoking a fan and public backlash following his support for a book by right-wing provocateur Andy Ngo. Having read Ngo’s book I now know the ideological training that is behind that conversation, which left me deeply disturbed for days: training that specifically teaches antifa members how to avoid questions such as do you support violence? And, what do your leaders say about violence? I believe Andy Ngo has shone the light of truth into a dark corner of America. I myself encountered the evasive tactics Ngo talks about when I had the misfortune of having a conversation with an antifa member online on a popular social media platform this person is is a relative of a friend of mine. Ngo proves that all these statements are untrue. Antifa would tell us they’re not an organisation, that they have no leaders, and they are merely against fascists. And Ngo is surprisingly compassionate towards this group of zealots who beat him nearly to death. Andy Ngo’s journalistic integrity is unquestionable: he backs every fact up with sources and dates and detailed information, unlike so many journalists these days who simply parrot party lines. This book is a sterling piece of journalism from a writer who suffered a beating at the hands of Antifa and then bravely went into the Seattle Chaz zone incognito, on his own, without any backup, when the Seattle officials were preventing the police from going into Chaz to police it. I hope however that other accounts will appear so we can begin to understand what's going on here. Putting my above criticisms aside, this is an important account of recent events and it has much insight into the tactics of the group which seems to have been successful at inspiring its followers into action. There is not enough exploration of why protesters who break the law are not being prosecuted and why supposed long-suffering citizens are still voting for politicians who encourage non-enforcement. His telling, in his own words, of parts of the history of fascism in Europe during the last century is somewhat excruciating. (All this is understandable after what he's suffered whilst reporting the story.) He gives a very cold-hearted account of the horrible death in Minneapolis. I felt the second half of his book was tainted with bitterness, score-settling, and 'the reporter becoming the story' stuff. His Afterward was a lovely piece too reminding us of the value of free speech and thought. His account of the events at the East Precinct in Seatle was an excellent bit of journalism. If Dwight Eisenhower were here right now, he’d be characterized as a leftie peacenik by both sides. As an old school Democrat child of the 60s who doesn’t get this new breed of self-appointed conformist enforcing thought police who identify as “dem-prog.” and someone who doesn’t condone violence who’s absolutely not a Trump guy, and a survivor of a much lesser degree of attack by members of same organization (that’s illustrated in this book), I’m troubled. I wish Andy had read the book for this recording. I listened through twice simply because Andy Ngo is such a fantastic, well researched author, writing on what’s perhaps the most important subject of these times. Probably the worst piece of literate to be read by a British person, especially one who starts every sentence with overly-punctuated words and finishes most with words that are whispered. Hard to listen through for me because of once again, choice of narrator.
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