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Home , American Front, George Burdi, Skinhead, Tom Metzger, Volksfront

LAW ENFORCEMENT SPECIAL REPORT

Intelligencepublished by The Southern Poverty Law CenterReport

ROLL CALL VIDEO ON Racijst

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racist skinheads understanding the threat

racist movement history // GLOSSARY // timeline // symbols Intelligence Report intelligence report EDITOR Mark Potok

intelligence project director Heidi Beirich

SENIOR EDITOR Skinheads Booth Gunter staff writers Ryan Lenz, Leah Nelson, Evelyn Schlatter

chief investigator in America Joseph Roy Sr. senior intelligence analyst Racist skinheads are among the most danger- Laurie Wood information manager ous radical-right threats facing law enforcement Michelle Bramblett today. The products of a frequently violent and research analysts Anthony Griggs, Janet Smith

criminal , these men and women, typ- program associate ically imbued with neo-Nazi beliefs about , Karla Griffin researchers blacks, homosexuals and others, are also noto- Angela Freeman, Karmetriya Jackson riously difficult to track. Organized into small, design director Russell Estes

mobile “crews” or acting individually, skinheads SENIOR DESIGNER tend to move around frequently and often with- Valerie Downes designers out warning, even as they network and organize Michelle Leland, Scott Phillips, Sunny Paulk across regions. For law enforcement, this poses a web production Caroline Zilk particular problem in responding to crimes and conspiracies crossing multiple jurisdictions. As media and general inquiries Mark Potok these extremists extend their reach across the law enforcement inquiries Joseph Roy Sr. subscription requests Karla Griffin country, it is vital that law enforcement officers Southern Poverty Law Center 400 Ave. • Montgomery, AL 36104 who deal with them become familiar with the (334) 956-8200 • www.intelligencereport.org activities of skinheads nationwide. Published by The Southern Poverty Law Center’s What follows is an examination of the history Intelligence Project and nature of the skinhead movement, prepared with the needs of law enforcement officers in southern poverty law center president mind, a glossary of common skinhead terms, a J. Richard Cohen timeline, and a gallery of insignias and tattoos southern poverty law center founders commonly used by racist skinheads. Joseph J. Levin Jr.

southern poverty law center board of directors Howard Mandell, Chair Alan Howard, Marsha Levick, Will Little, James McElroy, Vanzetta McPherson, James Rucker, Ellen Sudow, David Wang

The Intelligence Report is published quarterly by the staff of the Intelligence Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center and provided free of charge to law enforcement officials, journalists, scholars and others. The Southern Poverty OR BI S Law Center is supported entirely by private donations. No government funds are involved. © 2012 Southern Poverty Law Center. All rights reserved. mark peterson/C SKINHEADS IN AMERICA The racist skinhead movement in the United them on a darkened street, this does not make them any less fearsome. States has entered its fourth decade. Since the first Origins skinhead surfaced in Texas and the Midwest The first skinheads emerged in the late in the early 1980s, this racist and violent subcul- 1960s as just one of the many distinct youth cultures that flowered in postwar ture has established itself in dozens of states from Britain. Taking elements of English “” and Jamaican immigrant fash- coast to coast and has authored some of the coun- ion, these working-class youths try’s most vicious hate crimes in memory, from crafted an identity in self-conscious opposition to the middle-class “long- arson to assault to murder. The racist skinheads’ .” At various points in their early development, English skinheads posi- trademark style — shaved head, combat , tioned themselves as tough working- bomber jacket, neo-Nazi and white power tattoos class counterpoints to foppish mods, long-haired , mohawked punks — has become a fixture in American culture. and made-up goths. The skinhead style first emerged The scowling skinhead has joined the the 1960s and ’70s, whose vision and as part of a non-racist and multira- hooded Klansman as an immediately turf was limited to the East London cial scene. White skinheads took on a recognizable icon of hate. neighborhoods in which they grew up persona that reflected admiration for Unlike the Klan, racist skinhead cul- and lived. and kinship with a new generation of ture is not native to the . The growth of the racist skinhead working-class West Indian immigrants And unlike the Klan, it is a truly global movement has mirrored the rise in into the . Like the phenomenon, with skinhead gangs non-white immigration to the West. Jamaican immigrants of the time, the haunting major cities and towns in just As the hues of and North first skinheads were clean-cut, neat, and about every white-majority country on America have darkened with steady sharp-looking compared to the shaggier earth. From Austria to and post-World War II immigration from youth styles of the period. (White skin- Argentina to America, working-class Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, a heads eventually lost their affinity for youths can be found dressed in some nativist backlash has appeared in both as Rastafarian became local variation on the skinhead theme, mainstream and extremist forms. The ascendant, with their overtones of black espousing a crude worldview that is skinhead movement is the most violent pride and pan-Africanism.) viciously anti-foreigner, anti-black, and ideologically crude form of this Many early white skinheads were anti-gay, and anti-Semitic. In recent backlash. Depending on the country, vaguely nationalistic and “proud to be years, the Internet and cheap interna- racist skinheads may have shadowy British,” but their deepest loyalties lay tional airfares have allowed skinhead ties to radical parties participating in with their childhood chums and the

ON groups across the planet to communi- electoral politics. Skinhead groups in local soccer team, not the “white race,” AN L C cate and organize in ways that would the U.S. lack such connections, but for as professed by today’s racist skin-

KE VI N S have shocked the original skinheads of those unlucky enough to encounter heads. While known for their youthful

2 intelligence report special edition intelligence report special edition 3 aggression, petty criminality, and soc- and words of Adolf Hitler. In 1975, the reported in Texas and the Midwest, The leader of CASH was an ex-con and with his teenage son, John, Metzger After spreading throughout the South, cer stadium violence, this activity was gained a charismatic among other places. But the movement former member of the American Nazi sought to ground the dispersed move- Hammerskin-affiliated gangs began ap- seen as born out of economic hardship leader in the form of Michael McLaugh- only started gaining national attention Party named Clark Martell. ment in ideology and direct its wild pearing on the east and west coasts in and a general spirit of bully-boy rebel- lin, who reached out to the racist skin- during the last third of the decade. It In the mid-1980s, Martell played the and chaotic youthful energy into build- the early 1990s. lion — not blind race hatred. Indeed, heads and appealed to their sensibilities was then that skinhead gangs like the role of a skinhead Johnny Appleseed, ing smart, well-trained, and obedient It was out of these geographi- the first skinhead music was and skills by emphasizing violence and Dallas made a splash performing around Chicago with his street cells around the country. In 1988, cally disparate Hammerskin gangs and , both black musical forms; the street-level hate. with violent racist attacks on immi- punk band Romantic Violence and pass- organized the first major that Hammerskin Nation (HSN) was earliest targets of white skinheads’ an- Between the arrival of Michael grants and blacks. ing out newsletters hate rock festival in the U.S., Aryan formed in 1994. The idea was to unite ger and homemade weapons were each McLaughlin in 1975 and the election The most important skinhead in and copies of National Socialist Skinhead Fest, in Oklahoma. all of the regional Hammerskin groups other and rival soccer fans. of Margaret Thatcher as British prime raising the American movement’s early magazine between his band’s sets. Mar- It was also in 1988 that Metzger’s into a national and even international But a split between racist and non- minister in 1979, the first hardcore neo- profile was Chicago’s CASH (Chicago tell’s neo-Nazi recruiting drive caught efforts bore their most bitter fruit. In force, with affiliated chapters in Eu- racist skinheads was apparent and Nazi skinheads were born. Area Skin Heads), which made national the attention of Chicago’s numerous November, WAR Youth representative rope. And for a while, the plan worked. began deepening soon after the style headlines with a brutal 1987 crime spree “traditional,” or non-racist, skinheads, Dave Mazella visited Portland, Ore., Hammerskin Nation established itself was born. By the early ’70s, skinhead Skinheads in the US. that involved assaults on six Hispanic including a number of African Ameri- to train and guide members of a local as the most powerful skinhead or- attacks on South Asian immigrants in The neo-Nazi skinhead phenomenon women, swastikas painted on three cans. (According to Chicago punk lore, skinhead crew, East Side . ganization in the country during the London — the infamous sport of “Paki spread quickly to the United States. By synagogues, and numerous incidents of the city’s skinhead scene was founded During this visit, a group of Portland mid- and late ’90s. At its peak, HSN bashing” — had become an international the early 1980s, skinhead activity was vandalism to Jewish-owned business. by black, non-racist skins). Enjoying the skins under Mazella’s tutelage attacked directed nearly 30 chapters and ran news story. These violent skinheads had a successful , publishing not yet acquired the trappings of neo- house, and website. The HSN sym- Nazi costumes and ideology, but they The scowling skinhead has joined bol of two crossed hammers swept were already acting like Hitler’s goon the skinhead scene. And an annual squads, the brown shirts. One skinhead the hooded Klansman as an immedi- meeting and concert, Hammerfest, explained a typical “Paki bash” to a Time was launched in 1999, allowing HSN magazine journalist in 1970: “You go up ately recognizable icon of hate. members from around the world to to them and bump into them, and then advantage of vastly superior numbers, a group of Ethiopian immigrants in the meet and organize. Throughout this you nut [forehead bash] them right, and anti-racist crews such as Skinheads of middle of a street with steel-toed boots period of Hammerskin ascendancy, then you hit them, and as they go down Chicago (SHOC) routinely ganged up on and a baseball bat. One of them, gradu- the racist skinhead movement contin- you give them a kicking, bash them with CASH skins at shows and in the streets. ate student , died from ued to grow and was responsible for an iron bar, and take their watches and “They grew out of what we are — the his wounds. Although Metzger would hundreds of racially motivated crimes rings and things like that.” punk scene — so it’s up to us to combat later lose a bruising $12.5 million law- around the country. It was also during More than 50 such attacks were them,” a member of the Chicago Anti- brought against his organization this period, in 1997, that Denver police reported within a span of weeks in 1970, Racist Action (ARA) skinhead crew told by the Southern Poverty Law Center officer Bruce Vander Jagt became the triggering street protests by British the Chicago Tribune. and the Anti-Defamation League — a first American police officer killed in South Asians. A definitive break between By the time Martell and the other five suit that effectively wrecked WAR the line of duty by a racist skinhead. racist and non-racist skins had occurred. CASH skins were arrested for a grue- as an organization capable of putting Hammerskin dominance failed to During the early to mid-’70s, Eng- some 1987 attack on a former member, skinheads into the street — he contin- outlast the decade, however. As early land’s skinheads went into temporary CASH had been more or less beaten ues propaganda efforts to this day from as 1999, Hammerskins around the decline. They experienced a revival in into submission by anti-racist skins. a new base in . But Metzger’s country were complaining in private 1976, when a new generation of skin- But Martell had merely proven he was current operation is limited to a radio and on message boards about the heads started earning a fresh reputa- ahead of his time, and his defeat was show and a website (resist.com) that heavy-handed and “elitist” leadership tion for violence through attacks on local. When he first started recruiting is largely devoted to racist and anti- style of the organization’s top officers. punks, homosexuals, and immigrants. for CASH, there were likely fewer than Semitic “humor.” The number of HSN chapters dropped Fueling these attacks and cementing 200 racist skinheads in the United Sates. The murder of Mulugeta Seraw was off, with new regional groups rising the new racist skinhead identity was By 1989, when he was convicted of home hardly unique during the American up and loudly asserting their indepen- increasing association with two neofas- invasion, aggravated battery, and robbery skinhead movement’s growth years. dence. Chief among these renegade cist political parties, the National Front and sentenced to 11 years in prison, there Indeed, there were scores of brutal skinhead groups were, first, the Outlaw and the British Movement. The latter, were an estimated 3,000. skinhead assaults around the country Hammerskins, and then the Hoosier founded by longtime neo-Nazi Colin A major force behind this national during the late ’80s and early ’90s, State Skinheads in Indiana and the Jordan in 1968, did the most to stamp a growth spurt was Tom Metzger, a Fall- including the cold-blooded murders Ohio State Skinheads, which in 2004 swastika on the racist sector of the skin- brook, Calif.-based former Klansman of black men in Birmingham, Ala., and merged to form the Vinlanders Social head movement. The British Movement and longtime leader of the neo-Nazi Arlington, Texas. Club, a.k.a. the Vinlanders. In 2005, ran candidates in the 1974 U.K. general group (WAR). Those responsible for these murders the Vinlanders hosted the first Blood & elections who espoused neo-Nazi ideas Around 1986, Metzger formed WAR included members of the dreaded Con- Honour USA Council, a unity meet- ON AN L and wore swastikas while handing out C Youth and launched an organized federate Hammerskins, a confederation ing of regional skinhead crews also party literature featuring the image skinhead outreach campaign. Together of skinheads founded in Dallas in 1987. known as the Council 28 (because B is KE VI N S

4 intelligence report special edition intelligence report special edition 5 the second letter of the alphabet and H anti-immigrant, anti-black, and anti- head movement. from an exclusively neighborhood- the eighth), in Ohio. It is at this annual Semitic. Groups such as , had been originally founded in 1993 based phenomenon into a global culture RACIST SKINHEAD GLOSSARY gathering that skins would, accord- Skullhead, and No Remorse forged a with common points of reference and by , a young Canadian 14/88: Common white supremacist Hammerskins: A nationwide skinhead ing to the Vinlanders web site, “meet common skinhead culture in sweaty, even annual events. The ease with skinhead who also started the band code. 14 stands for the “14 words” syndicate, also known as Hammerskin yearly with other crews and exchange beer-soaked, makeshift concert halls, RAHOWA (an acronym for Racial which interested parties can access hate slogan coined by David Lane, who is Nation, with regional factions and chap- ideas and debate direction and tactics.” with lyrics professing brotherhood Holy War), which was one of the most literature and music online has also serving a 190-year sentence for his ters that once dominated skin subcul- And drink lakes of beer, of course. among whites and violent, uncompro- popular and influential hate-rock bands given rise to the phenomenon of the part in the assassination of a Jewish ture nationwide. Incredibly violent, full of swagger, mising antagonism to outsiders of all “internet Nazi” — young fellow travelers of the period. Bernie Farber of the Ca- talk show host: “We must secure the and loathe to take orders from anyone, kinds. The early hate-rock skinhead who are not part of organized skinhead HSN: Hammerskin Nation. nadian Jewish Congress has described existence of our people and a future for the Vinlanders were thought to repre- scene in Britain coalesced around what gangs but who profess allegiance to the Burdi as one of the most effective white children.” 88 means “Heil Hitler,” HFFH: “Hammerskin Forever Forever sent the future in a more decentralized were known as the “Rock Against Com- recruiters for the movement in history. movement’s code and support purvey- as H is the eighth letter of the alphabet. Hammerskin.” skinhead scene. But in the first weeks of munism” (RAC) concerts, the first of (Burdi has since renounced hate and ors of skinhead paraphernalia with 2007, Vinlanders founder Brien James, which was held in Leeds in 1978. RAC embraced Eastern mysticism.) online orders. 28: Shorthand for Blood and Honour, a Hang-around: A young person who a particularly violent racist, posted a shows were organized in opposition The first label to seriously challenge The country with the worst skin- skinhead group. associates with skinheads but is not yet a probate (see below), akin to a notice on the group’s website announc- to the earlier “Rock Against ” the dominance of Resistance Records head problem today is Russia, where it 38: Confederate Hammerskins, the gangbanger “wannabe.” ing that the group was separating itself concerts, a series of musical events was Minnesota-based Panzerfaust, is estimated there are tens of thousands southern faction of Hammerskin “from the racist movement.” The an- meant to counter growing racist cur- named after a Nazi-era German anti-tank of active neo-Nazi skinheads, includ- Nation (see below). Probate: A “member in waiting” who is nouncement explained: “We do not see rents in English culture. A subgenre of weapon. Before imploding amid a scandal ing thousands in the capital alone. In on probation for a set amount of time party: Beating a victim to the anything positive being accomplished, punk that often veered toward racism involving the non-Aryan heritage of its recent years, immigrants, students and before he or she becomes a full-fledged ground then stomping and kicking him for our nation or our people, by par- was known as !, which soon became founder, Anthony Pierpont, Panzerfaust even senior embassy staff from Asian member of a skinhead crew. ticipating in the white racialist move- global (if not completely accurate) was best known for a failed 2005 plan to and African nations have been the or her with steel-toed boots. RAHOWA: Short for “Racial Holy ment as it stands. We have attempted shorthand for skinhead music. distribute 100,000 hate-rock sampler CDs victims of assaults and murders on the Braces: . to change this movement from within By the mid-1980s, a racist skinhead in schoolyards across the nation. streets of Moscow. War,” a slogan that originally came out Crew: Skinhead gang or faction. and have not succeeded. It is our opin- culture defined by loud hate-rock, cases The impact of U.S. hate rock is not As in Western European countries, of the neo-Nazi Church of the Creator; ion that a large number of the people of cheap beer, bloody “boot parties” limited to the United States. Since the Russian skinhead violence often dovetails Colors: Marks identifying affiliation; also the name of a defunct band. involved in the greater movement are directed against immigrants and oth- production, performance, and distribu- with soccer hooliganism. A 2002 report in can be tattoos, patches on jackets, etc. Red laces: Bootlace color indicating the paid informants, social outcasts, and ers, and the flagrant display of neo- tion of such music is illegal in many The Nation described the trend: Curbing, curb job: Breaking a victim’s wearer has shed blood for the skinhead general losers in life.” Nazi iconography and paraphernalia countries in Western Europe, the U.S., “In the past few years a curious jaw or neck by forcing his or her face movement. Racist skinheads will often But the fourth decade of skinheads in had spread to Western Europe and with its First Amendment guarantees of synthesis of the soccer hooligan and against a street curb and kicking the randomly attack non-whites to “earn” America finds skinhead groups grow- . Although focused on a free speech, has become a main provider skinhead movements has been observed back of the victim’s head; popularized their red laces. ing. The number of skinhead groups has skinhead gang in Melbourne, Australia, of music to skinheads internationally steadily gaining strength in the city. in the 1998 cult movie “American His- Spider web tattoo: Racist skinhead increased dramatically in recent years, the 1992 Russell Crowe film “Romper (just as U.S. computer servers host most It’s no longer uncommon in Moscow tory X.” totaling 133 by 2012. These new groups Stomper” paints a particularly vivid European hate sites in order to keep to see crowds of 300-400 soccer fans “badge of honor,” often worn on the are defined by a violent gangster ethos and well-researched picture of the day- their owners clear of European anti- — dressed in the black bomber jackets Dr. Martens (a.k.a. Doc Martens): elbow, indicating wearer has committed that is only partly informed by racist and to-day life of skinheads immersed in hate legislation). This relationship was and black boots popularized by German Brand of durable boots popular with murder for the skinhead movement. neo-Nazi ideology. this culture. (A later film that explored built in part by the outreach programs of skinheads — loitering on the streets in skinheads as well as young people in SHARP: Short for Skinheads Against the racist skinhead culture, this one Resistance Records under George Burdi, the city’s outer regions, and not always all walks of life, though skins lace the Racial Prejudice, commonly known Music & Culture set in , was 1998’s “American who used to offer Eastern Europeans on the same nights as soccer matches.” boots differently (see “straight-laced”) as SHARP skins, who often battle Along with exposure to extremist History X,” starring Edward Norton.) CDs at 90% discounts, as well as free Some of these skinheads, the article and wear either red or white laces racist skins. political parties and hate literature, The importance of music in grow- license to reproduce the music. notes, have been seen wearing the arm- (see below). Skinbyrd: Female skinhead. music has always been a key element ing the worldwide skinhead movement New media platforms — including bands of the neo-Nazi Russian National Homey sock: Pool ball in a sock in the growth of the racist skinhead cannot be overstated. William Pierce, social networking sites like MySpace Unity party, suggesting links between wrapped in tape so it doesn’t split open Straight-laced: A complex boot-lacing subculture. This is appropriate, as the leader of the neo-Nazi National Alli- and twitter and video file-sharing sites street hate and organized political when used as a weapon. system favored by racist skins who lace original skinhead scene was based ance until his death in 2002, under- like YouTube — are being used by racist parties. Such links are suspected to be their boots in horizontal, straight lines around clubs playing ska and reg- stood well the potential impact of hate- skinhead groups to recruit and expose common in many Western European Featherwood: Female skinhead. rather than X or cross patterns. gae. The hard-driving rock-and-roll rock. “Music speaks to us at a deeper countries, where radical parties partici- others to their views. Five words: “I have nothing to say.” White laces: Bootlace color identifying favored by today’s racist skinheads level than books or political rhetoric: pate in electoral politics in recent years Skinheads are exhorted to give this a skinhead as being “white power,” as both exploits and channels the youth- music speaks directly to the soul,” said The International Scene with sobering success. standard response to any and all media opposed to a non-racist (“traditional”) ful energy of members and potential Pierce, author of the seminal hate-lit The connections between racist skin- Across Europe, radical parties are and law enforcement inquiries. or anti-racist skin. teenage recruits. novel, The Turner Diaries. heads in the U.S. and Europe are not on the rise, exploiting fears over im- : Brand of favored The importance of music in building Putting this insight into practice, limited to hate-rock catalogs. With the migration. In several of these coun- ZOG: Shorthand for “Zionist Occupation by skinheads. the racist skinhead scene was apparent Pierce purchased the ailing hate- rise of the Internet, groups scattered tries, associations have been traced [or Occupied] Government,” reflecting by the late ’70s, when a hate-rock scene rock label and distributor Resistance across the globe have been able to com- between skinhead gangs and parties Fresh cut: A newly indoctrinated skin- the neo-Nazi conspiracy theory that the exploded alongside the Records in 1999 and built the company municate and link up as never before, with representatives in regional and head whose head has recently been American government is secretly con- movement, spreading lyrics that were into a major force in the world skin- transforming the skinhead movement national bodies.  shaved for the first time. trolled by a powerful Jewish cabal.

6 intelligence report special edition Bryon and Julie Widner decided to quit the world of hate. But former comrades, and Bryon’s tattoos, made it an uphill struggle

Bryon and Julie Widner were hard-core racists. Bryon, nick- named “Babs,” was so committed to the cause that he tat- tooed his body with racist emblems, including his face, which depicted a bloody straight razor, his weapon of choice. Now 34, Bryon co-founded the Vinlanders Social Club, once one of the most notorious and violent racist skinhead outfits in the country. Julie, now 40, became a leader in the neo-Nazi Na- tional Alliance during approximately the same period. In 2005, Bryon and Julie met at a hate music event and it changed their lives. They married later that year and had a son (they also are raising Julie’s other four children together). After spend- ing 16 years as a vicious brawler and razor-carrying skinhead enforcer, Bryon realized he didn’t want to raise his family in the hostile culture he once embraced. But he knew that his marked face would forever frustrate his efforts to rejoin the respectable world. In a courageous move, the Widners reached out to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), their longtime enemies, for help. Against daunting odds, both Widners made a permanent break with their pasts. Bryon’s path entailed excruciating physical pain, as he underwent some two dozen laser treatments to remove the tattoos from his face and neck that made it impossible for him to find work. The treatments, which were documented in the MSNBC film “Erasing Hate,” were made possible by a generous donor to the SPLC, which had long tracked the Widners. Bryon and Julie Widner spoke to the Intelligence Report in September about the white supremacist movement and why they left it.

What first drew you to the movement? style. To impress him, I shaved my head weren’t many in Albuquerque. I met my BRYON WIDNER: I first became a skin- and drew swastikas and upside-down first when I was head at 14. We lived in Albuquerque, crosses on my jacket. I got beat up a lot about 17, when a whole crop just came N.M., in the predominantly Mexican for this. Any normal person would have out of nowhere. This was long before North Valley. When I was young, I grown their out and quit. I decided the Internet. There was no way of get- didn’t like . I learned about to stick with it, probably because in that ting information easily. If you wanted to skinheads from a relative who was one area white kids got jumped a lot. hear racist music, you had to mix a tape. in the late 1980s. He didn’t indoctrinate But I didn’t meet any serious white We had to do it old school. me; he just gave me a taste of the life- power skinheads for some time; there JULIE WIDNER: My parents

8 intelligence report special edition Interview conducted by Laurie Wood. intelligence report special edition 9 divorced when I was about 9 and my nization] in 2005. The nametags had was dating a stripper. I have always been care. We told everyone on the Net that "I was preaching white women are the holiest mom ended up a single parent. She your name and your screen anti-smut. I didn’t even know he had a we were a white power group and if worked all the time. When I was 13, I name, so we got to know each other. girlfriend, because he would call me and they didn’t like it, they could fuck off. things in the world, but they thought they looked had a mohawk, a swastika shaved on one say, “What are you wearing?” I would say, But Brien had delusions of grandeur better with black eyes. I didn’t want to say side of my head, and an anarchy sign on Tell me about your time in the movement. “What do you mean what am I wearing? that he was the next führer and would the other. Even though I was living in BRYON: After the Soldiers [of the New I’m in my pajamas, let’s talk business.” I take over the white power movement. anything because I was afraid they’d shoot me." a very nice part of Arizona, I would tell Reich] fell apart, we went our sepa- talked to Gliebe a lot on the phone and Even so, I jumped on board because people Hitler wasn’t that bad of a per- rate ways. I got into some legal trouble, all of a sudden I find out that he’s marry- it gave me a chance to beat up some son. I didn’t think of myself as a racist. bounced around and landed in Indiana. ing a stripper? Even worse, in 2002, when Hammerskins. I was an enforcer, after I was just rebelling against society. But In 1999, I met the guys from the Gliebe told me [NA founder and long- all. If another crew was worth a damn, end to that. But there was another tent that. I contacted [black anti-racist I know now that I was raised in a fam- Northern Hammerskins [a racist skin- time leader] William Pierce died, he said I would bring them on board and run with another girl that the guys were tak- activist] Daryl Jenkins and we became ily with racist beliefs. My father raised us head group]. They were all huge body Pierce had a huge pornography collec- off all their buddies. But the ego battles ing turns with, too. It was supposed to be friends. Then I reached out to former in that environment, in the Detroit area. builders. They were completely covered tion. So when I found out, it was an easy between Brien and Eric started to really a family event! By the time Bryon and I skinhead T.J. Leyden, whom I’d been You kept to yourself, didn’t intermingle, in tattoos, frightening looking and a solid decision to make, I was gone. I joined [the hurt VSC. Everybody thought Eric was started talking after Nordic Fest, we had following on the Web. He told me to call didn’t date someone not of your race. unit. Their leader, Jeremy Robinson, racist skinhead outfit] , the VSC “president” because he was so much to talk about and we were on the SPLC. That was February 2006. I got pregnant with my first son at was really charismatic. He was the kind but I never got my patch. loudest on the Internet. And he loved it. the same page. And six or seven months 17 and dropped out of high school. I of guy you would follow to the gates of But Brien didn’t. after that, we got married and Bryon What was it like sitting down with your had two kids by 19 and a failed relation- hell. But I never got my patch because of How did the Vinlanders Social Club came to live with me in Michigan. mortal enemies? ship, but it wasn’t until my late 20s that legal trouble — I would get in bar fights. come about? When did things start to go sour? And then it got worse because Bryon’s BRYON: It was incredibly strange. I I actually found the movement. I met I always had anger issues. BRYON: I was basically the last man BRYON: My doubts started even in buddies were mad that he was closer to mean, [SPLC co-founder] Morris Dees? some skins from Tempe, Ariz., and they Once I cleared up my legal prob- in OHS. The day after I turned in my OHS. My brothers abused women. I had his family than them. Here we are try- He was the guy that hid under your thought since I was new I should take lems, the Outlaw Hammerskins [OHS] patch, Brien James started talking to always been very adamant about not ing to make a life — we’re married and bed and shut down your crews, Public baby steps. And baby steps meant join- had formed. Jeremy [Robinson] remem- me about forming the Hoosier State kicking the crap out of girls. My image having a child — and everybody is turn- Enemy Number One. I was nervous. ing the National Alliance [NA]. bered me from the parties that I went to, Skins. A bunch from OHS jumped on of a skinhead was basically a guy who ing against us. Then Eric [Fairburn] but I didn’t see him for a couple years board, Eric [“The Butcher”] Fairburn, worked hard and took care of his busi- came to see what we were up to. They How did your tattoos affect your life at What about the racist scene appealed because I was in and out of jail. I brought Jon Carr. We were blackballed from the ness. Your work and family comes first were partying every day. One night we this point? to you? [future Vinlanders Social Club (VSC) co- movement because of OHS’s threats and after that you make time for the were at a lake and the guys were trying BRYON: I couldn’t get any decent jobs. BRYON: It was a family thing. I was a founder] Brien James to meet Jeremy, against the Hammers. We really didn’t guys. But apparently that just wasn’t to get Bryon to come with them. They Half of the people wouldn’t give me an street kid, a chronic runaway. It got to and we got drunk. Our claim to fame as the deal. I was preaching white women were all hell-bent on kicking some guy’s application because of the way I looked. the point that my dad told me to call OHS was the fact that we basically took are the holiest things in the world, but ass, some Klan member. I leave, go home It sucked and I needed to feed my family. every couple of weeks to let him know on the Hammerskin Nation [then a dom- they thought they looked better with and I get a phone call asking what medi- I even talked to Julie about getting some I was alive. So I didn’t have any family inant racist skinhead federation that black eyes. I didn’t want to say any- cations is Bryon on—he’s at the hospital dermal acid on eBay. I was going to test but my new family, a small skin group included the Northern Hammerskins] thing because I was afraid they’d shoot and the doctor wants to know. it out on my hands first and see how it we called the Soldiers of the New Reich. and showed they were too chicken shit me. The OHS guys were pretty scary, so Here we are trying be a family and worked and I was going to douse my face I found out later that my family really to shoot us. All the other skinhead I just keep my mouth shut. One of the they come out and they start drinking in it. I figured if I did that enough times did care about me. crews saw that the Hammers were crutches I used was alcohol. and Bryon is at the hospital. They’re try- the tattoos would come off. JULIE: For me, it was the excite- a joke. Our tattoos and Web pres- What hypocrites! I mean, nobody ing to tell me that it’s none of my business ment, because I had been a single mom ence made us look like a very, cared about their kids, or their family. as his wife. After that, Bryon decided no Tell us about why the film “Erasing for so long. All I did was work and take very extreme group. For the They had bastard children all across the more drinking, because we fought, too, Hate” was so important to you? care of kids. And one of the skins I met most part, we just kept to our- country. They didn’t pay child support. when he drank. And that’s also when the BRYON: I agreed to do the first couple from NA meetings, I ended up marrying selves, and it was very rare if All they cared about was drinking and phone calls started, around the middle of laser treatments without anesthe- him. I joined the NA in 2002 or 2003. anyone was shot or stabbed. committing felonies. of the summer of 2006. They were call- sia. It was one of the most excruciating After my husband died in a car crash in But OHS fell apart after JULIE: It started for me at Nordic ing at 3:30 a.m. and hanging up or saying, things that I’ve done in my life. But I 2003, I became even more active after Jeremy left around 2002 or Fest [a major white power concert in “You’re going to die.” felt like I deserved it. It was penance. moving to Michigan. I was alone with 2003. He was paranoid and Kentucky in May 2005], where I first It took 24 separate treatments to get the kids and they took me in as family. scared and just gave up. met Bryon. Nordic Fest reconfirmed con- How did you actually leave the the tattoos off. But if I can prevent one And I was really active on [the rac- JULIE: I was a loyal NA cerns I already had. None of the women movement? other kid from making the same mis- ist Web forum] Stormfront.org. I even activist for years. Things I’d met had their children. It seems like BRYON: There wasn’t any kind of defin- takes I did, if I can prevent one other ended up moving some prominent rac- changed after I found out that all the skinhead chicks had their kids itive moment when I just said, “I’m family from having to go through what ists to my town and some stayed in [NA Chairman] taken away or their parents were raising done.” It was the culmination of a lot of I put my family through, maybe I can my house. I traveled with a bunch to them. It’s about drinking and partying — things as I slowly opened my eyes. Once redeem myself. And it’s really amazing. EURO [European American Unity and not about furthering any agenda. the death threats started happening … People have said that I have touched Skinheads, a love story: Bryon and Julie Rights conference, a gathering of white Widner were some of the toughest rac- And then at Nordic Fest, there was It was the most ridiculous, unbrotherly their life in positive ways. I never once supremacists held near New Orleans by ist activists on the scene. Then they met, a 17-year-old girl and she was in a tent thing in the world. That’s when I hung thought I would ever touch anyone’s life former Klansman ’s orga- and everything began to change. having guys go back and forth. I put an up my boots. Julie was done long before — except maybe by punching them. s

10 intelligence report special edition intelligence report special edition 11 RACIST SKINHEADS A TIMELINE OF THE MOVEMENT

CIRCA Five ousted members of the Northern Region Hammerfest attendance dwindles to 150. white supremacist group White Aryan Resis- of Hammerskin Nation form a renegade outfit //////////////////// tance (WAR). //////////////////// 1969 1991 they call Outlaw Hammerskins. //////////////////// The original skinhead subculture explodes In June, more than 60 Aryan National Front 2003 among urban, working-class youths in Brit- //////////////////// (ANF) skinheads and Klansmen march Hammerskin Nation reorganizes and throws The number of skinhead chapters nationwide ain, combining style elements drawn from 1988 through downtown Birmingham in a dramatic its first Hammerfest, the group’s signature more than doubles, due mostly to the rapidly white “Mods” and West Indian “Rudeboys.” Skinhead violence erupts across the United show of force. hate rock festival, in rural Bremen, Ga. More increasing strength of independent, regional Though tinged with soccer hooliganism, States, with scores of violent attacks and mur- than 600 skinheads from across the country skinhead crews, most notably the Hoosier traditional skinhead culture is not racist ders recorded over the next four years. attend. State Skins (Indiana and Illinois), the Ohio (to this day, there are black “trad” skins). chase. The next week, a dead pig bearingV ander State Skinheads, and the Pennsylvania-based Tom Metzger and son John organize the first Jagt’s name is dumped outside a Denver police /////////////////// Keystone State Skinheads. EARLY hate rock festival, Aryan Fest, which is held substation, and Denver skinheads Nathan Thill 2000 in Oklahoma. and Jeremiah Barnum murder While Hammerskin Nation remains the /////////////////// //////////////// a West African immigrant nation’s largest skinhead organization, the 2004 1980s A flying chair breaks the nose of televi - they encounter at a bus stop. number of HSN chapters drops from 27 to 19. Non-Hammerskin crews continue to evolve British skinhead scene factionalizes. White sion talk show host during a Thill later tells a reporter that and unify. power skinheads develop a separate sub- brawl between skinhead gang leaders and he killed Oumar Dia because culture based on the white nationalist music African-American activists on the set of he was “wearing the enemy’s //////////////////// Members of the Hoosier State Skins and Ohio of “Rock Against 2001 “The Geraldo Rivera Show.” //////////////////// Nathan Thill uniform” — his black skin. Midland Hammerskin Shane McCormick stabs State Skinheads — including several former ” 1992 In April, members of the skinhead gang ANF a black man in a restaurant. Outlaw Hammerskins — form the Vinlanders bands like Skrew- murder a homeless black man in Birmingham, Social Club, also known as the Vinlanders, a driver, Skullhead, Ala., after attending a Hitler birthday party. //////////////////// skinhead “warrior clan” devoted to drinking, and No Remorse 1998 Independent Nazi Skins gang leader John fighting, and a racist form ofO dinism, a pagan who opposed the “Polar Bear” Butler ambushes and kills two religion once practiced by Norse Vikings. “Rock Against //////////////////// Anti-Racist Action members in the desert Racism” concerts 1994 Regional Hammerskin factions unite under outside Las Vegas on the Fourth of July. of anti-racist skins. the common banner of Hammerskin Nation CIRCA (HSN). //////////////////// 1999 Shane McCormick //////////////////// Skinhead gang leader Randall Lee Krager Florida skinheads attack interracial couples, 1982 forms in . killing a woman and a child in two separate Racist skinheads begin to appear in U.S. in Members of the Confederate Hammerskins incidents. Hammerfest attendance drops to 220 as HSN’s (p i g) v e Buresh/ denver post significant numbers. patrol Robert E. Lee Park in Dallas, beating a elitist posturing and relentless attempts to dic- //////////////////// ); D any non-white they come across. The gang is 1995 tate the rules of skinhead culture in the U.S. CIRCA ultimately linked to 40 crimes, including the Southern California skinhead Randall Rojas breed widespread resentment. vandalism of a Dallas synagogue. Police foil a beats a homeless black man to death behind //////////////////// plot by armed Hammerskins to destroy Jewish a fast-food restaurant. 1986 /////////////////// Romantic Violence, also known as CASH businesses on Nov. 9, the 50th anniversary of 2002 (Chicago Area Skinheads), takes form as Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom also known as //////////////////// Skinhead Kevin A. Johnson beats a man to //////////////////// one of the first true racist skinhead gangs in the “Night of Broken Glass.” 1997 death outside the Courtesy Diner in St. Louis 2005 the United States, followed in short order by Bruce Vander Jagt becomes while spewing anti-Semitic epithets, although The Vinlanders host the first official Blood and the Confederate Hammerskins in Dallas. Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw is the firstA merican police offi- his victim is not Jewish. Honour Council, a unity meeting of regional beaten to death by members of East Side cer killed in the line of duty by skinhead crews also known as the Council Former California Klan leader White Pride, a Portland, Ore., gang with close a racist skinhead when he’s The Outlaw Hammerskins implode due to of 28 (B is the second letter of the alphabet, Tom Metzger forms the ties to WAR. gunned down in Denver by infighting. H is the eighth; hence, 28 stands for Blood Aryan Youth Movement, 25-year-old racist Matthaus and Honour). The council is attended by at Jaehnig after a high-speed HSN’s power continues to wane. athan th ill l do r iv era, N athan l d (gera ap w i de wor (1980s sk i nhead); or bi s/ b ettman

a skinhead division of his Vander Jagt c 2010//////////////////// Fifty people are arrested in the largest take- down of white supremacist gangs in Orange County, Calif., history after a two-year federal Skin Symbols probe dubbed “Operation Stormfront.” Mem- bers of the , La Miranda Insignias and Tattoos of the Racist Skinhead Underground Punks, West Coast Costa Mesa Skins, Nazi Low Riders, O.C. Skins and Public Enemy Number 1 are charged with a variety of crimes, including extortion, conspiracy, solicitation of aggravated assault and murder, criminal fraud, and illegal firearms and narcotics sales.

More than a dozen members or associates of the Arizona faction of the Vinlanders are arrested on charges that include aggravated least 60 members of more than a dozen white The Hammerskins and the Vinlanders Social assault, murder, drug possession and miscon- supremacist groups. Club declare an uneasy truce. duct involving firearms. American Front /////////////////// Utah jail inmate and //////////////////// Ohio State Skinheads/ Keystone State 2006 longtime skinhead 2011 Vinlanders Skinheads Skinhead resurgence parallels rise in skin- Curtis Allgier allegedly American Front founder David Lynch is found head-related criminal activity. shoots and kills correc- shot to death in his California home. As of yet, tions officer Stephen no one has been charged with his murder. Kurtis William Monschke, Anderson while being head of the Washington Curtis Allgier transported from jail to Vinlanders co-founder state chapter of Volks- a local hospital. Ander- Eric Fairburn pleads front, helps three other son’s death marks the second time in a decade guilty to murder in the Volksfront Blood and Honour, Klan, racist skinheads use base- a law enforcement officer is killed, allegedly, 2004 shooting death of a Odinist iconography Vinlanders probate patch ball bats and rocks to beat by a racist skinhead. 57-year-old Missouri man to death a homeless white and is sentenced to life in Old school Kurtis Monschke man in Tacoma. prison. A few months later, RAC logo //////////////////// Eric Fairburn 2008 the Vinlanders hold their State or regionally based independent skin- Steven Edwards, son of a Kentucky Klan first white power concert, “Plunder and Pillage,” head crews, such as the Keystone State Skin- leader, and several associates form a new in Ohio. The truce between the Vinlanders and heads in Pennsylvania, begin to flourish. racist skinhead group called the Supreme the Hammerskins continues to hold. White Alliance. Sixty-seven alleged members of the skinhead gang Public Enemy Number 1 are arrested on Daniel Cowart, a probationary member of the ////////////////////

2012 i r b urn) g i er, fa charges including illegal weapons and drugs, Supreme White Alliance, and Paul Schlessel- Six members or associates of the Outlaws Skinhead merchandise United Kingdom forgery and identity theft. The gang report- man are arrested in Tennessee for plotting motorcycle club and the neo-Nazi 1st SS distributor Hate rock label patch skinhead patch edly had a hit list that targeted local police to assassinate President Obama and murder Kavallerie Brigade Motorcycle Division are officers and a prosecutor. more than 100 . In 2010, Cowart arrested on drug-related charges and charges is sentenced to 14 years in prison and Schles- relating to threats to throw a destructive selman to 10. device. They allegedly plotted to blow up

//////////////////// ll l d (a ; ap w i de wor i s monschke) u rt 2007 buildings and houses and kill rivals. American Front founder David Lynch re- TR IBU NE (k

//////////////////// S - emerges on the West Coast as a leader in the 2009 Twelve members of American Front’s cen- nationwide skinhead scene, uniting American membership rises in the wake of tral Florida crew are arrested on charges of Front crews in northern and southern Califor- the election of President Obama. Authorities conspiracy, committing a and par-

nia, Utah and Florida. Rising anti-immigrant see an increased crossover between skinhead ticipating in paramilitary training. The group .] NE W oma, WASH c sentiment helps fuel movement. crews and motorcycle gangs, spurring orga- was allegedly preparing for a “race war” and a American Thule Totenkopf tattoo Skinbyrd Norse runes nized criminal activity. planning an attack (which did not happen) on Celtic Cross tattoo Society (“My Honor is Loyalty”) patch tattoo a May Day rally in Melbourne, Fla. / [ T ANET J ENSON J

14 intelligence report special edition White power fist w/ laurels Independent skin tattoo Hate rock band patch Triskelion (“three w/Thor’s Hammer sevens”) tattoo

Fenris Wolf Pagan/ SS lightning bolts tattoo Odinist symbol tattoo Northwest Hammerskins Thor’s Hammer Hammerskin tattoo Nation

Skrewdriver life Council 28/Blood Western rune patch and Honour Council 88 boots tattoo Hammerskins Confederate Hammerskins

Skynbird spinning swastika tattoo w/ 14/88

Hammerskin Eastern prospect patch Hammerskins If you are an officer who specializes in tracking racist skinheads, there is a national organization dedicated to that purpose. The Skinhead Intelligence Network — or SIN — is a unique network of officers that is meant to aid law enforcement in monitoring, tracking and pros- Skin skull tattoo “Hammerskin Forever, Forever Hammerskin” ecuting racist skinheads involved in criminal activity. Active-duty officers interested in more information about joining SIN can email Midland their inquiries to [email protected]. Hammerskins

Crucified skin tattoo Nazi skin (“One people, One Totenkopf (death’s Northern Hammerskin Celtic iconography tattoo Empire, One Leader”) head) patch w/ 14/88 Hammerskins Cross tattoo

16 intelligence report special edition intelligence report special edition 16 Southern Poverty Law Center Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage 400 Washington Ave Paid Montgomery, AL 36104 Southern Poverty Law Center

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