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IntelligencePUBLISHED BY THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER

ROLL CALL VIDEO ON Report j

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INSIDEARYAN PRISONARYAN PRISON GANGS THE CONSPIRATORIAL IDEOLOGY BEHIND A DOUBLE COP-KILLER IS SPREADING RAPIDLY A VIOLENT GANGSMOVEMENT SPREADS FROM THE TO THE STREETS

PLUS

‘SOVEREIGN’PRISON LEADERSHIP BREAK TIPS FOR LAWTIMELINE ENFORCEMENT ‘SOVEREIGN’SMASHING THE DICTIONARY SHAMROCK 211 CrewProfiles Member of Implicatedtop activists in Killing A ChronologySovereign ofdanger Crime signsLinked to FederalDecoding Indictments the bizarre Expose of Colorado Prisons Chief White Supremacist Prison Gangs Violence

special report I Intelligence Report

INTELLIGENCE REPORT EDITOR Mark Potok

INTELLIGENCE PROJECT DIRECTOR Heidi Beirich

SENIOR WRITERS Ryan Lenz, Don Terry

STAFF WRITER Evelyn Schlatter

CHIEF INVESTIGATOR Joseph Roy Sr.

SENIOR INTELLIGENCE ANALYST Laurie Wood

INFORMATION MANAGER Michelle Bramblett

RESEARCH ANALYSTS Anthony Griggs, Janet Smith

PROGRAM ASSOCIATE Karla Griffin

RESEARCHERS Angela Freeman, Karmetriya Jackson

DIRECTOR OF CAMPAIGNS Josh Glasstetter

DESIGN DIRECTOR Russell Estes

DESIGNERS Shannon Anderson, Valerie Downes, Michelle Leland, Sunny Paulk, Scott Phillips, Kristina Turner

PRODUCTION MANAGER Regina Collins

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Leanne Naramore 1 Smashing the Shamrock MEDIA AND GENERAL INQUIRIES Heidi Beirich Imprisoned leaders of Brotherhood have long laughed off au- LAW ENFORCEMENT INQUIRIES Joseph Roy Sr. thorities’ attempts to prevent them from running a criminal enterprise SUBSCRIPTION REQUESTS Karla Griffin from prison. Now, a huge capital case seeks to silence the so-called “shot Southern Poverty Law Center INTELLIGENCE REPORT FALL 2005 400 Washington Ave. • Montgomery, AL 36104 callers” — permanently. (334) 956-8200 • intelligencereport.org 7 Inside the Brotherhood PUBLISHED BY John Greschner, who is serving a life sentence for , spent 24 THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER’S INTELLIGENCE PROJECT years in the Aryan Brotherhood, many of them as one of three “commis- sioners” overseeing the deadly ’s activities in federal prisons. Now, Greschner is going public about the racist group’s , its banking and collection system, and a whole lot more. INTELLIGENCE REPORT WINTER 2012

SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER PRESIDENT J. Richard Cohen 11 Blood Out SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER FOUNDERS Leaving the Aryan Brotherhood can be a dangerous business. One Morris Dees Joseph J. Levin Jr. former leader explains why he nevertheless quit the . INTELLIGENCE REPORT WINTER 2012 SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER BOARD OF DIRECTORS Alan B. Howard, Chair Henry Solano, Vice Chair 12 Marsha Levick, Elden Rosenthal, Will Little, James Rucker, Lida Orzeck, The execution-style murder of the Colorado prisons chief was almost Ellen Sudow, Brian Fair, James McElroy certainly the work of a white supremacist prison gang member. Was Julian Bond, Emeritus he operating on orders? INTELLIGENCE REPORT SUMMER 2013

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 15 Timeline: Extremist Gangs Spill Into the Mainstream resources renewable 27.3% containing with inks Printed enforcement officials, journalists, scholars and others. The Southern Poverty Law Center is supported entirely by private donations. No government funds are A chronology of violence and other criminal acts linked to white involved. © 2013 Southern Poverty Law Center. All rights reserved. supremacist prison gangs since 1997.

II splc intelligence report SMASHING THE SHAMROCK

A massive federal indictment names the senior leadership of America’s most frightening prison gang. But will it work?

BY DAVID HOLTHOUSE SANTA ANA, Calif. — Within the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United “Brothers grow as close as vets do when they go States Courthouse here is a courtroom into battle fighting for a common cause. We are called the “Nuremberg room” for its resemblance to the famous chamber in there for each other even on the outside.” which 22 leaders of the Third Reich were tried in 1945 and 1946 for crimes against his bloody, mutilated corpse through a prosecution. “I think even a lot of peo- humanity. cellblock while white inmates cheered ple who are against the death penalty Both halls of justice have three-tiered and chanted racial slurs. in general would recognize that in this docks where multiple high-profile defen- “I have walked over dead bodies,” particular instance, where people are dants are shackled to anchors in the floor one of the AB assassins in that case later committing murder repeatedly from by chains hidden from view behind boasted in court. “I’ve had guts splattered behind bars, there is little other option.” tables and podiums. Like the docks in all over my chest from the race wars.” The indictment alleges that over the Germany’s Palace of Justice 60 years past quarter century, Aryan Brotherhood ago, the docks in Santa Ana this year have The Last members either personally committed or filled with self-avowed Nazis, Aryan war- Law enforcement authorities and prison solicited 32 murders and attempted mur- riors, and followers of Hitler. officials have until now been unable to ders in order both to promote the gang’s But the Nazis standing accused in destroy the Aryan Brotherhood mainly stature in prison and to maintain the AB’s are Nazis of a wholly differ- because so many top leaders of the gang are iron-fisted control of narcotics traffick- ent strain than Nuremberg War Crimes serving life or multiple life sentences with ing, male prostitution, gambling, and Tribunal defendants like Hermann no possibility of parole. These men laugh at extortion among white inmates. Goering and . They are criminal penalties that only add more time In one example, the indictment alleges white supremacist pimps, drug dealers to their already infinite sentences. that in 1997, AB leaders responding to an and backstabbing shower-stall killers, Isolating the gang’s leaders in soli- outbreak of racial violence inside the glorified thugs with . tary confinement hasn’t worked either, federal penitentiary in Marion issued They covet power and oversee a crim- because they always find way to commu- a “formal declaration of war” on inal empire, but they are motivated nicate with each other and to transmit inmates throughout the federal prison less by furthering their die-hard rac- and receive reports, requests, and orders system by using coded phone calls and ist ideology than satisfying their crude from prison to prison and down through messages written in a secret double alpha- greed. They are the leaders of the Aryan the ranks, whether by bribing guards, bet invented by Sir Francis Bacon in 1652. Brotherhood (AB), the most notorious, subpoenaing each other to appear at When they received their orders, AB oper- powerful, and violent prison gang in court hearings where they employ hand atives in the federal pen in Lewisburg, America. Also known as the Brand or signals and speak in code, or writing let- Penn., executed a carefully coordinated, the Rock — a reference to the Shamrock ters in a form of invisible ink made with simultaneous attack on black inmates, tattoos AB members favor in addition to their own urine. killing two and severely wounding four. Nazi insignia — the gang in recent years These methods are time consuming. “My brothers and I have went to war, has established criminal networks out- But time is one luxury the leaders of the (make no mistake it is war) with all of side prison walls in cities, small towns, Aryan Brotherhood possess in abun- mongoloid races at one time or another, and suburbs across the country. dance. One sure way to stop them is to using knives, pipes, locks/rocks in socks,” Their nicknames are worthy of pro- kill them, which is exactly what the fed- a member of the Aryan Brotherhood in fessional wrestlers — Super , The eral government is threatening to do in Oklahoma who identified himself as “tree Baron, Lucifer — but the blood they have a sweeping indictment that 1488” posted to a forum on prison gangs spilt by the bucketful has been all too has drawn a rogue’s gallery of 40 Aryan on the white supremacist real. Aryan Brotherhood members make Brotherhood members and associates, Web site in June. (The numbers 14 and up less than one-tenth of one percent of including virtually all of the gang’s vet- 88 are both common white supremacist the nation’s prison inmate population, eran leaders, or “shot callers,” to the identifiers.) “At the end of some of these yet the white power gang is responsible Nuremberg room in Santa Ana. confrontations somebody is needed to be for 18% of all prison murders, accord- Twenty-one of the defendants are medi-flighted out, nearly always some- ing to the FBI. eligible for the death penalty, making one has had to go to medical. I carry my The AB’s carnage has spanned four the Aryan Brotherhood indictment the scars/badges of battle. Death is a very real decades. In 1981, two members of the largest death penalty case in the history possibility.” Brotherhood who were incarcerated at of the American justice system. It is a The racketeering indictment further the federal prison in Marion, Ill., mur- decapitation attack. alleges that Aryan Brotherhood leaders in dered the leader of a rival gang, the D.C. “ is the one prison have contracted killings and other , by sneaking up behind him in the arrow left in our quiver,” said Assistant violence by operatives in the free world shower and then brutally stabbing and U.S. Attorney Gregory Jessner, who is to collect debts, silence witnesses, and slashing him 67 times. They then dragged spearheading the Aryan Brotherhood crush competition. Wives and girlfriends

2 splc intelligence report Originally published in the Fall 2005 issue of the Intelligence Report THE

of incarcerated AB commonly help smug- Honor,’” but that he gradually won them Manson’s lieutenant Lynette “Squeaky” gle drugs into prison, and deliver messages over with his gardening and baking acu- Fromme wrote in a letter. “He will not do back to AB members and minions in the men. “I give them fresh vegetables when this and they are against him.” free world. Four women are named in the they are in season, cakes and so forth. I Throughout the 1970s, as the gang current federal racketeering indictment for clue them in to white nationalism if they expanded, the AB constantly battled acting as couriers of information, drugs, show an interest. Aryan Honor is the with black and Hispanic prison gangs in and money. credo I live by.” slow-burning wars of attrition fueled by While the precise number of Aryan racial hatred but truly fought over terri- Brotherhood members and associates Through the Past, Darkly tory and profits. Then as now, the Aryan is not known, the gang has chapters in Most prisons were racially segregated Brotherhood was both a white suprema- virtually every major state and federal until the 1960s. When they were desegre- cist organization and a criminal syndicate. prison in the country. Estimates of AB’s gated, racial violence flared and inmates “There’s no doubt the Aryan total strength vary widely, but nearly all formed gangs along color lines. In 1964, Brotherhood are a bunch of racists, but when it comes to doing busi- ness, the color that matters most to them isn’t black or brown or white — it’s green,” said prison gang expert Tony Delgado, Security Threat Group Coordinator for the Ohio Bureau of Rehabilitation and Correction. Whereas the Order — a high-profile gang of hardened white power criminals who in the early 1980s robbed armored cars, counterfeited currency and machine- gunned to death a Jewish radio host — killed and robbed mainly to further the cause of , the Aryan Brotherhood reverses that formula. The AB uses the white supremacy move- Michael “Big Mac” McElhiney (second row, far right), who was recently charged with conspiracy to commit murder, ment to further its criminal was co-leader of the Aryan Brotherhood at the Marion, Ill., penitentiary when this 1995 photo was taken. He was endeavors. transferred to in after being charged, and faces a possible death penalty if convicted. “The white power thing is mostly just a good recruit- exceed 15,000 members and associates white inmates at San Quentin Maximum ing tool and a way to maintain structure nationwide, with roughly half in prison Security Prison in San Quentin, Calif., and discipline,” said Delgado. “These and half out. founded the Aryan Brotherhood. From guys are more about making money “You gain ranks by battles, by ‘mis- the beginning, the gang was steeped than starting any kind of white revolu- sions,’ not all of it locked up,” explained in racial hatred and neo-. tion. They sell heroin to tree 1488. “Brothers grow as close as vets The founders adopted and all the time. That’s not very Aryan or do when they go into battle fighting for Nazi SS lightning bolts as the Aryan brotherly of them.” a common cause. We are there for each Brotherhood’s identifying symbols and other even on the outside. I have a high tattoos. Recruits were ordered to read Joining the Movement ranking it has taken me nearly seven and to “earn their badge” In 1980, the Aryan Brotherhood split years of missions to earn.” of membership by attacking — and often into two separate but cooperative fac- The Oklahoma Aryan Brotherhood killing — black inmates. tions, one for gang members in federal member went on the explain to the In 1973, no less a reputed mad-dog custody and the other for gang members white nationalists on Stormfront that killer than was rejected in state prisons, who had by then prolif- when he was first released from prison, by the Aryan Brotherhood when he asked erated to Colorado, , “my neighbors on the outside were taken to join but then refused to murder for and . The federal faction of aback by my tattoos at first — sleeved out color alone. “The AB want Manson the gang formed a three-man “commis- arms with shoulder caps that read ‘Aryan to kill a black because black is black,” sion” to supervise and direct all Aryan

special report 3 Brotherhood actions inside federal through his brothers still here.” literature, and AB members all over the prison. In 1982, the state prison AB fac- Also in the 1980s, the imprisoned lead- country joined under its tion followed . ers of the Aryan Brotherhood began to alter-ego name, Church of Jesus Christ Initiates to both factions swore lifelong cultivate relationships with the leaders Christian. This “church” is a purveyor of allegiance to the gang with the same blood of neo-Nazi and white supremacist orga- the “” religion preached oath: “An Aryan brother is without a care/ nizations outside prison, most notably by late Aryan Nations founder and head He walks where the weak and heartless Aryan Nations. AB members in Missouri pastor Richard Butler, whose “prison min- won’t dare/For an Aryan brother, death unsuccessfully challenged that state’s istry” for decades promoted the doctrine holds no fear/Vengeance will be his, ban on inmates receiving Aryan Nations that non-whites are “mud people” and

BEING A BROTHER Secret Aryan Brotherhood documents unearthed in a raid detail the rules for members of the notorious prison gang

When agents from the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics raided From the AB Constitution the former residence of Aryan Brotherhood member Bartow TO ALL Brothers who have been chosen to stand, lead, follow, Usry in October 1994, they found two file folders hidden in a and obey, as one in sincere unity with all the laws and ways of bookshelf. The folders belonged to Usry, who had carelessly left the supreme Aryan Brotherhood of the state of Mississippi the them behind when he moved out a few weeks before the raid. following is our law, code, and orders: To the great delight of law enforcement and prison officials in (1-A) An ARYAN BROTHER is one who shows, gives, and Mississippi and beyond, the folders contained a mother lode of demands his respect where it is due and upholds every moral information about the inner workings of the Mississippi chapter of principle and value of and for all the Elite White … the prison gang, including hand-written copies of the AB’s secret (2-B) Once a chosen prospect has become a full Brother to constitution and membership oath, an interview questionnaire the brand he will hold that title until his very death. Whether for prospective members, a decoder, and a chart detailing the his death be of honor and loyalty to the Brotherhood, or of gang’s organizational structure. Dishonor and without loyalty. It is of his own choosing. For Usry had joined the AB while serving a 17-year sentence that very dishonor and un-loyalty may be the very cause of at Parchman Farm, a Mississippi state penitentiary, for armed his death … . Usry’s own files identified him as the AB’s head of (7-A) The Aryan Brotherhood constitution will be read by recruitment inside Parchman, and outlined his efforts to or- all prospects at the time of becoming a Brother. Under no cir- ganize AB members on the street after he was freed in 1993. cumstances shall the A.B.’s constitution be ignored, neglected, Interviewed by The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger after his disrespected or used in slander by anyone for any insult is files were discovered, Usry disputed a statement by a Bureau certain of IMMEDIATE DEATH !!! of Narcotics spokesman characterizing the Aryan Brotherhood as a “potentially violent” white supremacist gang. From a list of AB ‘characteristics’ “I’m not trying to get me an army together to go killing blacks a) Awareness of your surroundings and environment at all times and like people think,” Usry said. “The only problem we have b) Belief in and of the racial purity of the white race with blacks and Jews is crossbreeding. ‘’ means that if c) Mental stability you had a Rottweiler dog, you would not breed it with a poodle.” d) Efficiency in acquiring further knowledge What follows are a few more pearls of AB wisdom, extracted e) Family oriented for your race from Usry’s accidentally discovered files. f) Genetically of European ancestry g) Honest in any and all Aryan Business From an AB questionnaire h) Valuable to the Brotherhood If you become a brother… i) Willingness to be supportive of the Brotherhood outside prison 1) What do you feel you would be representing? j) Pact-Bound 2) Why do you want to represent this? k) Strong Willed 3) If asked what you represent, what would you say? l) Obedient of all known Aryan Laws 4) If you see a Brother in a fight, do you… a) Immediately help, m) Noble and superior in Nature b) Ignore the situation, c) Jump in if he’s losing, d) Jump in if n) Keeper of information someone else does, e) Alert all other Brothers 5) If someone calls you a “bitch,” what do you do?

4 splc intelligence report Jews are the literal descen- In Ohio, Another Case dants of Satan. Just before dawn this June Very few Aryan Brother- 23, a strike force of more hood members are sent to than 125 federal and local prison originally for hate law enforcement officers, crimes. Typically they’re including six SWAT teams, sent up on robbery or drug mustered at a mobile com- charges and then join the mand center in Painesville, gang for protection. But Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. once they’re members of After a briefing, the force the AB, white prisoners are divided into no-knock search indoctrinated into the vir- teams that surrounded ulent ideology of race war. and then raided six houses “We do what we have to spread across four coun- do to make it in prison. If ties in northeastern Ohio. any of you ever have to go According to indictments there you will fully under- released later, the houses stand. Until then you won’t,” contained stashes of illegal a member of the Aryan weapons and drugs belong- Brotherhood posted in June ing to the Order of the Blood, to a Stormfront forum on a criminal network financed One of the first racially based prison which white supremacists gangs in America, the Aryan Brotherhood and managed by the Aryan were debating whether the was founded at the San Quentin prison in Brotherhood and the Pagans, Aryan Brotherhood should California in 1964. an outlaw motorcycle gang. be embraced or shunned by The pre-dawn raids white power activists. resulted in the seizure of 60 “My name is Michael trial that he and one his accomplices had weapons, including 13 fully but all my brothers call me ‘.’ I both joined the Aryan Brotherhood of automatic machine guns, plus large am an overseer for the Aryan for protection from black inmates amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine, Brotherhood. I am currently incarcerated while they were incarcerated. When he heroin, and the prescription painkiller in Bibb County Correctional Facility in rejoined society, his arms were cov- Oxycodone. Thirty-four members and Brent, Alabama. I want to set the record ered with Aryan Brotherhood tattoos, associates of the Aryan Brotherhood straight on a few things I’ve head on this including one depicting a black man were arrested, and warrants were issued forum. The Aryan Brotherhood, my fam- being lynched. “You look at his arms,” for 10 still at large. The sweep came ily, will always be a big part of the White the trial prosecutor said, “and you see after a 20-month undercover investiga- Nationalist movement! We are under a what’s in his heart.” tion that shifted into high gear earlier in blood and honor oath to live by the 14 In October 2001, another member of June, when police in Willowick, Ohio, words ‘We must secure the existence of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas who was arrested two members of the Aryan our people and a future for white chil- enraged by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Brotherhood for possessing illegal dren.’ Any true soldier not only lives by gunned down a Bangladeshi gas sta- machine guns and found in their vehi- these words but they would be embedded tion attendant simply because the victim cle a file containing detailed personal in his heart and soul. Rahowa! [Racial “looked Arab.” information about two police officers in Holy War].” The AB has reportedly toyed with nearby Eastlake whose lives had been Once they’re released, some Aryan terrorist plots of its own. In 2000, a threatened two years ago by members Brotherhood members commit terrible longtime Brotherhood member and of the Pagans. hate crimes in the name of Rahowa. The explosives expert-turned-government “This case has all the elements of most infamous racially motivated mur- informant told federal investigators he and has tentacles spread der since the civil rights era occurred had been approached by AB leaders inside over a wide area,” said Lake County in 1998, when three white men, two of Colorado’s Supermax federal prison who Sheriff Daniel Dunlap. “These were not them ex-cons, tied a black man, James asked him to provide them with technical informal gang bangers flashing gang Byrd Jr., to the back of their pickup information on making bombs in prepa- signs. These were hardened criminals truck with a logging chain, dragged ration for a series of attacks on federal operating in our midst.” him to death over three miles of coun- buildings and officials across the country. try roads outside Jasper, Texas, and “It’s become irrational,” he said, Polishing the Rock then deposited his shredded remains according to an FBI report. “They’re There are roughly 550 members of the in front of a predominantly black cem- talking about making car bombs, trucks Aryan Brotherhood in prison in Ohio,

AP IMAGES AP IMAGES etery. One of the ex-cons testified at his bombs, mail bombs.” said Tony Delgado, the Ohio prison

special report 5 gang expert, and another 500 members and associates in the . But on the streets who, like AB members there is little question about how far everywhere, are bound by the gang’s and wide the AB’s lightning bolts strike. blood-and-honor code to follow the When the U.S. attorney’s office in Santa orders of their incarcerated leaders. Ana released the multiple death-penalty According to a recently declassified indictment, 30 of the 40 accused were FBI report on the Aryan Brotherhood, already in prison, but the remaining “The rule of thumb is that once on the 10 were arrested in simultaneous raids streets, one must take care of his brothers in California, Colorado, , that are still inside. The penalty for not Florida, Georgia, , , doing so is death.” This practice is known Massachusetts, , New York, within the gang as “polishing the rock.” Pennsylvania and Washington. The rock is getting polished all over the And in January, in a dragnet similar country, even in Fairbanks, Alaska, a city to the Ohio bust, more than 70 federal, of 30,000 deep in the interior of the Last state and local officers swarmed three Frontier. Sgt. William Hathaway, a secu- suspected AB haunts, including a motor- rity officer at the Fairbanks Correctional cycle shop in Ruidoso Downs, N.M., a small Center, said that an Aryan Brotherhood town in the Rocky Mountains where newly associate, or “,” from the released members of the Texas Aryan gang’s Arkansas faction arrived in Brotherhood were allegedly setting up a Fairbanks last year and began actively burglary and methamphetamine-deal- recruiting other among the ing ring. The month before in the nearby city’s methamphetamine users and dealers town of Cloudcroft, N.M., a local deputy to help set up an AB-financed drug ring. was killed (see story, p. 41) in a shootout (Inside and outside prison, Peckerwoods with AB member Earl Flippen, whose arms are Aryan Brotherhood wannabes who do were adorned with tattoos of Iron Eagles, the gang’s bidding in exchange for some dragons, skulls, and the motto ‘White degree of prestige, profit, and protection; Pride.” Flippen was wounded in the ini- occasionally a Peckerwood will become a tial exchange of gunfire, then finished off full-fledged member, usually after carry- with a single shot to the heart by the slain ing out a “hit” on an AB enemy.) deputy’s partner, a 33-year law enforce- “He professes the Peckerwoods to be ment veteran who subsequently pleaded a ‘white power gang,’ and he is fairly suc- guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Flippen cessful in his efforts,” said Sgt. Hathaway. had been out of prison less than six months. “I have noticed several t-shirts lately with By early September federal prosecu- a woodpecker riding a motorcycle and tors had obtained guilty pleas from all the wording, ‘Peckerwoods, this wood 19 of the AB racketeering defendants don’t burn,’ in our community this sum- who are not eligible for the death pen- mer where none were noticed before.” alty. The remaining 21 defendants are Sgt. Hathaway said the Arkansas scheduled to stand trial later this year. Tattoos and other Peckerwood was imprisoned in Fairbanks The final and lasting effect of the federal artwork are very much part of the after being convicted on a drug charge government’s decapitation strike against Aryan Brotherhood and is currently awaiting trial for plotting the Aryan Brotherhood is unknown for life. Those who an escape in which he and 11 accomplices now. But even if it deals a lethal blow to appropriate them planned to murder correctional officers the gang’s leadership, with thousands of without permis- and Fairbanks patrolmen. rank-and-file members due for release sion are subject to extreme retaliatory “He is continuing his recruiting from prison in the next decade, the death measures. within our facility,” said Sgt. Hathway. throes of the Aryan Brotherhood might “He corresponds with the local leader of be long and nasty. the Aryan Brotherhood and counts sev- “Someday most of us are finally going eral of the incarcerated Hell’s Angels as to get out of this hell,” the AB hit man his friends. He seems to be getting a large who murdered the leader of the D.C. following within our prison.” Blacks in 1981 recently declared from solitary confinement. “And even a ratio- Lightning Storm nal dog after getting kicked around year There is no way to precisely estimate the after year after year attacks when his number of Aryan Brotherhood members cage door is finally opened.” s

6 splc intelligence report A former ‘commissioner’ of America’s most notorious prison gang discusses life and death in the Aryan Brotherhood BY DAVID HOLTHOUSE ILLUSTRATION BY MATT MURPHY “For the Aryan Brotherhood, murder is a way to make a social statement,” said John Greschner, a former top leader of the gang. “If blacks attack whites, we send a message. We go pick one of their shot callers. We catch them walking across the [prison] yard under guard escort in handcuffs. It don’t matter. We’re going to butcher him in handcuffs in front of God and everybody at high noon in the middle of the yard. And it’s not just going to be a few clean stab marks. It’s going to be a vicious, brutal killing. Because that’s how brothers [AB members] take care of busi- ness, and a brother’s work is never done.” Greschner joined the Aryan Brotherhood (AB) in 1977 about 13 years after white prisoners formed the gang in the recently desegregated in California. When he joined, Greschner said, there were 50 to 60 members and associates of the AB.

special report 7 “You want the maniacs, those beserkers, man, that, in their minds, they’re going to Valhalla. If they fall on the battlefield, they’re going to paradise.”

Now, according to federal law enforce- ing there’s a contract on your life,” said “To me, it’s a Buddhist thing,” he said. ment agencies, there are roughly 20,000. Greschner. The phrase “in the hat” refers “I’m a .” The gang that Greschner said was to the early years of the gang, he said, Despite the swastika tattoos widely “started up as a white self-defense group when AB members in a certain prison popular with its members, the vast in a single pen,” has evolved into a multi- would draw pieces of paper out of a hat majority of whom are neither Buddhists national criminal syndicate with hugely to determine which of them would carry nor claim to be, the Aryan Brotherhood profitable drug trafficking and gambling out a contract murder. as it exists today is not a hate group in the operations and protection rackets within “Once you’re in the hat, you ain’t get- traditional sense. prisons across the country. On the streets, ting out of the hat. Ever. Thirty years Although widely idealized by racist the AB is involved in practically any prof- later, if a brother sees you somewhere, and other hard-core white itable criminal enterprise, including you’re going down. In the streets, in supremacists, the AB in reality is far murder-for-hire, armed robbery, gun run- jail, it doesn’t matter. They’re gonna more about gaining power and reap- ning, methamphetamine manufacturing, get you.” ing profit than promoting white racial counterfeiting and identity . Greschner used to put names in the unity or furthering any kind of white “It’s an empire,” Greschner said in a hat. Now he’s in the hat. He severed ties power revolutionary cause. If there’s big- recent interview with the Intelligence with the AB and debriefed with federal time money to be made in dealing with Report. “That’s what I helped it become.” investigators in 2001 following a bit- Mexican drug cartels, AB shot callers As one of three members of the AB ter feud with the gang’s most notorious won’t let skin color get in the way. “commission” overseeing all gang activ- member, longtime AB commissioner and However, many AB members do prac- ity based in the federal prison system original co-founder Barry “The Baron” tice a racist variant of the neo-pagan — activity that often reaches far beyond Mills, who recruited Greschner to join religion Asatru, the faith of Viking raid- prison walls — Greschner was directly the gang 35 years ago. Now Greschner’s ers of old. Also, rank-and-file members responsible for increasing the size and speaking to a wider audience. of the gang commonly espouse “race sophistication of the Aryan Brotherhood war” rhetoric as justifica- during two key decades of rapid expansion ‘The Brightest Light Shining’ tion for violence. According for what is now the largest and deadliest Currently held in federal pro- to Greschner, the AB began prison-based gang in the country. tective custody at a prison in cynically using what he called Along with vetting prospective mem- the U.S., Greschner “the race thing” as a recruit- bers and voting on leadership decisions, earlier this year sat with ing tool in the 1980s to foster including targeted killings, Greschner by hands and feet shackled for a sense of common identity his own account personally instituted a a three-hour interview. (As and harden loyalty to the banking and collections system for the a condition of the interview, gang, particularly among new gang and developed complex written the Report agreed to with- Some of the symbols members, who might other- codes for communicating between pris- hold the name of the prison used by the Aryan wise turn snitch. Brotherhood include ons and with members and associates in to protect Greschner.) With swastikas and SS “I was telling Barry [Mills] the free world. He was also the gang’s neatly trimmed grey , a lightning bolts. at one time, I said, ‘Look, man, resident expert in improvised weapons, beard to match, and blue eyes we gotta have some deeper including poisons and explosives he that rarely blink, Greschner catalyst that pulls people in cooked up in prison cells. slouched casually in his chair, a hooked and holds them together. Because when Now 60 years old, Greschner is toothpick strung with dental floss you’re harvesting criminals [as mem- serving a double life sentence for mur- clenched between his teeth. bers], criminals are fine, but criminals are der and conspiracy to commit murder One thing he wanted to make clear in the game a lot of times only to get what resulting from the 1984 killing of a right away: He’s not a racist. Before he they can for themselves, so if you put a lot fellow inmate at the United States joined the AB, he did stick-ups with black of pressure and heat on, you can get them Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan. partners, Native American partners, to roll over,’” said Greschner. “‘But if you Greschner said the man was killed no problem. His cellmate these days is give them something deeper they can because he refused to pay a large gam- black. They get along fine, even though feel connected to, maybe some northern bling debt owed the AB. Greschner has a swastika tattoo, which European religion or whatever, and some “We made sure to get the word out: If he insisted is the version, not the racial thing and all that, well, they’ll start you burn the AB, you go in the hat, mean- Nazi kind. to feel like they’re down with a greater

8 splc intelligence report Originally published in the Winter 2012 issue of the Intelligence Report cause that they’re fighting for, and then they won’t roll.’ That’s what I told Barry.” According to Greschner, AB leaders also recognize the value of exploiting the gang’s legendary image within the American movement to easily absorb skinhead crews throughout the country whenever a high-ranking mem- ber of a particular skinhead crew enters the prison system. “This is what happens,” he said. “The loudest ringing bell, as far as any white group out there goes, is the Aryan Brotherhood. They’ve all heard of us. Tyler Davis Bingham Barry “The Baron” Mills They all want to be us. We’re the bright- est light shining. And, you know, we’ve got people everywhere out there [out- time for armed robbery and aggravated get out of the state pen in California, and side prison], keeping us up to date on . Greschner at the time was also then get a federal crack [conviction] for all the little white crews in the United charged with the attempted murder of a hitting banks, or running drugs or firearms, States — all the little skinhead crews, police officer he shot during a gun battle and they’d get put in the feds in different the European Kindred, the LRs [Nazi the previous year, following his escape joints all over America,” said Greschner. Low Riders], the PENI [Public Enemy from a state prison in . “So Barry started shooting wires back to Number One], whatever. At a federal prisoner transfer facil- the brothers in California, saying, ‘Look, “So what we do is, any time a mem- ity in Terre Haute, Ind., that convicts man, we got a whole country out here. ber of one of these white crews comes call “The Hut,” Greschner met AB co- We’d like to form our own thing.’ And the in here [the federal prison system], if founder Barry Mills, who, like Greschner, word came back, ‘You have our blessing.’” they’re one of their main guys, or just was awaiting transfer to a federal peni- From that point forward the Aryan someone we see has the potential and tentiary in Atlanta. Heavily muscled with Brotherhood divided into separate the talent to step up and be with us, we long hair, Mills had a bad eye from organizations: the California AB and pull him [recruit him to join the AB]. And a knife fight with Mexican inmates in San the federal system AB. “They’re like through pulling him, we run his entire Quentin and an Aryan Brotherhood tattoo two related but different criminal fam- group out there, and usually that group on one arm that he burned off years later. ilies,” Greschner explained. “They each has other affiliations, so we run them Mills knew of Greschner’s escape and have their commission … but they’re now. That’s mergers and acquisitions. shootout with police officers, and of his allies. Obviously, if we get the word from Takeovers, but not even hostile take- reputation as a “good con,” one that kept California that, ‘Hey, this guy’s coming overs, because all the skinheads, all these his mouth shut and backed up other good into the feds, and he’s no good, he’s in white gangster crews, they all want to be cons. “Barry came to me and said, ‘You’re the hat,’ we’re going to make sure he gets down with us anyhow.” like us. You’re cut from the same cloth. clipped. And vice-versa.” You take care of your business. You’ve got Greschner helped Mills and other Joining the ‘Brand’ good morals, good ethics, you’re a good, founders of the federal AB recruit hun- For Greschner, joining the AB was a nat- stand-up dude, and you’d be an asset to dreds of new members in the late 1970s, ural progression in a life of crime that our organization.’” searching out “psychos” who would began when he was still just a boy grow- Greschner wasn’t interested in join- buy into the Asatru concept of being ing up in Minnesota. “Pops was on the ing a prison gang. But Mills described Viking warriors destined for paradise. road all the time, driving 18-wheelers, his vision for transforming the AB into a “You want the maniacs, those beserkers, Mom wasn’t there a lot, so next thing powerful crime syndicate. “He was talk- man, that, in their minds, they’re going you know, I had a little street gang going ing about organizing the streets from to Valhalla. If they fall on the battlefield, back in the ’50s,” he said. “We had our inside the prisons. I was down.” they’re going to paradise,” he said. leather jackets all with zippers and our It was a pivotal time in the history In short order, the AB began taking engineering and hairdos of the Aryan Brotherhood. Prior to over existing drug and gambling opera- and our little gravity knives.” 1977, the gang operated solely within tions run by white inmates throughout Greschner was first incarcerated at the California state prison system. But the federal prison system, Greschner said. the age of 16 for “ and shootings as Mills and other AB higher ups had The leaders of these rings were offered a and conspiracy stuff.” When he joined entered the federal prison system in stark choice: join the federal AB and start the AB in 1977, he was a 25-year-old recent years they had come to see the taking orders — and kicking back money career criminal with a string of violent federal system as fertile ground. to the commissioners — or die.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/AP IMAGES (BINGHAM AND MILLS); UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (TATTOO) OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT UNITED STATES (BINGHAM AND MILLS); IMAGES REGISTER/AP ORANGE COUNTY felony convictions, then serving federal “What happened was these guys would “Our old saying was, ‘One brother.’

special report 9 Meaning that one brother can walk into any joint [federal prison] and take it “The loudest ringing bell, as far as over. Any joint. Because the leaders of the other crews in there know that one any white group out there goes, is the brother has the entire Brand [AB] behind him. So if they kill that one brother, Aryan Brotherhood. They’ve all heard sooner or later he’ll reach from the grave through us to get his revenge.” of us. They all want to be us. We’re Into the Streets the brightest light shining.” As federal AB members were paroled or served their full sentences and were released, the gang began setting up that X means A, you know every time to his head,” said Greschner. “But it got crime groups on the streets. According you run across X, it means A. But with the point where I told him, ‘Look, bro, to Greschner, he and Mills instituted a our numbers, X may be A this time, but AB stands for ‘Aryan Brotherhood,’ not flat tax policy and de facto banking sys- the next time X is B, and one sentence ‘Aryan Barryhood.’” tem in which 20% of the profits of any later it’s Z.” This occurred in the late 1990s, when AB criminal enterprise on the streets Every switchboard had its own code Greschner, Mills, Bingham and several was deposited into money stashes or and decryption key, which rotated often, other key AB leaders were all incarcer- “accounts” controlled by the commis- Greschner said. “That way it was com- ated in solitary confinement cells in the sion and eventually laundered through partmentalized, as a security thing.” ADX (Administrative Maximum) prison strip clubs, custom motorcycle shops and In 1992, Greschner said, Aryan in Florence, Colo. Federal authorities had other legitimate businesses. Brotherhood street operations received a transferred them to the The motorcycle shops, Greschner huge boost after Italian- in hopes of disrupting AB operations by said, also served as sources for cya- boss , the “Teflon Don,” was preventing them from communicating nide, which the AB put to several uses. sentenced to life in prison without parole between themselves or issuing orders to “Cyanide’s used for chroming mufflers and transferred to the maximum security the outside world. and engines, so they could order it with- federal pen in Marion, Ill., a longtime AB Still, they found ways. One, Greschner out any hassle. We’d get a little cyanide stronghold. (In 1983, AB members there said, was called “getting on the phone,” sent in [smuggled into prison] and I’d use stabbed to death two corrections officers where the commissioners would drain it to make different kinds of explosives or on the same day.) the water from their metal toilets and we’d serve a guy a hot shot [a poisoned Gotti first hired the AB to protect him then have a meeting by speaking to one syringe of narcotics].” in the prison, and then began to set up another through the pipes. By the mid-1980s, Greschner said, the deals between his crews and theirs on the Meanwhile, his relationship with federal AB had ongoing criminal oper- streets. “It’s like, it’s his world out there, Mills continued to fray. According to ations established in major cities across but it’s our world in here, and he’s in here Greschner, he was outraged when Mills the country. The leader “on the street” in doing forever, so he’s in our world now, ordered hits on five AB members for each city, or, in more sparsely populated and we scratched each other’s backs,” what Greschner perceived as “personal areas, each region, was appointed by and Greschner said. “We could tap into his beefs, not official business” (see story, p. reported directly to the three-man com- resources up in New York, so when we 27). Also, Greschner later testified, Mills mission. “These are designated people needed glassware or whatever to set up began pressuring him to design package we give the authority to run the day-to- [methamphetamine] labs, hey, his crews bombs to be mailed to federal prosecutors, day in their areas,” he said. “One of their have righteous [legitimate] businesses despite his protests that such a bombing responsibilities is to set up a switch- through their unions that can get all the campaign would cause too much collat- board, meaning a way to handle the mail, glasswork, all the chemicals, and, you eral damage and bring too much heat. the phone calls.” know, the beat just went on from there.” In mid-1999, Greschner sent a mes- AB switchboards communicated sage to AB members that Mills was with each other and relayed messages The Split ordering hits on his own authority, a between the streets and the prisons Dealing with Gotti, though, had a major glaring violation of the gang’s code. That using a complex system of codes that unintended consequence, according to October, he severed ties with the gang Greschner said he devised. “Basically it Greschner. “Barry started to want to be forever, and guaranteed his own death was just a bunch of different variations like Gotti, he started to trip like he was warrant, by testifying against a high- on a bilateral encryption system based some kind of godfather.” Greschner said ranking member of the AB in a federal on a code the French Underground used that Mills began issuing orders without drug trafficking case. during World War II,” he said. first consulting Greschner or the other Three years later, in 2002, 29 leaders “It’s like, when you do a code puz- commissioner, T.D. Bingham. “He was of the federal AB were rounded up from zle in a game book, and you figure out a good brother before shit started going prisons all over the country and charged

10 splc intelligence report with violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ‘Blood Out’ (RICO) Act, including conspiracy to Leaving the Aryan Brotherhood can be a danger- commit murder, which carries the death penalty. Greschner was not among the ous business. One former leader explains why he RICO defendants. Federal prosecutors declared their nevertheless quit the prison gang intention to seek the death penalty It’s sometimes said that the notorious Aryan Brotherhood (AB) has a “blood against 21 of the AB shot callers, or top in, blood out” rule — that prospective members need to kill an AB enemy to leaders, including the two commissioners join the gang, and that the only way to leave the gang is by dying. While that Mills and Bingham, in a highly publicized “decapitation strike” designed to crip- is not literally true in all cases, the AB is famous for the deadly way it settles ple the gang’s leadership. Officials said scores. John Greschner, one of the gang’s top leaders, or “commissioners,” they could see no other way of prevent- broke ties with the AB in 1999. He said he was forced to leave the gang after ing imprisoned AB leaders, even if held he exposed an alleged plot by fellow AB commissioner and AB co-founder in segregation, from continuing to run Barry “The Baron” Mills to have five AB members who were personally dis - the gang. The tactic failed when juries liked by Mills but had not breached gang rules killed by falsely branding them returned convictions but no death pen- alties. Mills and Bingham, for example, informants. In an interview with the Intelligence Report, Greschner described were sentenced to life without parole and how he fell out with Mills and detailed the AB’s ironclad rules for killing one returned to the ADX in Colorado, where of its own. The Report started by asking Greschner how AB leaders decide if they were already serving life with no a member should die. possibility of parole. “The worst thing the government trying to put it in my head, “Look, bro, could have done if it was looking to shut they’re tit for tat.” down the AB was to bring that racketeer- ing case and pump it all up through the IR: Tit for tat? news media, everywhere, all the news- GRESCHNER: “Tit for tat” is our code for papers about how, ‘The only way to deal rats, just like “bees and honey” means with these guys is to cut the head off the money and “laying from Bristol,” pistol. dragon,’ and then nobody gets the death penalty, not one,” said Greschner. “All IR: So you didn’t believe him? they did was provide the AB with the GRESCHNER: Well, I wanted to see evi- greatest recruitment tool ever, for all dence. I told him, “Look, brother, I’m these young, white, radical fools all over JOHN GRESCHNER: Only the commis- not cosigning that order.” And I put the the country. The AB couldn’t have bought sion can authorize a hit on a brother. If word out to all the joints [federal pris- PR shit like this.” the commission doesn’t authorize it, and ons], “Barry’s saying this, but there’s Today, Greschner spends his days in you kill a brother, no matter what the rea- no evidence, so as the second com - a prison yard, meditating and practicing son, if it’s unauthorized, you’re going to missioner, I’m putting the brakes on his Kundalini . He says he harbors no pay . You’re going to get clipped. order. These hits are not authorized, and ill will for the Brand, though his hatred That shit is carved in stone on the face of anyone who carries them out will pay for Mills is palpable. When asked if he a mountain. with his life.” minds spending the rest of his natural life behind bars, he shrugs and shakes his INTELLIGENCE REPORT: How does the IR: How did Mills react? head. “This is my ashram, man, my tem- commission authorize a hit? GRESCHNER: He felt I betrayed him by ple. I can close my eyes and go anywhere GRESCHNER: It takes two commission- exposing him to all the other brothers. I want. Without coming here, I never ers to green-light a brother. So what Well, I’m doing what I’m supposed to do would have gotten where I’m going.” happened with Barry was, he was coming as a brother. I’m doing what the ethics of Greschner is eligible for parole in to me, because he needed a second com- our organization demand that I do, and 2055. He would be 103. s missioner, and he thought I’d just rubber I’m certainly doing what I’m supposed to stamp all these hits, and he’s telling me, do as a commissioner. I’m not going to “These guys are informants.” But he had throw a brother’s life away. It’s not going no evidence. And the common denomi- to happen. > For more information on the case and nator was that he had personal beefs with the group, see intelreport.org/issue/ — David Holthouse them over feeling disrespected, but he’s 2005/fall/smashing-the-shamrock TILLER RUSSELL (GRESCHNER) TILLER RUSSELL

special report 11 PRISON BREAK A member of a Colorado white supremacist prison gang is blamed for the murder of the state’s corrections chief BY DON TERRY COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, FILE /AP IMAGES (EBEL); WISE COUNTY MESSENGER , JIMMY ALFORD/AP IMAGES (CAR CHASE)

12 splc intelligence report Originally published in the Summer 2013 issue of the Intelligence Report he killer rang the doorbell. Soon investigators were trying to deter- squeezed off several shots before crash- Tom Clements, 58, head mine whether the prison director’s killer ing into a gravel-hauling 18-wheeler. The of Colorado’s prison system was simply a disgruntled ex-con acting Deville spun out and ended up on the side was shot dead as he opened alone, or someone following orders, an of the highway, a mangled mess. The his front door shortly before assassin carrying out a hit. “It’s not uncom- driver emerged from the wreckage, blast- T9 P.M. on March 19 in a well-to-do neigh- mon to hear about fantasy hit lists, but it’s ing away with a 9 mm Smith & Wesson. borhood near Colorado Springs. He was a extremely rare for prison gangs to act on He reportedly fired off more than a husband and father of two, who spent his something like that because they don’t dozen rounds. The deputies returned career in public service overseeing pris- want to draw the heat on themselves,” said fire, striking the driver in the head. ons and advocating for their reform in Mark Pitcavage of the Anti-Defamation Although mortally wounded, the man Missouri, and since 2011, Colorado. League (ADL) and an expert on prison lingered a few hours on life support. The The authorities didn’t have much to gangs. “In my records the highest ranking questions continued to pile up. go on that night as the massive prison official that an extremist had ever The man had no identification on began. No motive. No suspect. What killed before was a warden and that was him, but was later identified through they did have was a devastated widow decades ago by the Black Liberation Army.” fingerprints as Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, and a vague description of what might Pitcavage was referring to the 1973 a 211 Crew gang member who had been

Remembering Tom Clements

have been the getaway car. So, it wasn’t stabbing death of a Pennsylvania war- paroled from a Colorado prison after long before every cop and deputy sheriff den and deputy warden by two inmates eight years about two months before west of the Mississippi was on the look- during a meeting in the warden’s office. Clements was killed. As it turns out, out for a boxy black car — a Cadillac or “These people are predators,” he added. Ebel, the son of a Denver-area lawyer, a Lincoln — last seen idling on the street “But they usually prey on other inmates.” should not have been free. According to where Clements lived and died. The break in the Clements’ case came media reports, he was paroled four years Two days later and about 700 miles away on March 21 when a Montague County early, thanks to a mistake in his Colorado in Texas, the authorities caught a break that Texas sheriff’s deputy pulled over a black prison records. cast suspicion, scrutiny and renewed heat Cadillac, a ’99 Deville with Colorado The Smith & Wesson recovered on Colorado’s largest extremist group, a plates. It was about 11 a.m. but instead of after the gunfight was later determined violent white supremacist prison gang with producing his license and proof of insur- through ballistics to have been the up to 1,000 members on both sides of the ance, the man behind the wheel drew a same weapon used in Clements’ mur- wall called the 211 Crew. gun and opened fire, hitting the deputy in der. Ebel is also a suspect in the murder the chest twice and also grazing his head. of a pizza deliveryman, Nathan Leon, Fresh out of prison, racist 211 Crew gang mem- His protective vest saved him. 27, the hardworking father of three ber Evan Ebel apparently murdered the chief of Then the Caddy took off, flying down young girls, two days before Clements Colorado’s Department of Corrections in March. the Texas highway at drag race speed. was gunned down. In the back seat of Two days later, Ebel led police in North Texas on a wild chase that ended with Ebel (top, left) Soon a passel of squad cars was in pur- the Deville, authorities found a pizza wrecking his car and dying in a subsequent suit, pushing close to 100 mph. The delivery box and a Domino’s shirt.

, JERILEE BENNETT, POOL/AP IMAGES IMAGES POOL/AP THE GAZETTE , JERILEE BENNETT, shootout with police. driver stuck his gun out the window and Some investigators suspect Ebel used

special report 13 211 Crew members Thomas Guolee (far left) and James Lohr were arrested and questioned in the murder of Colorado’s corrections chief. But neither man was charged in connection with the . the uniform and pizza box to allay and chauvinism were its main recruit- appealed and in early April that sentence Clements’ suspicions when he rang the ing tools. Most of its initial members was affirmed. prison chief’s front doorbell. gave each other Irish-related nick- “He has developed no respect for the Two weeks or so after the shootout names. The founder and still undisputed law or for his fellow human beings and in Texas, police in Colorado picked up leader, Benjamin Davis, was christened has no regard for the sentence he was two ex-cons who belonged to the 211 “Leprechaun” or “Lep.” serving,’’ the presiding judge report- Crew for questioning. Authorities said But it wasn’t long before 211 went the edly said of Davis at his appeal hearing. the men had been in contact with Ebel way of most prison gangs. Ideology quickly “Nobody is safe from him, either people since his release. Before being taken into took a backseat to criminal pursuits — in the Department of Corrections or peo- custody, one of the men, James Lohr, 47, drugs, , prostitution, identity theft, ple walking on the street.” reportedly led police on a brief car and telemarketing scams, credit card fraud and Pitcavage said the 211 Crew is part of foot chase in the early morning hours anything else to make a buck. what he called “the third wave of racist of April 5. “They’re very inventive,” Pitcavage prison gangs” and “each generation has The authorities said he also tried to said. “The 211 Crew has smuggled a gotten bigger.” ditch a gun during the chase, but it was bunch of heroin and meth into the pris- The first wave crashed ashore in eventually recovered and its history is ons. But they’ve committed a lot of crimes the 1960s with the birth of the Aryan being traced. Lohr was being held on out on the street as well as behind bars.” Brotherhood in California. The second $250,000 bail for eluding police and In recent years, the gang has been wave came in the 1980s with the cre- other charges. Neither, Lohr, nor the under withering pressure from state and ation of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas EL PASO SHERIFF/AP IMAGES (GUOLEE & LOHR); THE GAZETTE , MICHAEL CIAGLO/AP IMAGES (MOUNTAINS); THE GAZETTE , JERILEE BENNETT, POOL/AP IMAGES (MEMORIAL SERVICE) second man picked up for question- federal authorities. In 2005, 32 of its mem- and the Aryan Warriors. The third wave ing, Thomas James Guolee, 31, has been bers were indicted on an array of charges, started in the 1990s and continues to the charged with Clements murder including robberies, assaults and drug present day and is characterized by an The 211 Crew was started in a trafficking. Davis, the founder, who was increased presence of the prison gangs Colorado county lockup in 1995, as a kind already serving a 30-year term for bur- out on the street. “Today,” Pitcavage of jailhouse protective society for white glary, was sentenced to another 108 in said, “there are a number of racist prison inmates. In its early days, white power prison in connection with the case. He gangs that have just as many members if not more on the street as behind bars. The 211 Crew has had a street presence for at least a decade or more.” s

Hundreds of police officers and others, including Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, attended a memorial service for Tom Clements, who was remembered as a forward-looking prison reformer.

14 splc intelligence report TIMELINE Extremist Prison Gangs Spill Into Mainstream

The violence, drug trafficking, racketeering and murders intended, partly, to witness intimidation, extor- other criminal acts committed by members of maintain control of prison tion and drug dealing. The criminal activities. “Part of the indictment ended a three-year white supremacist prison gangs are not confined by reason we went after them,” investigation into the NLR, at prison walls. While these gangs are nothing new, said one law enforcement offi- the time considered a major their activities have in recent years spilled into the cial, was that “we saw them white supremacist gang in free world with greater frequency. attempting and in some ways California’s state prisons. achieving an expansion of their FEBRUARY 2002 Police dis- NOVEMBER 1997 During a Mark Stroman, later convicted power outside of prison walls.” rupt a plot by members of wave of racist Skinhead violence of the killing, was an ex-con- 1997 Tracy “Tinman” Swena Soldiers of Aryan Culture in Denver, a police officer and a vict member of the Aryan founded Soldiers of Aryan (SAC) to kill Jewish athletes at West African immigrant were Brotherhood of Texas. Culture (SAC) in the the 2002 winter Olympics in murdered by young men who FEBRUARY 2002 Just a prison system. The group Salt Lake City. had been recruited into few days before the Winter would become known for hav- MAY 2002 EK member Joshua at the Lookout Mountain Youth Olympics in Salt Lake City, ing some of Utah’s most violent Robert Brown, 21, was indicted Prison. Nathan Thill, who killed Utah, police reportedly foiled a gang members. for the murder of a black man immigrant Oumar Dia at a bus plot to attack Jewish athletes. APRIL 1998 The European in a Portland housing project. stop, explained that the man was The plan, they said, was one of Kindred (EK) was founded at AUGUST 2002 In California, “wearing the enemy’s uniform” a number of recent incidents in the Snake River Correctional Assistant U.S. Attorney — his black skin. Utah involving white-suprem- Institution in Oregon by Gregory Jessner indicted JUNE 1998 The truck-drag- acist parolees. “These guys David Patrick Kennedy and nearly all suspected leaders of ging murder of James Byrd, [are] coming out and wanting Brian Wrisley. The gang grew the Aryan Brotherhood. They Jr., in Jasper, Texas, was car- to express their views,” Ogden quickly, and began conspiring were charged with carrying ried out by two men — John Police Lt. Loring Draper told to dominate the methamphet- out stabbings, strangulations, King and Russell Brewer — who The Deseret News. amine trade then controlled poisonings, contract hits, con- were apparently transformed APRIL 2002 Five members by black and Latino gangs in spiracy to commit murder, into racist killers by their prison of the Aryan Brotherhood of Oregon. The EK developed a robbery, extortion and nar- experiences. Both joined the tiny Texas were arrested after a reputation for violence, brutal- cotics trafficking. It was the Confederate Knights of America botched hit on another mem- ity and witness intimidation. largest death-penalty indict- while they were inmates; King ber resulted in a spray of OCTOBER 2001 Pawnee ment in the history of the even acquired a tattoo of a black semi-automatic gunfire into County, Okla., Sheriff Dwight American justice system. man being hanged. a quiet Austin neighborhood. Woodrell was fatally shot while DECEMBER 2003 Twelve AUGUST 2000 Four alleged One of those arrested, ex-con- investigating suspicious activity members and associates of members of the , vict William Maynard, 31, was outside an oil and gas drilling SAC were indicted for racke- the Aryan Brotherhood’s main one of five “generals” who company. Aryan Brotherhood teering, attempted murder and prison rival, were charged with allegedly lead the national member James Craig Taylor making violent threats in order drug and weapons crimes after Aryan Brotherhood. The FBI was convicted of second-degree to maintain drug traffick- being arrested in Fort Worth. said the incident was part of a felony murder and sentenced ing. The indictments include Robert Massey, one of those gang power struggle that had to life in prison in 2006. His high-level leaders, includ- arrested, had served time in a included a “string of killings” accomplice, Justin Lee Walker, ing SAC founder Tracy Swena. Texas prison from 1997 to 1999. across the state. was sentenced to 30 years. The federal prosecutor han- OCTOBER 2001 In the backlash OCTOBER 2002 Federal pros- FEBRUARY 2002 Twelve dling the case received two against Arab-Americans that ecutors indicted 40 alleged members of the Nazi Low death threats via letter and in followed the Sept. 11 terrorist members of the Aryan Riders (NLR) were indicted a December 2004 courtroom attacks, a Bangladeshi immi- Brotherhood from 12 differ- on federal racketeering appearance, all 12 defendants, grant was gunned down while ent states, accusing them in charges that included alle- shackled and handcuffed, working at a Texas gas station. 16 murders and 16 attempted gations of murder, robbery, launched a coordinated assault

special report 15 on federal marshals and bai- nant girlfriend in their rented lier by the Pagans. Crew, a Colorado-based white liffs, employing head butts, home in Cloudcroft, New JULY 2005 SAC member supremacist prison gang. The kicks and spitting. Mexico, then shot and killed Lance Vanderstappen, after charges ranged from witness MARCH 2004 Neal Beckman, Otero County Deputy Sheriff just being sentenced to 63 tampering and drug dealing to 36, a NLR member, shot a Robert Hedman, who had months in prison, repeatedly murder, including the 2001 kill- police sergeant four times at a responded to the domestic vio- stabbed a Latino inmate who ing of an Arkansas prison inmate Ukiah, Calif., Wal-Mart, then lence call made by neighbors. was in a temporary holding as part of a gang initiation. stabbed a store security guard. Flippen was then shot and killed cell with him. MARCH 2006 Police in Orange The guard, who survived, by another responding deputy. NOVEMBER 2005 Alleged County, Calif., arrested 23 sus- killed Beckman moments later. JANUARY 2005 More than 70 Aryan Brotherhood member pected members of PEN1 in Beckman was reportedly angry federal, state and local officers Stephen Lance Heard shot Fort connection with identity theft, that his girlfriend had been raided three suspected Aryan Worth, Texas, police officer drug peddling and probation arrested for allegedly trying Brotherhood haunts in New Henry “Hank” Nava, who died violations. to return stolen goods to the Mexico, including two homes two days later, on Dec. 1. Nava JUNE 2006 Three members of store. Five pipe bombs packed and a motorcycle shop in the and two other officers were the Aryan Brotherhood alleg- with shrapnel were found in mountain town of Ruidoso, attempting to arrest Heard on a edly kidnapped and murdered the car Beckman arrived in. where newly released mem- parole violation warrant. Robert McCartney, a long- MARCH 2004 Twenty-nine bers of the Texas AB were DECEMBER 2005 Tracy shoreman with no connection members of the Aryan Circle allegedly setting up a burglary Swena, founder of Soldiers to the gang, in Baytown, Texas, were arrested in Texas for and methamphetamine-deal- of Aryan Culture, was sen- because they wanted parts from participating in a metham- ing ring. No arrests were made tenced to 20 years in prison for his truck for a gang leader’s phetamine ring that produced in the case, but rumors about racketeering. vehicle. The trio was charged and sold since 2000 more calls for revenge against offi- MARCH 2006 The first in a with capitol murder and ten than 30 kilograms of the drug cers circulated. series of Aryan Brotherhood associates were charged with in west Texas. All 29 were FEBRUARY 2005 Justen gang member trials began in engaging in organized crime. convicted. The Aryan Circle Grant Hall, a member of the Orange County, Calif. Four JULY 2006 Four leaders of the was founded in 1985 in the Aryan Circle, was convicted of alleged leaders — Barry “The Aryan Brotherhood were con- Texas prison system by Mark the 2002 murder of Melanie Baron” Mills, Tyler “The Hulk” victed on charges that they “Cowboy” Gaspard. Billhartz, whom he feared Bingham, Edgar “The Snail” used murder and intimidation APRIL 2004 Daymon Douglas would reveal the location of Hevle and Christopher Overton to protect their drug-dealing Schrock, 21; Dominique Daniel a meth-cooking operation in Gibson — were accused of par- operations behind bars. , 20; and Jeanne Soja, which he was involved. Hall ticipating in or ordering 15 AUGUST 2006 Michael David 30, were arrested in Salinas, was also indicted for the mur- murders or attempted murders Cottler, a member of the Nazi Calif., following the kidnap- der of Arturo Diaz in El Paso, in the past 25 years. Forty other Low Riders, was arrested for ping and murder of Robert Texas, in 2002. Diaz identified AB members were indicted on allegedly conspiring with fel- Maricle, who was bisexual. as a transgender woman who racketeering charges. low inmate Michael McGee Schrock was an admitted NLR used the name Arlene. Hall OCTOBER 2006 Portland police to kill a California Highway member as well as a member was sentenced to death. raided an EK clubhouse, netting Patrol officer who was going of the racist skinhead group JUNE 2005 More than 125 firearms, bladed weapons and to testify against McGee in a the Peckerwoods. officers, including six SWAT group paraphernalia. Two gang pending criminal case. AUGUST 2004 Joseph L. teams, raided six homes in members and three associates DECEMBER 2006 More than Druce, 38, allegedly beat Painesville, Ohio, and uncov- were arrested on drug-deal- 300 federal and local law and strangled to death fel- ered stashes of illegal weapons ing and identity theft charges, enforcement officers arrested low inmate and defrocked and drugs belonging to the including the street division 57 alleged members of PEN1 priest John J. Geoghan, 68, Order of the Blood, a criminal president Danny Anderson. in Orange County, Calif., on inside the Souza-Baranowski network financed by the Aryan DECEMBER 2006 Fifty-seven charges ranging from illegal Correctional Center in Boston, Brotherhood and the Pagans, members of the white suprema- weapons and drugs to forgery Mass. Druce, who was report- an outlaw motorcycle gang. cist Public Enemy Number One and identity theft. The arrests edly a member of the Aryan Thirty-four AB members and (PEN1) gang, a hybrid racist skin- stemmed from the discovery of Brotherhood, was already associates were arrested. The head street group and prison a gang hit list that targeted five serving a life sentence with- 20-month investigation shifted gang, were arrested in a sweep local police officers and a pros- out the possibility of parole for into high gear when two AB by hundreds of officers who ecutor for death. killing a man in 1988 who he members were arrested earlier were investigating death threats APRIL 2007 Billy Jack claimed made a pass at him. in June with machine guns and against law enforcement officials. Fitzmorris, a member of the DECEMBER 2004 Aryan detailed information about two JANUARY 2006 A Colorado Aryan Brotherhood, overpow- Brotherhood member Earl police officers whose lives had grand jury unsealed indictments ered a prison guard, stole his Flippen shot and killed his preg- been threatened two years ear- against 24 members of the 211 uniform and gun and escaped

16 splc intelligence report from custody while at a hospital AUGUST 2007 Aryan Circle Kindred member Byron O’Neal the gang of murder, corruption in Youngstown, Ohio. Fitzmorris member Dennis Leighton Willenberg was convicted in of prison guards, extortion and then robbed two banks and Clem shot and killed Louisiana Multnomah County, Ore., of drug and gambling operations. took a hostage at a local busi- police detectives John Smith multiple counts of rape, sod- APRIL 2012 Daniel Evan Wacht, ness before a standoff with law and Charles “Chuck” Wilson omy and burglary stemming Jr., a self-described mem- enforcement officers. At his sen- while they were investigat- from his December 2008 ber of the Aryan Brotherhood, tencing in 2009, he cursed the ing a tip about a stolen vehicle. sexual assault of a female was convicted of shooting and judge, turned over a table and A Morehouse Parish sheriff’s acquaintance. He was sen- decapitating a North Dakota threatened to kill the first cor- deputy then shot and killed tenced to 16 years. State University researcher. rections officer he got a hold of. Clem, who was also wanted FEBRUARY 2010 David Patrick Wacht gave the man a ride home MAY 2007 PEN1 members for the double murder of two Kennedy, 41, a founder of the from a bar and had allegedly told Jacob Rump and Michael Lamb black teens in Texas. European Kindred, was sen- a witness that he was going to went on trial in Santa Ana, AUGUST 2007 Aryan Circle tenced in Portland, Ore., to more make his gang’s presence known Calif., for the murder of PEN1 member Stephen Ray Chapman than seven years in prison for through a killing or bombing. co-founder Scott “Scottish” was arrested for leading a group aiding and abetting the sale of a AUGUST 2012 Three reported Miller in 2002. The two were of about ten other AC mem- handgun to a convicted felon. members of the Aryan also accused of attempting to bers or associates in two brutal DECEMBER 2010 Fifty alleged Brotherhood were charged in murder a police officer during a attacks on a Latino man in West, white supremacist gang mem- Texas with murdering a man car chase three days after they Texas. The attacks occurred on bers were arrested in Orange who falsely claimed to be part of allegedly killed Miller. the same night in August. County, Calif., following a two- the AB. They allegedly hog-tied, JUNE 2007 The last of 12 NOVEMBER 2007 Darrell year federal probe dubbed beat, kicked and sexually tor- members of the Nazi Low Lynn Madden, a member of the “Operation Stormfront.” Thirty tured him with a soldering iron. Riders named in a wide-rang- neo-Nazi prison gang United were charged with extor- NOVEMBER 2012 Thirty-four ing 2002 indictment pleaded Aryan Brotherhood, was tion, conspiracy, solicitation of alleged members of the Aryan guilty in Los Angeles to rack- charged with the October mur- aggravated assault and murder, Brotherhood of Texas, including eteering charges. The original der of a 61-year-old gay man criminal fraud or illegal firearms four senior leaders, were indicted indictment charged gang mem- in Oklahoma City as part of a and narcotics sales while the for conspiring to participate in a bers with orchestrating crimes gang initiation. others were charged with lesser racketeering enterprise. including murder, robbery, JANUARY 2008 Alleged Aryan offenses. Members of the Aryan MARCH 2013 Evan Ebel, a drug trafficking, extortion and Brotherhood member Johnny Brotherhood, the NLR and PEN1 member of the Colorado-based witness retaliation. Reed was convicted of killing were included in the sweep. prison gang 211 Crew, was killed JUNE 2007 Nineteen mem- his cellmate in a Florida prison MAY 2011 Marc A. Balentine, in a police chase and shoot- bers or associates of the Aryan because the man was black. a Florida-based member of out in Texas. He was suspected Brotherhood were indicted APRIL 2008 Members of the the European Kindred, was of murdering Colorado prisons on racketeering charges. Aryan Brotherhood incarcer- sentenced to seven years in chief Tom Clements, perhaps as They allegedly used murder, ated at the U.S. penitentiary prison after he provided five repayment of a debt to the gang. kidnapping and other vio- in Florence, Colo., sparked a pipe bombs “capable of caus- JUNE 2013 Jimmy Ray lence to build up the AB in involving more than ing serious injury or death” to “Oklahoma” Owen, a member New Mexico. Twelve of the 200 inmates. The AB mem- undercover agents. of the Aryan Brotherhood of defendants were accused bers used the occasion of Adolf DECEMBER 2011 Danny Lee Texas, was indicted on numer- of recruiting an undercover Hitler’s birthday to taunt black Warner, who led a branch of ous charges related to a 2012 police officer to murder Otero inmates with racial slurs and the prison-based Silent Aryan high speed police chase out- County Sheriff’s Deputy Billy references to Hitler. In the Warriors, was arrested in side San Antonio, including Anders, who had fatally shot ensuing violence, two inmates Arizona in connection with aggravated assault against a an AB member to death in were killed by gunshots from allegedly plotting to kill Anti- public servant with a deadly 2004 after the man shot and prison guards and five others Defamation League National weapon, aggravated assault killed Otero County Deputy were hospitalized. Director Abe Foxman. with a deadly weapon, evading Sheriff Robert Hedman. OCTOBER 2008 Aryan Circle JANUARY 2012 Ronald “Joey” arrest with a vehicle and crimi- JULY 2007 Federal prose- “Captain” Robert Byrd Sellers, 43, once the leader of nal mischief. cutors in Las Vegas indicted was convicted in Texas of kill- the Aryan Warriors prison gang, AUGUST 2013 Eight members 14 members of the Aryan ing a woman he believed was a was sentenced in Las Vegas to of three white supremacist Warriors, considered one of law enforcement informant. 29 years in federal prison for gangs including the European the most violent prison gangs JULY 2009 Five members of the attempted jailhouse murder Kindred and Brood were in ’s prison system. The the Aryan Warriors were found of an associate. The sentence arrested in a police raid in indictment included charges guilty of conspiracy to engage closed a nearly five-year-old Portland, Ore., following a of murder, extortion, bribing in a racketeering organization. racketeering case that accused months-long drug and guns guards and drug trafficking. DECEMBER 2009 European Sellers and other members of investigation. s

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