THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY,. FEBRUARY 15, 1»BS Computer Network Links Rightist Groups and Offers 'Enemy'List
By WAYNE KING ^ _ _ hpr~tfrpJPVy an*, monitoring ' Special [o-The New Yoifc Times sound,~Wash.The house was ignited by outspoken member of a tax-protest j the computer network sponsored by the HOUSTON, Feb. 14 — An Idaho- illumination flares dropped from a group. He was Jailed in June 1983 when | Aryan Nations. based neo-Nazi organization has estab- helicopter. Mr. Mathews was sought in a concrete bunker crammed with thou- i It was set up by Louis Beam, of Dal- lished a computer-based network to connection with the wounding of an sands of rounds of ammunition ex- las, a member of the Ku Klux Klan. It link rightist groups and to disseminate F.B.I, agent in Seattle and the robbery ploded in a gun battle with the Federal of -a Brink's_armored -car in northern can be reached through telephone num- _a lisLof thoseJfehoJLsays "have be- authorities. He shot and killed Sheriff bers in-Texas Idaho and-Noah-Caroli- trayed their race." California. - Gene Matthews of Lawrence County, f Federal investigators later deter- na, which has an active Klan. One list available from the comput- Ark;, in that incident. Mr. Kahl at- Access Is Restricted er; titled "Know Your-Enemy," in- •-mintxUhat-the^Californiarobberjviiw tended Aryan Nations functions-and. eludes the addresses and telephone which $3.6 million was taken by a band has been cited as a "hero and martyr" Th^computeVlinKrwhiclrhas-vary^- numbers of regional offices of the Anti- of up to 17 men who sprayed the truck by the group." ing levels of passwords to restrict ac- Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and with an automatic weapon, was con- The Government's continuing inves- cess, describes itself as "a pro-Amer-" the offices of the Communist Party ducted to finance a "war" against the tigation has expanded to at~least six ican, pro-White, anti-Communist net- U.S.A. It also includes names and ad- Government. The authorities ascribed states. : work of true believers who serve the one and only God — Jesus, the Christ,1 dresses of "race traitors" and "in- the same motive to counterfeiting Weapons and a Point System formersjl! -operations they said were conducted by anathatitis^fotAi The computer link,- called the other members of the group. Investigators have already found Under a listing of caches of weapons, including explo- ist Occupational Government) "Aryan Liberty Net," is sponsored by The Network's Messages sives and automatic weapons, one of the' Aryan Nations, an organization In the wake of the incident at Whid- ere," the network lists the names, of an based in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Law-en- which was identifed by ballistics ex- F.B.I, informer against the Klan and a bey Island, Ricfiai£ Girnt Butler, head perts as the one used to kill Mr. Berg, man. who testified against a Ku Klux forcement officials have tied a splinter of the Aryan Nations, said Mr. Math- who taunted rightwing extreit group of the organization to several ews and several other members of the who taunted right-wing extremists on Klanstnan charged with bombing a —bank"-~and—armored-car • robberies, Silent—Brotherhood -were "former his radio show. The authorities-also vaaiarjuu-Kjuiu^usuur..—-Giifi di tti j 1 found-literaturedetailpijfa-"ppmt^ys-- —ThB~informer^was knlerflasrsunF " armed attacks on Federal officers and msmfesrs ' of ths Arysn NstiOiis. Mr. tern" tu achieve status uy;kiflinE Fed- mer,. and the network exults: "He was the machine-gun slaying of Alan Berg, Butler called Mr. Mathews "a hero." eral offii &=talk=show.^hQst~ - pieces_on a_iecent Jaorning —One-nsessage~on^the^Sryan "Nations —The also when he opened his mailbox to remove •War' on the United States ^ ..computer network warns: "The older discovered the names of public offi- his newspaper. Oh, glorious day!** The splinter group, calling itself by and less active-spokesmen for the fold cials and others viewed as enemies by An entry called "At Last, Unity" various names,- including, the Order and faith are being replaced by the rightists. _sgysjJ^Fjnally.-Wfi are all going-tobe dthBiidShlBC^terSchelBBnTC^rmarttot f y^g -tatel T exampler-the -Iinked-together-at-flne.tpomt~ta-time7- the Silent Brotherhood, was identified no time' for pamphlets or speeches. F.B.I, notified Lieut. Gov. Bill Baxley Imagine, if you will, all the great minds bytheFederai Bureau of. Investigation They are the armed party which is of Alabama that he might be a target .of the. patriotic. Christian movement as the organizational link for several being born out of the inability of white for revenge.* Mr. Baxley, when State* linked together and joined into one heavily armed Individuals who had male youths to be heard." Attorney General, was responsible for computer. Imagine any patriot in the "declared war" on the United States Another entry is a courtroom state- obtaining the extradition of the racist country being able to call up and access Government. The Silent Brotherhood ment of a California man convicted in J. B. Stoner for the bombing of Bethel' "these minds*' TV™ maintains that the Government, which 1982 for killing a 17-year-old_whp_iB=- Baptist Church in Kirminghanv it refers to as the "ZOG," for ZionisIj-J-formed-orrTight-wint g activities. The F.B.I, also uncovered threats Occupation Government, has been The statement accuses the-"Satanic linked to the Aryan Nations against Post Office Sues Magazine taken over by Jews, whom the group society" of the United States of "mur- Morris Dees of Montgomery, Ala., WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (AP) — The regards as descendants of Satan who dering Christians like Gordon Kahl, head of the Southern Poverty Law Cen- Postal Service filed suit Wednesday to should be exterminated, who you burned in Nebuchadnezzar's ter. Mr. Pees has filed several suits stop Larry C. Flynt, publisher of Hus- oven because he would not bow to your tler magazine, from sending free The leader of the group, Robert J. against the Ku Klux Klan and helped 4 .Mathews, 31 "years old, was killed in golden Babylonian God and pay your found Klanwatch, a group that moni- copies of his publication "or any other ; December after firing on Federal offi- tribute to finance Israel." tors the Klan. pandering advertisement" to members cers with a submachine gun from a Mr. Kahl, a fugitive charged with The Federal authorities decline to of Congress who did not want them.. -
NOTICE NO.: B5-2O DATE: F*b.15.1065 1 OCEAN DUUP1HO PERMIT PftOOttXST PUBUC ANNOUNCEMENT OF A COMPLETE APPLICATION
Notice is hereby given thai iho U.S. Environmental Protection Agency' (EPA) has received completed atpHcatfons and will now a public hearing on two separate applications from Weeks Stevedoring Co., Inc. nnd HugtiosBros. inc. (Ocean Burning,. Inc.) tor permits to transport and indrv erate-at-sea wooden materials under the Marine Protection, Research, PUBLIC NOTICES SI 00 and Sanctuaries Act of 1072 (the Act) 33 U.S.C. 1401 at eeq. (1976). ANNUAL Report (IRSForm 99OPF) (nter- EPA has made o tentative determination to Issue tnterim Permits for a term naffonal women's Health Coalition year enrJino 9/30/84 is available for inspection of one year to Weeks' Stevedoring Co.. Inc. and Hughes Bros. Inc. in ac- ov any citizen wno requests inspection cordance withf provisions of the Act,and the Regulations and Criteria within 180 days after date of irtls notice at issued purourfrrt thereto, found at 40 CFR 220-229 (Supp. 1977). Thoap-- 684 Park Ave, NY NY 10021, between 9 AM plfcants propose to toad wooden materials onto specialty modified barges & 5 PM. Principal Foyndation Manager Is for towing and subsequent-bum Ing at an EPA-trnerfm designated ocean Joan Banks Punlop. •wood incFnoratlon site. Residual ash and noncombustlbto material are to Ttie Annual Return ot Rock Foundation for be retumedjo shore for appropriate Isndbased disposal of reuse. Ooean the fiscal year ended May 31,1984 is aval- incineration at the Interim designated Bite hu been practiced since 197Q. table a! its principal office located at 222 The applicants moat recent ocean incineration permits (Nos. lr-tW-144 - Central Part South, New York, NY 10019 endl^JY-14S)exp(rodonOctoder4,10S4. for inspect I cfii-lftirinp regular business nours'bv any ciliien wno requests it within • 1B0 day hereof. Principal manager of the PropoMd Disposal SJte -—The_EPA-lnt»rim destanrted wood tncirmra- -ttorrsr^5ioCTl*a*^nBfiSnT1fiHlV?€4V rnTTiTlTo^nTlhVrwarosi conirtlirw — TRAVEL—VAN MOVING—CHEAP Latitude 40'OO'O0" to 40°r>*'20"N: Lonoitude 73'3a'1O" to Large empty moving van reluming 73"41'00"W. io L.A. around 1st ot March needs full or part load. Cheap, insured. Call-collect 9pm-12pm E5L all day Volume and Typ* of fftttt—Weeks gttjvodoring Co. propoeos m bum -Sat/Sim: 81&-57I-0MT- .appranimatgty.i.t ,7JO tohs-and-Hughes-Broa. Im^aoproxlmatery-iO.^OO- torn of driftwood timbers, oMlnga, d«tertoratird barges and timltar matsri- _ COMMERCIAL NOTICES 5.1 D2_ _alo from doterioffltad waterfront structure*, — — :- EHRECT OPEN MONOAYTHROUGH FRIDAY K to estimated that each baraek>acJ (a maximum of about 3,600 torn) will ECLAIR result fn Ihe release (durtng o 24-18 hour period} of appraximjitrty 29.8 FSCTORT tons of parttculates. 87.5 tons of carbon monoxrde, 7.0 tons of hydrocar- PASTRY SHOP & DELI bons, 3.5 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 21.0 ton* of soft. Sulfur dioxide FINANCING GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL emissions are expected to be neo'K^bte. LOWER LEVEL Summary of Factor* ConaktorMl tn RawMrtg Dvtenntnatkin OPP.TRACKS 103-105 Grand pianos, studio pianos, consoles, spinets, 212-MD 4-B877 After reviewing the two applicants' need for ocean disposal of wood try in- cineration, and on assessment of aKemative dtsposIfln«tfio^s~avnUBDle7 ECLAIR EPA Reg tenI I has Qjrtermtrted that eutfrcient need-hss been demonstrated also used pianos and organs- Financial District" "for use of ocean Incineration as a temporary dlspoeal alternative. _ Baidwin, the choice orfamousTnusicians, can be yours The primary environmental Impact of the proposed woodbumtng activities would be Iho short-term dAajodatkHi of sir quality (during the bum event) at a sale price. ' « \ over the New Yortt Bight oc*an waters. The ocean indrtenMon of th«e wood wastes win contribute additional partfculate* and aaroeoU to the The low sale prices tnclude matching bench, delivery, ^ctlfrenf stmoaphefic load in the-anM. How«v«r. the krestion of th« bum .__.warranty and the.expertservjce of_your^Baldw:tn-factory_j site is such that the pottutants mtemsKi wiH not vioicte ah- quaHty standards "trUbfl coastline, due to disperaton BIKI peftteulate falkxrt over the water. store. Pianos include free tuning-at home. Organs include Additionally, the permits are mtricted. by a pcrmH Special CondHion. from commencing trantport to" the Bite when prevaHing winds are on- free lessons. . " fpr Your Valentine -flhofe:— • " " ' For the mosf3iscrirnmating persons, BecrfsteTfrpiah"os~ No detectable etavations ot perticutate pollution in the Burroundlrtg waters are oh display in Manhattan. - Heart Shaped Decorated Calces are expected from the woodbumrng activities. Tr» maxtmum potential pot- _; „ Petti Fours, Cookies ltt i^TWtTy^rrtltath di hr (due to There aresorrje.excellent buys at this .time in used LINK BY COMPUTER USED BY RIGHTISTS Neo-Nazi Group in Idaho Sets Up Network —'informers' and 'Traitors' on a List
By WAYNE KING Special to The New York Times HOUSTON, Feb. 14 — An Idaho- based neo-Nazi organization has estab- lished a computer-based network to link rightist groups and to disseminate a list of those who it says "have be- trayed their race." One list available from the comput- er, titled "Know Your Enemy," in- cludes the addresses and telephone numbers of regional offices of the Anti- Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and the offices of the Communist Party U.S.A. It also includes names and ad- dresses of "race traitors" and "in- formers." The computer link, called the "Aryan Liberty Net," is sponsored by the Aryan Nations, an organization based in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Law-en- forcement officials have tied a splinter group of the organization to several bank and armored-car robberies, armed attacks on Federal officers and the machine-gun slaying of Alan Berg, a Denver talk show host. 'War' on the United States The splinter group, calling itself by various names, including the Order and the Brttder Schweigen, German for the Silent Brotherhood, was identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the organizational link for several heavily armed individuals who had "declared war" on the United States United Press International Government. The Silent Brotherhood ARMORED CAR MISHAP: Florida state police officers unloading an ar- maintains that the Government, which mored car that went off the road and turned over in the morning rush hour it refers to as the "ZOG," for Zionist yesterday In Miami. About $100,000 fell out of the truck as it crashed. Two Occupation Government, has been security guards In the back were Injured. The money was recovered. taken over by Jews, whom the group regards as descendants of Satan who In the wake of the incident at Whid- should be exterminated. bey Island, Richard Girnt Butler, head The leader of the group, Robert J. of the Aryan Nations, said Mr. Math- Mathews, 31 years old, was killed in ews and several other members of the December after firing on Federal offi- Silent Brotherhood were "former cers with a submachine gun from aj members" of the Aryan Nations. Mr. hideaway on Whidbey Island in Puget Butler called Mr. Mathews "a hero." Sound, Wash. The house was ignited by One message on the Aryan Nations illumination flares dropped from a computer network warns: "The older helicopter. Mr. Mathews was sought in and less active spokesmen for the fold connection with the wounding of anj and faith are being replaced by the F.B.I, agent in Seattle and the robbery young lions. These dragons of God have of a Brink's armored car in northern no time for pamphlets or speeches. California. They are the .armed party which is Federal investigators later deter- being born out of the inability of white mined that the California robbery, in male youths to be heard." M which $3.6 million was taken by a band Another entry is a courtroom state- of up to 17 men who sprayed the truck ment of a California man convicted in with an automatic weapon, was con- 1982 for killing a 17-year-old who in- ducted to finance a "war" against the formed on right-wing activities. Government. The authorities ascribed The statement accuses the "Satanic the same motive to counterfeiting society" of the United States of "mur-! operations they said were conducted by dering Christians like Gordon Kahl, | other members of the group. who you burned in Nebuchadnezzar's Morris Dees of Montgomery, Ala., oven because he would not bow to your head of the Southern Poverty Law Cen- golden Babylonian God and pay your ter. Mr. Dees has filed several suits tribute to finance Israel." against the Ku Klux Klan and helped Mr. Kahl, a fugitive charged with found Klanwatch, a group that moni- killing two Federal marshals, was an tors the Klan. r outspoken member of a tax-protest The Federal authorities decline, to group. He was killed in June 1983 when discuss whether they are monitoring a concrete bunker crammed with thou- the computer network sponsored by the sands of rounds of ammunition ex- Aryan Nations. ploded in a gun battle with the Federal It was set up by Louis Beam, of Del- authorities. He shot and killed Sheriff las, a member of the Ku Klux Klan. It Gene Matthews of Lawrence County, can be reached through telephone mint* iArk., in that incident. Mr. Kahl at- bers in Texas, Idaho and North Carott* tended Aryan Nations functions and na, which has an active Klan. > has been cited as a "hero and martyr" by the group. Access Is Restricted ' The Government's continuing inves- tigation has expanded to at least six The computer link, which has vary. states. ing levels of passwords to restrict ac- cess, describes itself as "a pro-Amep. Weapons: and a Point System ican, pro-White, anti-Communist net- i Investigators have already found work of true believers who serve the caches of weapons, including explo- one and only God — Jesus, the Christ,"- sives and automatic weapons, one of and that it is' 'for Aryan patriots only.!* which was identifed by ballistics ex- Under a listing of "known ZOG (Zlonr, perts as the one used to kill Mr. Berg, ist Occupational Government) inform- who taunted right-wing extremists on ers," the network lists the names of an his radio show. The authorities also F.B.I, informer against the Klan and a found literature detailing a "point sys- man who testified against a Ku Klux tem" to achieve status by killing Fed- Klansman charged with bombing A eral officials, blacks or Jews. California radio station. * v The Federal authorities have also The informer was killed last sum- discovered the names of public offi- mer, and the network exults: "He was cials and others viewed as enemies by blown to pieces on a recent morning, rightists. when he opened his mailbox to remove Late last month, for example, the his newspaper. Oh, glorious day!" ' F.B.I, notified Lieut. Gov. Bill Baxley An entry called "At Last,. Unity"' of Alabama that he might be a target says: "Finally, we are all going to be for revenge. Mr. Baxley, when State linked together at one point in time. Attorney General, was responsible for Imagine, if you will, all the great minds obtaining the extradition of the racist of the patriotic Christian movement J. B. Stoner for the bombing of Bethel linked together and joined into one I Baptist Church in Birmingham. computer. Imagine any patriot in the The F.B.I.'also uncovered threats country being able to call up and acces» linked to the Aryan Nations against these minds." 'FOR ARYANS ONLY' Hate mail Three of the systems are operated in Idaho, Texas and North Carolina sent via by the Aryan Nations, the Idaho- based, neo-Nazi group currently tar- geted in a nationwide FBI racketeer- computer ing investigation. The group is known VJ have mem- bers and sympathizers throughout the White supremacists United States, including Robert. Mi- les, a former Michigan Ku Klux Klan are now linked by leader who is still very active in the electronic network white supremacy movement. He is the Aryan Nations' only apparent This on-line computer bulletin Michigan connection. h ard is for Aryan patriots only. This THE FOURTH, and oldest, of is a pro-American, pro-white, anti- the systems is run in West Virginia by communist network of true believers 54-year-old farm broker George who serve the one and only God — Dietz, who emigrated from Germany Jesus the Christ. Hail His Victory! in 1957 after serving in the Hitler — Vwm the Aryan Nations Liberty Youth and went on to become this Net. country's largest purveyor of anti- By Ric Bohy Jewish material, according to ADL News Staff Writer researchers. Besides posting excerpts from his publications, Dietz usc-s his The slogans are similar to those computer to advertise real estate list - sometimes scrawled on the walls of ings for his brokerage. public toilets. A fifth system — recently up- The message is racial and religious graded — is operated in California bv hatred. The medium is the computer. the White American Resistance White supremacists have gone (WAR), founded by the former head high-tech. of the state's Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Tom Metzger. WAR describes COMPUTERIZED "bulletin its system as "an electronic village boards" now operated by the extreme square" for discussion of "news and right in five 3tates are devoted to the views on late-breaking information spread of race-oriented philosophy, that affects the white people and the theology and revolution. They com- racially conscious of the nation." prise what 'the Anti-Defamation As far as is known, the far-left- League (ADLl of B'nai B'rith refers wing groups have no comparable com- to as "networks of hate." puter network. Please see Nazi 20A Editor's note: Much national at- tention has been focused recently on •> spate of killings and armed robber- ies attributed to nej-Nazi groups. This is the first of three articles examining the members and activi- ties of such groups. From page 1A EARLIER THIS month, federal prosecutors in Seattle announced the Each of the right-wing systems can indictment of 24 members of a neo- be easily accessed by anyone, any- Nazi group called The Order, an where, with a personal computer and offshoot from Aryan Nations. They ''modem" — a device that allows are charged with violating the federal computers to communicate over tele- Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt phone lines. Using an inexpensive Organizations (RICO) Act. ; portable computer, The Detroit News Among the crimes attributed to j monitored all five systems regularly The Order, and which comprised the ! during several recent weeks. indictments under RICO, were the j ONE WISHING to use a particu- machine-gun killing in Denver last i lar system's ''bulletin board" places a summer of Jewish talk show host phone call to the host computer, Alan Berg; the slaying of a former switches on the modem after a con- Order member suspected of informing nection is made and then can read on the group; and arson, counterfeit- and respond to whatever is stored ing and robberies that netted more there. than $4 million. Peter Mueller, an assistant U.S. ; Thousands of bulletin boards attorney in Seattle, said nine of those \ throughout the country provide tech- charged "were formerly associated- nical and scientific information, with the Aryan Nations." news, research materials, computer games and a wide range of other data. Founded in the 1970s and now headquartered in Hayden Lake, Ida- Their use is especially popular ho, Aryan Nations set up its computer , among the young, growing population network late last summer. ': \ of computer-literate students. For G that reason, the existence of "racial ITS ORIGINAL purpose, ac- boards" is of particular concern to cording to Shefman, was to circum- [ such groups as the ADL. vent stringent Canadian customs laws "It is of concern mainly because of barring the importation of hate mate- the use of computers by young people rials and pornography. who are vulnerable to the kinds of Using the statutes, Shefman said, messages you find on these things," the League for Human Rights com- Os said David Lowe, assistant director of plained last April about the importa- u the fact finding department at ADL tion into Canada of the book Hoax of \ headquarters in New York. the 20th Century, by Arthur Butz, an electrical engineering professor at "I WOULD doubt that there is Northwestern University and "one of much potential for major conversions the chief spokespeople for the denial-, of people. of-the-Holocaust forum or hate pro- "But with young people, there paganda. should be some concern." Alan Shefman, national director of "The complaint was submitted to the League for Human Rights of the minister responsible for Customs B'nai B'rith Canada, agreed. Canada, it was reviewed and he ulti- "My feeling is that any propaga- mately decided this book should be tion of hatred should be taken seri- piacod on the list for prohibition'of o ously," Shefman said. entry into Canada. "Whether computerization is go- "Then in late summer of last year, G ing to have substantial impact is I think August, a flyer was sent doubtful. around a number of cities in Canada, "On the other hand these young a one-page flyer which announced the people, 'hackers,' are looking to con- Aryan Nations computer network." nect with something, see this and say this is great, fiery stuff, and start BECAUSE OF easy telephone picking it up and distributing it. access from Canada, Shefman said "X think it's important to recognize the flyer promoted the electronic bul- that the Aryan Nations group is letin board as the "coup de grace to playing games with this computer the Canadian government's Iron Cur- network, but they do not play games tain censorship." with most of their activity. They're One early message left on the the most violent, racist group in Aryan Nations network read: North America, by far." "Finally, we are all going to be Shefman cited recent indictments linked together at one point in time. and arrests of alleged Aryan Nations Imagine if you will, all the great minds members in the United States as the of the patriotic Christian movement basis for hh> characterization of the linked together and joined into one group. computer. name, Taiinr, a derivation of his Free Association Forum (FAF) for various hate groups. The Aryan Liberty Net is not a '"secure" system. TO USE most computer bulletin boards, one must "sign on" with a password, often a code that is as- signed after the system operator con- firms the user's identity. But in the initial link-up with any of the Aryan Nations' three comput- ers — one each in Idaho, Texas and North Carolina — the caller is auto- matically assigned a password after typing in "any name that you are comfortable with." Access to most of the information "menu" then is granted with the in- struction to mail in $5 for password "validation" and full access. Although messages on the system occasionally hint at the existence of a super-secret "Level 7" access code, Aryan Nations leader Butler recently was quoted as telling a reporter "it was never really formulated. "It was something we dreamed ug, to get all you guys and the Jews Upset you know, the mystique of it. We have to have our fun, too, you know." V ONE OF the few extra privileges obtained with the $5 validation fee is access to the network's user list. Of only three dozen names currently on file, many are obvious pseudonyms —' such as John Paul Jones, Thors Ham- mer, Fafnir, Canadian Patriot, B.C. Freedom Fighter, The Baron arid Nathan B. Forrest (the post-Civil 11 PHOTO 8Y PHIL SCHOF1ELD, SPOKANE REVIEW War leader of the KKK) — and most ] \ Richard Butler speaks at rally, with bodyguard Gary Yarbrough of the rest are those of the systeffl'*3 (foreground), who last moo-i was sentenced to 25 years in prison. operators and designers, such as But«fj ler and former Texas KKK "grand "Now imagine any patriot ;;.•_ the in 1979, when he resumed his work a? drasron" Louis Benm, the Aryan ' country being abie to call up and a white supremacist under the auspic- tions' "ambassador at large." access those minds, to deal with the es of the "Identity Church" move- Once signed on, the user is greeted problems and issues that affect him. ment. The teachings of the move- with: {• "You are on line with the Aryan ment, also subscribed to by Aryan "The Aryan Nations Liberty Net. Nations brain trust. nations founder Richard G. Butler, welcomes you. This on line computer "It is here to serve the folk." hold that Jesus Christ was an Aryan, bulletin board is for Aryan patriots • •* that whites are the true "chosen peo- only. This is a pro-American, pro- ple of Israel," and that Jews are the white, anti-communist network of When the Aryan Liberty Net first children of Satan. went "on line" in Idaho, it did so with true believers, who serve the one and Richard Lobenthal, director of the only God — Jesus the Christ. Hail the blessing and enthusiastic support ADL's Detroit office, described Miles of a small-town Michigan pastor. His His Victory!" as midwest regional coordinator of What follows — the "truths" name is Robert Miles and his cburch the Aryan Nations and "one of the is the Mountain Kirk of Cohoctah, a promised by Miles —- includes: biggies" of the hate movement in 9 An "intelligence report" on the few miles north of Howell, America. But Miles is not best, known as a build-up of a nuclear-armed Soviet. churchman. tank force 200 miles south of the MILES PUBLISHES a bi- U.S.-Mexico border. IN 1971, shortly after Federal monthly newsletter. From the Moun- Judge Damon Keith ordered a busing tain, and in its issue last fall likened • A paean to the late Robert J. plan to integrate Pontiac schools. 10 the establishment of the Aryan Na- Matthews, founder of The Order and of the buses assigned for that use were tions computer system "to Bible a federal fugitive who died in a fire destroyed by dynamite. Two years smuggling into Russia.'" last. December during a shootout with later. Miles was convicted a- the "The rejection of incoming mail the FBI at Whidbey Island, Wash. "brains" behind a conspiracy to carry from Aryan Nations or any other The message, entitled First Blood, out the bombings. racialist, organization will thusly have begins: "What greater honor than to At the time they occurred, he was a no effect upon obtaining the truth," have been the first to have died in the leader of the Ku Klux Klan in Michi- Miles wrote. riual battle! The battle which shall gan. In the mouths since then, several preserve our beautiful Aryan children Miles served six years of a •ihie- messages were "poured" on the Aryan upon our Father's earth! Hail his v<,ai" prison sentence and wns r(---,.u
NEWS ARTWORK / RICHARD R. RINKE
Robert Miles addresses students at Fento.n High shortiy after his release from pri prison in 1979. ways that most people can't. Some of I ' you have the ability to recognize touch j tones by ear. A few can tell where their . GREENS' calls are going by the sounds they hear. ; And still others are able to get into j COMMUNICATIONS NAZI BBS: A more than a few major systems and : find the interesting stuff almost im- \ NETWORK mediately. There is a very definite need ' continued from pg. 7 CHALLENGE in this world for such intelligence. | Delphi offers several other useful services, mostly at premium rates. The most expen- Every authority figure in existence 11 would like to get a piece of your sive of these, Dialog ! searches 40 years of TO HACKERS abilities but very few are deserving of the New York Times and other newspapers reprinted from 2tn. them. Besides, who really enjoys selling for references to a given name or event, at out? $75 per hour. If your search criteria are carefully phrased most searches take about One of our correspondents made an Think of all the events going on in interesting discovery last month. She 10 minutes. the world today. When all phone lines Getting on line found the telephone number for one of to Poland are cut off, use your tricks to the bulletin board systems operated by route through Belgrade. Then let the Any home computer can access Delphi if American Nazis. With this number she press know that you can get through if equipped with a modem (modulator- was able to log on and get the informa- demodulator), a device for sending data on they care. Track down interesting peo- the phone lines. The 300 baud tion that the media has lately been all ple in South Africa, El Salvador, the bugeyed about. Now we are prepared Volksmodem is $48. Those anticipating Soviet Union—especially in times of heavy use are well advised to invest more to talk intelligently on the matter. crisis. Ther's no reason why you cannot For one thing, this bulletin board is ($170) in a Volksmodem capable of attain the same respectability that a transmitting at 1200 baud, as there is no ex- an Apple running Network software. ham radio operator has when things get (There are only about two dozen tra Delphi charge for faster service. desperate. We can all still have lots of Once you have voui modem, you can join messages posted on it. Only people who fun, and at the same time move some the network in a matter of hours. Call Dave pay $5 can post messages or use elec- mountains. at Mass. (617) 862-1139 or 864-4144, or tronic mail functions. The system is not The Nazis are a start. If hackers can Stan at (215) 922-0227, or Brian or Ben at used very often judging from the fre- uncover a thing or two that nobody else (608) 257-5517. We will give you the local quency of the messages. The people knows about, we'll be on the road to delphi number for your area, and instruc- behind it seem to have no interest in finally being appreciated. Let us know tions for signing on. We can also advise you changing anything in the software or what you find. But be careful out there. on equiptment purchases. Experienced doing anything imaginative with it. telecommunicators can simply dial up (Example: on most Apple bulletin The numbers for the Nazi boards are delphi, give USER ID CREENSIGNUP, and boards, the "B" command gets you a list 2142633109 and 9193239888. If you would | PASSWORD GREEN to open an account. of other bulletin board systems. At the like a full printout of all of the messages con- ; Every affinity or working group who joins end of the list, the program prints, tained on these boards, sent $5 to 2600, Box | the net makes us all stronger, empowered "When calling other systems, be sure to 752, Middle Island, NY 11953-0752. \ by the multi-human powers of the network. tell them about [name of board]. This It really is a phenomenal feeiing to be able message can easily be changed. The to be heard by people that make a dif- Nazis use the "B" command also, ex- ference and maybe chat with an author of cept they use it to list addresses of KLAN & NAZI politico you have admired for a while. As "patriot" groups. Even though the list is the other nodes becotne familiar with your not a list of bulletin boards, you still get NUMBERS group they will ask you to do things for the "When calling other systems" by Inhn trom F.N.T. them and you have the right to ask right message at the end of it.) Below are five of the six newly back. This is a living network and it wants to grow in your direction. There seems to be little of no atten- established "Aryan Nations Liberty dance by any sysop based on zero chat Net" data bases. These data bases availability and no replies to all kinds of are available 24 hours a day and con- feedback. "G" files exist (standard on tain Klan/Nazi propaganda, enemy Apple boards, usually used for storing lists, electronic mailboxes, bulletin large articles), however one of them re- boards, and more. All bulletin boards quires Level 7 access. Or at least, that's are set for 300 BBS (baud) and most what it says. The file in question is a list will let you into the system without a of race traitors, their addresses, etc. We password by typing the word 'NEW" are convinced that no such file exists, at when prompted. Have fun... least not there. When requesting this 1. White American Resistance..(619) 723-8996 file, you are told: "Here is a list of race 2- Aryan Nations (208) 772 6134 traitors: Level 7 access required." This 3. CKKKKBBS no. car (919) 323-9888 doesn't seem right. Either you're allow- 4 Texas KKK BBS (21 4) 263-31 09 ed to read the file or not. In this case, 5. W.Va. BBS (304! 927-1773 you're allowed to read part of the file iiiimiiiiiiiimiimiiiiimiiiiiiii and then suddenly you're aren't. It's almost as if the file simply contains the above statement and nothing else. Un- fortunately, the media never picked up on that. Our point here is simply this: you computer hackers and phone phreaks that are reading this have the ability to uncover and analyze circumstances in I 17 g giowm oi meir organization. example, mat we had no Similar organizing strategies have been called for a withdrawal of Syrian troop: utilized nationwide, and the greens are in- from Lebanon. Of course we had. creasing their contacts daily. Over 4,000 let- This criticism is a little surprising ters have reached the C.of C. and been pass- especially considering that it comes frorr ed on to the appropriate regional groups. within the Green party itself. After all while in Israel, as in all the countries w( Questions Remain visited—we stood up for standard Greer by Nestor Mahkno' party political convictions: the right of al Ifc, 1 As the Green organizing effort gains nations to self-determination, the call for a N.Y. area who had written to the C of C in momentum several major issues are still to withdrawal of all foreign forces from othei response to a brief article which had ap- be determined. Will the greens emerge as a countries, observation of human rights. peared in the Nation. movement or a party? Will their focus be a These were our beliefs before we left foi 25 people attended the first meeting holistic process of cultural reconstruction or Israel. If Henryk Broder, who emigrated tc where a genera! discussion of the green con- will they confine themselves to a narrower Israel from West Germany in 1981, accuses cept was held. The group decided to meet political agenda? What issues will the greens us in the Taz'of alternative imperialism and again and mailed 200 invitations to a make their own? Will a unified national Green post-colonialism, then one can only meeting held the following month to discuss movement coalesce around one of the ex- suppose he means we should have pretend- ecology and the green idea. 90 people show- isting networks or will a new national struc- ed we were politically naive—we should ed up at that meeting which led to the for- ture arise? have forgotten everything we really knew: mation of an agenda committee which Given the electoral processes of the U.S. the occupation and de facto annexation of organized a third meeting focusing on green (very different from the proportional the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the principles. 150 people came to the next respresentation which brought the greens to Golan Heights by Israel since June of 1967; meeting, held at a local university. A variety power in Germany) is it possible for U.S. the occupation of southern Lebanon by of committees formed to draft statements Greens to gain electoral successes? How will Israel since June of 1982; the horrendous further refining the principles (now 6) the the greens broaden their constitutency to in- pictures we saw of the Israeli attack on N.Y. Greens have adopted: Ecology, base clude more culturally diverse groups? Is a Lebanon; the Israeli government's refusal to democracy, social responsibility, communi- majoritarian movement possible, or will respond to the United Nations insistence on ty economics, peace/nonviolence, and sup- they function more effectively as a moral a withdrawal of troops, etc.. portive human relations. Despite record- minority—pressuring the Mainstream to We do not contest that the Jewish-Israeli breaking cold, over 100 people returned the respond to their initiatives? people have a right to self-determination following month for discussion of these The answer to these and other questions and their own state. But whoever demands principles. The next meeting was attended remains to be seen, but one fact is clear: the first and foremost recognition of Israel's by almost 200 people who adopted a work- greens are here, and they represent the com- right to existence should first of all ing paper on principles for the N.Y. Greens. ing together of a variety of strains in recognize that an Israeli state ALREADY In the interim a variety of Ad Hoc study American oppositional politics, the first tru- EXISTS, and that the Palestinians, on the groups had been meeting to develop ideas ly new movement of the 80's. Will they other hand, are DENIED the same right by for organizational structure, issues & ac- realize their potential as a force for social Israel. So what does one-sided mean here? tions, outreach, fund-raising, newsletter, change? That will be up to all those who What does onesided mean if the deputy and other issues of concern to the group. All have a stake in seeing the green principles director of the Israeli department for foreign of the meetings were held as a participatory become a reality. affairs was not even prepared to explain where the Israeli government considers Israel's borders to lie? Are we not right in assuming that a state that is not even willing GREENS' COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK to define its borders can be expected to ex- pand? And what is one-sided if PLO-leader International Creen Communications filiates have equal access much more i Since November, activists from 20 U.S. Arafat states that the PLO is prepared to cheaply than by sending delegates to too in- take part in a Middle East peace conference locations, London, W. Germany, and frequent in-person national conferences. with Israel—which is tantamount to a de- recently Japan, New Zealand, and 5. Emergency response network. facto recognition of Israel by the PLO—but Switerland, have been meeting by com- 6. AIRHITCH; a cooperative air transport the Israeli government (and the Reagan ad- puter as the International Creen Network. service. Very cheap to Europe. ministration) rejects such a conference Our experience thus far shows that online 7. Database for corporate/military and en- because they do not wish to recognize the teleconferencing, electronic mail, and readi- vironmental research. This is a longer term PLO as the legitimate representative of the ly accessible bulletin boards are valuable application due to currently high, but rapid- Palestinian people? organizing tools on regional and "national" ly falling, costs for information storage. as well as the international level. An exten- The Creen netwotk is housed on Delphi , Of course no conflict is so simple, and sive network of Community Terminals can a mainframe computer owned by the particularly not the knot in the Middle East, provide: General Videotex Corporation, a relatively as to be done justice with a few remarks in 1. Sharing of ideas, development of a com- small independent company. They charge a an article like this. But an integral part of mon Creen agenda. one-time $29 membership fee for each user the historic truth of the Palestine conflict is 2. An (eventually) daily international news account, plus $6 per hour on line evenings that the creation of the Israeli state went service. and weekends, $16 per hr. weekdays (to be hand in hand with the disenfranchisement, 3. Midwifing and logistic coordination of avoided). The cost of a long distance carrier expropriation of land and expulsion of the tours, demonstrations and other projects. is included, so except in some rural areas Palestinians. 4. A more truly democratic means of rapid there is no additional long distance phone In 1922 the former British-ruled Palesti- decision making than ever before possible, bill. Delphi can now carry 40 users at once, nian protectorate was inhabited by about both for existing organizations and the soon 120. 88,000 Jews and about 660,000 Arabs. By emerging Creen presence. Far-flung af- continued on pg. 17 1939 the number of Jews in Palestine had
A^'i ONER1HROW/PAGE 7 I iigotry and Violence Online Skinheads and other white-supremacist groups have a powerful new- weapon in their arsenal: the electronic bulletin board. By Peter Stills Connect 1200 most important propaganda tool. But followers Press POST MESSAGE PC/COMPUTING 145 thuggery, suggesting, for example, that beating a was a "computer wizard," the FBI tracked his com- homeless person with a baseball bat is more effective munications with other neo-Nazi groups. Later, by than setting his clothes on fire. tapping Miles's modem line, they discovered an intri- "We have debates, share opinions, and network cate network of neo-Nazi BBSs. about what's going on with the cause," says Mike The Berg assassination brought news of the tech- Miller, the systems operator (SYSOP) of a popular nological advances of racist organizations into the neo-Nazi board located in Washington State. "It's daily press, fueling often exaggerated accounts of the just like any other BBS." "Klan's jump into high tech." It also inspired the Miller's board recently hosted an online discussion computer networking scenes in the 1988 United Art- about American hostages being held in the Middle ists film Betrayed (starring Debra Winger and Tom East. Comments included a typical mix of racist Berenger), a fictional account of an FBI agent's infil- violence: tration of an unnamed white-supremacist organiza- If we'd destroy the Jews, there wouldn't be any need tion whose members use PCs to plot a political for sand niggers to lake hostages. assassination. When investigators learned that a The W.A.R. Board Neo-Nazi boards began springing up in the United States as early as 1984, defendant in the Berg murder case was when a loose coalition of BBSs went online in California, North Carolina, a "computer wizard," the FBI tracked and Illinois. One of the earliest, the W.A.R. Board (an acronym for White his communications with other neo-Nazi Aryan Resistance), began in the semi- rural town of Fallbrook, California, lo- cated halfway between Los Angeles and groups. By tapping his modem line, they San Diego. Tom Metzger, a blue-collar entre- discovered an intricate network of BBSs preneur who owns and operates a tele- vision repair shop in Fallbrook, started We should just wipe out the entire region with tactical the W.A.R. Board from his home in 1984 using a nukes and show them what America can really do. Commodore 64 at a lumbering 300 bps. Its single The same BBS regularly features online dialogue phone line was constantly busy, indicating the high about strategies for ousting the current U.S. govern- demand for online white-supremacist material and ment (called ZOG, for Zionist Occupation Govern- the number of neo-Nazis with the technology to ac- ment) through armed rebellion, along with discussion cess such information. of which "Jew-loving lawmakers" should be execut- Racist groups quickly hailed the W.A.R. Board as ed when the new order is installed. a technological breakthrough, which helped spawn Metzger's reputation as the technology godfather of Digital Conspiracy the white-supremacy movement. Today, W.A.R. has Though skinhead BBSs spew more violence than more than 2,000 members, many of whom are skin- other boards, their brand of racism isn't unique. The heads. He has become a figurehead, helping provide Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi Party, the Order leadership to the loosely strung movement. (a neo-Nazi organization), and dozens of splinter Short and balding, Metzger is physically unim- groups and sympathizers have operated or currently pressive, yet his prowess as a master of white-su- operate bulletin boards. Knowledge of the Radical premacist rhetoric is legendary. He now hosts his Right's use of microcomputer telecommunications own public-access TV interview show, "Race and first came to the forefront a few years ago, during the Reason," a cable program currently broadcast in At- FBI's investigation of the Alan Berg murder. lanta, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and sev- Berg hosted a late-night talk show on Denver's en other U.S. cities. KOA radio, and his frequent and acerbic on-the-air Metzger operates the latest incarnation of the ridicule of racist organizations irked members of the W.A.R. Board on a multiuser 286-based AT clone Order. He had received several death threats from with a 40MB hard disk running FidoNet software. the group. On the evening of June 18, 1984, Berg was (The developer of FidoNet, Bay-area resident Tom shot in the driveway of his Denver townhouse. Soon Jennings, regrets the group's use of his software. "I after the assassination, the FBI moved in to arrest don't like them using FidoNet," Jennings recently several known members of the Order. complained, "but I suppose it's inevitable.") The When investigators learned that Robert Miles, one W.A.R. Board claims links with several other skin- of the eventual defendants in the Berg murder case, head and neo-Nazi boards across the country and 146 DECEMBER 1989 hawks bumper stickers ("The Holocaust Is a Lie"), viruses. Many skinhead boards that once operated Aryan jewelry, and videotapes of Metzger's TV publicly have gone underground, using unlisted shows. It maintains several layers of password securi- phone numbers or systematically changing their ty, making whole parts of the board accessible only to numbers to keep out hostile interlopers who might those who know Metzger personally. sabotage their systems. A researcher who monitors skinhead boards for the Anti-Defamation League Murder Online (ADL) of B'nai B'rith, a nonprofit organization dedi- Most skinhead BBSs run on cheap IBM clones and cated to opposing bigotry, suggests that membership are networked via customized versions of FidoNet on all racist BBSs has become much more exclusive software. They use some kind of store-and-forward in the past two years. electronic mail system and surprisingly sophisticated Skinhead SYSOPs have also become increasingly software. Many offer users a choice of transfer pro- wary of law enforcement agencies. The Berg murder tocols, including Kermit, Zmodem, and sliding-win- case made it clear that a BBS can implicate users in dow protocols such as W/Xmodem. criminal conspiracy. Typically, new users learn about the boards In fact, police linked a skinhead board operating in through word of mouth. To earn passwords that give Gaithersburg, Maryland, to the December 1988 access to a board's higher security levels, users usual- deaths of four teenagers in nearby Bethesda. The ly have to speak with the SYSOP over the phone. youths died from the accidental explosion of a home- Access to a board's full range of files generally re- made bomb. quires either a personal interview with the SYSOP or According to police reports, a 17-year-old SYSOP a recommendation from another high-level user. was arrested in connection with a separate March 26 Security has become a matter of increasing con- pipe-bomb blast. The investigation led police offi- cern to skinhead SYSOPs since the rise of computer cials to the youth's home, where they found a BBS that contained several files for "growing your own homemade bombs," says a Are BBSs Private? spokesman for the Mont- gomery County fire marshal's Last year when Michael Dukakis visited San Diego County, an elec- office. "We also found an ar- tronic bulletin board (not a neo-Nazi board) carried a series of mes- ray of bomb-making chemi- sages threatening the Democratic presidential candidate. cals, 30 diskettes containing "The Secret Service was alerted by a user [of the BBS], and we the formulas for making the bombs, and a printout with approached the owner of the system," said a spokesman for the Ser- the names of about 1,100 vice. "We tracked down the user [who had issued the threats] other users." through a phone number he supplied online and took him into custo- Among the materials dy. He was just a kid. His threats were just pranks." seized, investigators found Incidents like this and the Alan Berg murder case raise the issue of several references to skin- heads in other states, though what federal authorities can do when threatening messages appear on many of the names were BBSs. No law prohibits the FBI (or any other government agency) aliases. Three of the teens from monitoring public messages on bulletin boards. The Electronic named had died in the De- Communications Privacy Act of 1986 protects private messages and cember explosion. privately stored files only. But what if an FBI agent monitors a BBS Connection solely for the purpose of gathering information on the board's users? The Bethesda bomb blast One former FBI agent, a computer crime expert who asked that his alerted government officials name be withheld, suggests that such casual monitoring might be a and watchdog agencies to the violation of the 1968 Wiretap Act. "In order to use a wiretap," he ex- proliferation of BBSs and their power to organize dis- plains, "you have to get a court order. If an FBI agent is monitoring a parate followers of racist BBS to gather information, that becomes an interesting question, be- ideologies. cause there are very specific federal rules about a wiretap. My ques- "With the use of comput- tion is, 'At what point does monitoring turn into a wiretap-like act?' " ers, the skinheads are closing Good point. The answer is that there are no rules. ranks," says Greg Withrow, the former White Student Unless asking for private messages, an agent can monitor, store, Union organizer and victim and manipulate any public message as he or she sees fit. —PS of the Sacramento crucifix- PC/COMPUTING 147 ion incident, who now lectures before Skinhead bulletin boards allow ysers members of the ADL. At the league's Los Angeles offices, he spoke in muted tones, scratching at a series of ban- to collaborate while concealing dages, reminders of the recent laser surgery that burned off the swastikas their real identities, and this concerns tattooed on his arms. Withrow maintains that BBSs help those who keep an eye on the translate vague political yearnings into action by allowing users to collaborate, Radical Right. Says the research discuss tactics, and draw up agendas. He says that Metzger wants to orga- nize skinheads from around the coun- director of one watchdog agency, try, and he lays out a sketch of the skinhead network: Chicago Area Skin- "It's a Klan without robes." heads (CASH) have ties to Detroit Area Skinheads (DASH) and the Confederate Ham- Leonard Zeskind, the research director for the Cen- mer Skins of Dallas. The Dallas faction is networked ter for Democratic Renewal, an Atlanta, Georgia- with groups in Wisconsin and Oklahoma City. based nonprofit outfit dedicated to opposing racist While ominous, these links often mean nothing organizations. He notes that electronic networks rep- more than a time prearranged between SYSOPs to resent a high-tech twist on the early white-sheet days exchange binary files, so that DASH members, for of the Ku Klux Klan. example, can read and respond to messages and dia- logues posted on a CASH board the previous day. Anonymous Dialogue As racist chat lines, skinhead boards may pose lit- Many believe that the technology of computer com- tle menace. But BBSs also allow users to collaborate munications is "a great equalizer" because it conceals while concealing their real identities. And this con- race, creed, and color. Yet that very anonymity at- cerns the agencies that keep an eye on the Radical tracts closet racists to skinhead BBSs. Zeskind be- Right. "This is a Klan without robes," declares lieves this is particularly true for young people who IBM-STANDARD PERSON U (t m » Y . i 1111 i i IJ "this is a prime example of what i I a PC-based FAX package ought to be" —April, 1989 "it worked flawlessly5 -March, 1989 WORL Ho v r urn Re on' "the Complete FAX/9600 best in its class" -April 10,1989 are enamored of skinhead rock-and-roll and curious them. Watchdog-agency estimates of the number of- about the movement's political leanings but don't yet skinhead boards in operation vary widely. Many want to be associated with such groups. BBSs come and go according to the enthusiasm and Computer communications may be a more effec- financial resources of their SYSOPs. tive propaganda tool than printed materials. Unlike Yet it's clear that the skinhead movement itself is traditional extremist groups that rely on newsletters, growing rapidly. The Center for Democratic Renew- skinheads are discovering that BBSs cross political al estimates that 3,500 skinheads in the United States organizations, helping them reach nonskinhead neo- identify themselves as racist today, compared with Nazis who might balk at openly associating with only 300 three years ago. And the movement is still in them. And BBSs endow the skinheads' ideology with its embryonic state, according to Morris Casuto of an aura of authenticity that a clumsily typed newslet- the ADL's San Diego offices. ter cannot offer. The W.A.R. Board's Tom Metzger scoffs at com- BBSs also prove to be more effective at dissemi- plaints that the movement is steeped in violence. "It's nating their message than the "Dial-a-Nazi" type re- so overrated, I can't believe anyone buys into it," he cordings found in most major cities. Such recordings says. "If the Jew-run newspapers would dig a little usually emanate from simple answering machines set into the Baptist church, they'd find a higher percent- up to broadcast but not record incoming calls. These age of crime among those church members than you systems handle only one call at a time, and the infor- would among skinheads." mation they supply can quickly become outdated. Metzger places tremendous faith in technology to A BBS lets whole groups of people share in a dia- further his cause. "Electronic media is the only way logue, a capability missing from newsletters and to get to the white working class," he suggested re- voice-recording systems. BBSs also offer the affinity cently. Indeed, he envisions installing a generation of that comes from belonging to a community, as any technologically hip neo-Nazis throughout the mili- user group does. tary and government until, as he explains, "we can eventually seize power through the use of technology Guerrilla Warfare and the power of information." E The FBI won't comment on the volume of traffic on skinhead BBSs, insisting that because operating the Peter Stills is a pseudonym for a West Coast freelance boards is not illegal, the bureau doesn't monitor writer. The best way to add a FAX to your office The Complete FAX/9600.!" Sends is to add it to your PC with one of The and receives at a blistering 9600 bps. $699. Complete PC FAXboards.You'll save hundreds, The Complete Communicator.™ even thousands of dollars versus a stand- An entire office on one easy-to -install board. alone FAX machine. 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Call today FAX machine. for The Complete The Complete PC has a complete PC dealer nearest family of FAX boards for IBM PC/XT/ATs and you. compatibles. 1-800-634-5558. The Complete FAX.8 A 4800 bps board that operates fully in the background, perfect for home or office use. $399. TheComolete 1983 Concourse Drive, San Jose, CA 95131 (408) 434-0145 FAX (408) 434-1048 c 1989 The Complete PC.The Complete FAX is a registered trademark. andThe Complete PC, The Complete FAX/9600,The Complete Communicator, and The Complete FAX/Portable are trademarks of The Complete PC. PC Magazine * Ziff Communications Co. Personal Computing "Now, non-whites, I want: you to picture the mouth of that White Lion, just before he rips the flesh off your face and bones. Think of it when you get your welfare check. Think of it when you riot. Think of it when you do your next crime. Enjoy now—your day is coming. Oh! A special note to our Jewish Jackals. When you look down the throat of that roaring White Lion, you'll wish for the peace and tranquillity that you had in the concentration camps. This time the White Race will not be divided as in 1939." —[email protected] posted to alt.politics.nationalism.white he blare of racist epithets across a many publications. The coverage of cyberhate crowded chat room. Anti-Semitic is disproportionate to the rest of white su- flyers tacked to electronic bulletin premacist activity. On-line communication is Tboards and left in e-mailboxes. only one weapon in the arsenal of the white- Swastikas spray painted upon an urban supremacist movement. It is important to Don Black cyberscape. Billboards railing against the New understand how they wield that weapon and Stormfront World Order along dusty stretches of the in- to accurately assess the damage it can yield. formation superhighway. It has been more than a year now since former Klansman Don Cyberhate and Cyberhype: Black posted the now infamous "White Pride Untangling the Web World Wide" logo along with the bright red Gothic Stormfront lettering on the World The white supremacist movement has Oklahoma City Wide Web (WWW) igniting controversy. long been on the crest of technological change. Bombing In the rush to examine this "new" phe- But prior to the Oklahoma City bombing, and nomenon, eye-catching images and inflam- the scrutiny given the far right in its wake, matory rhetoric have become privileged over media coverage of the Internet focused on its information. Without context, exposes are potential. Futurists saw technology that would more like ads. Stormfront's Black has noted make our lives easier. Corporations saw the that traffic on his web site increases dramati- tremendous money-making promise in this cally after each news story. public resource. Progressives heralded it as a Cyberhate & the Media Media coverage left many people without 21st century version of the polis or the town- an understanding of the role Internet activity square—a cure for the ails of democracy. For plays in white supremacists' communications instance, the 1993 book, The Virtual Commu- strategy and with the mistaken impression nity, depicts cyberspace as a place where indi- that white-supremacist material has overtaken viduals come together to help each other and cyberspace. discuss issues to reach informed, rational de- The Virtual Self-described "cyber-Nazis" and other cisions. This vision trumpeted a new "virtual Community on-line white supremacists have taken advan- community" as an alternative to the hege- tage of the Internet as part of a larger alterna- mony of corporate-controlled media. tive media strategy— one that also includes What a difference a year makes. Now the short-wave radio and satellite television broad- Internet is being attacked by the Christian casts, cassette and videotape distribution, and Right and their allies in the United States 12 The Dignity Report Congress who see nothing but "cyberpom" one searching for it. Cyb«rpom on their computer screens. Meanwhile, the Nearly all elements of white supremacy mainstream media seem to have "discovered" have made the transition to the Internet: the American Renaissance cyber-Mazis. sophisticated racist writings of American Re- The vastness of cyberspace and its decen- naissance; the vulgar, semi-literate cartoons White Aryan Resistance (WAR) tralized structure provides an excellent op- of White Aryan Resistance (WAR); the Hitler- portunity for those seeking nefarious ends. worship of NSDAP-AO; the theological justi- NSDAP-AO Steve Rowe, spokesman for the nonprofit In- fications for genocide at the Scriptures for ternational Internet Association, notes that America site; the technologically sophisticated Scriptures for America National Alliance site; the simplistic Ameri- because nobody "runs" the Internet, it is dif- National Alliance ficult to regulate the information that flows can Nationalist Union page; the pseudo-Con- through it (San Francisco Examiner, May 14, stitutional racism of the American's Bulletin; American Nationalist 1995). The Internet offers white supremacists the Holocaust denial of the Institute for His- Union a new distribution medium. It is able to reach torical Review; graphic skinhead violence de- Institute for people across national boundaries and by- picted on the Skinheads USA site; prepara- Historical Review pass laws, such as the restrictions on the pub- tions for war available on the Militia of Mon- of Montana lication of Holocaust denial material in France tana or other militia group sites. and Germany (see Searchlight, March 1996). As prolific as on-line white supremacists Tony McAleer, a Vancouver, British Co- are, their material accounts for a tiny fraction Tony McAleer Canadian Liberty Met lumbia-based neo-Nazi skinhead who for- of Internet content. Estimates show that there merly ran the Canadian Liberty Net hate- will be more than 6 million Web pages by the line, vividly expresses the role cyberspace end of the year. The 100 white-supremacist plays in disseminating racism to the world: Web pages amount to less than .000002% of the material on the WWW (Lycos search data- The Internet is great for communication. You base, Web Developer, Spring 1996). can send electronic mail or chat with somebody The actual number of cyber-activists is anywhere in the world on the Internet for free. You can post messages on electronic bulletin boards small. Often, one cyber-activist builds and where potentially millions of people can read your maintains the Web pages of several organiza- information. This information can be posted anony- tions. For instance, the "Stormfront" site also mously or with a pseudonym. You can debate with anti-racists or just post Racialist ideology and contains the pages of Aryan Nations associate Aryan Nations information. There are no limits to free speech on Marc Thomas's Christian Posse Comitatus Mark Thomas the Internet, anything goes. There are places on the and (until recently) the Aryan Nations. The Internet (I'll list them at the end of the article) Skinheads USA site contains the pages for Christian Pows where you can find information, books, literature, Comitatus etc.... that you can download to your computer and Nordland (the European counterpart to Re- spit them out on your printer (Resistance, Spring sistance Records), the American Front, NS88, Resistance Records 1995. p. 13). Hammerskins and British Movement. The American Front Logoplex site contains pages for Scriptures Each Internet component plays a role in for America, Militia of Montana, Council on advancing the white-supremacist movement's Domestic Relations, Larry Becraft and other diffuse agendas. Bulletin Board Systems Patriot groups. Spotlight (BBSs) act as bunkers—archives where the The Spotlight—the largest distribution most virulent ideas are guarded from easy weekly periodical of the movement with a public access by passwords that only proven circulation of over 100,000—has recently es- activists obtain. E-mail and on-line chat (IRC) tablished a regular "Internet Patriot" column facilitate discussion of movement strategies written by Logoplex website creator Glen Glen Farkas and tactics. Usenet newsgroups serve as are- Farkas. Even so, Liberty Lobby General Man- Liberty Lobby nas for propaganda and recruitment. World ager Paul Croke noted, "The vast majority of Wide Web pages act as electronic billboards, readers of Spotlight are not computer literate" openly displaying white supremacy to any- and can't get to the Internet or bulletin boards Fall 1996 13 Other Media: short (Boston Globe, April 27,1995). connecting us to the world." wave, satellite, video The Internet has not replaced other com- —Our Nation BBS Cyber-Nazis munications media. No marked shift in news- letter, short-wave, or other propaganda forms The lineage of computer-mediated hate stretches back to the 1980's when the Aryan Nations, WAR and others first discovered computers as a way to spread racism. American neo-Nazi organizations now in cyberspace include the Aryan Nations, Na- tional Alliance, NSDAP-AO, the National Socialist White Peoples Party (NSWPP), White Aryan Resistance (WAR), the National Socialist Vanguard (NSV) and the Asatru Alliance. Neo-Nazi skinhead groups include the American Front, Volksfront, Hammerskins, NS88, and numerous neo-Nazi skinhead bands and record distribution com- panies from around the world, most notably George Burdi's Detroit-based Resistance Records. Holocaust deniers on the Internet Karl Gharst (second from left), manager of the Aryan include Ernst Zundel, Bradley Smith, Arthur Nations' Web Page, giving a Hitler salute behind AN founder Richard Butler. (Photo by Spokane Valley Herald.) R. Butz, the Adelaide Institute, and the Insti- tute for Historical Review (located at both has been observed. In fact, the largest usage of Greg Raven's WWW site, as well as on the Portland-based Banished CPU BBS, which is George Burdi the Internet has been to advertise the sale of Resistance Records non- Internet-related white supremacist ma- now accessible from the Internet). terial, such as books, audio tapes, and videos. Internationally, numerous sites now ex- Nor has the Internet lead to an increase in ist: Thule-Net, the German Web site for the mobilization. Even events that have been most active European fascist BBS; the British heavily promoted on the Internet have been neo-Nazi terror group Combat 18; the Na- Linda Thompson failures. Linda Thompson's extensively cross- tional Socialist Movement of Denmark (DNSB), the British National Party; Nationale Thule-Net posted militia "March on Washington" col- lapsed. Freeman supporters putting out calls Volkspartij/CP'86 of the Netherlands; Brit- over the Net were only able to get 8 support- ish Movement; La Pen's National Front, in- ers, not 800, as they had predicted. The Coeur ternational "third positionists" and more. d'Alene, Idaho "Patriot Picnic" of Gordon Important non-affiliated cyber-Nazi sites Gordon Ormesher Ormesher's Americans for Constitutional include Black's Stormfront site; the Alpha Government anticipated 1,500 people, thanks site (a huge site based in Philadelphia contain- to the Internet, but drew only 100. And the ing on-line publications of the Turner Diaries, Neo-Nazi Propaganda: much- advertised "Rally for the Constitution," Mien Kampf, and This Time the World by Turner Diaries, Mein set for August 31 and September 1 in Wash- American Nazi Party founder George Lin- Kampf ington D.C., was attended by fewer than 300 coln Rockwell, posters, flyers, mirrored ver- of the anticipated 15,000. Most organizing sions of other cyber-Nazi sites, phone lists, activities still occur using face-to-face social news and more); Independent White Racial- networks rather the Internet. ists homepage (containing a tribute to the 14 Words neo- Nazi terror group, the Order); the Aryan Virtual White Supremacy Crusader site, 14 Word Press, (dedicated to the writings of imprisoned Order member "Connecting you to the White community, David Lane); and the Euro-American Stu- 14 The Dignity Report street don't get that many replies. Also, the streets Euro-American dent Union page. Student Union Cyber-Nazis see the Net as a new battle- are a legal bitch. People can get hurt or killed. With the Internet you can go into your software and put field for Racial Holy War—RAHOWA. They in a false name and no one will ever find out who provide the most brazen examples of white you are (November 3, 1995 14:55:00 GMT). supremacy on the Net, resurrecting the sym- bols of Nazism and the rhetoric of genocide. Tne most visible aspect of neo-Nazi utili- For them, the Net is a place to circulate white- zation of cyberspace has been the dispersal of supremacist propaganda to gain new recruits propaganda. As ANA organizer and on-line for the race war. Information is being censored publisher of National Socialism FAQs (fre- by the "Jewsmedia" and others who wish to quently asked questions), Milton Kleim Jr. Milton Kleim Jr. keep the white race subordinate, according to notes in his article, "On Tactics and Strategy many cyber-Nazis. Cyberspace provides a for Usenet," a key use of cyberspace for white solution: a place for them to congregate and nationalists is to "create effective and innova- share information away from the peering eyes tive propaganda." He elaborated to .net maga- of the public. zine, "USENET, in combination with the Web, Some cyber-Nazis, particularly younger offers an unparalleled opportunity for our racist skinheads, view the Internet as the ideal movement to get our views and, more impor- location for agitation and escalation of racial tantly, our facts across to the general public." warfare doctrines. For them, it provides the Neo-Nazi organizations have capitalized means to wage "cyber-war." on the freedom of the Internet by making Tony McAleer Says Vancouver skinhead McAleer, literature like the Turner Diaries, the Proto- cols of the LeamedElders ofZion,MeinKampf If you have a computer, or plan on acquiring one and numerous essays available on-line. Tech- soon, be sure to blast into cyberspace, perhaps the greatest opportunity that has ever presented itself to nology now makes these extensive archives of the white resistance. The rules of the game are white supremacist materials easily accessible, changing rapidly, and we must be the first to master cross-linkable, and re-postable. "We can beat this new dimension ("Plug into the Freedom of the the Jews by putting racist literature into Internet." in Resistance, [Spring 1995], p. 13). cyberspace," explains WAR associate Kaldenberg. These sources of racist and anti- In the words of a participant on the Semitic material provide the weapons for Stormfront e-mail list, "The Internet is our cyber-Nazi agitators. sword!" Similar sentiments are echoed by Jeff Cyber-Nazis disseminate racist, anti- Voss, who founded CNG (Cyber-Nazi Semitic and homophobic propaganda through Group), a small, loose knit group of net-Nazis. alt.politica.natlonalism Usenet groups like alt.politics.nationalism- He declared that the neo-Nazi "battleground alt.skinheads, white, alt.skinheads, alt.revisionism and is the Internet." alt.reviaionlsm alt.politics.white-power, as well as plaguing Ironically, some cyber-Nazi organizers numerous other non-related newsgroups like who spend too much time in front of a com- alt.fan.oj- simpson. Kleim concludes his essay puter terminal have been deluded into think- with the call, "Remember, SUSTAINED, elec- ing that posting on the Internet will suffice for tronic 'guerrilla warfare/ 'hit and run' style, real political organizing. using short, 'self-contained' posts is a major Wyatt Kaldenberg, a WAR associate who component of our struggle. Put your Net ac- claims to be the skinhead who broke Geraldo cess to good use, today and every day!" Rivera's nose, illustrates this in a post to the Stormfront-1 list: Cyber-Patriots Christian Patriots on the Net I agree with you about the Internet being more Christian Patriots account for the largest important than a march. One guy posting only one hour a day in his own home can get replies from two portion of the white supremacist movement or more new people a day. 100 men marching in the in the United States. They also maintain the Fall 1996 15 largest and most influential presence in Fortuna Alliance, and numerous "trusts" and cyberspace by organized white supremacists. other money laundering enterprises); militias Oklahoma City After the Oklahoma City bombing, atten- and other paramilitary formations; and com- Bombing tion was briefly focused upon cyber-Patriots, mon law courts. All of these items serve as Senate Subcommittee as the Senate terrorism subcommittee moved kernels of this new white Christian republic. on Terrorism to convene hearings on the availability of A vivid example is that of newly formed Re- bomb-making information on the Internet. public of Texas, whose web site contains list- Republic of Texas Senators expressed shock that militia organi- ings of governmental officers and a new con- zations were using the Internet to distribute stitution. "mayhem manuals." The role the Internet and Christian Patriot publications have also other computer resources play for Christian made the leap into cyberspace: Media Bypass, Patriots, however, has largely been ignored in American's Bulletin, and Robert Wangrud's studies of cyberhate. Behold!Newsletter. Even the Colton, Oregon- Like cyber-Nazis, Patriots have a long based singer Carl Klang is now on the Internet, history of using computer- mediated commu- with a Web page featuring sample songs and Patriots and Net nications. Unlike the cyber-Nazis cyber-Pa- order forms. Culture triots have established deep roots in the cul- tural landscape of the Internet. Such a con- Cyber-Klansmen tinuous and active presence has even gotten Despite the relative decline and the frac- Knights of the Ku cyber-Patriots chronicled in cyber-punk fic- - Klan turing within the contemporary Klu Klux tion. The 1996 "exploded post-novel" How to Klan, some organizers have tried to bring Mutate and Take Over the World includes a their burning crosses to the virtual commu- brief passage about Bo Gritz coming to the aid nity. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan have a David Duke of notorious anti-Semite Red Beckman and page at the Alpha site and Aryan Crusader's the use of the Net to call for supporters. Library featuring addresses, hate-line num- Much like their attempted forays into the bers and even photos of "cross-lightings." The counter-culture and New Age groups, Patri- most insidious example of klansmen shed- ots have actively attempted to recruit from the ding their sheets in cyberspacemay be that of Hacker subculture. A recent issue of Black- David Duke, who currently has a web page listed! 411: The Official Hackers Magazine'. (Vol. devoted to his U.S. Senatorial campaign. 3, Issue 2, Second Quarter, April 1996) in- cludes "Sixth ColumnNotes"by Non Serviam, Conclusion which discusses Beckman's visit to Southern California, as well as a critique of Philip Marsh For those trying to understand the com- and Irwin Schiff for infighting. The same plex social dynamic that underlies the white issue features an article on "Citizenship" by supremacist movement, cyberspace is a bad Ken Adler and "The Lynn Meredith Sover- place to start. Although it does provide a eign Status Declaration Package" by KRC, glimpse into the world of neo-Nazis, Patriots reprinted from Freedom and Sovereign Tech- and others bringing hate to the Net, the lens nology (Vol.1, Issue 7). through which one looks is distorted by the The Christian Patriot vision of cyberspace inherent limitations of this new communica- revolves around the creation of a white Chris- tions medium. Movement size, strength, rela- tian Republic. Patriots employ cyberspace as tionships and agendas can become blurred by LeRojr Schwietzer a way to promulgate their numerous quasi- looking primarily to cyberhate propaganda. governmental institutions. The various for- Instead, those concerned about civil rights mations are well represented on the Net: and democracy must continue to incorporate "warehouse" or "alternative" banks and fi- cyberhate into a social movement context, nancial schemes ("Freeman" LeRoy investigating where virtual white supremacy Schwietzer's certified money order scam, the becomes real bigotry and violence. 16 The Dignity Report he development of the Internet has afforded big new opportunities for the Textreme right to spread its propaganda in a relatively unchecked fashion. For readers unfamiliar with the Internet, let us first explain briefly some key terms. The on the Internet is really a series of computer net- Hate works, all interlinked and uncontrolled by the authorities. Anyone with a computer, a modem and a reasonable amount of technical know-how can plug themselves into this vast store of information. Of interest to extreme rightists is a series of "sites" that perform different functions. The Usenet hosts an enormous array of "news- groups", where people with a shared interest Internet can debate, discuss and chat. There are bul- letin boards (BBSs), where an organisation A special report by Louise Bernstein can "post" information that can be read by subscribers or browsers, and there is the World Wide Web (WWW), popularly the BBS remains a common method of strations in Germany and for arranging meet- known as the Web, which is best described as computer communication. ings with foreign comrades in The like an encyclopaedia of interconnected In Europe BBSs have been most used in Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and else- pages. Germany. One of the most important nazi where. It is also used for distributing the pro- Anyone who has full Internet access can computer networks is the Thule Network, paganda of the US-based NSDAP-AO, which also have something called a "homepage" on which has different layers of access for mem- is highly illegal under Germany's strict, but the Web, which describes the user and bers of the movement. Only the most trusted still inadequately enforced, anti-nazi laws. provides information about them. Selecting and hardline nazis can gain admittance to the The NSDAP-AO, run by Gary Lauck, has key words on a particular page will lead the most secure sections, after passing through an also distributed electronic propaganda by reader to further pages, either by the same elaborate series of identity checks and other methods. Lauck, now awaiting trial in author or produced by others with a connect- passwords installed on the system. Around Hamburg, frequently distributes one of his ed interest. 1,500 activists are estimated to be using this magazines, Endsieg, around Europe on floppy The extreme right has begun to make good network. disks. It has turned up in Austria, Germany, use of the Internet's possibilities within the The operators of the Thule Network have France and The Netherlands. Once the disks past few years. The Internet itself has expand- not yet been prosecuted, because the origin of have arrived in Europe, the contents can be ed massively since the beginning of the the propaganda they distribute is hard to track distributed via modem or BBS. This was cer- 1990s. At the same time, the price of comput- down, let alone prove. The Thule Network tainly the case with Endsieg, and a 1993 edi- er hardware has dropped dramatically and has at least 14 linked bulletin boards, two of tion, which offered a detailed home bomb- excellent software has been developed to which - in Frankfurt and Kassel - were shut making manual, found its way to most west enable "Netsurfers" to make the most of the down in October 1994, with all their equip- European countries within a couple of opportunities that cyberspace has to offer. ment confiscated. months. Early attempts by the extreme right to place The main BBS in the Thule Network, In Austria computer disks have been used publicly available, information on computer Widerstand (Resistance), had charges to distribute antisemitic propaganda and com- systems were rather crude, compared with dropped against it in 1994 after the authorities puter games in schools. The material denies what is possible today. Nazi and white decided that instructions for making bombs the existence of the Nazi gas chambers, trivi- supremacist organisations in the USA set up that were circulating in it had been planted by alises the Holocaust and routinely contains bulletin boards on home computers, into leftist saboteurs. crude antisemitic attacks on Austrian politi- which interested people could dial. Later Anti-fascists in Germany say that the cians and journalists. some European extreme-right groups made authorities are treating nazi computer net- Sweden already had between 15 and 20 use of the same technology, although the works with undue leniency. They have point- active nazi BBSs by 1993, many used as a number of BBSs in Europe has been far lower ed out that it is technically possible to read vehicle for antisemitic hate. Some of them are than in the USA. encrypted e-mail once it has been decoded at indirectly connected to the violent nazi These BBSs were not linked to the Internet. its destination, and that this can be done Storm Network, which appears to have To have access one needed the telephone through electronic eavesdropping. recruited a cell calling itself Kampgrupp number to which the BBS was linked. To Another Thule BBS called Kraftwerk, Vast from one bulletin board. obtain that usually meant finding it in an which is based in the Bavarian village of Much of the propaganda on the Swedish extreme-right publication. Therefore access Weissenbrunn and run by Kai Dalek, a lead- BBSs is Holocaust denial material. Two peo- was generally limited to those "in the know" ing activist of the nazi Gesinnungsgemein- ple have been chiefly responsible: "Fritz and wider distribution of propaganda and schaft der Neuen Front, has posted digitised Goldman" and "Oskar Andersson", as they information was somewhat limited. photographs of anti-fascists and other "ene- call themselves. Goldman also uploads files However, such bulletin boards were still mies" as part of the "anti-antifa" (anti anti- to a number of public BBSs which contain an useful to the nazis as they enabled fascist fascist) offensive seen in northern and west- accurate Swedish translation of the Leuchter organisations to post information to far-Hung ern Europe in recent years. Those targeted are Report, denying the existence of gas cham- sympathisers, important in the USA, given codenamed "Zee-ken" (ticks) and the names bers in Auschwitz. One public network, the size of the country, and helped to provide of some judges and journalists have also been Fidonet, has also been host to antisemitic a feeling of cohesiveness and camaraderie. posted. Other code words include "Schone expression, particularly in open forum discus- BBSs also offered the opportunity to make Madchen", which refers to the police. sion groups on racism, politics and history. available information of a sensitive nature, Kraftwerk also has links to Austrian BBSs The Norwegian BBS, Nasjonal Allianse, such as plans for illegal demonstrations. which may be connected with the spate of let- was allegedly run by Arnljot Moseng, a But ultimately the BBS was limited, ter bombs that have rocked Austria since leader of the youth section of the fascist because public access to it was restricted. December 1993. Fedrelands Partiet (FLP). This BBS posted When the Internet became more open to the The Thule Network has several functions, propaganda from the FLP and hosted several general public, the BBS went out of fashion apart from keeping track of anti-fascists. With discussion forums. Moseng admitted that he in America and few exist there today. Most the aid of encryption programmes, including established links with the German Thule extreme rightists have turned their attention a modified version of the American "Pretty Network to exchange regular reports. After to the Internet instead. However, in Europe Good Privacy", it is used to organise demon- this BBS was exposed in the Norwegian 12 Searchlixla. March /Wfi & WAKMM;: -„...«--... - *W-) Welcome to Skinheads U.S.A. British National Parly News Service ""•"•""' ' i I'Uti'itjd ••i Auitt* •j;i«;;llJI <«I Ihc IINIM.wMii.( UII suppirUIMII!SI-.pluMWrllCh.l-l 'l"lH™ 1LT. WciliBj, K™i1lAIhJUW.buTjmliKlali ~ « ,«™, flrmv/i :V«(i.»IU/m Bi:.\TJiN TO DKA IH I!V (.AN<; The KiK Rook nl'Mischief! BNP WEB SITE The BNP is now on the internet with its own The following Document conte web site, called British National Party insecure Informations ! inlVirmutioll flil['|)iisus iiltlv ! News Service. The development is a t«[il:iiiKil in [turn inn l>o iir^lilv tremendous advance, because the internet is Do not follow any of the the most significant political development described operations if since the coming of television. Within two years, the Net will have a user base of over you are not familiar 5 million. These people will be able to access with chemistry- BNP comment & news and read British Nationalist & Spearhead at the click of a Getting button. Media censorship is bypassed. injured or even killed BNP News Service at> by trying any of these experiments is easy ! The most rapid developments have taken place in the USA. American fascists have always been much faster at taking advantage of the new technology. One reason for this is that the Internet originated in the USA, as a Top: Pages from a US skinhead web site. The reproduction here does not do means for different universities, scientists and justice to the full-colour original. Above: Bomb-making instructions are freely researchers to share academic data, research available on the Internet. Right: A British National Party homepage. The problem and other information. the BNP has is that it is as boring on the Internet as it is in print. Right, below: Another reason for the USA's lead is that Advertisement for the BNP's web site in the February 1996 issue of the BNP computer hardware is comparatively cheaper magazine. Spearhead. across the Atlantic, making it harder for Europeans to keep up with the latest techno- press, Moseng panicked and closed it down. organised than their European counterparts. logical developments. However, over the past Another Norwegian BBS, Motstand, also Bulletin board addresses are also regularly year or so, it has become clear that European went off line after a brief existence after two published by the extreme right in the form of extreme rightists are also cashing in heavily nazis were arrested for posting threats and contact lists. In Norway nazis recently printed on the advantages of going online. insults against an Oslo police officer. a list of over 40 nazi BBSs in Sweden, Most nazi activism on the Net now consists In Britain, two members of the Scottish Germany and the USA, listing the names, of postings in newsgroups or on homepages section of the Anti Nazi League received "sysops", contact numbers, etc. on the Web. Some organisations, including death threats by telephone after their names The Internet worldwide already has more factional warfare plagued Ku KIux Klan appeared on an Internet forum used by anti- than one million registered user sites: there groups, have also taken out subscriptions on amifa activists. On another occasion, in 1994, are many more than that as not all Net commercial online services such as the British National Party posted a message providers are registered. A Nel provider is a CompuServe and America Online, which from Norway onto British BBSs, announcing company that provides e-mail facilities and mimic the Net by providing similar discus- that it had banned cross-membership with the Net access to individual subscribers and has sion groups (forums), libraries and interest violent terror organisation Combat 18 (C18). the necessary computer capacity to "talk" to groups. The message defended the decision by the Internet's own computers. Commercial services are more expensive claiming that CI8 had been infiltrated by Individual access to the Internet is inexpen- than a regular Net subscription, but also offer government agents in order to incite BNP sive, enabling many people to hook up and the chance to use e-mail facilities and partici- members to commit crimes. The BNP also receive e-mail, explore the more than 30,000 pate in cyberspace in a more controlled envi- has a contact, codenamed D Man 1, on an databases available online, join in discussions ronment. Providers such as CompuServe American BBS called Cyberspace Minute- with people on the other side of the globe and already have more than four million sub- men, which acts as a major contact point for even perform day to day tasks such as book- scribers around the world, but also make it many on the extreme right in both the USA ing airline tickets. The possibilities are truly more difficult for the extreme right to use the and Europe. However. British nazis have gen- endless and the extreme right has been quick facilities without problems. Commercial erally been much less sophisticated and to exploit them. providers normally require subscribers to Sean-hlighi. March 1996 13 agree to a code of ethics when using the ser- other linked vice. Those who violate it risk having their • Rcsistaru subscription terminated. All newsgroups and Attempt to block Ziindel fails sells fascist forums have a "sysop" (system operator) who Germany's biggest Internet provider cut off ing legal action at international level on singer of R regulates the group. The sysop will normally George h block access to anyone who breaks the rules. all access to Webcom at the end of January matters concerning the Interne'!. No interna- because one of Wcbcom's 1,500 sites was tional laws exist to prevent exploitative or which prod Commercial online services which have top-of-the-r seen the most antisemitic and Holocaust maintained by Ernst Ziindel. the German- hatcmongering materials being circulated in Canadian nazi, who uses it to post propa- cyberspace and measures taken in Europe one of the r denial propaganda posted on a regular basis using the ; are the bulletin boards GEnie (owned by ganda denying thai the Holocaust took are almost impossible to apply in the USA, place. Denying the Holocaust is illegal in where many Internet providers are located. ideas and tc Genera] Electric) and Prodigy. Prodigy, ing this site which has around two million subscribers, Germany and Deutsche Telekom took the A growing amount of racist and fascist action after prosecutors in Mannheim said propaganda is being distributed internation- listen to ex has been the focus of hundreds of complaints recordings; about the racist messages that have appeared they were considering bringing incitement ally on the Internet, especially from the charges against the company for facilitating USA or by Europeans using US providers. • William there. while supre However, most extreme righl activity takes the distribution of neo-nazi propaganda on - For example, during the latter half of 1995 the Internet. CompuServe's Jewish discussion group, the the infamou place on the Net proper, where online a fictional I Within days of the ban students, not Israel Forum, was awash with complaints behaviour is generally unchecked. This is directly ins known to be nazis, at a number of universi- about the revisionist filth being posted by a what makes the Internet so attractive to all tion The ties in the USA made copies of Zundel's handful of members in the History Forum users and so suitable for those who use it to Oklahoma t web site available, on the grounds that they elsewhere on the service. spread hate propaganda. • White . were upholding "free speech". CompuServe has clear house rules for Newsgroups run by extreme rightists have California Earlier, on 29 December 1995, a German subscribers about posting material and flourished in recent years. Newsgroups can Metzgcr, w court ruled against the commercial online sysops are under strict instructions to moni- generally be identified by their headings, especially s! service CompuServe on the grounds that tor forum postings and block material that is often "alt.", which is shorthand for "alterna- • Greg Ra child pornography was being distributed in potentially against the law. This did not tive discussion". Thus alt.revisionism is a Semitic Ins its discussion forums. happen in this case. newsgroup to discuss Holocaust denial, California, CompuServe immediately responded by In The Netherlands a complaint has been alt.skinheads is a general meeting place for bizarre Holi skinheads and alt.politics.whitepower is a dis- blocking access by all its subscribers world- made to the police about racist material cir- cussion group for white supremacists. A num- wide to Internet discussion groups on sexual culating on the bulletin boards of one ber of other newsgroups exist specifically for matters. However access was restored in Internet provider, which may result in court extreme right activists. mid February when CompuServe intro- action. Dutch law is specific in that offen- A typical posting in the alt.skinheads news- duced new parental controls to enable par- sive materials posted on the Internet in The EC group read: "I don't believe Hitler gassed six ents to restrict their children's access to the Netherlands by Dutch users can be subject Internet. to prosecution. Dutch observers and anti- megakikes [kike is a derogatory term for he Jew]. And even if he did, so what?". Another While these actions are to be welcomed, fascists internationally are awaiting the out- they have highlighted the difficulties of tak- come with interest. Mini posting in alt.politics.whitepower stated: T tali vi "The 'Hoaxicaust' is a political tool created on Racism by Zionists to win public sympathy for father of organised Holocaust denial, publish- At least a dozen Web sites are available to has now » Israel". ing vast amounts of literature and holding these groups, some of them of general inter- cleaning u Of course the danger is that access to these regular conferences attended by key est, while others specialise in firearms, the from the < newsgroups is not limited to fascists. Many Holocaust revisionists such as David Irving, Second Amendment (gun laws) and the which is ir casual Netsurfers find their way into these Robert Faurisson and Fred Leuchter. strange conspiracy theories that never cease ing its way groups by chance, accident or curiosity. Such Hundreds of other Holocaust deniers have to capture the imagination of the American way. The i newsgroups therefore provide excellent con- gone online in the USA and Canada, although extreme right. semitism a ditions for recruiting new members or spread- at present it is difficult to be clear about pre- One of the biggest Web sites is that of the young are • ing nazi propaganda to the less discerning. cisely how many of their European counter- Stormfront. On accessing the Stormfront influenced This is a particular problem where Holocaust parts have done so. homepage the viewer will first see red Gothic dressed up i deniers are concerned, as they have an envi- Apart from revisionist material, a wide letters on a grey background, followed by a ration on 2 ronment in which to post their pseudo-scien- array of other extreme right propaganda can Celtic cross and the menu. Stormfront's Consuitativi tific "research" where it can be read by those be found on the Web. ranging from the homepage is divided into several sections, Member St who are insufficiently equipped to recognise Canadian Milton Kleim's National Socialist including a German language section com- keep a clost it for what it is. Primer to "White Nationalist ideology and plete with quotes from Oswald Spengler and tion of their There are also "channels", Inter Relay tactics" and the "Aryan News Agency". Ernst Jiingcr. Stormfront also has at least two xenophobia, Chat, which enable participants to talk to More topical is the profusion of pages post- electronic mailboxes on other parts of the erate volunl each other "live" through their keyboards. ed by Christian Patriots and the various Internet. needed in ] But generally the newsgroups are used for ultra right-wing Militias active in the USA, The Stormfront site is visually attractive . and in act in posting messages and starting discussions, which received so much press attention after and well produced, in common with most level; and which are then read and added to later by the Oklahoma terror bombing in April 1995. Web homepages, and offers access to instruct the other newsgroup users. A particular "thread" Council to (discussion topic) can run for weeks or even remedying t months as people keep adding to it. The use < The real interest today lies in the World ishing. At > Wide Web. Thousands of homepages are White International leading Ca available online, which in turn are linked to who uses s] others. Sophisticated software means that THE WO*LP-W!PE WHITE WEB to spread hi: reading homepages is just like browsing visitors by through a real book. It is here that the The Rune goes into unpoliceable mission the extreme right has best exploited the new tech- reputation o nology. Cyberspace... lenges the As is to be expected, the Holocaust deniers THE worst nightmare of the Gnomes or their situation last Tlic Labour pam has a 'Holocaust' have made enormous use of the Web. Ernst Woburn House has come true - the whole maga/mc dcvoicd lo encouraging its Hunt' is now on the Internet From now people 10 use computers and the Internet cocted durir Ziindel, a prominent Holocaust denier based on we can exchange ideas, information Nationalists must ensure that (he carlj on historical in Toronto, Canada, has his own homepage, and intelligence with a growing secret reputation of the Internet as being a napp> keep the G as does the Institute for Historical Review, Nick Griffin's British nazi magazine points at the unpoliceability of Cyberspace their descen which is widely considered to be the grand- tional spiriti 14 Sean-lilighl, March 19V6 oilier linked homepages, including ones by There arc other Web sites of interest to • Resistance Records, which promotes and racists. The Nation of Islam has at least two Is sells fascist rock music and is run by the lead homepages. The imaginatively named singer of Rahowa, George Iiurdi alias Eric Cyberhate is a general racist homepage that, George Hawthorne. This organisation, like Stormfront, offers further access to more which produces CDs, videos, T-shirts and a hard-core material. top-of-thc-range glossy magazine is probably As previously stated, most Web sites arc one of the most successful examples of na/.is based in North America, although they are using the Internet both to propagate their easily accessible from Europe, especially as ideas and to sell merchandise. People access- telephone links normally pass through a local ing this site can look at multi-colour images, provider, keeping costs down. However, there listen to extracts from the company's latest is limited evidence to suggest that some recordings and order goods by credit card. European fascist organisations are starting • William Pierce's National Alliance, a homepages. For example, in The Netherlands white supremacist organisation. Pierce wrote the fascist Centrum Partij '86 already has a the infamous Turner Diaries, which described site on the Web. a fictional fascist revolution in the USA and In conclusion, it is fair to say that what directly inspired the nazi terrorist organisa- unites the extreme right on the Internet is tion The Order and the April" 1995 antisemitism and Holocaust denial propagan- Kai Dalek, a leading German nazi Oklahoma bombing da, although in some countries, such as activist, whose bulletin board includes • White Aryan Resistance, based in Germany, it is also much used as an organisa- lies for photographs of anti-fascists California and run by Tom and John tional and training tool. It is also true that al and Metzger, which tries to recruit young people, much of the material circulating in Europe is and central European countries, such as i moni- American in origin. I that is especially skinheads Sweden, Norway, Germany and Austria, have lid not • Greg Raven, an employee of the anti- The extreme right in Europe has been gen- been the most organised at harnessing the semitic Institute for Historical Review in erally slow to catch on to the possibilities of Internet for their own purposes, while the California, who publishes both standard and computer technology, compared to its extreme right in southern and eastern Europe us been bizarre Holocaust denial material. American counterparts. Fascists in northern have no cyberspace presence. rial cir- of one n court : offen- in The EC targets racism on the Internet subject d anti- he out- he Council of Anti Semitism, on the use Ministers' Consul- r Glyn Ford, MEP, a member of the Socialist of the Internet by racists, Ttative Commission Group in the European Parliament and a with the intention of bring- on Racism and Xenophobia leading campaigner against racism and ing forward proposals to ilable to has now set its sights on fascism, reports on the actions of Europe's place limits on the material ral inter- cleaning up the Internet that can be carried on the rms, the from the evil racist filth parliamentary far right. Internet. and the which is increasingly find- er cease ing its way onto the information super-high- The same phenomenon is found in Britain. The Consultative Commission is continu- unerican way. The propagation of racial hate. anti- The latest extreme right-wing group to supply ing its work on the feasibility study for a Semitism and nazism is growing and the information on the Internet is the British European Monitoring centre on Racism and at of the young are dangerously susceptible to being National Party (BNP). In order to avoid Xenophobia ready for the European Council ormfront influenced by this propaganda because it is protesters finding the source of its message, it meeting this coming June. The proposal will d Gothic dressed up in Internet technology. In a decla- has used an Internet subterfuge to announce be adopted in early May. An attempt is being v'ed by a ration on 26 January, after its meeting, the its existence with no address. Details of how made to draw the teeth of such a centre by a •m front's Consultative Commission called for: all to contact the BNP have appeared on the double dilution of its work. First, expansion sections, Member States of the European Union to Internet using a Finnish computer service to of its area of concern to include the whole of on com- keep a close eye on the rigorous implementa- strip identifying codes from electronic the Council of Europe (CoE) will take its igler and tion of their existing legislation on racism and messages. geographical concerns to within a dozen least two xenophobia, and for Member States to coop- We should emphatically reject the "com- miles of Japan, now that Russia has joined the s of the erate voluntarily in implementing any action mon carrier defence" of the Internet service CoE. Secondly, making it a joint venture with needed in pursuance of this same objective providers who disclaim responsibility for the the CoE inevitably limits its resources to ittractive and in acting at national as well as European contents of messages carried on their systems. twice what the cash strapped CoE can afford. ith most level; and urged the European Council to The service providers say they are no more In this column in December I mentioned a :cess to instruct the appropriate compositions of. the responsible than an airline is for drugs or visit to Strasbourg by a team of senior black Council to examine with diligence ways of arms smuggled on one of its planes. Let's trade unionists from the public service union, remedying this situation. face it, if an airline were told that it was about Unison, and the Civil Service union, NUCPS. The use of the Internet by racists is nour- to fly a consignment of drugs or arms across They met Padraig Flynn, the Social Affairs ishing. At the meeting we heard about the Europe, it would be a scandal if it did nothing Commissioner, to talk about the problems I leading Canadian neo-nazi, Ernst Zlindel, whatsoever about it. It is common knowledge black Europeans face. As a first step an who uses space on the Internet in California that the Internet carries racist material. It is a attempt will be made to organise a European to spread his evil views. Ztindel welcomes his duty and responsibility of the service conference with Commission funding for rep- visitors by saying "The Ziindelsite has as its providers to stamp this out. resentatives of black Europeans. mission the rehabilitation of the honour and The Consultative Commission has instruct- The Communication from the Commission reputation of the German nation and site chal- ed Uta Wurfel, the German representative on on Racism, Xenophobia and Anti Semitism lenges the traditional version of the the Consultative Commission, to prepare a and the proposal for 1907 to be designated as 'Holocaust' - an Allied propaganda tool con- summary of possible measures that can be a Year of Harmony, agreed by the I cocted during World War II - that is not based taken by Member States against the dissemi- Commission in December, will come before on historical fact but is a cleverly used ploy to nation of ideas inciting racial hatred by telem- the Parliament shortly. It looks like they will keep the German war time generation and atic means. In the European Parliament, a receive a very positive response. After more their descendants in perpetual political emo- hearing is being planned, in conjunction with than a decade this represents the first tentative pace tional spiritual and financial bondage." the Inter Parliamentary Council Against step on what will be a long march. Scim-lilixlil. March 1996 15SWITCH MESSAGE Several skinhead BBSs carry electronic bulle- tins or status reports, first-person commentaries Command — > R about "award-winning purges" to help clean up Press < ENTER > the country: MSG LEFT BY: SYSOP Sonoma State University—Riots and kicking ass, FINALLY, WE ARE ALL GOING TO BE LINKED TOGETHER touts one San Francisco-area board. During an anti-drug rally a bunch of long-hairs toere doing AT ONE POINT IN TIME. IMAGINE, IF YOU WILL, ALL THE crack. When these guys saw us—all Skins—they GREAT MINDS OF THE WHITE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT started calling us "G.I. Joe" and "Nazi Queers." LINKED TOGETHER AND JOINED INTO ONE COMPUTER, We didn't take that shit. We jumped these guys, NOW IMAGINE ANY ARYAN PATRIOT IN THE COUNTRY busted several of the faggots' noses, kicked in the teeth BEING ABLE TO CALL UP AND ACCESS THOSE MINDS, TO of a couple of niggers, and smashed some others DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS AND ISSUES THAT AFFECT through a glass window... HIM. YOU ARE ONLINE WITH THE ARYAN NATIONS LIB- The American Front, another skinhead -BBS ERTY NET! IT IS HERE TO SERVE THE FOLK. located in San Francisco, home of the Bay Area Skinheads (BASH), carries several accounts un- der a file called "Hall of Fame Heroics": THE WHITE ARYAN RESISTANCE —November 1988. The beating of Ethiopian im- ACTIVE MESSAGE BASES: migrant Mulugeta Seraw, with baseball bats, in Portland, Oregon. [Seraw died. Three skinheads <0> INTERNATIONAL were charged with murder.] <1> NATIONAL —August 1987. Sacramento, California. The <2> REGIONAL crucifixion of former White Student Union organiz- er Greg Withrow. "Palms up, pierced with no. 8 Welcome to the high-tech propaganda machine of spiker nails," reads the police report. [The White Stu- the Radical Right: the electronic bulletin board. For dent Union is a white-supremacist group. Withrow, a more than five years, extremist groups across the po- former member who has openly denounced the litical spectrum have used bulletin board systems white-supremacy movement, had his hands nailed to (BBSs) to recruit and organize followers. But none of a plank and was slashed with a razor.] the boards have become as prevalent or as virulent as —Summer 1987. Chicago, Illinois. The beating of a those run by skinheads—so named because of their "turncoat" skinhead by Clark Martell, leader of Ro- boot-camp hairstyles—who are self-defined propo- mantic Violence. [Romantic Violence is a skinhead nents of a violent neo-Nazi ideology. faction. Martell sprayed the woman with mace, beat Skinheads emerged in the seventies as a breech her until she bled, and then painted a swastika on her birth of the punk rock movement. Not all skinheads wall with her own blood.] claim to be neo-Nazis, but their uniform (steel-toed Besides the standard fare of racist rhetoric and vi- Doc Martens boots and swastika tattoos) and their olent fantasies, skinhead boards typically post phone music (the hard rock that drives the movement) carry numbers and addresses of "enemies" to harass, in- a singularly fascist message. cluding Jewish business leaders and gay rights activ- Today, skinhead rock remains the movement's ists. Many boards offer practical advice for random