Béla Incze
1,108 words
Editor’s note: This is a translation of an interview originally published in Vasárnap with Béla Incze. We would like to thank Tamás Fehér for this translation.
The man who toppled the BLM statue told Vasárnap that his actions against the statue had expressed the feelings of the average Hungarian. Béla Incze, the man who had toppled the BLM statue, also talked about metapolitics and resistance in his interview with us.
By Good Friday morning, the BLM statue unveiled in Ferencváros [in Budapest, Hungary] was no longer standing. We spoke with Béla Incze, one of the leaders of the Légió Hungária (Hungarian Legion) about what had motivated his actions. He also said a few words about how people with conservative sentiments felt about what had happened and BLM in general.
Kristóf Trombitás: This provocation masquerading as a piece of art had been unveiled on Maundy Thursday [April 1], but by Good Friday [April 2] morning it was gone. Did you anticipate retaliation so soon after the deed? Can you tell us how the events unfolded?
Béla Incze: In this case, I would like to speak on my behalf only and not for the other members of the Hungarian Legion. When I heard that this statue had been erected, I immediately made the decision that insofar as I could be the first person to get there I would topple it and then give myself up to the police. This was the first thing that popped into my head upon reading the news about the statue. The only thing that changed was that we arrived at the site at the same time as the Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (Our Homeland Movement). Together we came to an agreement on the next steps. Neither the Hungarian Legion nor I wished to obstruct the Our Homeland Movement in any way. We agreed to let them set up their screen and even gave them a hand. Of course, we did this knowing that the screen would not remain there and I would eventually execute my plan.
When the Hungarian Legion was founded, we declared that we would not form an official alliance with any political party, a stance we have strictly followed. Our cooperation with the Our Homeland Movement was not preceded by any prior coordination. It arose out of circumstance. We decided on the spot that the Hungarian national interest overrode the interests of any movement or political party.
KT: How soon after the toppling of the statue did official proceedings against you begin?
BI: A police car was parked about thirty meters from the statue, and by the time I walked over to it, the officers sitting inside had already rolled down their windows to let me know they were there. I approached the police car with no intention of running away and avoiding arrest. The video we recorded shows the statue being toppled and me walking over to the police car with my arms outstretched. The officers asked me if I wanted to run away or resist, to which I answered neither. I did not wish to flee or act as if I were not responsible for my actions. That was the plan.
The statue before it was destroyed by Incze
KT: How did the criminal proceedings go? How did the police treat you?
BI: I was treated absolutely fairly by both the officers on patrol and everyone at the 9th District Police Station. In terms of filth, the holding cell where I was put approximated African conditions, but I would not want criminals to receive better. I ended up there on account of having expressed a political opinion. I did not enjoy it, but it is what criminals deserve.
KT: What do you have to say about how a rather significant part of the Right-wing/conservative public, unsurprisingly, has immediately assessed your action as having served the interests of the provocateurs? They argue that one should not answer provocation with counter-provocation because Western media outlets and organizations will seize upon it and once again write myriad articles about how Hungary has a serious problem with far-Right violence.
BI: Let me answer in two parts. On the one hand, the sculptor himself and Krisztina Baranyi, the mayor of the district, both said on multiple occasions that they recognized that the statue would be defaced. In a way, they had set a public relations trap for anyone who dared to take steps against it.
Nonetheless, I do not think that the right answer was to ignore it. Over the past decade or so, using the LGBTQ lobby as an example, we have seen where that leads. Ignoring them makes them more powerful.
If the door is left ajar, these movements first stick their foot in, so to speak, and then their knees, until finally, they kick the door in. Even if they set a public relations trap, we should not be afraid to act. We should respond as befits a man, i.e., a man of the Right. To act or not to act should not be guided by what the Left desires, but rather by what the Right dictates on a metapolitical level. In my case, the meta morphed into action, and anyone with the intelligence to understand the metapolitical background could see it with his own eyes. And if anyone does not see it, he should open his eyes.
I am neither pro-government, nor obviously a supporter of the Left-wing opposition. I choose to remain above the fray of day-to-day political battles. On the other hand, I fail to see how my action has either improved or diminished Hungary’s standing in Western Europe. Our homeland has routinely been categorized as an Eastern / Central European state where the vast majority of the citizenry does not look favorably upon the endeavors of BLM, the LGBTQ movement, or any other similarly subversive organization.
My actions against the statue expressed the feelings of the average Hungarian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiddWDK-7bA
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16 comments
An absolute king.
“If the door is left ajar, these movements first stick their foot in, so to speak, and then their knees, until finally, they kick the door in. Even if they set a public relations trap, we should not be afraid to act. We should respond as befits a man, i.e., a man of the Right. To act or not to act should not be guided by what the Left desires, but rather by what the Right dictates on a metapolitical level.”
This. Very well stated counterpoint to the endless appeals to “optics.”
This has nothing to do with the optics question.
Yes it does.
Why not? How is the toppling of a public statue not ??
I think optics is here understood in relation to aesthetics alone.
Think of a bunch of fat Hollywood Nazis marching in protest of something through Main Street America while clad in brown shirts Vs. a group of people marching in their regular street clothes to protest the exact same thing.
“Costumed freaks” obviously amalgamate the message with their fashion statements.
Bela Ingze just made a clear, forceful, message in a way appropriate to the sensibilities of his setting (Hungary).
A forthrightness of moral clarity and courageous action that is rarely seen.
That is the smallest “statue” I’ve seen in some time. Good riddance.
He destroys a the statue in broad daylight and then turns himself in to the police!? What complete boob!
It’s called “owning it.”
I bet Soros paid for the statue and the installation; it was a cheap piece of crap—even the pedestal was particle board. I get the raised fist and the bended knee but why are the colours and stripes like a serape or a Mexican blanket? Is this to show solidarity with the wetback invasion/open borders? Yes, all in all it was very much like a pinyata.
Hungarian lives matter!
Ha, this “statue” is in the size of a “Gartenzwerg” (garden dwarf), and my cat could topple it with his tail. Interesting, how much money was “invested” in this piece of art, mocking the Statue of Liberty.
Gnome battery.
Consider the agitprop lines used to justify the destruction of statues in America and Britain during the 2020 civil disturbances…
The statues represented White Supremacy: well, BLM is about black supremacy as it pushes repurposing history to privilege a radical black narrative, it privileges black race hustling via “equity” mandates, ad nauseam.
The statues represented slavery: BLM is self-proclaimed marxist-radical organization, and marxist-leninist-maoist regimes have been responsible for instituting de facto slavery via the gulag, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Cambodia’s killing fields, ad more nauseam.
The statues glorified Confederate “traitors”: the BLM insurrection (and previous black riots) have been promoted by leftists as “uprisings” therefore qualifying as “levying war against [the United States]” per Article III, Section 3 US Constitution – i.e., treason.
The statues were “hate symbols”: if the Roman salute can be stigmatized as “hate” then why not the BLM statue’s communist clenched fist?
The statues were “eyesores”: how else would one describe the statue in the Hungarian video? As MAD magazine would put it, Blech!
Lives are more important than property: if political hacks can give stand down orders to police departments in the face of mob violence against statues of great White leaders, then why not the same for statues of blacks?
The 2020 rioters were “mostly peaceful”: the Hungarian Legion did not torch any cars nor loot any storefronts, and they did cooperate when the police showed up, so there you go.
It’s not iconoclasm it’s idealism: OK, parodying here a tag line for a certain streaming television series, but it alliterates and the interviewee in the article appears pretty idealistic.
…something to think about in the continuing chaos.
Wait hang on. He essentially Judo chopped an MDF papiermache model. Wtf. The Spinal Tap of Iconoclasm. ” or ‘ nigel?
The response to the Russian translation of this piece:
We need localized versions like Cigany Lives Matter, and not that bullshit from overseas.
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