White Power Leader Sam Dickson’s Bankruptcy Filings

We are publishing documents from Atlanta attorney and white power leader Sam Dickson’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy. These documents not only give a clear picture of Dickson’s business interests but also provide details on Dickson’s political activity and associates. Dickson filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2014 (Case 14-29781-LMI, Southern District of Florida US Bankruptcy Court). Then, in March 2015, his “Hickory Hill 1185” company also filed for bankruptcy (Case 15-13854-LMI, Southern District of Florida). The two bankruptcy cases are now jointly administered.

*Sam Dickson at the 2019 “American Renaissance” white nationalist conference*

We have published two earlier articles highlighting Dickson’s and other white nationalists’ activity on the Atlanta property market. For readers unfamiliar with Dickson, we suggest reading our 2017 article, “Right-Wing Gentrification Gangs”, which explains his method for profiting from tax lien purchases in Black and multiracial working-class neighborhoods. Dickson has a history spanning decades in the white nationalist movement. As a participant in the secretive yet influential Charles Martel Society – where Dickson is listed as a Director – and also as a mentor for younger white nationalists, Dickson continues to influence the white power movement to this day.

*Website for Dickson’s “Villas Key West” vacation rentals, Key West, FL.*

Our articles so far have focused on Dickson’s dealings in Atlanta. By publishing Dickson’s bankruptcy filings, we broaden our picture to include information on Dickson’s property in Florida and North Carolina. Dickson’s properties in Atlanta are mostly but not exclusively vacant lots, which make a profit once sold. However, properties such as Dickson’s “Villas Key West” vacation rentals in Key West, Florida, bring in regular income.

Dickson’s bankruptcies are Chapter 11. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a debtor to restructure debts while the business typically continues to operate. Dickson had previously built a “multi-million dollar business” from his property dealings. According to filings, the recession hurt both his practice as a real estate lawyer, as well as his Florida vacation rentals. Chapter 11 was Dickson’s best option to hold on to as many of his assets as possible.

These bankruptcy cases represent a gap in our earlier writing on Sam Dickson’s business. Our first article may have overestimated Dickson’s ability to expand his personal business operations in Atlanta, since Dickson is burdened by Chapter 11 restructuring. However, as Dickson’s filings show, he maintains significant assets in Georgia and elsewhere. In addition, other far-Right figures active in the Atlanta property market are not harmed by Dickson’s Chapter 11. Our concerns around the broader Dickson network remain unchanged. For example, Beltem Trust – administered by UK far-Right organizer and Dickson associate Adrian Davies – owns a large collection of property in Atlanta. Sam Dickson has worked as an attorney for the Beltem Trust and is also a source of property for that Trust, with several of Dickson’s properties being sold to Beltem since Dickson filed for Chapter 11. In addition, Dickson protégés such as Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement organizer Evan Thomas Anderson continue to be active on the Atlanta property market.

The Filings

The proximate cause for Dickson’s initial bankruptcy filing in September 2014 appears to be the foreclosure sale of a Key West, Florida property, 522 Margaret. In one of his earliest Chapter 11 filings, Dickson objected to this foreclosure sale, although ultimately to no avail. (Dickson still co-owns neighboring property.) At the very beginning, Dickson’s attorney was listed as Paul Orshan, but he was soon replaced as counsel by Michael D. Seese of Ft Lauderdale who continues representing Dickson in bankruptcy matters to this day.

Dickson’s “Hickory Hill 1185 LLC” filing for bankruptcy in March 2015 was seemingly to avoid foreclosure on his 115-121 Ridgeland Way property in Atlanta. The Hickory Hill 1185 LLC Chapter 11 is now jointly administered with Dickson’s individual bankruptcy case.

There are currently over 400 filings for Dickson’s Chapter 11. At the end of this article, we are publishing a selection, particularly filings which give an overview of Dickson’s various properties. Remember that if a document is now dated, properties listed as owned by Dickson could have subsequently sold.

Florida and Georgia Residences

In order to file for bankruptcy in the Southern District of Florida, Dickson had to reside there. In filings, Dickson listed his address as 518 Rear Margaret Street, Apt #2 in Key West, Florida. However, Dickson also spends much of his time in Atlanta. In some recent filings, Dickson provided a PO Box in Atlanta as his address. Dickson’s presence in Atlanta is corroborated by his continued property holdings and legal work here, his TV appearances, and our personal sightings of Dickson around Atlanta. Dickson’s residence in Atlanta is the Ridgeland Way property in Buckhead which we have profiled before.

The property next to 518 Margaret Street in Key West, Florida – 522 Margaret – was previously co-owned by Dickson. In fact, Dickson’s initial Chapter 11 filing allowed him to object to the foreclosure sale of that property (though the sale went through in the end). Interestingly, when UK Holocaust-denier David Irving’s emails were hacked a decade ago, the 522 Margaret address was used by Irving when setting up online payment processing. Irving is known to stay at Dickson’s properties while in the United States. When Irving mentioned this March that he was in Key West, this was almost certainly at one of Dickson’s current properties there.

Business and Politics

*$100 donation to Committee to Elect Keith Alexander*

Filing for bankruptcy has not stopped Dickson’s efforts for the white nationalist movement. In Dickson’s first Monthly Operating Report (for September 2014) under his Chapter 11, Dickson noted “the heavy expenses of the attorney’s fees and accounting costs related to the Chapter 11.” This did not stop Dickson from making a $100 donation to the Committee to Elect Keith Alexander in this same period. Keith Alexander was running for Property Assessor in Shelby County, Tennessee that year. Alexander co-hosted the white nationalist Political Cesspool podcast and at the time was listed as a Director for the racist Council of Conservative Citizens. Despite these ties to the white power movement, Alexander ran again for the Assessor position in 2018 and got almost 40% of the vote. Like Alexander, Dickson has been involved with the Council of Conservative Citizens.

In January 2015, attorney John C. Hall, Jr. was authorized as an accountant for Dickson in the bankruptcy. Hall, who lives in Dublin, Georgia, has his own ties to organized racism. Hall is active in the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Georgia, which purports not to be racist. Hall’s profile on the VKontake (VK) social networking site was connected to the official group for the Southern secessionist/white nationalist League of the South. On VK, Hall has stated “Hitler was right!” and “Hitler was correct in cleaning up Berlin and then Europe.” During the 2018 gubernatorial campaign in Georgia, Hall harassed an event for Stacey Abrams as well as organized against her. When anti-fascists exposed Dickson’s white power hub on Ridgeland Way, Hall traveled to Atlanta with a firearm and fantasies of “Antifa […] being eliminated.”

*John C. Hall considers Sam Dickson a friend as well as client.*

An operating report for Dickson’s Hickory Hill 1185 LLC filed in September 2016 stated that “at the time of the filing, Mr. Dickson was traveling out of the county.” We are aware that some of Dickson’s overseas travel is for far-Right networking, for example his attendance at the “International Russian Conservative Forum” at St. Petersburg in 2015. We do not however know the destination of Dickson’s 2016 trip, or whether it served a political purpose. We would welcome further information.

Overview of Properties

Dickson’s Chapter 11 filings list many properties owned by him or his companies. Some of these properties may have changed title since the time of the filings. The following is a quick summary of Dickson’s properties in three states, gleaned from the bankruptcy filings.

In Key West, Florida, four properties still make money for Dickson as part of the “Villas Key West” vacation rentals. On Margaret Street, Dickson co-owns the buildings at 518 and 1124. Further, 512 and 516 Angela Street are part of “Villas Key West”. 512 is owned by the Dickson-managed 512 Angela LLC; 516 is owned by 516 Angela LLC, also managed by Dickson. In addition to these four properties, 1128 Margaret Street is owned by Dickson and used for longer-term rentals, outside of “Villas Key West”.

In Highlands, North Carolina, Dickson owns one building on Hickory Hill Road, which according to bankruptcy filings he rents. The property is owned by Dickson’s Hickory Hill, 1185 LLC. Dickson also owns one lot under his own name next to the building.

*House on Ridgeland Way. See our 2018 article here.*

In Georgia, Dickson’s properties are concentrated in Atlanta. In addition to vacant lots in areas such as Lakewood Heights, Dickson’s Hickory Hill 1185, LLC owns the 115-121 Ridgeland Way property in the Peachtree Hills neighborhood of Buckhead. According to filings, this building is divided into four spaces, one of which Dickson lives in while in Atlanta and the other three being rented. We have discussed other white power militants based at this building.

Presently, Hickory Hill 1185, LLC is still listed as owning one building on Donnelly Avenue in the Oakland City area of Atlanta. Oakland City is a majority-Black, working class area. The house is currently unoccupied. The Hartford Trust, a Dickson-linked company not mentioned in the bankruptcy filings, owns lots behind and to one side of this building.

Documents

We hope that these documents – a selection of the most relevant filings from Dickson’s bankruptcy – are useful to other anti-fascist researchers. Please get in touch if you have further information on Dickson, his associates, and their business and political ventures.

Sam Dickson bankruptcy case, Case 14-29781-LMI, Southern District of Florida US Bankruptcy Court:

Voluntary Petition (document 1, filed 09/02/14)

Debtor’s Emergency Motion for Relief from the Automatic Stay (document 10, filed 09/11/14)

Debtor’s Motion for Authority to Use Cash Collateral (document 39, filed 09/26/14)

Debtor’s Monthly Operating Report for September 2014 (document 80, filed 01/02/15)

Application for Order Authorizing Employment of John C. Hall (document 92, filed 01/22/15)

Debtor’s First Amended Plan of Reorganization (document 222, filed 12/29/15)

First Amended Disclosure Statement for Amended Plan of Reorganization (document 223, filed 12/29/15)

Confirmation Affidavit of Sam G Dickson (document 296, filed 02/25/16)

Confirmation Affidavit of Jane Goodwin (document 297, filed 02/25/16)

Hickory Hill 1185 Post-Confirmation Operating Report, April – June 2016 (document 344, filed 09/13/16)

Sam G. Dickson Quarterly Operating Report Oct – Dec 2018 (document 413, filed 09/26/19)