The Self-Proclaimed Fascist Fired Over Viral Jubilee Video Is a Coloradan

For the last three days, Connor Estelle's manically laughing face has been plastered on social media feeds and news sites worldwide as a cheerleader for fascism.

Unfortunately for Colorado, it turns out he's one of ours.

Estelle, a 24-year-old from Larkspur, became the subject of international media attention after he was allegedly fired from his job over his behavior in a viral video. In the video, Estelle called himself a "fascist," praised a violent dictator, cited a Nazi theorist and advocated for replacing the United States' democracy with a murderous autocracy.

Estelle received a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Denver in 2023, and graduated from Castle View High School in Castle Rock in 2019. He worked for the Denver-based consulting company Helix Solutions before his termination, according to VeUP, where Estelle served as an independent subcontractor through Helix Solutions.

Estelle was featured on the YouTube Jubilee series "Surrounded" on July 20, as one of twenty far-right conservatives debating progressive journalist Mehdi Hasan. The video has accumulated over six million views as of July 23.

During his seven-minute conversation with Hasan, Estelle said he doesn't believe in democracy and wants the United States to become an autocracy ruled by a "benevolent leader such as Franco," referring to Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who killed and imprisoned tens of thousands of political opponents, made Catholicism the only tolerated religion in the country, and repressed culture and language.

When asked who would select this leader, Estelle said, "I think, quite frankly, these far-right conservatives sitting right around me." Hasan replied, "White people?" Estelle answered, "Yeah, absolutely. ...I’m for defending the traditional demographics of this country, which is majority white, and should stay that way."

Hasan later asked if Estelle would be fine with the autocratic leader killing Estelle and his family. Estelle responded, "I’m not going to be a part of the group that he kills."
Estelle went on to cite Nazi political theorist Carl Schmitt, and responded "I don't care" when Hasan pointed out that Schmitt was a member of the Nazi Party. "I frankly don’t care [about] being called a Nazi at all," Estelle said, downplaying the Nazi regime's genocide of Jews as "a little bit of persecution."

When Hasan said Estelle was a fascist, Estelle enthusiastically agreed.  “Yeah, I am," he laughed. "Absolutely. …I’m not ashamed of that whatsoever."

Estelle doubled down on his offensive rhetoric in the days following the video's release. His posts and reposts on X between July 20 and 21 include using the N word; referring to Hasan as "the brown guy" and a "faggot"; calling critics "trans" and "brown" and saying "LMFAO imagine not being white"; and writing "Quite frankly…. The white man has had enough."

His tone immediately changed on July 22, when he announced he had been fired. He then shared a series of posts saying he does not identify as a fascist or support the ideology. Estelle has since claimed that he said he was a fascist because he "wanted to disarm the way it has been used," calling the term "a slur."

“None of what happened to me was by design or my desire," Estelle posted on X on July 23. "It has really been a dark time for me and I’ve been trying to navigate it with trust in God."

Estelle immediately turned to begging strangers for charity, launching a fundraiser to cover his living expenses while he looks for a new job. In his plea for handouts, Estelle described himself as a victim of "cancel culture" for his "traditional right wing political views."

The fundraiser has collected tens of thousands of dollars, including from donors who commented, "Europeans and Americans need to cast out the brown plague by any means necessary," and "Thank you for standing up to malicious brown invaders." While racists line up in support of Estelle, his Colorado connections have been quick to cut ties.

The Rotary Club of Castle Rock, which named Estelle its “student of the month” in May 2019, has deleted all traces of the award from its website. The DU Catholic Student Fellowship, of which Estelle was a member and mass coordinator, purged all mentions and photos of Estelle from its website and social media accounts.

"This has been a deeply troubling situation for us and many," the student board of the DU Catholic Student Fellowship wrote in an online statement, noting that Estelle has had no involvement with the group since he graduated. "We want to be clear: we do not endorse or support the views he has expressed. These opinions are not aligned with the mission or values of the DU Catholic Student Fellowship."

VeUP has also sought to create distance from Estelle, asking LinkedIn to remove the company from his profile and clarifying that he worked through an independent subcontractor, not as an employee or direct contractor of the company. VeUP reportedly terminated the contract in response to the viral video.

"Mr. Estelle's statements are solely his own and do not represent VeUP's views, values or positions," the company says in a statement to Westword. "We note that Mr. Estelle's personal LinkedIn profile incorrectly listed VeUP as his employer. We have formally requested LinkedIn remove this erroneous reference immediately."

Quite frankly, on behalf of the state of Colorado, we apologize for unleashing this loser on the rest of the world.