Author: Atlanta Antifa

Exposing Joshua Bates (AKA “Brandon Hitt”), Georgia Participant in “The Base”
Update 12/10/2018: Since the publication of this article, Joshua Bates has made a series of public statements renouncing the white supremacist movement and his past. We hope Bates’ statements are sincere. Only time will tell.

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A network of anti-fascist activists from coast to coast have obtained the chat logs of a neo-Nazi organization calling itself “The Base.” Anti-fascists infiltrated the Base in order to investigate and identify its members and disseminate this information to the public.

In an ongoing series of articles, the coordinating anti-fascist network will publish revealing information about this group and profile its members. You can follow all these articles by following the hashtag #DeBasedDoxx.

Anti-fascism is fundamentally a localized movement of working-class peoples. We are not paid for our work and we take great risks every day: not for fame or money, but to protect our communities.

Email the network at [email protected] with your tips or inquiries.

As part of an ongoing anti-fascist research series on a neo-Nazi paramilitary group called “The Base”, we are exposing The Base member “Brandon Hitt” as Joshua Brandon Bates of Grovetown, Columbia County, Georgia. Joshua Bates’ involvement in The Base is notable because Bates is a well-connected participant in the Alt-Right, especially through his work as a web developer and his writing under the alias “Jossur Surtrson”. Bates was active in The Base’s online chats from late September until his sudden disappearance from the server in mid-November.

Joshua Bates

About The Base

The Base is a white supremacist networking platform which aims to prepare for and accelerate the balkanization of the United States, and to carve out whites-only states under such a scenario. The Base’s platform offers members several manuals about weapons and planning terrorist attacks. As discussed in an earlier article in this series, members of The Base “operate in regional cells of 3-7 people which include current and former military personnel, eco-fascists, preppers, and youth under the age of 18 who have been drawn into the online communities of Nazism.” While it is not clear whether the reference is deliberate, it should be pointed out that “Al Qaeda” translates to “The Base” in English.

Joshua Bates’ Background

Joshua Bates is an established figure in the white supremacist scene. In 2015, Bates was identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as the founder of Identity Vanguard. Identity Vanguard was one of the first projects attempting to import European “Identitarian” ideology and activism for a North American audience. Identitarianism tries to present white supremacy in more palatable vocabulary, in terms of preserving a white European “identity” under attack by racialized outsiders. The SPLC’s coverage of Bates detailed Bates’ US Marines background, as well as his IT contract with Bridgestone Americas. (Bates lost the job.)

Joshua Bates (as “Jossur Surtrson”) Twitter message about May 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, VA

We mentioned Joshua Bates in our article about the Proud Boys, when that far-Right organization was just getting started in Georgia – Bates’ brother Tyler was involved with the Proud Boys, and Joshua helped the group harass an Atlanta bar in March 2017. By mid-2017, Bates was again knee-deep in Alt-Right and fascist organizing. Bates wrote for AltRight.com under the name “Jossur Surtrson,” where he urged white people to “rekindle their inner hate”. Bates also participated in the May 13, 2017 white nationalist protest and torch rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that set the stage for “Unite the Right.” By this point, Bates was involved with the explicitly neo-Nazi/“national socialist” Traditionalist Workers Party (TWP). Bates appears on the leaked Discord server for that now-defunct organization under his “Jossur Surtrson” handle. In a November 2017 post on this chat server, Bates identified himself as the TWP’s “Georgia State Commander”. Bates was later replaced as TWP state leader for Georgia by Justin Burger.

Joshua Bates/“Jossur Surtrson” as Traditionalist Worker Party “Georgia State Commander,” November 2017

Interestingly, while Joshua Bates was active with the Traditionalist Worker Party – which minced no words about being national socialists – he was also part of Identity Evropa, a white nationalist organization attempting to have a more clean-cut, middle-class and moderate image. On the planning server for Unite the Right, Bates/“Surtrson” stated that “I’m IE [Identity Evropa], write for AltRight.com”.

Facilitating White Nationalist Fundraising

Bates’ most notable contribution to the white supremacist movement may be establishing the “alt-tech” crowdfunding platforms RootBocks and GoyFundMe. These platforms got money into the hands of white supremacists before and immediately after the deadly violence of “Unite the Right” in August 2017. RootBocks was launched in early July 2017, announced by Bates/“Jossur Surtrson” in a post on AltRight.com. RootBocks was used to fundraise Unite the Right travel funds for Alt-Right troll Tim “Baked Alaska” Gionet, Georgia white nationalist Michael Carothers (AKA “Michael Weaver”), “pro-European nationalist” and Republican Party activist James Allsup, and the League of the South’s Brad Griffin. In addition, a fundraiser on RootBocks raised over ten thousand dollars for William Planer, a Traditionalist Worker Party member facing trial for assault with a deadly weapon at the June 26, 2016 white supremacist demonstration in Sacramento, CA where anti-racist counter-protesters were stabbed after they shut down the racist rally. Arguably, the success of the William Planer fundraiser immediately before Unite the Right suggested that if UTR participants also engaged in violence, the white nationalist movement would stand by them, too.

RootBocks

According to Federal Election Commission records, the Will Planer Defense Fund – which had fundraised so successfully on Bates’ RootBocks platform – donated almost six thousand dollars to the Traditionalist Worker Party National Committee, just over a week before Unite the Right in Charlottesville, VA. Three thousand dollars made its way back to William Planer in the aftermath of Unite the Right for Planer’s legal costs. In-between, the Party spent over two thousand dollars on travel expenses and “rally materials” for Charlottesville.

Will Planer Defense Fund transfers $5903 to Traditionalist Worker Party, August 3, 2017

RootBocks lost its ability to accept Stripe payments following the deadly violence of “Unite the Right”, although immediately afterwards the site hosted fundraisers by UTR rally organizers appealing for legal funds. On GoyFundMe – Bates’ successor to RootBocks – one could pay Traditionalist Worker Party membership dues, as well as donate to a fundraiser for Traditionalist Worker Party militant Tony Hovater, who had lost his job after being profiled by The New York Times.

Bates’ role in establishing financial infrastructure for white nationalists is particularly notable because some of the groups that received funding via RootBocks are currently under scrutiny in a federal lawsuit, which alleges that these organizations pre-planned violence at “Unite the Right”.

Joshua Bate’s Involvement with The Base

Joshua Bates seemed an ideal candidate for The Base’s racist paramilitary project: he has discipline forged through the US military; he is adept with technology, armed, and heavily invested in myths of white supremacy. It is therefore unsurprising that Bates would surface as a participant in The Base’s chat logs, under the name “Brandon Hitt.”

Joshua Bates as “Brandon Hitt” in The Base’s chat logs

“Brandon Hitt” of The Base is easy to identify as “Jossur Surtrson”/Joshua Bates by examining leaked Discord logs for “Jossur Surtrson” as well as comments from “Brandon Hitt” from The Base’s discussion logs on Riot.
- On December 12, 2017, “Jossur Surtrson” – an established alias for Bates – posted a poem celebrating Adolf Hitler to the Traditionalist Worker Party Discord server. “Surtrson” stated that it was a “poem I wrote in my spare time” but also gave the name “Brandon Hitt” as the poem’s author.
- In a February 2018 discussion on the TWP chat server, user Jessica Parrott AKA “patron Saint of EATIN” tagged “Jossur Surtrson” in a post, then in her next comment less than two hours later wrote: “dunno what @BrandonHitt needed”. This further reinforces that “Jossur Surtrson” and “Brandon Hitt” are the same person.
- In addition, when chatting on The Base’s riot server about his time in the Marine Corps, “Brandon Hitt” mentioned being assigned to Intel in the Marines since there was a “shortage of cryptologic linguists” at the time. On Joshua Bates’ resume, Bates states that he was a “Spanish Crypto-Linguist/Systems Coordinator” with the US Marine Corps.
On The Base’s chat, Joshua Bates reminisced about his time in the Marines with user “Doomsayeth” (Jerod Matthew Elder of California), who was also a Marine (see here for an article profiling Jerod Elder). As noted above, The Base finds ex-military participants especially attractive due to the skills they can bring to the paramilitary project. In The Base’s chat, Bates reminded others not to forget “the military men that are sympathetic to the [white nationalist] cause.”

“Brandon Hitt”/Joshua Bates on the military

In the wake of Robert Bowers’ massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pennsylvania, Bates opined that “infrastructure is what needs targeting”. Bates’ comment should be considered in light of The Base offering explosives manuals to facilitate such attacks.

“Brandon Hitt”/Joshua Bates on targeting infrastructure.

Although Bates suggested that infrastructure attacks were more important in the short term than murder rampages such as Bowers’, this does not mean that Bates condemned Bowers’ attack. Rather, “Hitt”/Bates stated that “I think there’s a lot we can learn from it [Bowers’ antisemitic massacre].” While Bates feared that Bowers’ murders would “embolden the enemy while they’re still strong”, Bates then qualified this claim with:

“Of course, emboldening the system will simultaneously embolden our people. Perhaps it [murders by Robert Bowers and their immediate consequences] will inspire them [‘our people’] to action.”

This stance on Robert Bowers’ murderous attack mirrors Bate’s belief in accelerationism: the belief that the decline of the United States should be hastened as much as possible. As is common with neo-Nazis, Bates believes that current society is under the control of a Jewish conspiracy. He therefore writes:

“The reason I support acceleration is primarily due to the fact that the Jewish agenda relies solely upon order, order that they control. Once that is removed from the equation, the great downgoing can finally occur.”

“The great downgoing” is a pretentious way of saying the downfall of current society, which Bates wishes to replace with racially homogenous territories. The apocalyptic white supremacists of The Base wish to do everything in their power to destroy a society which they view as degenerate and controlled by Jewish people.

In mid-November, “Brandon Hitt”/Bates abruptly left The Base’s chat, triggering conversation among those who remained.

Discussion after “Brandon Hitt” leaves The Base’s chat server on Riot.

Bates’ reasoning for leaving The Base’s chat server is unknown. His departure was possibly motivated by concerns about infiltration.

“Hitt”/Bates worries about infiltration

There is no evidence that Bates has disassociated himself from white supremacy and neo-Nazism. Leaving The Base’s electronic chat does not mean that Bates has changed any of his racist convictions, or his desire for infrastructure attacks to destabilize “the system” and to carve out whites-only states.

Below is more information about Joshua Bates, which we hope can be used to keep communities safe.

Name: Joshua Brandon Bates (AKA Jossur Surtrson, Brandon Hitt)

Born: October 25, 1982.

Location: Grovetown, Georgia.

Archived Facebook.

Archived Twitter accounts: here and here.

Email: [email protected] and [email protected]

Stack Overflow profile (old)

If you have further information on Joshua Bates and his white supremacist efforts, you can also reach out to Atlanta Antifascists.
December 7, 2018
Permit Denied to White Supremacist “Rock Stone Mountain II” Rally

Citing safety concerns and potential disruption to services at their Park, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association has denied a permit to the “Rock Stone Mountain II” white power rally advertised for February 2, 2019. However, at the time of writing Rock Stone Mountain organizers have not publicly canceled their event. Since it is possible that the event’s Klan and white supremacist organizers may try to proceed without a permit or make other plans for the day, we are still asking all anti-racists and community allies to be ready to respond on February 2.

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November 25, 2018
Racist Southern Secessionist is Republican Party Precinct Chairman for East Ellijay, Georgia

Dana Kyle Jeffares of Ellijay, Georgia – more commonly known as Kyle Jeffares – is currently listed on the Gilmer County Republican Party website as Precinct Chairman for the nearby city of East Ellijay. Kyle Jeffares is a Southern secessionist and a racist, who is connected to the broader white power movement. Online, Jeffares makes clear his hatred of Black people, Jewish people, Muslims, immigrants and LGBTQ individuals.

Dana Kyle Jeffares

Jeffares’ role with his local Republican Party is fairly low-ranking. However, he presents an excellent example of how white nationalists become active in the GOP at a local level, often taking on roles that few others want.

The Gilmer County GOP website sets out the role of a Precinct Chairman:

“Precinct Chairmen are the hands-on GOP contacts within their designated precincts. They are responsible for knowing their precincts and helping to keep voters informed of GOP events and upcoming elections. The chairmen also are the ones who take on lead responsibility for getting out the vote in their precincts.”

Kyle Jeffares is therefore the first-line point of contact for the GOP in his precinct. Jeffares was elected as GOP Precinct Chairman for East Ellijay at the Gilmer County Convention in March 2017. Gilmer County forms part of the 9^th District of Georgia, which is one of the most conservative congressional districts in the United States.

East Ellijay – whose Republican voters Kyle Jeffares is responsible for – is also where Ku Klux Klan sympathizer Thomas Dwayne Long currently works as a police officer. However, we have not found significant links between Tommy Long and Kyle Jeffares.

Kyle Jeffares’ Online Profiles

Dana Kyle Jeffares maintains the “Georgia on my Mind”/@mymindongeorgia Twitter account, a Southern Nationalist and racist profile with more than seven thousand followers. Several years ago, this account used the address @Jeffares on Twitter, which is the same handle which Kyle Jeffares continues to use on Facebook. A picture posted to the @mymindongeorgia account shows that it is maintained by someone named “Jeffares” with an Ellijay address. A self-portrait posted by @mymindongeorgia looks like Kyle Jeffares. A different picture identifies the Twitter user’s deceased father, who is Dana Kyle Jeffares’ father.

@MyMindOnGeorgia on Twitter

The @mymindongeorgia Twitter account states that he uses the same handle on Gab.ai. Gab is a “free speech” alternative to Twitter which is used by the hard Right and has a large white nationalist presence. On Gab, @mymindongeorgia provides the first name “Kyle.”

Kyle Jeffares’ Public Persona

Although Kyle Jeffares made no real effort to hide his online identity as the racist and Southern secessionist “Georgia on my Mind”, Jeffares gives a different impression of his politics when he speaks to the media. A January 2017 article in the local Times-Courier covered Jeffares’ travel to Trump’s inauguration in Washington, DC, accompanied by Ellijay business owner (and Ellijay South GOP precinct chairman) Brad Simmons. In one quote, Jeffares stressed that there were “a lot of Latino folks there, Asian folks, black folks.”

Kyle Jeffares was also quoted in a March 2017 news report about health care in rural Georgia, in which Jeffares characterized Trump’s proposed health care plans as “almost […] like a lighter version of Obamacare”. Again, Jeffares gave no obvious sign of his racist political commitments.

Connections to Organized White Nationalism

Jeffares is closely connected to organized white nationalism. His tweets as “Georgia on my Mind” show that when Jeffares visited Washington, DC for Trump’s inauguration, he met with white nationalist organizer Brad Griffin. Brad Griffin AKA “Hunter Wallace” is the publisher of “Occidental Dissent,” a Southern Nationalist/white nationalist website, and is currently the “Public Relations Chief” for the racist/secessionist League of the South. Jeffares also commented on the Occidental Dissent website under the name @MyMindOnGeorgia.

Dana Kyle Jeffares meets with racist leader Brad Griffin while in Washington, DC for Trump’s inauguration. Note that tweet is liked by Brad Simmons, the GOP precinct chairman for Ellijay South who traveled with Jeffares to the inauguration.

When “ATL-Right” hosted racist leader Nathan Damigo – at the time the head of Identity Evropa – in 2017 for an event in Atlanta, Jeffares complained about not having been given notice of the event beforehand. Jeffares stated about the event organizers that: “I know some of these people IRL [in real life].”

Jeffares has frequently and approvingly tagged David Duke, the national socialist ideologue and former Klansman, in his posts on Twitter.

Kyle Jeffares tweet on white “genocide”

Jeffares believes that whites are facing “genocide,” a conspiracy promoted by the white nationalist movement. He frequently bemoans “diversity.”

Jeffares’ Concerns: Southern Nationalism, White Nationalism, and the Republican Party

Although Jeffares is connected to the white nationalist movement and has echoed that movement’s key themes, he is foremost a Southern Nationalist. Jeffares writes that for him, “Southern Nationalism > White Nationalism.” On his “SouthGents” blog linked from his Twitter, Jeffares sets out his Southern Nationalism in terms of three loyalties: to God, to family, and to soil. Jeffares states that deep Christian religiosity is “the bedrock of the Southern Gentleman.” By loyalty to family, Jeffares does not just mean ties to family in the present, but also defending the honor of one’s Southern ancestors. This loyalty is related to Jeffares’ third loyalty, to the soil. For Jeffares, the soil is what “we fought [for] so valiantly […] in Lincoln’s War of Tyranny.” Jeffares claims a near-mystical connection to Southern soil.

In practice, this means that for Jeffares, fighting for Southern “soil” and for the religious and cultural character of his romanticized South takes precedence over a more general white nationalism that is less attached to a particular territory. On Twitter, Jeffares writes: “I see the #AltRight as a means to an end. #SouthernNationalism.” White nationalist and Alt-Right movements can create favorable conditions for Southern secession and a Southern nation, but they are not the ultimate end. This also explains Jeffares’ stance toward white nationalist leader Richard Spencer, who Jeffares has mentioned positively on several occasions, but who Jeffares also calls a “shitbag” for allegedly not being pro-Southern enough.

Jeffares’ stance and that of the white nationalist/secessionist League of the South are similar. Jeffares primarily criticizes the League of the South for their optics, stating that “their getups are too militaristic.” Nevertheless, Jeffares has stated that if he won the lottery, “the League Of The South could buy a lot more billboards.” Jeffares also states that he was “impressed” by League of the South leader Michael Hill’s interview on the “Alt-South” racist podcast named The Rebel Yell.

Jeffares on the League of the South

Jeffares’ secessionist commitments sit uneasily with his Republican Party involvement. The GOP, after all, does not support Southern secession. Online, Jeffares identifies as an “unreformed Dixiecrat,” not a Republican. There are however immediate pragmatic reasons for Jeffares’ Republican involvement. In Jeffares’ own words from 2016: “I vote for who’s likely to shit on me less.” What appealed to Jeffares about the GOP and especially Trump is summed up in a message from earlier this year. Jeffares supports Trump’s “secure the border” message – which is certainly consistent with Jeffares’ anti-immigrant Southern Nationalism. In addition, Jeffares believes that Trump will limit federal spending and “give rights back to the States” – which aligns with Jeffares’ neo-Confederate and “unreformed Dixiecrat” beliefs. (Clearly, in a Southern context, returning “rights” to “States” means rolling back civil rights).

Jeffares on Trump, March 2018

While Jeffares remains listed as Precinct Chairman for East Ellijay – a two-year commitment – within months of his election, Jeffares was complaining on Twitter about the GOP. Typing in early June 2017, Jeffares described the Georgia GOP Convention as a “barren wasteland” comprised of aging members. A couple of weeks later, Jeffares likened the scene at the convention to “a home for octogenarian alcoholics.” More recently, Jeffares exploded about Trump when NBC issued a correction that Trump had not actually called Robert E. Lee “incredible” during a rally. Whatever frustrations Jeffares may feel about the GOP, there is no indication that Jeffares has stepped down from his local Republican Party role.

Jeffares’ Bigotry on Display

We conclude this piece with a selection of Dana Kyle Jeffares’ posts from his Twitter and Gab accounts. We believe these posts largely speak for themselves. They may be upsetting, but it is necessary to publish a selection of them, to show the extent of Jeffares’ bigotry. Most of the messages were posted to Jeffares’ Twitter account, which is followed by thousands. A few were posted to his Gab account, which has a much smaller following (over a hundred.) We believe that these messages demonstrate that dehumanization and scapegoating are at the heart of Jeffares’ politics.

If you have further information on Dana Kyle Jeffares or other far-Right racists in Georgia, please get in contact.

(a)    Posts: Anti-Black Racism

(b)    Posts: Antisemitism

Jeffares dog-whistles antisemitic conspiracy theory in wake of Las Vegas massacre.

(c)     Posts: Islamophobia

Jeffares regularly tagged Todd Kincannon in messages.

(d)    Posts: Anti-LGBTQ Bigotry

October 25, 2018
“Rock Stone Mountain II” Rally Scheduled for February 2, 2019 Outside Atlanta

Klansmen, neo-Nazis and white supremacists have announced their plan for a “resistance” rally at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta on February 2, 2019. The rally – “Rock Stone Mountain II” – is a sequel to the white power “Rock Stone Mountain” rally organized in April 2016 at the Park. In 2016, the organizers’ goal to have a white supremacist show of force was undermined by a multifaceted anti-racist mobilization of hundreds of counter-protestors. The white supremacists brought out just dozens, who were kept inside a police pen.

Anti-racists are again calling for a mass presence at Stone Mountain Park on February 2, to oppose the Klan and white supremacist organizing. Rock Stone Mountain II’s racist organizers hope to fare better than they did in 2016. The white nationalist rampage in Charlottesville, 2017 shows the danger of allowing organized racist movements to grow. It is crucial that we defend our communities and stand against them.

Rallying against the racists, Stone Mountain Park, April 2016

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October 19, 2018
Who Are the White Supremacists Attending February’s “Rock Stone Mountain II” Rally?
Is the upcoming “Rock Stone Mountain II” rally about “resistance to communism” as its current Facebook event page claims, or is it an overt white supremacist gathering? This article highlights a dozen individuals who marked themselves as “going” to the “Rock Stone Mountain” event outside Atlanta, which is scheduled for February 2nd, 2019. Although there is no guarantee that everyone listed will attend, looking at those who plan to show up gives a clear indication of the rally’s white supremacist and extreme-Right character.

We used two Facebook “going” lists for Rock Stone Mountain II for this article. First, we used the list of people who said they were “going” on the current Facebook event page. We also downloaded the “going” list for an earlier Rock Stone Mountain II event page, which was eventually deleted by Facebook. We used this earlier list as a source for the last few names discussed in this article.

Listed as “Going” on the Current “Rock Stone Mountain II” Facebook Event
1. John Michael Estes
John Michael Estes (Note that “88” on shirt is alphanumeric code for “H.H.” or “Heil Hitler.”)

John Michael Estes is the primary organizer for “Rock Stone Mountain II”, just as he was for the first “Rock Stone Mountain” in 2016. We have already discussed Estes’ worldview in an earlier article written before the first Rock Stone Mountain rally. Estes is a white supremacist who was radicalized by ordering books from the Aryan Nations while in prison. Estes has since that time moved through a variety of white power circles, from racist “Christian Identity” religion (which believes that whites are God’s true chosen people) to racially-charged versions of Odinism.

Two things that stand out about Estes’ current organizing are his attachment to the bonehead (racist pseudo-skinhead) subculture and his worship of the white supremacist terror group The Order/Brüder Schweigen (Silent Brotherhood).

Estes is the main publisher on the “Rock Stone Mountain” Facebook page, which created the event page for the latest rally. Estes references neo-Nazi subculture by including pictures of bonehead musical acts Skrewdriver (see post here) and Bound for Glory (see post here) on the Rock Stone Mountain page. In addition, although the post-rally evening gathering for the first Rock Stone Mountain was eventually scaled down and combined with a National Socialist Movement event, the 2016 Rock Stone Mountain mobilization tried to attract bonehead rock group Definite Hate to play at its post-rally after-party. Definite Hate were best known for their member Wade Michael Page, who murdered six people and then himself at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in August 2012.

Estes (right) with Chester Doles (center), a longtime white supremacist and supporter of the notorious Hammerskin Nation bonehead gang. Also pictured is Chester’s wife Teresa Doles. Photo posted Jan 2016.

Estes also deeply admires the white supremacist terrorist group The Order. This 1980s underground group funded the white power movement through a series of robberies and a counterfeiting operation. The Order also committed bombings and murdered the Jewish talk show host Alan Berg in 1984. Estes has commemorated Order members David Lane (see here), Gary Yarbrough (here) and Robert Mathews (here) on the Rock Stone Mountain page, even citing Mathews as “the perfect rebel.” Estes personally made a pilgrimage to Whidbey Island, Washington, to visit where Mathews died in a confrontation with federal agents in December 1984. On Facebook, Estes keeps in contact with Susan Yarbrough, wife of Order participant Gary Yarbrough (who died in prison earlier this year).

John Estes’ wife, Jennette Bayly Estes (“Jenny Estes”) is also listed as “going” to the Rock Stone Mountain II Facebook event.
1. Gregory Todd Calhoun
Greg Calhoun

Gregory Todd Calhoun (AKA “Thor Griffin”) is the Grand Dragon of the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (IKKKKK) in Georgia. Under the name “Greg Cochran,” Calhoun is a registered agent of the IKKKKK, which is listed as a business in Georgia. An announcement for an October IKKKKK event in Mississippi provided Calhoun’s email address as the contact for the “Georgia Grand Dragon”.

On a Facebook account under the name “Mason Dixon”, Calhoun states that he and another “solid brother” (Estes) are the two putting together the new Rock Stone Mountain event. Calhoun was also one of the core organizers for the “Defend Stone Mountain” rally of November 2015 and the first “Rock Stone Mountain” in April 2016.

Calhoun, under the name “Mason Dickson”, writes about organizing the Rock Stone Mountain II event.

Prior to joining the International Keystone Knights, Gregory Calhoun was involved with the Aryan Nations Knights, the Klan wing of an Aryan Nations faction.

Calhoun in Aryan Nations Knights robes (used as Google+ profile pic circa 2015.)

Calhoun is also linked to the League of the South (LOS), a white nationalist and Southern secessionist organization. He appeared at the League of the South / Nationalist Front “White Lives Matter” rally in Shelbyville, TN, in October 2017. Calhoun also wore a League of the South shirt at the LOS “flash rally” in Newport, TN late September this year.
1. Kenneth Steven Monk
Kenneth Steven Monk

Kenneth Steven Monk of Jasper, Georgia – who goes by “Steve Monk” and “Steven Monk” on social media – is a neo-Confederate, white supremacist, and Klansman. Monk is a fixture on the neo-Confederate scene who operates the “Confederate American Pride” website. According to his online biography, Monk has been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans since 2002 – he is linked to the Gilmer Light Guards Camp 89 of the SCV in Ellijay, Georgia (see a 2015 photo of Monk with the group here).

On his profile on the VKontacte social networking site, Monk does not hide his affiliation with the Klan or his white supremacist ideology. On VKontacte, Monk states that he is not a neo-Nazi, just someone who believes the world would be better had Hitler won the War. In the same post, Monk denies being a member of the National Socialist Movement (NSM). The accompanying photo features Monk wearing a League of the South shirt and holding its “Cushman flag.”

But even if Monk is not part of the National Socialist Movement, he attends their events. Monk was photographed at the combined after-event for the first Rock Stone Mountain rally and the NSM’s rally the same day in Rome, Georgia. (The after-event was at the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Draketown and featured a cross burning.) Monk (along with Greg Calhoun) also attended an NSM meet and greet event in Georgia that June.

Monk at NSM/Rock Stone Mountain after-event, April 23, 2016.

Kenneth S. Monk is in the International Keystone Knights KKK alongside Greg Calhoun. When the IKKKKK tried to hold an event in Rockmart, Georgia on October 1, 2016, Monk’s name (misspelled as “Stephen Monk”) appeared on paperwork submitted to the City. Also, when Klansmen and neo-Confederates gathered at the Confederate Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia in May 2017, Monk attended wearing his Ku Klux Klan hat and an IKKKKK shirt.
1. Joseph Michael Olah
Joseph Olah and Kimi Jackson

During the lead-up to the first Rock Stone Mountain event, Joseph Michael Olah used the name “Joseph Andrews” to speak with the media as a rally organizer. “Joseph Andrews” stated that Rock Stone Mountain was not “a hate group” or “a white supremacy group.” On the day of the event, Olah wore a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt and helped hold a banner stating “Diversity = White Genocide”. Olah was also present at the “Defend Stone Mountain” rally of November 2017, which had a clear Klan presence.

Olah (right) helps hold “White Genocide” banner at Rock Stone Mountain 2016

Olah was part of the May 2017 pro-Confederate presence at the Marietta Confederate Cemetery, which was organized in response to a troll page on Facebook. Video and photos from the event show Olah alongside Klansmen Greg Calhoun, Kenneth Steven Monk, and Justin Stephen Owens.

Although Olah does not have an open “friends” list on Facebook, his girlfriend Kimberly Gail Jackson (AKA Kimi Jackson) does. Kimi Jackson is Facebook friends with white supremacists John and Jenny Estes, Greg Calhoun, K. Steven Monk, Kenneth Whitman and Rebecca Barnette. (For information on Whitman and Barnette, see below.)
1. Brian K. McCoy
Brian McCoy

Brian K. McCoy of Powder Springs is the Georgia Chairman for the racist/secessionist League of the South. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, McCoy took the reins of the LOS in Georgia after the exposure of its earlier Chairman’s role in violence at “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville, 2017.

On his Twitter account, McCoy urges his followers to “stop being peaceful!” McCoy also retweeted a message celebrating the burning of the Institute of Sexology archives by the Nazis in 1933.

McCoy operates the McCoy’s Woodworking business.
1. Jason Allen Bradford
Jason Allen Bradford

Jason Bradford is a League of the South member who lives outside Gainesville, Georgia. On Facebook, he uses the names “Wyatt Pride” and “Forest Bondurant”. Bradford also has multiple Facebook accounts in his own name, some of which prominently display fascist symbols and League of the South propaganda. One of Bradford’s current Facebook profiles features what appears to be a burning cross rotated 45 degrees – perhaps to represent the “X” of the Cushman flag.

In one of his older Facebook accounts, Bradford posted an Aryan Nations image, suggesting that he associated with this white supremacist group, or at least sympathized with them.

Although we are highlighting that Brian McCoy and Jason Bradford are “going” to Rock Stone Mountain II, we expect the League of the South presence in February to be significantly larger than just these two. Several other members of the LOS have already signaled their attendance – see here, here, and here. (The last of these, Ryan King of Alabama, started a fight with an anti-racist at Richard Spencer’s appearance at Auburn University in April 2017, and was also part of the LOS contingent at “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville that year.)
1. Kenneth Gerald Whitman
Kenneth Whitman leaving “white genocide” graffiti

Kenneth Whitman, who lives outside Douglasville, Georgia, is a racist who promotes the “white genocide” conspiracy theory. Whitman brought his “Diversity = White Genocide” banner to the initial Rock Stone Mountain event in 2016. On his account of that rally published to the “Fight White Genocide” website, Whitman complained that Rock Stone Mountain was labeled as a Klan event. Also in 2016, Whitman was photographed at a small Aryan Nations Worldwide/Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan gathering and protest at the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar.

Kenneth Whitman at Douglasville protest, March 2017.

In March 2017, Whitman attended a protest in Douglasville called by the North Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The North Mississippi Knights did not make an appearance at their own protest – which was held to protest the sentencing of two racist pro-Confederates who brandished guns and menaced a child’s birthday party – but a few racists such as Kenneth Whitman showed up. Attempting to speak to the media while surrounded by counter-protesters, Whitman claimed he was “just a Confederate.”
1. Hunter Wyatt Lamm
Hunter Lamm

Hunter Lamm is an open National Socialist who lives in Cumming, Georgia. Lamm is particularly inspired by George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi Party. In 2017, Hunter Lamm appeared in the leaked “Southern Front” online chat logs for Vanguard America, a racist and fascist organization. In these chats, Lamm tried to promote a couple of one-man “National Socialist, pro white” protests in his area. Lamm also promoted the “National Socialist American Workers Party” organization – an organization that never really got off the ground.

Although Lamm was in the United States Marine Corps, his military career came to an end last year. Lamm’s discharge may have been due to his preaching of Nazi doctrine.

Some Names Listed as “Going” on the Earlier Facebook Event

Below are some individuals who stated that they were “going” on the initial Facebook event for “Rock Stone Mountain II” before it was deleted by Facebook.
1. Shaun Patrick Winkler
Shaun Winkler

Shaun Winkler, under his profile as “Windel Winkler”, RSVP’d he was “going” on the first Facebook event page for Rock Stone Mountain II. A recent post on the International Keystone Knights website confirms that Winkler is still the Mississippi Grand Dragon for that Klan group.

Winkler has a lengthy résumé in the white supremacist movement. Winkler was active with the Aryan Nations and led a failed attempt to build a new Aryan Nations compound in Idaho. After moving to Mississippi, Winkler became the Imperial Wizard (national leader) of the Aryan Nations Knights, a KKK group affiliated with one faction of the splintered Aryan Nations. Winkler later switched his loyalties to the International Keystone Knights. (Winkler’s associate Greg Calhoun also switched from the Aryan Nations Knights to the IKKKKK.)

Greg Calhoun (L) and Shaun Winkler (R)

In 2016, Winkler was listed as the Mississippi state leader for the National Socialist Movement. More recently, Winkler appears to have switched back to the IKKKKK and is also increasingly active within the League of the South.
1. Justin Stephen Owens
Justin Stephen Owens making Klan salute

In our recent article about Tommy Long – the Klan-supporting police officer in East Ellijay, Georgia – we mentioned that Justin Stephen Owens was the Grand Dragon (main state leader) for the United Northern and Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. We also mentioned some of Owens’ white power activity, such as attending a 2016 Aryan Nations Worldwide protest and being one of the Klan members who showed up to defend the Marietta Confederate Cemetery in May 2017, in response to a Facebook event made by “Trolling Trumpsters”.

Stephens was not pleased with our reporting. He contacted us and stated, “I no longer believe […] what the KKK stands for or the Aryan Nations or any of that bull crap.”

However, Owens’ RSVP that he is “going” to Rock Stone Mountain II – whose Klan and Aryan Nations-linked organizers Owens knows well – casts significant doubt on Owens’ claims to have left the white power scene behind.
1. Rebecca Barnette
Rebecca Barnette

Rebecca Barnette of Surgoinsville, Tennessee has kept a lower profile over the last couple of years than she did in 2016. Her current Facebook account – complete with a “Stand with Kavanaugh” masthead – gives the impression of a hard-Right Republican. It takes some scrolling back to find the image of a clenched white fist grasping a noose.

Barnette made headlines in 2016 when her “White Lives Matter” group was designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its white supremacist orientation. Earlier in 2016, Barnette signed up with the National Socialist Movement to head its Women’s Division. Barnette was also active that year with the Aryan Strikeforce, a militant neo-Nazi group (whose leadership was eventually rounded up in a drug- and gun-trafficking sting). Later in 2016, Barnette fell out of favor with many of her former white supremacist comrades, causing Barnette to delete much of her internet presence.

Rebecca Barnette circa 2016

An old Twitter account for Barnette lists her as a “co-organizer” of the first Rock Stone Mountain rally. Barnette’s “going” to the follow-up Rock Stone Mountain rally indicates that she never completely left the white power scene behind, just adopted a lower profile.
1. John Daniel Martin
Trump and John Daniel Martin, 2016

John Daniel Martin is best known for being indicted for buying votes, when Martin campaigned for Phillip Stewart’s successful bid to become mayor of the small town of Blythe (in the Augusta metropolitan area). John D. Martin also tried to run for City Council in Blythe this year but lost by a narrow margin in the runoff election.

Martin’s racism and endorsement of “white genocide” theories have already been noted by The Augusta Chronicle. Martin is a member of the racist Nationalist Liberty Union. According to the Anti-Defamation League, he also has a history with the white nationalist Council of Conservative Citizens. Martin attended the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville last year.

John D. Martin at “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville, 2017.

Conclusion

The dozen people we discussed above indicate the extreme white supremacist nature of the upcoming Rock Stone Mountain II rally. However, this sampling of attendees is not intended as comprehensive documentation of the different white power groups who may attend the Rock Stone Mountain II rally in February. For example, two other representatives of Klan groups on the current “going” list for February may be found here and here.

Since Klan groups, neo-Nazis and white supremacists are organizing for early February on Stone Mountain, anti-racists and community members must organize too. Follow us on social media to keep up-to-date on efforts against Rock Stone Mountain II. Please also get in touch if you have more information on organizers or scheduled attendees for the February white power rally.

Rock Stone Mountain II “going” list as of October 17, 2018. Click here for a full-size version.

Earlier “going” list, mid-September. From earlier – now deleted – Facebook event. Click for full-size version.
October 19, 2018
“Rock Stone Mountain II” White Supremacist Rally Scheduled for February 2, 2019 Outside Atlanta

Klansmen, neo-Nazis and white supremacists have announced their plan for a “resistance” rally at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta on February 2, 2019. The rally – “Rock Stone Mountain II” – is a sequel to the white power “Rock Stone Mountain” rally organized in April 2016 at the Park. In 2016, the organizers’ goal to have a white supremacist show of force was undermined by a multifaceted anti-racist mobilization of hundreds of counter-protestors. The white supremacists brought out just dozens, who were kept inside a police pen.

Anti-racists are again calling for a mass presence at Stone Mountain Park on February 2, to oppose the Klan and white supremacist organizing. Rock Stone Mountain II’s racist organizers hope to fare better than they did in 2016. The white nationalist rampage in Charlottesville, 2017 shows the danger of allowing organized racist movements to grow. It is crucial that we defend our communities and stand against them.

Rallying against the racists, Stone Mountain Park, April 2016

A White Supremacist Event

The original announcement for “Rock Stone Mountain II” explicitly called the event a “White Resistance rally”. However, the initial event page was deleted by Facebook, and a new page for the February 2 rally calls the event a “Resistance to Communism rally” to save the “landmarks of Our People” – such as the large white supremacist carvings at Stone Mountain Park.

Rock Stone Mountain II: original and revised announcement

Knowing the identity of the key organizers and planned attendees for the Februrary 2nd rally, leaves no doubt that it is a white supremacist event. The two main organizers for Rock Stone Mountain II are John Michael Estes – an open white supremacist who was radicalized through contact with the Aryan Nations while in prison – and Greg Calhoun, the Grand Dragon of the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia and an active participant in the racist/secessionist League of the South.

The Facebook attendee list for Rock Stone Mountain II also indicates that the League of the South – a group at the forefront of the violence at “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville, VA, 2017 – intend to make a showing on Stone Mountain in February. (For a more detailed discussion of the list of attendees, see our other article.)

League of the South in Charlottesville, August 2017

The white supremacist organizers of the first “Rock Stone Mountain” rally in 2016 joined their post-rally evening event with a celebration by the National Socialist Movement, who had rallied in Rome, Georgia on the same day. Participants from both events gathered at the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Draketown (near Temple) that night to burn a cross on land by the venue.

Stone Mountain Park’s Racist History

Stone Mountain is the birthplace of the second-era Ku Klux Klan. The giant carvings of Confederate leaders on the mountainside were begun in 1923 by Klansman Gutzon Borglum, who also carved Mt. Rushmore. However, Borglum completed only one head before he abandoned the project in 1925. The State of Georgia purchased the Stone Mountain Park property in 1958 as part of its resistance to civil rights. Fresh work on the carving commenced in 1964 and was completed in 1972. The racist monument has rightly been criticized by the NAACP – who have protested at the site – as well as by current Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

Ku Klux Klan rally at Stone Mountain, 1948

Stone Mountain’s historic importance for the Klan and its white supremacist carving make Stone Mountain Park a natural rallying point for racist organizers today. After white supremacist Dylann Roof massacred Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, a series of pro-Confederate flag/monument protests were held at Stone Mountain Park. These set the stage for the “Defend Stone Mountain” rally of November 2015, which included an open KKK presence. Some of the same white supremacists then went on to organize the “Rock Stone Mountain” white power rally of April 2016, which was met with a large and multifaceted counter-mobilization by anti-racists.

Ku Klux Klan ring displayed by attendee, “Defend Stone Mountain” rally of November 2015

Currently, white supremacists are interpreting renewed criticism of the Stone Mountain racist carvings by the NAACP, Abrams, and others as confirmation of their worst “white genocide” fantasies. With Atlanta hosting the Superbowl in 2019, key organizers from the original “Rock Stone Mountain” are planning a sequel rally for February to capitalize on the media attention on Atlanta at that time.

Conclusion

The first “Rock Stone Mountain” – hyped as a large “pro-white” rally that would draw attendees from across the country – was a fiasco for the white supremacists, with their small numbers enclosed in a pen and surrounded by police. Some white supremacists were not even able to join the rally, due to the surrounding large counter-mobilization by determined anti-racists.

Now, white supremacists hope that a second “Rock Stone Mountain” rally will bring better results, perhaps due to changes in the US political climate since early 2016.

Anti-racists must mobilize to show them how wrong they are.

We will post further updates about Rock Stone Mountain to our social media as the event approaches, so please follow us for updates. We hope to organize with many other organizations and individuals to make February 2nd a success. We encourage anti-racists and anti-fascists from the South and beyond to begin making plans. Mark your calendar, organize your friends, and begin making travel plans.

October 19, 2018
New Video: Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, it’s Time to Stand Against Lynching Threats and White Power Organizing

We have produced a new video about Casey Jordan Cooper, a white power leader who is studying to become a lawyer at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School (AJMLS). Cooper made explicit lynching threats against a Black activist in Atlanta and is active in the Identity Evropa racist organization. AJMLS has known about this situation for over a year and a half. Despite outcry and extensive documentation, the school refuses to take the matter seriously.

New video: tell Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School to stand against racist intimidation

In March 2017, we published an article first bringing Cooper’s racist agitation and lynching threats to the attention of AJMLS. In August of that year, we published a 500+ page dossier on Cooper’s white power efforts. We continued documenting Casey Cooper’s central involvement in the metro Atlanta white nationalist scene into 2018 and will continue for as long as he remains active. Our latest article reveals that Cooper led the “ATL-Right” umbrella grouping for white nationalists in our area and discusses the support which Cooper has received from Sam Dickson, a notorious white nationalist leader in Atlanta.

We also revealed that Cooper praised violence at the “Unite the Right” racist torchlit march in August 2017, claiming that the attacks on students, anti-racists and community members “struck fear into the hearts of our opposition”.

Here is an earlier call to action around Cooper and AJMLS, including a sample script for phone calls.

Please contact Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School today to express your concern.

AJMLS main number: (678) 916-2600

Dean Malcolm L. Morris: (678) 916-2603, [email protected]

Finally, click here for an email sent by Dean Malcolm Morris to AJMLS students, staff, faculty, and alumni in 2017, sent shortly after the bloody “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA. Morris reminds AJMLS students that they have taken an oath “to serve without prejudice.” He also states that “Speech and actions that harass or threaten the well-being of others will not be countenanced” and promises that any allegation of “a violation of these policies will be investigated thoroughly, and if proven true, appropriate action will be taken.”

Examine our articles and the documentation supplied above. Ask yourself whether Dean Morris’ words are consistent with a year and a half of inaction, brushing off community concerns about white power organizing and explicit death threats, even as AJMLS markets itself as welcoming ethnic diversity. The time for AJMLS to act is overdue.

Share the video on social media and within your organization. If you have more information about Casey Cooper’s white power organizing or the attitude of his for-profit law school, please get in touch.

October 15, 2018
Antifascists: East Ellijay (Georgia) Police Department Spins Implausible Tales to Clear Klan-supporting Officer

Today, Monday, September 17, the East Ellijay Police Department cleared Officer Thomas Dwayne Long of any wrongdoing over Long’s online support for the Ku Klux Klan. During 2016 and 2017, Tommy Long “liked” explicit Klan materials posted to Facebook profiles for two United Northern and Southern Knights of the KKK leaders, Imperial Wizard Charles Geoffrey Denton and Georgia Grand Dragon Justin Stephen Owens.

Tommy Long

Tommy Long has been on paid administrative leave since Thursday, September 6, the day after Atlanta Antifascists exposed Long’s pro-KKK Facebook activity. Early the next week, EEPD Chief Larry Callahan was already signaling that he would clear Long. This Monday, Callahan made that decision official. (more…)

September 17, 2018
East Ellijay Police Chief Larry Callahan has “Just Not Found […] an Issue” Regarding Officer Tommy Long, Exposed for Pro-KKK Facebook Activity

Update: on September 17, the East Ellijay Police Department officially cleared Officer Long as we expected. Further response to the EEPD’s bogus stories here.

On Tuesday, September 11, The Times-Courier newspaper in North Georgia published two articles where East Ellijay Police Chief Larry Callahan defended his employee Officer Thomas Dwayne Long. Long was placed on administrative leave last week, following our article documenting Long’s online support for the United Northern and Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (UNSKKKK) – a story then picked up by The Huffington Post and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Police Chief Callahan states that an investigation into Long is ongoing. However, Callahan is already signaling how the investigation will likely conclude, stating that “we’ve just not found a lot that indicates an issue” with Long’s behavior and repeating Officer Long’s claim that his Facebook was “hacked.”

Larry Callahan presents Tommy Long with an “Officer of the Year” award in late 2016.

Our article about Officer Long linked his Facebook profile to six different accounts for two UNSKKKK leaders – Imperial Wizard (chief national organizer) Charles Geoffrey Denton and Georgia Grand Dragon (main state organizer) Justin Stephen Owens. Amongst other things, Officer Tommy Long “liked” these posts:
· Imperial Wizard Denton calling for Klansmen to act as an unofficial police auxiliary;
· a post of Denton in KKK robes with what appears to be a burning cross in the background;
· a reference to lynching posted by Denton on Long’s Facebook wall;
· a picture posted by Georgia Klan leader Justin Owens of his UNSKKKK “blood drop” ring; and
· a post by Owens urging people to “JOIN THE KLAN!” and take a stand against “mongrels” and Black Lives Matter, with this post providing the UNSKKKK website.

In addition, Tommy Long commented on one of Imperial Wizard Charles Denton’s Facebook accounts several times, as well as “liking” even more comments by him. Tommy Long’s activity goes beyond just palling around with Klansmen. It is a clear pattern of support and sympathy.

East Ellijay Police Chief Larry Callahan defends Long and complains about the attention brought on his police department. The Times-Courier devotes significant space to Callahan grumbling about random phone calls his Department has received, in the wake of our documentation on Tommy Long being published. Through taking a victim pose, Chief Callahan diverts attention from the real issue: his officer’s documented endorsement of the Ku Klux Klan.

Times-Courier headline

Callahan concedes that Tommy Long had conversations with UNSK Imperial Wizard Denton on Facebook, which Callahan describes as mostly being about “political views.” Callahan is quick to point out that these amicable political discussions between the Klan leader and the East Ellijay officer were merely “free speech” and that “there’s nothing criminal involved.” We are also informed that Tommy Long initially met Charles Denton “during a flood rescue […] when he [Tommy Long] worked for the fire department.” Since every social media profile maintained by Denton is unambiguously a Ku Klux Klan account, it is unclear how Long and Denton meeting earlier during a flood rescue makes their friendly “political” exchanges less disturbing.

While we are expected to believe that Tommy Long’s political banter with a Ku Klux Klan leader is alright because of “free speech” combined with some anecdote about flood rescue, we are also asked to accept that Long’s account was “hacked”. Long’s Facebook account apparently will not allow him to un-“like” materials, which is cited as proof that Long never liked these materials in the first place. The account supposedly re-activates after being deactivated. Those certainly sound like technical difficulties. (If we are to believe Police Chief Callahan and Tommy Long, the Facebook account was also configured to accept “friends” without Tommy Long approving them.) Chief Callahan portrays Tommy Long as having “lost control” of his Facebook account. Yet Tommy Long was an avid Facebook user before our documentation was published. Surely if Long experienced these problems with an out-of-control account, he would have taken steps to fix the electronic chaos, instead of contentedly posting away.

Callahan ignores that Tommy Long’s everyday political posts – such as his anti-Muslim bigotry – were never far from Klan rhetoric to begin with. Long’s “No place for hate” Facebook post – which Chief Callahan makes sure to stress – is not strong counter-evidence concerning Long’s politics, since Klansmen themselves gripe about being labeled haters. In addition, the “No place for hate” profile picture may have been posted by Long in response to some earlier controversy.

The Tommy Long/Chief Callahan story provided to the media is incoherent. It focuses on Charles Denton, the UNSKKKK Imperial Wizard, who is described by Chief Callahan as having “some sort of office” for the UNSK Klan. Yet Callahan does not address the three accounts for Justin Stephen Owens – the UNSK Grand Dragon for Georgia – which are also linked to Tommy Long. One of Justin Owens’ pages was where Officer Long “liked” an image of a Ku Klux Klan ring, as well as an explicit KKK recruitment message. For Long and Owens to be linked on Facebook, Long must have sent friend requests to Owens, or vice versa. If the “hacked” account for Tommy Long sent friends requests to Owens, the imaginary hacker must have put in a lot of work locating multiple accounts for Owens and knowing exactly which posts to have Tommy Long “like”. (Justin Owens had not been publicly exposed as the UNSK Grand Dragon for Georgia prior to our article last week, although Owens’ Klan position was referenced on closed UNSKKKK forums.) There is the issue of why Owens – who has been arrested multiple times and may have reason to be suspicious of police – would accept friend requests sent to him by some cop profile, unless Owens knew the person or at least knew of him. Without some prior relationship, there is even less reason why Owens would randomly send multiple Facebook friend requests to Tommy Long’s profile. The East Ellijay Police Department’s narrative simply doesn’t add up.

Finally, the East Ellijay Police Department stresses that there is “no reason to believe” Long is a member of the Ku Klux Klan. We have no documentation of Tommy Long being formally inducted into the United Northern and Southern Knights. The KKK is a secret society and typically does not give out its membership rolls. We documented a clear pattern of support and sympathy from Officer Long to a Klan organization and its leadership. This should be reason enough for grave concern. But Long seemingly doesn’t have to worry. Cops protect their own.

September 12, 2018
Leak of “Elite” Alt-Right Chats Shine Further Light on Casey Jordan Cooper, White Power Leader at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School

Summary: Newly leaked chat logs from an “elite” Alt-Right discussion server reveal additional information on racist leader and Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School student Casey Jordan Cooper. Cooper states that he led the “ATL-Right” group operating in metro Atlanta. Cooper cites white nationalist leader Sam Dickson as an invaluable connection for his future law career and suggests that Dickson may have already helped Cooper get work from smaller law firms. Cooper also celebrates violence at “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville 2017 and spins a grotesque legal fantasy of suing on behalf of white supremacist murderer James Alex Fields, Jr., then using the proceeds to drive Black residents from an Atlanta neighborhood. Although Cooper has been exposed as the author of unequivocal lynching threats, his published comments make it clear he is confident about his future and expects his law career to go unopposed.

This August, the independent journalism collective Unicorn Riot published online chats from the “Vibrant Diversity” Discord server. Discord is a discussion app used by gaming communities but also by white power organizers; Unicorn Riot has published numerous “Alt-Right” Discord chat logs as part of its ongoing “Discord leaks.” The “Vibrant Diversity” chat server was described by one participant as “the most elite discord server in the Alt Right.” Unsurprisingly, racist leader and Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School student Casey Jordan Cooper participated in discussion there, under the moniker “Phoenix – GA”.

Casey Jordan Cooper at Identity Evropa white power rally in Nashville, Tennessee, March 2018

Atlanta Antifascists have already exposed Casey Cooper and his history of racist agitation, including clear lynching threats made against a Black activist in Atlanta. Most recently, we also revealed that during much of 2017 and early 2018 Cooper lived at a Peachtree Hills white nationalist organizing hub owned by racist leader Sam Dickson.

Every personal detail revealed by “Phoenix – GA” matches Casey Jordan Cooper perfectly, from the time he was in 2L at law school to his father being an attorney. We have already documented that Cooper uses “Phoenix” or some variant on multiple other platforms.

In the latest leaked chats, Cooper/“Phoenix – GA” jokes about rape and casually makes racist remarks. Cooper twice references the bowl cut hairstyle, a common alt-Right tribute to racist mass murderer Dylann Roof. Roof gunned down nine worshippers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. Cooper also comments on his immediate law school surroundings, claiming that the legal community in Georgia involves “Blacks and Jews strongarming [sic] everyone” and that Black law students “get an easy bar pass.”

Crucially, the chats also reveal that in 2017 Cooper was working for three law firms, one of them as a volunteer. Cooper states: “I’m lucky because I’ve got Sam Dickson.” This comment suggests that racist figurehead Dickson not only helped Cooper with a place to live, but also helped Cooper to connect with small Georgia law firms for work. Cooper states that he has “connections in and outside of the [white power] movement so I can immediately be self employed” once he has passed the Bar. Cooper’s “outside of the movement” comment appears to be a reference to his own father, attorney Gary M. Cooper of Duluth. Despite being apparently being “outside of the movement,” Gary M. Cooper opened his Sweet Bottom Plantation, Duluth home for a white nationalist gathering on election night, 2016.

“Phoenix – GA” admits leadership of ATL-Right

In another comment from the “Vibrant Diversity” chats, Casey Cooper/“Phoenix” states that “i lead ATL Right and my share started as the pool party lol.” The “pool party” language refers to face-to-face gatherings of supporters for the racist and antisemitic TheRightStuff website, which Cooper has been linked to before: he maintained a profile on TheRightStuff, wore TRS clothing, and flew to a TheRightStuff conference. Cooper’s comments reveal that the “ATL-Right” formation had roots in TheRightStuff support circles, and it was these people who Cooper brought into the broader “ATL-Right” organization. (Cooper made his comment while chatting with someone who participates in “book club” gatherings for supporters of the Daily Stormer, a notorious neo-Nazi website.)

As the “ATL-Right” name implies, that group was intended as an umbrella for Alt-Right organizing in and near metro Atlanta. Earlier leaked messages by Cooper indicate that in late 2016 Cooper took over state- and local-level leadership for “Alt-Right” circles from Patrick Nelson Sharp, who moved on to greater national-level organizing. During its brief existence the “ATL-Right” formation supplied materials for the May 2017 Alt-Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia – an event which set the stage for the bloody “Unite the Right” rally in that city months later. ATL-Right also brought Nathan Damigo – at the time the leader of Identity Evropa – to Atlanta for a forum in June 2017.

The “ATL-Right” formation has been largely inactive recently, with many of its members seemingly having moved to Identity Evropa. (Cooper has been an Identity Evropa member since 2016). “ATL-Right” winding down does not mean that Cooper is any less active as a white nationalist. Rather, Cooper just appears to be focusing on Identity Evropa.

Casey Cooper in Charlottesville, Virginia, May 2017, holding a placard produced by “ATL-Right”

Despite the overwhelming documentation of Casey Cooper’s white power agitation including explicit death threats, Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School has not taken any meaningful action around its student, instead helping him prepare for a career in law where he can further abuse members of marginalized communities. Indeed, Cooper feels comfortable telling someone who was worried about being identified after “Unite the Right” that “I was previously doxed […] IT’S ALL GOOD”.

Following Unite the Right, Cooper praised racist violence in the city, stating that “The night before [the main rally on August 12th] struck fear into the hearts of our opposition”. In that comment, Cooper refers to the white power mob carrying tiki torches which surrounded and beat a small band of students, community members and anti-racists on Friday night.

In the online chats, Cooper fantasizes about defending James Alex Fields, Jr. – the white supremacist who rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters on the Saturday of Unite the Right, murdering Heather Heyer and wounding dozens – and then suing the City of Charlottesville. Cooper wrote:

“I need this kid to be let go lol”

“I want to own a post-ch[*]mp Atlanta neighborhood for almost no money”

“Hes [sic] my ticket into the gentrification game”

Last year, we drew attention to Cooper’s desire to participate in Atlanta gentrification, just as Cooper’s mentor Sam Dickson has built his fortune from property in Atlanta. Cooper’s explicitly racist interest in the “gentrification game” further confirms our earlier findings.

The new leaked comments from Casey Cooper not only show the depths of Cooper’s involvement in the white nationalist movement. They also show how Cooper is poised for a law career upon graduation, a career enabled not only by his attorney daddy, but by the connections of racist “movement” lawyers. Cooper’s comments suggest that he is already being given work by small law firms friendly to Sam Dickson in Atlanta. Despite Cooper’s lynching threats demonstrating that he is unfit for the study and practice of law, AJMLS has for over a year demonstrated that it is unwilling to address Cooper’s behavior. Cooper therefore feels confident about a bright future ahead, propped up as he is by networks of monied racists, family contacts, and the convenient silence of his law school.

If you are concerned by the Cooper’s presence at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, please reach out to the private school. We also encourage letters about Cooper to the State Bar of Georgia. Details here.

We always welcome information about Casey Cooper and his white power associates in and around Atlanta, so get in touch if you can help.

August 30, 2018