A wave of fierce progressive democrats will be appearing on the ballots for many states in 2020. However, the antithetical opposition is just as numerous, and Virginia is no exception.
With candidates like Laura Loomer, R-Florida, Lauren Witzke, R-Delaware, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, on the ballot for 2020, it’s become clear that the GOP is headed in a new and uncertain direction. Virginia has received less-than adequate coverage in this context, which is odd considering the current state of affairs.
To understand this phenomenon, you need not look further than but should look very deeply at Mike Dickinson; candidate for Richmond, Virginia City Council’s 1st District.
A self-proclaimed Christian-Mormon, Dickinson is a jack of all trades and a master of none. He’s run the gamut from academia to the private sector, and has repeatedly tried and failed to secure a spot in the public sector.
Dickinson is — without any stretch of the imagination — an eccentric and vexing figure. He has created for himself a spot in Virginia politics that just won’t go away, and is a near-perfect embodiment of what happens when a demagogue like President Donald Trump becomes a party leader.
It’s as if a horrific Tarantino-esque folk tragedy has come alive before the eyes of Virginia’s voting population; the exposition is long & unique, the quantity of characters is numerous and where it ends is more or less ambiguous.
Mike Dickinson is at the center of it all, but is far from the only offender and is arguably not the one most worthy of immediate concern. Dickinson just happens to provide a perfect example of this phenomenon by weaving through the stories and careers of far-right candidates with similar beliefs to his own.
The loudest voice prevails
Media is a big part of Dickinson’s success as a public figure, and it’s deliberately difficult to talk about him without fanning the flames.
From speaking with many sources, it’s clear there are countless adjectives that can be applied to Dickinson. But, in plain verbiage, Dickinson appears to yearn for the limelight in a way eerily similar to — if not inspired by — Donald Trump.
“I do like President Trump a lot,” Dickinson said. “I support that he says what he thinks and doesn’t back down from it — I respect that a lot.”
Perhaps the best example would be Dickinson’s unbridled vocality and contempt against traditional politics, coincided with his affinity towards pulling risqué stunts. Dickinson seems to subscribe to the idea — echoing one of Trump’s core tenets in his 1987 book The Art of the Deal — that sometimes bad publicity is better than no publicity at all.
“If you went back and looked at my tweets from 2013–2014, I would say I was doing Trump’s style before Trump did it.”
Dickinson grew up in the Richmond area, where he attended Hanover High School. As a student, Dickinson wrote editorials for the school newspaper, which were published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch as part of the publication’s “inSync” Program.
After graduating, Dickinson enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University. As a freshman, Dickinson studied mass communications. He claims to have written a few opinion pieces for VCU’s independent student newspaper.
“If you go back and look at the editorials I wrote for the Commonwealth Times, you’ll see me being the same way I am now,” Dickinson said.
Dickinson then went to grad school at VCU, where he graduated in 2007 with a Ph.D in public policy.
Before his attempts as a public servant, Dickinson had been a somewhat-prominent voice on Virginia politics, mostly by virtue of his presence on Twitter.
“If you went back and looked at my tweets from 2013–2014, I would say I was doing Trump’s style before Trump did it,” Dickinson said.
Today, there might not be a better time than ever for Dickinson to make a run at public office. If there’s one thing the author and Dickinson can agree on, it’s that “city council has become a war zone these days.”
“I’m running because we need a fighter,” Dickinson said. “These days of ‘go along to get along’ are not working for Richmond.”
In 2020, Dickinson is running for Richmond City Council 1st district. Dickinson seeks to unseat councilor Andreas Addison from the seat he won four years ago; a seat which Dickinson also sought back in 2016.
Dickinson holds clear contempt for Addison. He says that because Addison has voted contrary to Dickinson’s own views on the 2nd amendment, taxes and police funding, this shows that Addison does not have a defined vision for Richmond.
“I feel that he presents himself as someone who will get things done, and he hasn’t got things done,” Dickinson said.
Dickinson believes Addison is too easy-going with both Mayor Levar Stoney and what Dickinson calls the “Portland Districts”; the 5th and 9th, represented by Stephanie Lynch and Michael Jones, respectively.
In July, Lynch and Jones introduced legislation to the council that proposed banning the use of tear gas and rubber bullets by Richmond Police Department. This came in response to a controversial June tear gassing by RPD against peaceful protestors rallying at the Robert E. Lee monument — now referred to by many as “Marcus David Peters Circle”, named after the African American school teacher from Richmond who was killed by police while experiencing a mental health crisis in 2018.
The proposed legislation failed by a vote of 2–1 in a council subcommittee.
“[Addison] presents himself as a moderate, when in fact, he’s not a moderate,” Dickinson said. “I feel that he wants to be elected, but he doesn’t want to lead and get his hands dirty.”
If elected to the council, Dickinson’s goal would be to “raise hell” and “fight through”. What that looks like is not as clearly defined in comparison to Dickinson’s opponents.
There are two critical issues Dickinson has adopted as his campaign focus; education and law enforcement. In his own eyes, the issue Dickinson’s campaign runs the most heavily on is education.
“Schools need to be the number one thing that we fund and fix,” Dickinson said. “If elected, we need to get into the budget, and we need to remove all this discretionary spending and put it directly into an infusion of fixing the fiscal condition of the schools.”
Dickinson acknowledges that this process would take time. During the intermediary, Dickinson would establish a voucher program so students can attend a private school in the area.
Critics of voucher programs believe they allow the private sector to profit off of public education, which Dickinson said he is “fine with”. Voucher programs have also been used historically to segregate education in southern states, Virginia being one of them.
While Dickinson remains adamant that education is his biggest concern, he is arguably most vocal about police reform, which he is 100% against.
“I think that we need to give the police all the tools they need to prevent violent uprisings from happening,” Dickinson said. “A good way to avoid being tear gassed or getting hit with a pellet gun is to disperse when the police tell you to disperse.”
Since late May, protests for Black Lives Matter have sprung up nationwide. Richmond has been home to significant protest, which has further strained preexisting tensions between concerned citizens and select public officials.
“I feel that the police are the hero’s of the city and America,” Dickinson said. “Do I think there’s a problem with the police harassing anybody? No, I don’t see a problem with that.”
This atmosphere has created the perfect setting for a provocateur with virtual clout (like Dickinson) to thrive. The effect is bolstered by an ongoing national dialogue about the proverbial left-wing movement Antifa.
“I am very anti-Antifa,” Dickinson said.
On July 26, Richmond’s Chief of Police, Gerald Smith, held a press conference regarding arrests made the night before during a protest. Smith claimed RPD determined from insider informants that a flyer advertising the protest was distributed by militant groups located outside of Richmond, particularly Antifa and anti-government “Boogaloo Bois”.
“We don’t really know the names of groups,” said James Mercante, Public Information Officer for RPD. “Anyone can just post something on social media.”
This is not the only time RPD has claimed members of Antifa groups infiltrated peaceful protests. On Aug. 17, Smith said at a press conference that 10 of the 12 individuals arrested by RPD during a protest the night before were either affiliated or aligned with Antifa.
“Not everyone is a member of Antifa,” Smith said at the August press conference, “but they are very well likened by their influence and philosophies, much like we used to see with gang activity.”
Smith later stated that Antifa’s “whole object is chaos and disruption”.
In May, President Trump tweeted that Antifa would be declared a “terrorist organization”. The Southern Poverty Law Center condemned the action, saying it would “allow federal law enforcement to broadly target anyone involved in protests viewed unfavorably by the Trump administration”.
Antifa (short for anti-fascist) is not an organization, but a “loose collection of groups, networks and individuals who believe in active, aggressive opposition to far right-wing movements,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
What has managed to garner Dickinson the most attention recently is his repeated harassment and antagonization of Richmond’s left-leaning community through social media.
This has included trolling users on NextDoor; usually by sparking political debates and getting users banned by reporting those who respond with frustration. One of those users is Crystal Halliwell, a 1st District voter who initially discovered Dickinson through a post he had made about eating a steak at Applebee’s while defying mask mandates put in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“I do believe he is more than just a troll,” Halliwell said in a text message. “But it’s hard to say what motivates him.”
But, Dickinson mostly relied on Twitter for his digital escapades — that is, until this year. After posting threatening tweets that suggested poisoning protestors with laxative-spiked water bottles — done under one of his many usernames, “@BlackCat_Events” — the account was suspended from the site in June.
This stunt also got Dickinson fired from his private sector job after it was uncovered by Richmond based independent reporters.
Local activists and independent reporters tend to be Dickinson’s prime targets, many of whom rely heavily on Twitter. Dickinson does so often by labelling these reporters as members of Antifa without any evidence. The polarizing national discussion of Antifa has allowed Dickinson to capitalize on its vigor by proxy of his admiration for being “tough on crime”.
One of Dickinson’s biggest critics is Kristopher Goad, VCU political science class of 2009. Goad is also a well-known commentator on political and social topics in Central Virginia. One of the ways Goad has made a name for himself is by visiting far-right political rallies around Virginia and engaging with attendees. Goad shares his coverage mostly through Twitter under the username “@GoadGatsby”.
Goad first discovered Dickinson through the Richmond restaurant industry. According to Goad, Dickinson had built himself a reputation for being a “terrible human being” and “terrible manager of businesses”.
“I think, above all, [Dickinson’s] a grifter and a fraud — he does not believe in rampant conservatism,” Goad said. “What he does believe in is being the focus of attention and drawing things towards him.”
Goad, as well as several other independent reporters, worry that Dickinson may be communicating with RPD to help them more easily target particular individuals at protests. Dickinson has, on multiple occasions, mentioned that he has friends within RPD, and talks to them frequently about the protests.
“I view Antifa as a criminal organization that wants to overthrow aspects of the U.S.,” Dickinson said. “They want to basically deride our capitalistic, opportunity-driven system — I think they want everyone to be equal.”
“I do believe he is more than just a troll, but it’s hard to say what motivates him.”
There are many other candidates like this in Virginia as well, one in particular being Kim Gray — Richmond’s 2nd District councilor, who is currently running for mayor against incumbent Levar Stoney as arguably his strongest opponent.
Gray is a tumultuous figure in Richmond, albeit not nearly as much of a present danger as Dickinson. Though a democrat by nature, Gray’s recent activity sticks more in the conservative mud.
Much of this is due to Gray’s pro-police platform. What was probably Gray’s most controversial move of late was referring to protestors as “terrorists” during a city council meeting.
However, like Dickinson, Gray has also been accused of using connections within RPD to crack down on protests — most notably, a high profile incident between protestors and RPD that occurred at GWAR Bar, located in Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood.
“Kim Gray has chose to position herself as the ‘tough on crime’ candidate— the person right of Levar Stoney,” Goad said. “And instead of hitching his horse to a republican candidate, [Dickinson] has hitched his horse to her.”
Dickinson and Gray are familiar with one another, but it’s a weird and sketchy relationship.
“I support Gray 110% but I don’t have a close relationship with her,” Dickinson said. “Everybody thinks I do because I’m such a loud supporter of her.”
Dickinson claims he’s only ever met Gray in-person one time around late 2018 to early 2019 for “some bill we were working on for the city with dance clubs in Richmond.”
Still, critics are not convinced. Goad and many other independent reporters have expressed disbelief that Dickinson has only met Gray once, chiefly due to his online behavior and recent purchases.
“One doesn’t have multiple Kim Gray signs after having a ‘slight’ affiliation with her,” Goad said. “Everything about the Kim Gray campaign has been a fucking mystery. It’s like driving your car into a lake and going ‘aha, exactly where I wanted to go’.”
The anti-anti-fascist rhetoric which Dickinson and Gray espouse is distinctly similar to that of RPD. With the inclusion of both Dickinson and Gray in Richmond’s electoral landscape, it has heightened tensions between protestors and the establishment.
“I think [RPD is] approaching this as though it were a criminal organization,” Goad said.
Goad believes the flaw behind this is that law enforcement is up against an ideology, not an organized group.
“With anti-fascism, you have a coalition of various other left-wing groups that are unified against — obviously fascism — but also things like governmental abuse,” Goad said. “But the reality is within this, there is no formal structure— there is no Antifa meeting happening on Tuesdays where everybody discusses what type of arson they’re going to do.”
Still, Dickinson remains adamant that Antifa is a serious threat to public safety, even suggesting that the threat of white supremacist extremism is “about the same” with Antifa.
At the same time, RPD has come under heavy scrutiny for their use of force against protestors and members of the media. Since May, there have been several instances of RPD officers attacking members of the media in Richmond.
Credentialed journalists — such as Roberto Roldan for VPM, Andrew Ringle for the Commonwealth Times and Olivia Ugino for NBC-12 — have all been targeted by RPD while covering protests.
In September, the Student Press Law Center, the Society of Professional Journalists, several faculty members at the VCU Robertson School of Media & Culture and others all signed a formal letter to mayor Levar Stoney and RPD condemning their treatment of local reporters and student journalists at protests.
“By going after the high profile people, they [RPD] hope to uncover a criminal organization when there is none,” Goad said.
Additionally, many independent reporters whom rely primarily on social media platforms and blogging websites have been targeted as well, like Goad. This makes it easier for Dickinson to delegitimize their reporting in the eyes of his own followers, which he does so chiefly through writing-off independent reporters as Antifa extremists.
“When I provide video of police beating up protestors, this goes against [Dickinson’s] whole belief,” Goad said. “That’s why the retaliation happening against me is Mike saying that I’m ‘fake’.”
Another frequent target of both RPD and Dickinson’s harassment is Lynn Murphy, an independent reporter who frequently covers protests in Central Virginia through Twitter.
“It’s ridiculous to use [Antifa] as a pejorative because I would hope that most people agree fascism is bad,” Murphy said.
Murphy identifies as anti-fascist because she opposes the idea of America becoming a fascist state, undermining Dickinson’s fabricated narrative that an organized Antifa group wants to “overthrow aspects of the U.S.”
“I don’t believe someone’s belief system disqualifies them from being a reporter,” Murphy said.
Like Goad, Murphy is concerned that Dickinson has used connections within RPD to help the police “trophy hunt” for higher-profile individuals at protests. Several activists and reporters have suspected this has been done through Twitter.
Three similar pro-police accounts that were created this year — “@BackTheBlue2020”, “@BackTheBlue2022” and “@BackTheBlue2023” — have been suspected to be run by Dickinson. Two of these three accounts have since been deleted from Twitter, but before then, all three of these accounts had been frequently Tweeting supportive statements of both Dickinson and Kim Gray. The accounts had also been doxxing protestors.
“Many people I know have been materially hurt after information about their arrests were published by media, directly by Mike D, or by a harassment account like @BackTheBlue,” Murphy said in a Twitter direct message.
Murphy believes Dickinson uses the idea of “fake news” to write-off anyone who disagrees with him politically, typically, those who expose police misconduct.
“If you have a phone, you’re not a journalist — you’re just somebody with a phone,” Dickinson said. “If you want to be considered a real, professional reporter, work for a news agency.”
Because Dickinson does not see legitimacy in independent, citizen journalism, he has butted heads many times now with both Goad and Murphy.
“Nobody wants to live under a cloud,” Dickinson said. “But I think that we need to have a clear way to differentiate who is a journalist, who is working on legitimate stories, and who isn’t.”
For Dickinson, that would mean establishing a system wherein reporters would be required to register with the local police to receive both press credentials and “some sort of a reflective vest that says ‘press’.”
In Virginia, there already exists a system to obtain government officiated press credentials. News outlets submit applications to Virginia State Police, who collect a journalist’s credentials in exchange for a legal press ID. Despite this, plenty of video evidence has emerged over the past several months of RPD and other police agencies in Virginia disregarding press credentials despite journalists clearly identifying themselves to the police.
The Virginia State Capital also requires all reporters to register for a press pass if they are working for a news agency that is part of the Virginia Association of Broadcasters or the Virginia Press Association. Independent journalists and bloggers who do not work for a verified news outlet cannot access the chamber floors, but may view from the gallery.
Murphy believes a police-regulated press identification system allows officers to more easily target members of the media who expose them for misconduct.
“I was directly abducted [by the police] while covering a protest,” Murphy said. “They would have done that sooner if I had preregistered with them.”
Since his many suspensions and account deletions from Twitter, Dickinson has stuck mostly to Facebook, where he continues to go on tirades against city council members, candidates and protestors.
Dickinson has also not eased up on both his Antifa fear mongering and his antagonization of left-leaning journalism, and there’s no sign of him stopping any time soon.
“I don’t call it fear mongering, I call it speaking the truth,” Dickinson said. “If people walk like a duck, quack like a duck, act like a duck…then, to me, they’re a duck.”
If at first you don’t succeed…
Dickinson‘s name first officially appeared on a ballot in 2015 as an independent. Dickinson sought to unseat an incumbent Manoli Loupassi (R) from his long run as a State Delegate for Virginia’s 68th District.
Loupassi won by a landslide with over 63% of the vote. Democratic challenger Bill Grogan accrued 36% of the vote, leaving Dickinson with the remaining 1%.
But, the lust for public office truly began in 2014 when Dickinson announced he would be running as a democrat in Virginia’s 7th congressional district. Dickinson sought to unseat the incumbent, Eric Cantor (R), from his years-long stay in the 7th.
But, Dickinson failed to file as a candidate before the Apr. 10th deadline (the same day he announced his candidacy). This meant Dickinson would never appear on the ballot for 2014.
After two consecutive losses — one in 2014 as a democratic candidate for congress, and the other as an independent candidate for the state legislature in 2015 — Dickinson shrank his lust for public office by taking on a more bottom-up approach in 2016.
Another new tactic also quickly arose; now, he was running as a republican.
“He did a 180 and not only switched parties but went full throttle MAGA,” Halliwell said. “What makes someone do that? I can only speculate that something about the MAGA philosophy has validated some repressed issue he has.”
Dwight Jones’ position as mayor was up for the taking in 2016, so Dickinson threw his hat in the ring. What happened next is more or less unknown for sure, but Dickinson suddenly withdrew from the race for mayor and announced he would instead be running for city council in the 1st district.
Councilman Jon Bailes, who had served the 1st district since 2012, was running for the position of mayor in 2016. Andreas Addison ended up winning the position by 200 votes over his strongest opponent, Harry Warner. Dickinson never qualified to appear on the ballot for the 1st district.
In 2018, Abigail Spanberger (D) would go on to beat David Brat (R) in the 7th district of Virginia by 6,000 votes.
Spanberger is a first-term democrat in a historically republican district, and her center-left platform makes her an easy target for intense scorn from the far-right. Dickinson holds clear contempt for the sitting congresswoman (who he refers to as “Dirty Abby”) and it’s made him popular in some conservative circles.
“I think that she presents herself as a moderate, and her voting record reflects the opposite,” Dickinson said.
Today, the 2020 race for Virginia’s 7th congressional district is a hotly-contested power struggle. Spanberger seeks to protect her short-lived control from the clutches of the Virginia GOP, which has put up Nick Frietas as their nominee.
With the election just around the corner, the district is a complete tossup that is sure to drastically determine the direction of Virginia in the federal legislature. But, when the race was first heating up and hopeful 2020 candidates for the 7th were coming forward, Dickinson had his hat in the ring.
A strongly-worded, anti-Spanberger campaign helped Dickinson garner the attention of a few GOP voters. But, it did not prove to be enough; Dickinson withdrew from race for the 7th in April of this year due to inadequate funding, and endorsed Tina Ramirez.
“You really have to be able to raise money to be able to run for congress,” Dickinson said. “Especially in a race like that — [one] that’s gonna have a lot of outside money coming in.”
From there, Dickinson shifted his focus back on Richmond City Council 1st district, where now only time will tell how this saga ends.
Up until October 2020, Dickinson had never reported a single donation nor expense for any of his campaigns, past or current. Dickinson’s campaign finance reports were amended on Oct. 14 to show some donations and expenses that had not been reported previously.
“In the past, I really wasn’t doing — you know — I wasn’t really working the campaign like I am now,” Dickinson said. “And now — you know — I am, so.”
Pulling out of the race for the 7th also got Dickinson in the good graces of Frietas, who had previously been his opponent but now was a comrade in the conservative mission.
“I support Nick,” Dickinson said. “I like that he’s out there fighting. You take a lot of arrows and a lot of hate.”
Frietas, a republican delegate from Virginia’s 30th district, is an adamant sycophant for Trump. Of the six issue-oriented videos Frietas has posted on his campaign website, only one does not mention Trump at least once — that being the issue of veterans assistance.
In September, Frietas received a presidential endorsement at a campaign rally for Trump at Newport News International Airport. Dickinson also attended the rally.
A viral video later surfaced on Twitter of Frietas bumping fists and slapping fives without any PPE upon his arrival at the rally.
In 2016, with three losses in the hole, many Virginians were sure Dickinson would give up and go back to the private sector … and for a while, that seemed to be the case, until he announced his candidacy for the 1st district.
Perhaps for obvious reasons; the adult entertainment industry is a tough sell to a large handful of voters who seek professionalism and civil experience in a candidate. And although it would be hard to deny this as a major hurdle for Dickinson, it has not deterred him yet; certainly not in the year of our lord, two-thousand and twenty.
A Black Cat out of its bag…
The whole time Dickinson was making runs at the public sector, his passion for private business loomed in the background. Dickinson wants to “run the city like a business”. But, if his reputation in the private sector is a reflection of his ability to do so, then the City of Richmond ought to lock down its assets while it still has the chance.
Dickinson used to be the “projects manager” of several strip clubs in the Richmond area before he was fired in June of this year for the aforementioned threats to poison water bottles with laxatives.
But, this is only the tip of the iceberg for Dickinson’s testy business suaveness. Goad says he has been told by past employees that Dickinson is not allowed to touch his own money at 3rd Street Diner — a Richmond restaurant Dickinson works at — because he has been caught stealing from the business on numerous occasions.
Moreover, Dickinson has been accused of theft elsewhere on numerous occasions. One such of these accusations can be traced back to a brand Dickinson is already known for using; BlackCat.
Since 2016, Dickinson has owned and operated two LLCs based in Virginia with similar names; 2BlackCats LLC (inactive) and BlackCat Events LLC (still active).
BlackCat Events, in the past, was responsible for promoting parties in the wrestling community. Facebook posts spanning 2017 to 2018 from various individuals in the wrestling community show a history of Dickinson fraudulently accepting money from ticket sales for wrestling watch parties, then attempting to take off with the money.
Dickinson seems to have skimped out on payments in 2017 for a Wrestlemania “Bangin’ Booty Man” party in Orlando, Florida.
“I’m no longer affiliated with ‘The BlackCat Events Promotions’,” the host of the party said in a Facebook post. “I prefer to keep my business on the straight & arrow! [sic]”
In April 2018, BlackCat Events promoted a Mardi-Gras party that ended in Dickinson being accused of trying to commit fraud once again.
“I was going to New Orleans for Wrestlemania with all of the other Impact girls,” said Chelsea Green, a pro wrestler who Dickinson worked with to set up the party.
Green says she had been contacted by BlackCat Events asking if she wanted to host a party while in town for Wrestlemania, splitting the ticket sales 50/50 with BlackCat Events. Though initially skeptical, Green ultimately decided to make an occasion of the opportunity after discussing it with her friends — it was her birthday that week.
At first, Dickinson seemed legit. Green says Dickinson claimed to have made reservations with the Swamp — one of New Orleans’ top night clubs. Dickinson also began soliciting ticket sales through EventBrite — a popular online ticket vending platform.
“This guy — Mike — seemed to be doing all the work,” Green said. “So, I’m thinking ‘okay, this guy definitely seems legit if he’s able to get us a party during Wrestlemania week at the Swamp’.”
But, a few weeks out from when the event was set to happen, Green says Dickinson began “ghosting” Green and her friends.
“He started not answering my messages as frequently, and being very sketchy about when we were going to get the half,” Green said. Dickinson would frequently make excuses to justify late responses, often saying he was out of town or had a sick relative, according to Green.
“I’m not an idiot — once I hear those excuses, I’m like ‘wait a second, we do everything online’,” Green said. “So I just had this weird feeling, and I told the girls that I didn’t trust this guy.”
A week before the party, Green tried calling the Swamp to verify the details for the party. Green says the manager confirmed never having been contacted, nor paid by Dickinson or BlackCat Events.
“At that point I had a really bad taste in my mouth because everything should have been paid for,” Green said.
From there, Green reached out to EventBrite to notify them of the scam, and messaged Dickinson to let him know she was aware of his scam.
“The ticket company said they would refund everyone their money back,” Green said. “That’s when [Dickinson] went on social media and started posting on his BlackCat Events page.”
Soon after, Green says Dickinson went on social media tirades, desperately trying to save his public image. BlackCat Events’ Facebook page has since been deleted, making these posts untraceable.
Dickinson did not end up making any money off the attempted scam. Green says she called RPD to make them aware of the attempted scam, but because the business was being conducted in Louisiana — despite BlackCats LLC being registered in Virginia — it invalidated RPD’s jurisdiction.
“He had everything taken away,” Green said. “Once I posted about him, a couple other girls said they had issues around the country with him.”
Although BlackCat Events’ Facebook and Twitter pages no longer exist, Dickinson posted a flyer to his own personal account in 2018.
But, the buck for dubious business practices does not stop at Dickinson and BlackCat Events; he’s more of a cog in a bigger machine of fishy business.
3rd Street Diner, as well as all the strip clubs Dickinson has worked at, operate under an umbrella company called “the Pyliaris Corporation”. Trying to unpack this small conglomeration of smut is a daunting task; it’s a honeypot of shell companies and fictitious names, all of which trace back to William Pyliaris, the founding member of the corporation.
Where Dickinson fits-in is equally confusing as the corporation’s structure. Although his official job title was “projects manager” at several strip clubs owned by the Pyliaris Corporation, Dickinson is still on the board for one of their properties; the Old Dominion Club of Richmond, a tax-exempt 501(c)7 nightclub open from 2am to 7am five days a week.
As of its 2020 annual report, Dickinson is listed as the non-directing secretary of the Old Dominion Club of Richmond. Dickinson was named president of the club in its 2012 annual report.
Curiously, Dickinson’s name is nowhere to be found in any annual reports between 2012 and 2019. The club’s 2013 annual report lists Gerasimos Zomos as president, but does not make mention of Dickinson as the outgoing president.
As of October 2020, a class-action lawsuit is pending against the Pyliaris Corporation and several of its subsidiaries in Richmond that may ultimately prove the extent of the company’s malfeasance.
Esedebe at al v. Circle 2 Inc et al was filed in January this year by several former dancers and other employees of multiple strip clubs the Pyliaris Corporation owns.
“Defendants regularly deprived Plaintiffs and other similarly situated members of the putative class of their rights under federal and Virginia wage and hour laws”, the lawsuit’s introduction says.
The lawsuit accuses management of several Fair Labor Standards Act violations, including: proper minimum wages, overtime compensation, keeping earned gratuities or tips, and their right to work without paying “house fees” and/or other fees.
“It’s vulture capitalism,” Goad said. “They’ve treated the workers at the strip clubs as independent contractors so they wouldn’t have to actually pay them a salary.”
Goad believes it is absurd for Dickinson to get upset by property being destroyed at protests when the clubs Dickinson works for is notorious for wage theft.
“People who work in strip clubs are very often vulnerable people who don’t have the ability to litigate things in court,” Goad said. “This lawsuit goes as far in just showing how blatant and open [the clubs] have been about abusing this process.”
Dickinson is not named in the lawsuit. However, some of the accusations against the clubs line up with Dickinson’s tenure there, which some suspect to be a sign of complicity. Nevertheless, his reputation speaks for itself.
“I am terrified to think that anybody in the world could let someone like [Dickinson] into office,” Green said. “I didn’t even realize that I could be taken advantage of the way he took advantage of me and my friends.”
Sadly, the rabbit hole of worry goes deeper, especially in the context of one particular strip business venture of Dickinson’s.
When Roger came to town
Probably the most notorious club under Dickinson’s oversight is Paper Moon, located in Midlothian. It was at this club in 2019 that Dickinson hosted a fundraiser for none other than Trump’s campaign advisor, Roger Stone.
“Roger is a guy I think a great deal of — I’ve always been a fan of his,” Dickinson said. “He’s been one of the main political figures of the past 20 years.”
Dickinson says one of the reasons he admires Stone is because “he likes to stir things up.”
Stone was convicted on seven counts of witness tampering, obstruction of justice and perjury in November 2019. Trump commuted Stone’s sentence in July of this year, meaning he is still a convicted felon but his time has been declared as served.
Dickinson says he held the fundraiser to help Stone pay for the legal fees brought on from the trial.
“It’s crazy, the federal government brings you up on a crime in America and they throw everything but the kitchen sink at you,” Dickinson said. “And I thought this was unfair, so I held a fundraiser for him.”
The fundraiser garnered national attention, with TMZ having broke the story with photo evidence. Other news outlets like Rolling Stone and USA Today covered the story as well.
Dickinson says one of the reasons he admires Stone is because “he likes to stir things up.”
Dickinson admitted in a press conference with VCU student reporters that he was the individual who submitted the photos of the fundraiser to TMZ.
The entailing buzz was certainly a result of the humorous spectacle; the image of a self-proclaimed “dirty trickster” autographing cleavage, g-strings and trucker hats for $25 a pop is pretty tongue-in-cheek.
But, Stone was not the only reason the fundraiser made headlines; in attendance were several Proud Boys; members of the far-right hate group created by Vice Magazine co-founder Gavin McInness.
“The Proud Boys have been the most visible fascist group for the past five years,” Goad said.
Dickinson has since repeatedly denied having any involvement with the gang, but is happy to defend their character.
“Their own leader right now has said they don’t support racism,” Dickinson said. “I have no involvement with them. They came to the event — that’s all I know. But, if you look on their website, there’s nothing about race on there.”
Dickinson frequently does this; drum up controversy, then skirt away from directly facing up to it for the sake of increasing his support from conservative voters.
“It’s just plausible deniability,” Murphy said. “I do think he’s genuinely racist and homophobic and transphobic and stuff. He’s capitalizing on something — he won’t denounce them because that would lose him that support.”
Part of what makes Stone such a controversial figure are his many ties with the Proud Boys; it takes no more than but a Google search of “Roger Stone and Proud Boys” to showcase their many entanglements with one another.
On multiple occasions, Stone has called upon members of the hate group to securely escort him in-and-out of courtrooms, as well as other public appearances and events.
“Especially in the state of Virginia, ‘security’ has a specific legal term attached to it,” Goad said. “Unless they’ve been certified, they’re not security, they’re just friends around [Stone].”
Part of what worries Murphy the most about Dickinson is that “he’s attracting these really dangerous people” to his events, just like Stone does with the Proud Boys.
In October, Dickinson organized a Richmond “Trump Train”; a large-scale car parade supporting Trump’s reelection. The event managed to attract a rather large crowd.
“He was on Facebook encouraging people who are threatening to shoot counter protestors to come to that,” Murphy said. “That could potentially be really dangerous, especially after the stuff that’s gone down in other cities.”
Dickinson remains firm that the 2019 fundraiser for Stone was not nefarious.
“We picked Roger up at the airport, we took him to the club,” Dickinson said. “He hung out, gave a speech, and then he left.”
Connecting the dots…
Rest assured, the chance of Dickinson winning the 1st district on election day is a slim one — typically, to win an election, a candidate ought to campaign the most within their own district.
Still, how does one write about the proverbial saga that is Mike Dickinson’s life story without throwing gasoline on a fire? It’s hard to size up the man in general; is he a true threat, or is he just a sad individual in desperate need for attention? And, does giving-in to that need for attention embolden his radical agenda?
Or, is he rather a sad individual in desperate need for attention, and that’s what makes him a threat? It’s hard to say.
“Will he be like that incel in 2014 who killed college students who wouldn’t date him? Or is he just someone who desperately wants attention?” Halliwell said. “I honestly have no idea.”
Nevertheless, Dickinson being a player on the field of Richmond’s upcoming election means he must be discussed. But, context matters, and one must put down the whole context of Dickinson to truly do it justice. The problem is that Dickinson has lit so many fires that — in full discretion — it’s hard to keep up.
“Whether or not [Dickinson] could do enough as one city council person, I’m not sure,” Murphy said. “It’s scary because if enough of these people are elected then it could genuinely affect policy.”
The 2020 election is set to have a wide array of candidates at various levels of government running on far right platforms. Some who are already elected, like Rob Wittman, R-VA, have also adopted a more vocally far-right platform.
Qasim Rashid, Wittman’s democratic opponent for Virginia’s 1st district, has been the victim of repeated islamophobic smear campaigns since announcing his candidacy.
“In 2019, when I ran for state senate, I received a credible death threat because my opponent ran ads on Facebook trying to tie me to terrorism,” Rashid wrote in an article on Medium. “And in 2020, Wittman is using the same dangerous playbook and putting my life and the life of my wife and children in danger.”
This disposition of an intensely right wing party versus a generally more-moderate party seems to be the crux of an evolving GOP. To strengthen its success, many individuals in the republican party have undertaken a platform that greatly manipulates the “Overton Window” concept.
As voters become more polarized by the day, hijacking the airwaves and forcing them to self-usher to a side of the political spectrum becomes an easier and more effective campaign strategy. What ensues is exactly what American politics sees before it today; extreme polarization and a subsequent inability to consider one’s own political views as extreme.
“If you pose Abigail Spanberger as the far-left, you make yourself seem more moderate,” Goad said. “It’s like trying to say Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are socialists — it’s absurd, but it’s a best-selling hit they keep rolling out because people will buy it.”
Dickinson reflects the whole idea of the Overton Window by “saying Addison is ‘too extreme’,” and promoting other blatant misinformation, Goad said.
“Unfortunately — from the outside, looking in — this is exactly who would support MAGA…a scumbag.” Green said.
This is Dickinson’s whole campaign strategy. Running on a far-right platform has helped him gain attention from both hardline MAGA fandom, and key players in the movement that have aided in heightening his presence, like Nick Frietas or Roger Stone.
“Right now, [Dickinson] has access to performance bases,” Goad said. “That’s obviously something very dangerous because if someone can make a living off of being a fascist, they’re going to just continue trying to be the worst fascist for more money.”
But, this phenomenon is a dangerous one for democracy as a whole. At the same time, Dickinson is himself vulnerable to fascism alignment. So, when Dickinson surrounds himself with controversial figures — like the Proud Boys — he risks setting himself up to “bring in more people” to fascism, Goad says.
Perhaps the best example of this is Amanda Chase (R), a state senator for Virginia who is currently running for governor on a likewise hyper-conservative agenda. The difference is that Chase is less bombastic and better-connected than Dickinson…she’s also already been elected to public office.
“I love Amanda Chase,” Dickinson said. “We’ve talked a lot.”
The cornerstone of Chase’s campaign is protecting the 2nd Amendment, which she does so quite aggressively — such as strapping a handgun to her waist on the Virginia Senate floor. This has attracted a much-expected type of crowd consisting of paramilitary groups.
In July, Chase made an appearance at a Reopen Virginia Rally, where the state senator broke bread with Mike Dunn; a 22 year old from South Boston, Virginia, who is also an outspoken leader in the rising Boogaloo movement.
Chase’s personal attorney, Tim Anderson, is representing Dunn in a case for trespassing charges. Dunn was arrested while open carrying at Newport News Park in early October.
“To have somebody who self-describes himself as a Boogaloo Boi who now has connections — like, yeah, this should be a lot of red flags,” Goad said.
When asked why, Dickinson explained he “loves” Chase because of her zero-filter attitude, which he has ascribed as an admirable trait to Trump and Stone as well.
“I think we need to get away from this whole idea in the world that we need to be politically correct,” Dickinson said. “We need to say what we think.”
The idea of free speech being under attack is a historically critical lynchpin for the success of fascism. The anti-fascist movement relies heavily on the idea of revoking platforms from fascist figures, which can potentially fuel the agendas of people like Dickinson; their fear mongering for free speech’s integrity gets catalyzed, but only if that person can hoodwink his or her’s supporters into not batting an eye or doing their own research.
“If Mike Dickinson knows a thing or two about fascism, then he knows who his opposition really is,” Goad said. “It’s not gonna be Levar Stoney, it’s not gonna be Kim Gray, or the people sitting on the sidelines the past couple months — it’s gonna be people taking it to the streets.”
It doesn’t take much of an imagination to believe that Mike Dickinson is willing to go to any extreme in order to get attention. Trump used that very same topical issue of political correctness to radicalize his constituency, and four years later the man is telling Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during a presidential debate.
Now, that tactic has come to haunt our local politics. And, Dickinson isn’t even the only one. The deliberate envelope-pushing both continues and prevails.
The brilliance of adopting extreme strategies to a political campaign is that their impact is often inescapable thanks to brain washing — the Overton Window. Those who have an affinity towards far-right figures will foam at the mouth over their every hanging word, and no amount of contradictory evidence or rational thought can permeate that veil once it has been strengthened in its foundations of white privilege.
[Author’s Note: Monday, Nov. 2, 2020]
The same day this article was published, Mike Dickinson organized his second Trump Train in Richmond. The situation ended in violence, with one protestor having been struck by a vehicle that was participating in the parade. Gunshots and pepper spray also were fired off by overzealous MAGA fandom as they encircled counter protestors gathered at Marcus David Peters Circle.
RPD arrived just in time to protect nobody but the parade goers, and helped prevent absolutely nothing.
As of the latest reports, there are no critical injuries or fatalities.
In this time, it is critical to remember that Dickinson proudly attracts the admiration and following of dangerous people, like the Proud Boys, while simultaneously using preexisting political tensions to bolster his public image. He’s also building connections with higher-profile individuals, like Amanda Chase and Roger Stone, that can help sustain his limelight’s shelf life — the performance bases Goad referenced.
Virginia has heard this story before, and we all know how it ends — it isn’t a happy wrap-up.
This formula has proven itself in the past to be a sure-fire way to end in violence. The best evidence one could point to for that is the Proud Boy who organized the 2017 Unite the Right Riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, Jason Kessler.
Kessler was a right-wing blogger who bounced around a lot of different publications in the grift machine of white supremacist evil. His first writing endeavor was his own blog, Jason Kessler American Author, which he started in late 2015. Later on, after becoming radicalized to the far-right, he began writing articles that appeared in other white nationalist publications; most notably, VDARE and the Daily Caller.
Kessler, similarly to Dickinson, was an outspoken leftist before 2016. He had supported President Barrack Obama, and had even set up a tent to hand out leftist literature at Lee Park during the Occupy Movement in 2011.
But, in late 2016, Kessler began a series of critical blog posts about Charlottesville city councilor and Vice Mayor, Wes Bellamy. Kessler was infuriated by Bellamy’s calls upon the council to remove statues of confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson from parks in the downtown area.
Soon after, Kessler drafted a petition to have Bellamy removed from office. The petition was slow to pick up any attention — that is, until Cory Stewart, R-Va, and the Virginia Flaggers showed up.
Kessler’s fall down the rabbit hole with Stewart and the Virginia Flaggers proved to be what helped him get in contact with white nationalists like Richard Spencer and Identity Evropa (now named the American Identity Movement) — without their platform and the dangerous individuals that follow it, perhaps Heather Heyer would still be alive today.
Take notes and tread carefully, Dickinson; Virginia is watching.
