Ep 3. Prison Camp for Kids

In Hate Thy Neighbor season 2 episode 3, viewers are taken on a disturbing journey through the world of radical right-wing movements. The episode is titled "Prison Camp for Kids" and follows the story of a youth camp in the United States that brainwashes children with extremist views and teaches them how to wield weapons.

Through interviews with former camp attendees, advocacy groups, and the camp's leaders themselves, the episode uncovers how certain organizations are using children as pawns in their ideological battles. The host, comedian Jamali Maddix, is clearly shocked by what he discovers, but he manages to maintain his calm and ask important questions that manage to unveil the mindset of the leaders of the camp.

The camp, known as "The Citadel," is located in Idaho and promises to teach children how to be "patriotic Americans" by training them in various combat skills, including firearms, knife throwing and potential guerilla war tactics. Children ages as young as six years old are indoctrinated with alt-right ideologies that promote White Nationalism and extremism.

The leader of the camp believes that America is on the brink of a civil war and that preparing the youth for an inevitable conflict is crucial. The camp is structured like a military boot camp, where attendees live in bunk beds, wake up early, participate in drills, and pledge allegiance to the camp's flag. During their stay, they are brainwashed to have a sense of righteous rebellion for their cause and reject multiculturalism and political correctness.

The interviews with former attendees are the most revealing parts of the episode. One young woman recounts being subjected to food deprivation and sleep deprivation as a form of punishment. Another former attendee reveals that they were instructed to have a survivalist mindset and to be ready to defend the rights of white people "at all costs." They are also taught to not trust outsiders and estrange people who do not share their ideology, including their family members. The experience is compared to a cult mentality.

The host is visibly disturbed by the interviews, referring to the indoctrination of these children as "child abuse." He also speaks to an advocacy group that tracks hate groups in America, which warns of the danger of such organizations. They argue that these groups are heavily armed and dangerous, and that they pose a serious threat to the safety of the general public. The host and the advocates together explain the dire consequences of such camps and how they perpetrate racism, discrimination, hate crimes, and can even lead to violence.

Despite the sobering topic of this episode, there are some moments of humor. The host's encounters with the members of the camp's leadership are both unsettling and absurd at times. But the main takeaway is that the indoctrination of children and forcing them into a hateful, toxic ideology is both dangerous and immoral. The episode provides an important glimpse into how extremist groups operate and lays bare the damage that such organizations can cause.

Overall, "Prison Camp for Kids" is a painful yet necessary episode for viewers who want to understand the extremist movements that exist in America today. It also offers valuable insight into the mindset and recruitment strategies of these organizations, and serves as an alarm to the wider society regarding the dangers posed by supremacist ideology taught in youth camps.