Last night, State House Representative and candidate in the Republican primary for the 9th Congressional District, Matt Gurtler, issued a statement decrying “sleazy attacks” and the “fake news media”. These comments arrived two months after Gurtler talked to a meeting of American Patriots USA (APUSA) – a white nationalist front group founded by Klansmen and neo-Nazis – and two days after the story broke in the media.
In his comments to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Matt Gurtler doubled down by calling APUSA a “pro-gun, conservative group that supports President Trump”. At the March meeting, Gurtler portrayed the organization as a positive response to “socialism on the rise”.
Matt Gurler at American Patriots USA meeting, March 14, 2020
The core members of APUSA are committed white supremacists. Founder Chester Doles is an unreformed neo-Nazi who continues to network within the racist scene and circulate its propaganda. Another key APUSA member, Michael Carothers AKA Michael Weaver, maintains the “White Information Network” site, where he asks readers to support terrorists such as “Olympic Park Bomber” Eric Rudolph.
Militant white nationalists have led
a wave of terror in recent years, with outrages such as the Tree of Life
synagogue mass shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018; the Christchurch, New Zealand
mosque attacks last year; and August’s racist massacre in El Paso. While
Gurtler mouths empty catchphrases such as, “Racism doesn’t have any place in
our community”, his actions embolden the racist movement.
It is reprehensible for Matt Gurtler to hide behind his “Mexican-American” wife after supporting white supremacists. His wife’s ancestry is irrelevant to Gurtler’s political decision. Gurtler’s response is particularly obscene since APUSA founder Chester Doles has targeted and scapegoated Latino communities in north Georgia for twenty years.
Instead of admitting poor judgment,
Gurtler howls for his critics to “Bring it.”
If you oppose antisemitism and white supremacy, speak out when they are normalized.
8/10/2020: update on Matt Gurtler and Marjorie Taylor Greene here.
As this report was being prepared for publication Thursday evening, far-Right militiaman and 9th Congressional District candidate Michael Boggus released a video on Facebook, stating that he is the new State Director for American Patriots USA. Since neo-Nazi Chester Doles and the white supremacists around Doles remain in the organization, we assume this is a shell game.
Summary: American Patriots USA (APUSA) was formed last year in north Georgia by Chester Doles, a longtime neo-Nazi. As documented in this and earlierreports, the organization is a thinly disguised front group for white supremacists. APUSA has spent the last few months building a broader front of “constitutionalist” Republican candidates, including several people of color, which it uses to mask its agenda. The white power organization even hosted a current State House Representative, Matthew Gurtler, at their March meeting. We document APUSA’s “Trojan horse” effort and highlight the complicity of GOP candidates and networks in normalizing white supremacist organizing.
Chester Doles (circled) at “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville, VA, 2017 – footage here.
Paul L. Townsend, a resident of LaFayette in north Georgia, born in 1964, is an active member of the League of the South (LoS), a white supremacist and Southern secessionist organization. Townsend attended the August 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia with the LoS contingent that was at the forefront of violence that day. Following the Charlottesville rally – in which one counter-protester was murdered and dozens more injured – Townsend stated that he was “proud that I participated in the Charlottesville rally” which he “knew […] would be epic.”
Townsend set up a profile on the Russian social networking site VKontakte (VK) the month before 2017’s “Unite the Right”. On VK, he is connected to many LoS members and other white supremacists. Townsend posted a photo of his younger self in camouflage fatigues in a desert environment, suggesting that decades ago he was in the US military.
Update: We have received final confirmation that Amanda Sproul currently works at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Georgia.
Summary: The Right Voice is a white power podcast operating since mid-2015. It continues the efforts of an earlier white nationalist project, The White Voice. Its hosts also operated a web of racist and far-Right propaganda pages on Facebook, some that had over ten thousand followers and reached far more. The Right Voice host Chris Burnham of Loudoun County, Virginia, is originally from the UK and fancies himself as an anti-leftist secret agent. His co-host, Amanda Sproul of Dublin, Georgia, is a longtime employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs who works at a VA Medical Center.
Introduction
Launched in mid-2015, The Right Voice (TRV) podcast is a white nationalist and antisemitic podcast which has lasted for over 160 episodes. During this run, the show has aimed to broadcast once a week, as the lives of hosts “Chris” and “Marie” allow – which in practice means gaps. Casting itself as a voice of unity in the white nationalist scene, TRV has hosted everyone from Klansmen and explicit neo-Nazis to Alt-Right figures and even a few wannabe intellectuals and mainstreamers. Over the years, TRV has hosted such guests as Alt-Right figurehead Richard Spencer; notorious antisemite and neo-NaziDavid Duke; National Socialist Movement organizer Harry Hughes; and Susan Yarbrough, the widow of Gary Yarbrough, who was a participant in The Silent Brotherhood terror group in the 1980s. Last year, TRV twice hosted north Georgia racist organizer Chester Doles as a guest, the first time before Doles’ September far-Right rally in Dahlonega, and a second time to recap events afterward. The most recent episode of The Right Voice kicks off with “Chris” shouting for “y*ds” to “get in the oven” and addresses the COVID-19 pandemic through a typical white supremacist lens, using the crisis to advance racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories. For example, “Marie” promotes the idea that Jewish people have been hoarding ventilators in New York City.
TRV’s name is a reference to an earlier white nationalist podcast, The White Voice, which both TRV hosts were involved with. The White Voice ran from its first episode in May 2011 to its hundredth episode in April 2015, with its site shuttering soon after. Marie started helping The White Voice in late 2013, while Chris appears to have first contributed in early 2015, just a couple of months before The White Voice project ended. After the end of The White Voice, TRV established its website in June 2015 and had its first podcast the following month.
The White Voice
While TRV recruits for the white nationalist movement, it is not as successful as some competitors. TRV’s main importance is as a forum for scattered white nationalists and as a force for unity, since its hosts avoid divisive issues within the racist scene such as religion. Much of the podcast discussion revolves around tactics and movement-building. Although they have interviewed many, TRV hosts do not present themselves as leaders of the white nationalist movement. Rather, they view themselves as a small functioning part within the broader white power ecosystem. Regular listeners trade messages in a small online chat during live broadcasts, heightening the sense of racist community.
“White Genocide Subliminals” page removed from Facebook
In addition to the podcast, hosts Chris and Marie had previously been involved in creating and maintaining a web of between twelve to twenty propaganda pages on Facebook, which they have repeatedly mentioned on their podcast. According to Chris, at least one of these Facebook pages had nearly thirty thousand followers – a significant propaganda operation. Several other pages allegedly passed the ten thousand mark. While we have not been able to determine all of these Facebook pages, from online comments we know TRV hosts were involved in “White Genocide Subliminals” as well as “Black Privilege”, which argued that Black people are systematically and unfairly advantaged by US society. “Marie” has been permanently banned from Facebook since mid-2017 for her incessant spreading of white power propaganda.
“Chris” and “Marie” are Chris Roland Burnham of Loudoun County, Virginia and Amanda Marie Sproul of Dublin, Georgia respectively. Burnham is originally from Britain but has been living in the United States for decades. Sproul is a longtime employee of the US Department of Veterans Affairs and may continue to work at a VA Medical Center. We discuss each in turn.
In May 2019, the white supremacist and fascist organization Patriot Frontplaced propaganda around Lawrenceville, a suburb of Atlanta. Patriot Front splintered and rebranded from another racist organization, Vanguard America, in the aftermath of the disastrous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, August 2017. We have now seen a few cycles of Patriot Front activity in Georgia. In late 2017 and early 2018, Patriot Front militants targeted several neighborhoods with propaganda, before our organization exposed their main organizer, coincidentally also in Lawrenceville. Patriot Front activity near Atlanta dropped off sharply after our 2018 exposé, so it was a surprise to see Patriot Front stickers appearing in Lawrenceville again the following year. [1]
Old Twitter account for Patriot Front shows propaganda in Lawrenceville, May 2019
While another Patriot Front member may have been involved, we have determined that Christopher Skylar Brooks helped place the white supremacist organization’s materials around Lawrenceville last May. Interestingly, while he assisted the white supremacist Patriot Front, Brooks was also involved with the Proud Boys, a “Western Chauvinist” far-Right group which claims to reject white supremacy and involves some reactionary people of color.
Robert Timothy “Tim” Dickenson, currently linked to property in Hiawassee, Georgia and previously of South Carolina, is a supporter of the Ku Klux Klan and a core member of north Georgia’s “American Patriots USA” (APUSA). We first noticed Dickenson at white supremacist Chester Doles’ far-Right rally in Dahlonega, north Georgia on September 14, 2019. Tim Dickenson marched in alongside Klansmen and other close supporters of Doles. Since then, Dickenson has been a constant presence supporting Doles and APUSA. For months we did not know who he was, but with some effort we have now identified him.
Tim Dickenson at 9/14/2019 rally in Dahlonega
Dickenson 2015 mugshot from West Virginia arrest
Dickenson further gained our attention after he appeared in Dahlonega on October 19, 2019 for the community’s Gold Rush Festival parade. There, Dickenson showed up alongside Chester Doles and members of Doles’ family, who had a float in the parade promoting Doles’ new APUSA organization. Dickenson wore a hoodless sweatshirt advertising the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (IKKKKK) as he accompanied the APUSA float.
Dickenson with back toward camera, Dahlonega Gold Rush Festival parade.
Another picture of Dickenson from October 19, 2019.
At the time of writing, the novel coronavirus pandemic is threatening untold lives. Even under a different set of rulers, a dysfunctional health system and slashed safety nets would place many in harm’s way. To add to this, the Trump regime lied and delayed when it had time, further compounding damage. Everything that we can do to protect each other – from physical distancing measures, to mutual aid networks and advocacy for those most at risk – makes a difference.
“5 Demands” circulating online, author unknown
The organized far-Right is not standing by idly in this crisis. However, their positions vary from denialism and minimization, to conspiracy-mongering and even chatter about actively accelerating and worsening the situation. As an organization, Atlanta Antifascists will continue to monitor and document these far-Right responses. With the situation changing rapidly, documentation will mostly take place on our socialmedia, which we encourage you to follow.
We must stand by our neighbors and challenge scapegoating at every opportunity. In particular, the anti-Asian racism deliberately fostered by Trump – and also boosted by fascists and white nationalist groups away from the center of power – must be consistently opposed.
Supporting mutual aid projects and networks is also crucial. Food4Life is one noteworthy survival program in Atlanta. You can read about it and support it – or reach out for assistance – here. If you have funds, please also consider supporting this fundraiser for refugees impacted in Atlanta. See ItsGoingDown for a list of COVID-19 community mutual aid projects across North America.
We admire the courage shown daily by
workers at the front of this pandemic, not only hospital staff and medical
workers, but also under-valued and exploited grocery clerks, delivery people,
trash collectors, and others providing vital services. Our communities are
behind you and will fight for you.
We are exposing Jamie Lee Mallard of Georgia as longtime racist and extreme-Right propagandist “James Futurist”. Mallard, whose other aliases include “James Egoist”, James Rockwell, Jameson Blackwell and NeoNationalist, has been active in the white power movement since 2012, including that movement’s most extreme neo-Nazi fringes. For years Mallard promoted IronMarch (IM), a website that birthed other white supremacist organizations such as Vanguard America and the murderous Atomwaffen Division (AWD). Jamie Mallard collaborated with IronMarch’s webmaster, “Slavros”, and had contact with early AWD members including its founder Brandon Russell – now imprisoned on federal explosives charges – and Devon Arthurs, who killed two other members of the group. As “James Futurist”, Mallard appeared on several episodes of IM’s “Mysterium Fasces” podcast.
Jamie Lee Mallard
Briefly-used profile image on white supremacist site The Daily Stormer
Jamie Mallard states that he currently lives in Smyrna, Georgia, part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. Before his 2019 move, Mallard lived in several southern Georgia communities such as Tifton and later Moultrie. Mallard is a veteran of the US Air Force but now works in information technology. While living in Moultrie, Mallard claims to have had access to the “entire town’s sensitive data” as part of his job. Mallard currently fantasizes about an approaching civil war, or “Boogaloo”. While Mallard maintains a nihilistic and despairing persona, he remains in contact with key players on the racist scene, such as Alt-Right podcaster Mike Peinovich (AKA “Mike Enoch”) and members of the fascist Patriot Front.
Mallard’s “Jameson Blackwell” VKontakte account also references the skull mask, a symbol popularized by IronMarch.
Chester Doles, the lead organizer of “American Patriots USA” in North Georgia, has a history spanning decades in the white supremacist movement.
In December 2016, Doles, alongside other members of the violent Hammerskin Nation (HSN) racist gang, was involved in a brawl with family and friends of an interracial couple celebrating at Johnny B’s bar in Dahlonega, Georgia. Doles is affiliated with Crew 38, a booster group for the Hammerskins. Doles accepted a plea deal for two counts of battery from the Johnny B’s brawl in November 2017. Prior to accepting the plea, Doles traveled with members of the HSN to Charlottesville, Virginia, where he participated in the bloody August 12, 2017 “Unite the Right” (UTR) rally.
Photo posted by John Todd Kopko to Instagram in early 2018, showing the Hammerskin group from Unite the Right
Update 3/27/2020: We have now identified the International Keystone Knights of the KKK supporter discussed in this article as Robert Timothy Dickenson.
Introduction
Since late last year, longtime white supremacist Chester Doles has attempted to build an organization – American Patriots USA (APUSA) – in north Georgia. Doles held a far-Right “Patriots” rally in Dahlonega, Georgia in September 2019 that was greatly outnumbered by counter-protesters, and started APUSA shortly afterwards. Although Doles’ September rally was not the success he’d hoped for, Doles has held regular meetings for his new organization since December.
Recently, APUSA seized on “2nd
Amendment Sanctuary” proposals as their main organizing issue. As this article
discusses, APUSA is dominated by active Klansmen as well as neo-Nazis, and is
an attempt by ideological white supremacists to broaden their base of support
in North Georgia and gain conservative electoral credibility. Our update will
also discuss a newly identified business manager supporting APUSA; local
militiamen doing security for the organization; a planned APUSA candidate for
Sheriff in White County who became a community laughing stock; and finally, a
new business linked to the APUSA front group. We hope this information is
useful for North Georgia locals challenging Doles’ organizing.
Late November 2019: Doles shares propaganda for the National Alliance, the neo-Nazi organization whose Georgia chapter he led prior to his 2003 arrest on federal firearm charges.
