“He messaged me that he was going to infiltrate MAGA and that was going to be his big thing,” said Sharon Tipton, a counterprotest organizer involved with OC’s Socialist Party chapter.
Sterling Abrades was dressed in all black, a Louis Vuitton scarf draped over his shoulders—because nothing says class struggle like accessorizing! The licensed massage therapist talked about his background with Greenpeace and mentioned he spoke with folks thinking about starting a local anti-fascist (or “antifa”) group.
[…]
Except those in his own mind. See, Sterling Abrades isn’t Sterling Abrades. His real name is Juan Cadavid. And for the past couple of months, Cadavid tried to join different leftist OC groups under the names “Sterling Abrades” and “Dorian Navidson.”
But his newest persona is suddenly everywhere in pro-Trump circles across Orange County and beyond. As Johnny Benitez, Cadavid attended the Make America Great Again (MAGA) rally in Huntington Beach last month waving a “Blue Lives Matter” flag while sporting a red MAGA hat backward and a “Reagan 40” jersey in honor of the Gipper-in-chief.
If Cadavid had a change of heart politically, it came about quickly. He created social-media personas under the Benitez name in March. In the leadup to the MAGA march, Cadavid tried to advise counterprotesters as Dorian Navidson, but he became frustrated when his militant tactical suggestions fell on deaf ears. “He messaged me that he was going to infiltrate MAGA and that was going to be his big thing,” said Sharon Tipton, a counterprotest organizer involved with OC’s Socialist Party chapter. In messages Tipton shared with the Weekly, Cadavid boasted his past connections with white supremacist groups would help him cozy up to the local alt-right.
[…]
