Core activists of the energized local “Alt-Right” were caught in action at Stone Mountain on September 10 last year. While typically local “Alt-Right” racists meet in secrecy, this time they got recorded. Three of the white nationalists who appeared on Stone Mountain in September are discussed below. All three are Georgia State University students. (Patrick Sharp, one of the leaders of the “Alt-Right” group on the Mountain, was also until recently a GSU student — we have discussed Sharp extensively elsewhere.)
Charles Neugebauer is a Criminal Justice major at GSU and is the President of the University’s Boxing Club. On Twitter, Chaz Neugebauer uses the handle “Chud”/@chaz_nuke. This account follows local “Alt-Right” profiles plus better-known national ones such as TheRightStuff and Richard Spencer. On this Twitter account, Neugebauer portrays immigration in Europe as an “invading army” and further signals his far-Right worldview in comments such as: “Your ancestors didn’t fight and die for you to chose [sic] their adversaries over your own people.”
Chaz NeugebauerLocal “Alt-Right” accounts followed by “Chud”/@chaz_nuke
One string of Twitter comments complains about being “called a racist” in one of his current classes. We can only guess what led to that.
Classroom woes for chaz_nuke
Chase Carroll
Chase Riggs Carroll is another GSU Criminal Justice student, friend of Chaz Neugebauer, and a participant in the GSU Boxing Club. At the September 2016 “Alt-Right” gathering in Stone Mountain Park, Carroll carried a Confederate Battle Flag. At the time, Carroll’s hair was long, but he has since shifted to a stricter, shorter style.
Witzler’s radicalization towards the Right seems to have occurred last year. On June 15, 2016, Witzler attended a Trump campaign stop at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. Also in June, Witzler started his (now gone) “12thCenturyShitlord”/@USBarbarossa Twitter account, which he used to argue that BlackLivesMatter protests should be “crushed,” that voting rights for women should be repealed, and that “jews run the media, finances, schools, governments, and blame everything on Whites.”
We believe that McKinley Witzler followed his “12thCenturyShitlord” Twitter account with one named “9thCenturyDeplorable”/@USCharlemagne which has recently been reactivated.
On November 13, 2016 — the day after white nationalist posters and stickers were placed on Atlanta-area campuses as part of a coordinated propaganda campaign — USCharlemagne Tweeted “There’s some naughty goyim in Atlanta.” This suggests the user’s approval of and possibly involvement with the white power action, which was coordinated nationally by TheRightStuff and which hit GSU as well as other campuses in Georgia.
Archived tweet by USCharlemagne, November 13, 2016
The “9thCenturyDeplorable”/USCharlemagne account was relaunched on March 22 of this year. The first post of the reborn account was a Holocaust reference: “Rev up those ovens, I’m back!” The profile currently lists its “dislikes” as “Saracens” — a term for Muslims from the time of the Crusades — as well as “Jews.”
While McKinley Witzler was photographed on Stone Mountain with long hair, Witzler has now adopted the undercut short hairstyle favored by the Alt-Right — perhaps an attempt to fit in with his militant racist pals.
Conclusion
“Alt-Right” racists are slowly moving from internet posting to concrete activity on campuses and in communities. We highlighted three participants in the local “Alt-Right” scene who were filmed at a 2016 white power gathering. At Georgia State, one of them could be your classmate, the security person in your building, or the person instructing how to throw an efficient punch. We believe that white power activists such as Neugebauer, Carroll and Witzler should be taken seriously. Any attempts they may make to organize against people of color, Muslims, Jewish people, sexual minorities, or other targets must be opposed. It is essential that anti-racists build active networks and broader coalitions that are up for the task.
As always, if you have information about white power and fascist organizing in Atlanta, please contact us.
NOTE
[1] Memo from Georgia State University student, in records of Atlanta Antifascists.
On Sunday March 5th, 2107, over a hundred locals gathered at the Douglas County Courthouse in Douglasville, GA to counter a protest announced by the North Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The North Mississippi Klan was a no-show, but a handful of unaffiliated racists did show their faces, including Randall Wiley Smith, a leader of the Villa Rica, GA-based Aryan Nations Worldwide, as well as Douglasville white nationalist Kenneth Whitman.
The white supremacist protest was planned for noon. By that time, locals had assembled on a lawn facing the courthouse in Douglasville, many holding signs with anti-Klan slogans. An hour passed, with locals greeting each other and talking among themselves. The handful of racists in attendance kept to themselves, trying their best to not draw attention. Eventually the racists receded to the parking lot, secluded by rows of cars and a strand of trees.
Then, at around 1:00PM, the racists who had gathered in the parking lot unfurled their Confederate flags, immediately drawing the attention of anti-racist locals and the media. Those displaying their flags were soon surrounded, with local white nationalist Kenneth Whitman, pictured in his Confederate flag hoodie, standing at the center of attention.
For thirty minutes, locals and media surrounded Whitman and his friends, with locals effectively no-platforming Whitman by strategically yelling profanities when reporters tried to record him. In one of the soundbites Whitman did get through, he described himself as “just a Confederate.” This self-description is not fully accurate. Whitman is an ideological racist who promotes far-Right narratives of “white genocide.” Whitman for example was one of the few attendees of the “Rock Stone Mountain” white power rally at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta on April 23, 2016 that attracted large-scale anti-racist resistance. Whitman is also pictured in a July 2016 group photo from a joint Aryan Nations Worldwide / Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan event in Georgia.
While events unfolded in the parking lot, Randall Wiley Smith of Aryan Nations Worldwide arrived with a handful of others, the older men all recognizable from Aryan Nations / Loyal White Knights joint events last year. Almost immediately upon arriving, Randall Smith got into a confrontation with another crowd member. Once sheriffs intervened, Smith and his crew moved to the periphery of the crowd. Smith tried to keep a low profile for the remainder of his time there, but had another verbal dispute with sheriffs before leaving.
After the racists had been sufficiently disempowered by the efforts of the locals, they dispersed to their respective vehicles, taking precautions to protect their own anonymity, and leaving those who had gathered to fight off the Klan with a feeling of victory.
Kenneth Whitman
This couple claimed to be part of the July 2015 Confederate flag run which led to charges against Torres and Norton
Casey Jordan Cooper, a student at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, is the white power organizer behind the “Alt-Right” Twitter account @BigButternutJoe. Over the last year, Cooper participated in white nationalist events in the metro Atlanta area and posted racist propaganda on local campuses. Until recently, Casey Cooper’s Twitter account issued a stream of racist and homophobic slurs, some of them about his fellow students at John Marshall. He was recorded as part of a white nationalist group jeering a Stone Mountain Park visitor with sexist and antisemitic remarks. Cooper is responsible for a death threat against a prominent Black activist in Atlanta.
The Atlanta-area Twitter user @BigButternutJoe wrote on July 12 that “Whites […] are arming ourselves to the teeth” and that the Black Lives Matter movement will lead to a “massive wave of anti-black action in it’s [sic] wake.” This Twitter user earlier sent a private message to a local Black activist, which simply contained a picture of a noose. (The activist was also tagged in the “arming […] to the teeth” post by BigButternutJoe.)
Death threat from BigButternutJoe account (at the time this account used the name “Phoenix on the Right” and had a profile picture of Sam Hyde)
When this Black activist publicly drew attention to the Twitter death threat, BigButternutJoe retweeted the post speaking out about the threat. BigButternutJoe followed with another statement, suggesting that the activist was exaggerating the death threat problem to “rent seek” (i.e. profit). BigButternutJoe clarified: “This is why you hang.”
BigButternutJoe repeats death threat
The person responsible for this online death threat has had a busy year, participating in Atlanta-area Alt-Right organizing, placing white power propaganda, and harassing enemies. For much of the same time, “BigButternutJoe” AKA Atlanta resident Casey Jordan Cooper has also been working towards a law degree at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, where he began as a 1L in August 2016. Atlanta’s John Marshall, a private law school in midtown Atlanta, states that almost 70% of its student body are of a “minority” population; more women than men also attend. Unsurprisingly, Cooper/”BigButternutJoe” doesn’t have pleasant things to say about fellow AJMLS students.
Casey Jordan Cooper at Atlanta’s John Marshall new student orientation, August 2016
Online Presence and Offline Identity
The @BigButternutJoe Twitter account was opened in early May 2016. It used the names “Phoenix on the Right” and then later “Phoenix Reich.” One of the very first posts to the page was a “selfie” photograph of the account owner, wearing sunglasses and only revealing part of his face.
BigButternutJoe selfie posted to Twitter, May 4 2016
From May 2016 to near the end of January 2017, BigButternutJoe logged over 3,000 posts on Twitter. However, on January 30, 2017 the user began rapidly deleting his posts, until only three were visible on his Twitter account’s front page. The user name was changed from “Phoenix Reich” to “Phoenix Thiccness” and the account’s imagery was also completely altered. This rapid series of changes to the Twitter account may have been because BigButternutJoe realizedthat anti-fascists were taking an interest in his online boasts, for example about placing racist propaganda on campuses. Atlanta Antifascists archived a large portion of BigButternutJoe’s online posts before they were deleted, keeping a record of the account’s numerous rants against “k[***]s,” “n[****]rs,” and “f[****]ts.”
BigButternutJoe/”Phoenix Reich” Twitter page in January 2017, before end-of-month radical overhaul
Several other online accounts – a couple of Facebook pages for “Phoenix Right” (not available at time of writing), as well as accounts under the name “Phoenix” on Gab.ai; the racist/antisemitic TheRightStuff forums; and the fascist IronMarch site – all match the imagery and biographical information on the BigButternutJoe Twitter.
On TheRightStuff forums, “Phoenix” gives his location as “Apelanta, Georgia” and describes his life:
Working in the legal field, attempting to be a comedian in a liberal infested shithole of a city. Trying my goddamn hardest not to go crazy while being surrounded by the most pozzed f[****]ts and n[****]rs you’ll ever meet.
On IronMarch forums, the introductory post by “Phoenix” mentions living in the South, working in “the legal industry,” and having studied anthropology and psychology in college. The post also discussed the author’s political transformation, claiming that he “almost cried” when he heard a speech by American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell for the first time. The March 2016 introductory post remarked: “The only reason I don’t call myself a fascist or a national socialist is because I don’t have a strong grasp on economics.” Within months, BigButternutJoe would feel comfortable stating “I’m a national socialist” on Twitter and would have a profile picture incorporating Nazi iconography.
It is apparent that Casey Jordan Cooper is behind these online accounts, for several reasons:
Some of the “Phoenix” profiles refer to employment in the legal field. In addition to his current legal studies, Casey Cooper worked as a paralegal for his father Gary Cooper in Duluth, Georgia.
Casey Cooper has a University of Georgia bachelor’s degree in Psychology, consistent with claims by “Phoenix” about having studied this subject and Anthropology in college.
On both his TheRightStuff profile and on Twitter, “Phoenix” mentioned being involved in the comedy scene. “Casey J. Cooper” performed in Atlanta-area comedy events. [1]
Racist statements by BigButternutJoe about law school coincide with Casey Jordan Cooper beginning at John Marshall in Atlanta.
Posts by BigButternutJoe about law school. (Note: “Dindus” is a racist term for Black people.)
Alt-Right and Racist Organizing
According to one of his Twitter posts, “BigButternutJoe”/Cooper attended the “Rock Stone Mountain” white power rally at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta on April 23, 2016. The rally was organized by white supremacists and Klansmen, but was met with a large and determined anti-racist mobilization that vastly outnumbered the racists and largely ruined their event. BigButternutJoe claimed that he had encountered antifascist forces at Stone Mountain and found them “Not intimadting [sic].” We have not identified Cooper in photo galleries of the “Rock Stone Mountain” event – if he was in the area, he may have either avoided photographers or never made it through the anti-racist protests to join the small white power rally.
BigButternutJoe/Casey Cooper on attending the Rock Stone Mountain white power rally in April 2016.
By 2017, Casey Cooper was playing a central role in local “Alt-Right” racist organizing. The day before the “Atlanta Forum” white nationalist gathering this January, Cooper/BigButternutJoe stressed the effort which had gone into organizing the event: “After a lot of hard work from a lot of good southern goys, this weekend is going to be a fun one.”
The “I Am the Mountain” website contains a full account of the site editor’s encounter with the Alt-Right group at the mountain. The incident began after the website editor asked why one of the all-male group was carrying a Confederate battle flag – the response quickly degenerated into chants of “Alt-Right! Alt-Right!” plus sexist and antisemitic abuse (e.g. “Christ killer,” “Jews don’t wear panties”). Footage of the incident reveals Patrick Sharp and Casey Cooper as two leaders of the Alt-Right group, with Cooper exclaiming, “It’s 2016 — no one cares if you call me a racist anymore!”
Casey Cooper (wearing sunglasses and sleeveless TheRightStuff shirt, center foreground) and other Alt-Right racists on Stone Mountain, September 10, 2016
Propaganda Campaigns
We believe Casey J. Cooper helped place much of the “Alt-Right” and white power propaganda that appeared on campuses and in Atlanta neighborhoods over the past year. On his BigButternutJoe Twitter account, Casey Cooper celebrated and seemingly took responsibility for three incidents of racist/fascist propaganda:
On September 25, 2016, the BigButternutJoe account posted images of a sticker for the (now-cancelled) white power podcast “Fash the Nation” placed on the exterior of King of Pops in the Inman Park neighborhood. BigButternutJoe commented: “Atlanta’s favorite snack got a whole lot more fashy [i.e. fascist] today, and before the rush!”
“Fash the Nation” sticker outside popsicle shop in Inman Park neighborhood, September 2016
BigButternutJoe also bragged about racist posters and stickers placed around Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, and Kennesaw State University campuses on the weekend of November 12-13, 2016. This coordinated propaganda effort was part of a TheRightStuff/“Daily Shoah” nationally-coordinated action targeting campuses. Over a dozen posters plus “Alt-Right” stickers appeared on each campus that received a visit. We have already discussed this coordinated propaganda action in detail, since white nationalist leader Patrick Sharp is responsible for the “Alt-Right” cityscape sticker design placed around the three campuses; Sharp may have participated in the fascist propaganda night out; and Sharp certainly celebrated it via Twitter. In addition to posters and stickers left on the campuses, as part of the same propaganda effort someone left graffiti threatening violence against “anti-whites” on a KSU fraternity landmark. BigButternutJoe/Casey Cooper was explicit about his involvement in the multi-campus propaganda effort, although he may not have been present on every campus (if coordinated teams were involved.) Afterward, BigButternutJoe/Cooper made seventeen posts to his Twitter with pictures from the various campuses hit in the propaganda mission, each post including multiple images of posters, stickers, or graffiti. BigButternutJoe/Cooper then added:
Learned quite a lot from this weekend. Our next campaign is going to be smooth, efficient, and with even better designs. Keep a look out.
BigButternutJoe/Casey Cooper post about white power materials at Georgia State UniversityBigButternutJoe/Casey Cooper post about white power materials at Georgia TechBigButternutJoe/Casey Cooper post about white power materials at Kennesaw State UniversityGraffiti at fraternity landmark threatens violence against “anti-whites”
On January 24, 2017, Cooper’s Twitter account posted thirteen images (in four different posts) of new “Alt-Right” stickers placed around Georgia Tech campus. Designs included “Join the Alt-Right,” “White America: Who Protects You & Your Family?” and “Diversity is a False God.” Seeking media attention, Cooper/BigButternutJoe tagged news stations in these posts and even followed up with a post providing the locations on the stickers on campus. (Twitter user @largeguyUUUU posted an image of the same propaganda at Georgia Tech, suggesting that he may also have been involved in this action.)
January 2017 “Alt-Right” white nationalist materials at Georgia Tech campus, claimed by BigButternutJoe/Cooper on Twitter
These three incidents may not be the extent of Cooper’s street/campus propaganda efforts, though. The stickers that first surfaced around Georgia Tech in January have now popped up on other campuses. There is significant circumstantial evidence that Cooper also placed racist propaganda in a couple of Atlanta areas.
Finally, approximately ten stickers from Tightrope — the Klan/neo-Nazi business – were found in Midtown Atlanta by antifascists in December 2016. These stickers were placed on Spring Street between 17th and 18th, as well as on 17th between Spring Street and West Peachtree Street. In other words: they all appeared within a block of Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. (The stickers were also a block away from the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, which is near John Marshall.)
Conclusion
Between white nationalist organizing, racist propaganda campaigns, instigating abuse and making threats, Casey Jordan Cooper has had a busy year. We hope that this documentation is shared widely, so that that Cooper’s identity as a militant racist is known to those who must deal with him daily, and to whom he may pose a threat. To collectively oppose racist organizing in our communities, it is important to know who is responsible.
Cooper’s recent white power agitation provides a clear case study of how small circles of Alt-Right racists are attempting to move from internet posting to street-level propaganda runs, networking events, and infrastructure-building for their movement. If anti-racists are strategic, we can counteract and undermine many of these fledgling efforts.
As always, we encourage anyone with information on racist and fascist organizing in our region to get in contact and share what you know.
NOTES
[1] Three comedy events featuring “Casey J. Cooper” were: “Dottie Drops Trou” at 368 Ponce in Atlanta on 8/31/2015, “Out of Ideas: A Sketch Show We Made” at 7 Stages in Atlanta on 10/16/2015, and “BattleActs! Marches On!” at Academy Theatre in Hapeville on 3/19/2016.
A Georgia State University (GSU) student who has been requesting information about leftist and anti-racist organizing may not be who he appears. In many conversations, especially as he hangs around the Library Courtyard, GSU student Spencer Madison provides the name “Lukas.” When talking with people who he thinks may be left-leaning, “Lukas” has attempted to steer the conversation towards leftist organizing projects and especially anti-fascist work. According to one source, “Lukas” was “probing for information” particularly intensely during late February of this year [1]. We suspect that “Lukas” is not motivated by genuine curiosity, but is trying to gather intelligence for use against political opponents.
Spencer Madison wearing hoodie with German eagle insignia, February 2017
On his Facebook page, Spencer Madison is upfront about his far-Right, anti-immigrant and Islamophobic beliefs. There have been no public posts on the page since mid-2016, but it is unlikely Madison’s political commitments have shifted radically since that time. Madison’s Facebook “likes” include three for the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands / National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), which is generally considered a neo-Nazi political party. Spencer Madison also follows “This is Europa,” a white nationalist project. He “likes” a couple of pages for Alternative für Deutschland / Alternative for Germany (AfD), a Right-wing political party which stresses hostility towards immigrants and Muslims. Madison also circulated AfD materials on his page. According to Facebook, Madison appreciates Identitäre Bewegung – Deutschland, the German branch of the “Identitarian” movement, a far-Right movement which couches its racism in language of “difference.” Finally, Madison “likes” the Right-wing “Anti-communist” page and reposted anti-socialist materials on multiple occasions. (Madison’s “likes” for the state-friendly anti-extremist Southern Poverty Law Center and deceased Cuban leader Fidel Castro are incongruous with the overall politics promoted on his Facebook page.)
In the aftermath of a July 2016 terror attack in Germany, Madison commented: “Just wondering how long it will take to domesticate these people [presumably Muslims and/or immigrants] into German civilization.” Not exactly subtle stuff.
Madison in GSU Library Courtyard, November 2016
Such words and endorsements would be enough to make us question the motives behind “Lukas’” newfound interest in anti-racist and leftist organizing. But there’s more.
Spencer Madison (left, back turned) and white nationalist leader Patrick Sharp meeting for a discussion in the Library Courtyard, October 2016, during Sharp’s last semester at GSU
And there’s even more. White nationalist propaganda has appeared several times at Georgia State University (and other campuses) in 2017 despite Patrick Sharp’s graduation.
Here’s an account from someone who was approached by “Lukas”/Spencer Madison this February:
On the night of Monday, February 6th, I was out with some friends by GSU’s campus in Downtown Atlanta off Hurt Park. We were putting up some flyers for a club night we were promoting when a young man […] with blond hair approached us. He asked us “Hey, are you all from I.E.?” Not knowing what that group was, I responded “Sorry, don’t know what that is” and then he said, “Oh, never mind.” Five seconds later it dawned on me that he may have meant “Identity Evropa,” a fascist organization whose stickers have been springing up on campuses around the country over the past few years. [3]
We confirmed with the author of this statement that the person they talked with was Spencer Madison/“Lukas.” (Madison’s hair had a blond tint at the time – see February 2017 photo above.) The exchange does not prove that Madison has placed white nationalist materials at GSU. However, it seems likely that Madison was referring to Identity Evropa. On the same week as the brief conversation occurred, materials from Identity Evropa appeared atGeorgia Tech campusplus GSU.
In a further development, on Wednesday March 8, “Lukas” showed up to GSU campus on crutches. When speaking with some students, he stated that he had been viciously attacked by knife-wielding antifascists. To others, he told the much more plausible story that he was simply attacked for his property [4]. We believe that “Lukas’” reason for spreading the first unlikely story was to harm the reputation of anti-racists.
Since Spencer Madison has been linked to far-Right organizations and bigoted politics, we do not think that “Lukas” should be provided any information about leftist or anti-racist organizing. Rather, students should know about Spencer Madison’s identity, actual commitments, and the far-Right agenda he serves on campus. We live in a time of heightened racist and far-Right militancy; students should organize to keep each other safe, especially because campus authorities have proven unreliable at best.
While students organize to resist the far-Right locally, Atlanta Antifascists will help with research, analysis, and other practical measures. If you have information on racist or fascist organizing on Atlanta campuses, please get in contact.
NOTES
[1] Report from GSU student, records of Atlanta Antifascists.
[2] Report from GSU student — early November 2016 conversation. (Different source than Note 1.)
[3] Eyewitness report with minor stylistic/copy edits. Original statement erroneously describes person as “in his early 20s” (phrase cut above). Spencer Madison is in fact slightly younger, although this matches his appearance.
Note 3/28/2017: While Camp Swamp provided a venue for the racist Asatru Folk Assembly this year, they state they will not rent to the AFA in the future. Camp contact details removed from post.
Note 3/17/2017: Camp Swamp has clarified that they are concerned about litigation if they cancel, and that they do not share the values of the AFA. Our statement makes a political and ethical case for cancelling. However we note that racist organizers seem to be breaking agreements with the Camp, by tolerating weapons if kept hidden.
This weekend, the Asatru Folk Assembly — a racist neo-pagan/heathen organization — plans to hold its annual “Ostara in the South” gathering at Camp Swamp at Union Point in Georgia. The racist heathen gathering is set to begin on Friday March 17 and continue through Sunday March 19. Anti-racists ask that you contact the venue and demand that they cancel their booking for the bigoted Asatru Folk Assembly.
The AFA is clearly intertwined with the organized white nationalist movement. A new video from AFA’s founder McNallen titled “What Stephen McNallen Really Thinks About Race” cries that whites are facing “extinction” and calls on others to say “I will fight for my race.” McNallen claims that the “system” is rigged against white people and he cites the Fourteen Words, a white power motto coined by terrorist David Lane. McNallen’s statement has been widely circulated in white nationalist circles. The Asatru Folk Assembly has not disavowed McNallen’s statement, because it also reflects their organization’s worldview. Before this, Asatru Folk Assembly members were found at the conference of the racist National Policy Institute, demonstrating the AFA’s overlap with political (rather than “spiritual”) white power organizing.
Recent statement by Stephen McNallen circulated by white nationalist projects Identity Evropa and Altright.com
At the time of writing, Camp Swamp in Union Point is allowing their venue to be used for the white power gathering. Camp Swamp is a private entity and does not face the same ‘free speech’ issues as a government body. Camp Swamp can cancel the event at its discretion, but so far it prefers to let the racist event go ahead. By helping the AFA organize, Camp Swamp is bringing committed racists into the community and tarnishing its own reputation.
We are also concerned that AFA event organizers are stating that they will turn a blind eye to violations of the Camp’s weapons policy, if the firearms carried by their attendees are not flaunted.
Spread the word in your community! We also encourage you to learn more about opposition to racism in the Heathen community by visiting Heathens United Against Racism.
In recent days Rockmart authorities have received several complaints about the upcoming all-day Klan event scheduled for Seaborn Jones Park. Anti-racists who revealed the Klan event have criticized Rockmart government for failing to warn the public about the event, and for permitting an explicitly “White Christian” event “for god race nation.” Anti-racists are concerned the KKK event will in effect re-segregate the public space by giving control to the Klan for the day. The Klan event is also likely to attract neo-Nazis travelling to a major white power festival in Draketown (25 minutes away) on the same day.
Heath Bearden displays his tattoo of a skull featuring a Klan blood drop cross. Bearden is named on the Klan paperwork for October 1st in Rockmart, but organizers may have involved another party in the event application without her consent.
We believe that these claims should be addressed. The City of Rockmart should clarify whether it cut corners on verification to help the Klan event go forward. Anti-racists have been speaking out about the Klan event since they learned of the gathering, on grounds unrelated to official paperwork. However, if the KKK application event is fraudulent, the event permit should now be rescinded. False information on the event application would be another reason for the City to cancel the event.
This September and October a large number of far-Right propaganda stickers were plastered around the Georgia State University (GSU) campus in downtown Atlanta in order to claim political territory (see seventy-six photos here). This propaganda spree was meant not only to encourage racist students and those with far-Right sympathies, but also to intimidate students of color–who make up the majority of the student body–as well as leftists. The purpose of this article is to provide context about some of the far-Right propaganda littered throughout campus, and also to discuss who is responsible for the white nationalist campaign at GSU. The final section provides evidence that GSU economics major Patrick Sharp is responsible for the racist campaign.
The Stickers: How to Interpret Common Images and Slogans of the Extreme, Racist Right
White Lives Matter
“White Lives Matter” is not only a response to the Black Lives Matter movement. The slogan also reflects white nationalist belief that white people are under threat and fast becoming victims in an increasingly diverse society. This zero-sum worldview–in which any advance made by people of color is considered as a loss to the white population–has led to many ideological racists now claiming that a process of “white genocide” is underway.
While more ornate versions of the Celtic Cross may be displayed by non-racists, the stylized version above has been adopted as a symbol by fascists and white nationalists. The first fascist use of this symbol was in France during the mid-Twentieth Century. Today the Celtic Cross is incorporated into the masthead for Stormfront.org, the web’s first major white racist website.
Stormfront masthead
Good Night Left Side
Anti-leftism and anti-socialism are long-running themes on the far-Right. This image portrays and celebrates an assault on a leftist (who is designated by a star). The “Good Night Left Side” image is implicitly a threat against leftists and others who stand up to the far-Right. This implicit threat is further amplified when the stickers are directly placed over flyers from college groups such as the GSU Progressive Student Alliance (see here.)
(The college branch of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement also had posters targeted, but in this case a “White Lives Matter” and a Celtic Cross sticker were used, see here.)
Against the Modern World
This sticker joins the slogan “Against the Modern World” with an Algiz rune (or “life rune.”) The Algiz rune is sometimes displayed by non-racist pagans, but this symbol has also been appropriated by the extreme-Right. To give one example of the racist use of this rune: it features in the logo of the National Alliance, which was at one point the leading neo-Nazi organization in the US (although it is currently in shambles.)
National Alliance logo incorporating Algiz rune, an example of its use in far-Right contexts
The slogan “Against the Modern World” is a reference to Julius Evola’s book Revolt Against the Modern World. Evola (1898 – 1974) was an esoteric “traditionalist” writer who Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke described as “an inspiration, mentor and guru figure” for the neo-fascist bombers who participated in terrorism in Italy during the 1970s and early ‘80s [1]. Decades earlier, Evola had spent the 1930s attempting to influence the Italian Fascist Party and then the Nazi SS towards his aristocratic esoteric worldview [2].
“Against the Modern World” is also a reference to the UK ‘neofolk’ musical act Sol Invictus, who have their own links to fascism although the musical project now portrays itself as non-political.
Finally, in recent times the white nationalist Traditionalist Youth Network (TYN) has used the “Against the Modern World” design in at least one of their protests. (TYN did not create the design, which seems to originate from a Belarusian right-wing clothing company.) Below is an image of a 2013 TYN protest in which the “Against the Modern World” design is featured on placards.
Further Details about the Stickers Appearing around GSU
The first three sticker designs discussed above–“White Lives Matter,” the Celtic Cross, and “Good Night Left Side”–are all sold by Tightrope, an online retailer of neo-Nazi and Klan paraphernalia whose logo is a white fist clutching a noose.
An early-September post on the racist Stormfront website made it clear that the “White Lives Matters” stickers are currently only sold by Tightrope. Approximately one week after this post was made on Stormfront, the first of the “White Lives Matter” stickers surfaced around GSU.
Unlike the other far-Right stickers that have surfaced on campus recently, the “Against the Modern World” ones are not professionally-produced, looking instead as if they were created on a photocopier or laser printer. However, it is likely that the same person who posted the stickers available from Tightrope around campus has also been placing the “Against the Modern World” ones. The “Against the Modern World” stickers have appeared alongside the Tightrope designs (see here, here and here.) Both “Against the Modern World” and Tightrope designs have been placed over “Hip Hop Lives Here” stickers on campus promoting the A3C hip-hop festival (see images here and here).This again suggests that the same person is putting up the different far-Right designs, specifically targeting hip-hop culture.
Only two stickers from the Vlaamse Jongeren Mechelen have appeared on campus. They appeared on the same campus map, posted on the same day. An “Against the Modern World” sticker appeared alongside one of the VJM designs. This indicates that the same person who posted the “Against the Modern World” designs also likely posted the VJM stickers. As indicated earlier, it seems that the person who posted the “Against the Modern World” stickers is the same person who circulated the Tightrope stickers.
The VJM stickers also suggest that someone who is highly immersed in the white power and far-Right scenes is responsible for the GSU campaign. Simply put: someone who merely dabbled in far-Right involvement would be highly unlikely to receive stickers from an obscure European organization that ended a decade ago. Materials such as the VJM stickers are far more likely to be owned by somebody who is an active networker in the white power world.
So… Who Spread the Far-Right Stickers?
There is very strong reason to believe that Patrick Sharp, who attempted to form a White Students Union at GSU two years ago, is responsible for this year’s far-Right sticker campaign on campus.
On October 1st as well as on October 8th, Patrick Sharp was observed less than a block away from where fresh stickers had appeared, just minutes before or after the new stickers went up.
The “White Lives Matters” stickers were advertised as available only through Tightrope (see advertising post on Stormfront above.) In a photo published below dating from 2014, Patrick Sharp is shown as wearing a black tanktop with a “black sun”/Schwarze Sonne design. This esoteric design is favored by many fascist and far-Right activists (the symbol was incorporated into a floor mosaic at the Nazi SS Generals’ Hall in Wewelsburg castle). Black sun merchandise such as the tanktop is available from a variety of online retailers, but Tightrope is the cheapest and most prominent source for such an item in the US. It is likely that Sharp has a purchasing history with Tightrope, which is also the source for the stickers.
Patrick SharpBlack sun tanktop sold on Tightrope website
Patrick Sharp also flaunts his racist and far-Right views on campus. Below are images of Sharp on campus November 5th which further confirm that Sharp’s public messaging is an excellent match for the stickers posted around GSU.The buttons displayed by Sharp on his backpack show his involvement in the far-Right subculture. As well as the confederate flag and the “black sun” design (discussed earlier) the crossed out “equals” sign signifies a refusal of egalitarianism. Rock Against Communism is a music scene which was born in the English far-Right of the 1970s and ‘80s but has now gone international. The musicians in the “RAC” scene do not simply oppose communism but typically endorse extreme racism and fascist politics. The message of Sharp’s RAC pin also complements that of the “Good Night Left Side” stickers around campus. Finally, the Death’s Head/totenkopf was a symbol worn by the Nazi SS and clearly designates extreme-Right politics.
The five buttons discussed here are also sold by Tightrope. (Some but not all of them are also currently sold by Micetrap, another white supremacist music and paraphernalia retailer.)
The politics represented in the stickers around GSU campus match Sharp’s racism and hatred of leftism as expressed online.
The basic contours of Sharp’s politics have been public knowledge for a couple of years, ever since Sharp tried to start the White Student Union and his online history was unearthed. The key articles on this topic published in 2013 are Atlanta blogger biscuette’s exposé of Sharp’s ideological racism, plus The Lamp’s discussion of Sharp’s Stormfront posting history–in which Sharp denounced his own father as a “race traitor.” Despite Sharp’s claims to the contrary, his politics appear to have changed little since he made these posts.
The 2013 exposés of Sharp focused on Sharp’s racism, but Sharp’s apocalyptic brand of anti-leftism went mostly undiscussed. Consider this gem by Sharp (under his “frozenpie77” moniker) on the racist “red pill” website Heartiste, in which Sharp praised the neo-fascist Golden Dawn in Greece: The above comment would be laughable except that Sharp takes it seriously–he fantasizes about violence against leftists.
Sharp’s former affiliation with the Traditionalist Youth Network (TYN)–revealed in 2013–is also important to bear in mind in the current context of the stickers on campus, since one of the designs littered around campus was also popular with the TYN. While Sharp formally cut ties between the GSU White Student Union and the TYN in 2013, this does not mean that Sharp actually moved far away from TYN politics. Below is a group photograph from the 2015 American Renaissance conference–which Sharp has attended for the past three years–showing Patrick Sharp on the left and TYN’s Tony Hovater on the far right. It is clear that Sharp continues to move in at least broadly the same racist circles.
Finally, the timing of when stickers appear on campus should be considered. Not only have most stickers appeared on campus at times Sharp is known to be around (and has been spotted) such as Thursday afternoons, but the stickering campaign tapered off as Sharp was getting ready to travel to Washington DC for the white nationalist National Policy Institute conference at the end of October.
Patrick Sharp at the National Policy Institute conference October 31, 2015. Sharp is in the blue shirt, between the person taking a photo and NPI president Richard Spencer, who is gesturing.
To summarize: twice Sharp has been seen in the immediate vicinity of where stickers appeared, just before or after these fresh stickers were sighted. Some of the stickers posted around GSU campus were sold by Tightrope, which also sells a clothing item worn by Sharp. Sharp displays buttons on his backpack that point to the same far-Right politics as promoted by the sticker campaign. (The buttons are also sold by Tightrope.) Sharp’s online history again shows the same white nationalist and violently anti-leftist political agenda. Finally, the sticker campaign at GSU died down as Sharp was getting ready to travel to Washington DC for a major white nationalist event. As an increasingly well-connected white nationalist, Sharp has the means and the motivation to put up the stickers. He is deeply enough immersed in the white power scene to receive materials such as the VJM stickers. Sharp has been spotted when stickers go up. Sharp now has some explaining to do–but don’t expect the truth. This is the person who wears Nazi insignia around campus yet claimed “My most important goal with the [white student union] is to guard it from […] neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and anyone with nefarious intent.” Integrity, it seems, is not a white power strongpoint.
NOTES
[1] Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity. (New York/London: New York University Press, 2002). 52.
[2] Sedgwick, Mark. Against the Modern World : Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2004). 107.
Heath Bearden displays his tattoo of a skull featuring a Klan 
