Atlanta Antifascists – Page 10 – Tracking and Countering the Far Right since 2016

Notorious White Power Website Led Georgia Neo-Nazis to their Targets

In mid-January, three men in Georgia – Luke Austin Lane, Jacob Kaderli, and Michael Helterbrand – were arrested as part of a broader national sweep against “The Base”, a neo-Nazi group attempting to spark a race war. The Georgia trio were arrested on charges of participating in a criminal gang as well as conspiracy to commit murder. According to an affidavit supporting the Georgia arrests, the three were preparing to murder a couple who they believed to be members of Atlanta Antifascists, and murder any children they may have had. The couple were also selected for assassination out of convenience, since they did not live far from one of The Base members.

*The Base members training at Silver Creek, Georgia property, 2019.*

The couple targeted for murder by The Base are not members of our organization. However, one family member targeted by the murder conspiracy had been listed in a series purporting to expose “Georgia Antifa[scists]”, published late 2018 on the white power Occidental Dissent website (OD). The header for the five-part series on OD was an image of Atlanta Antifascists’ Twitter account, suggesting that those being profiled were part of our organization. Instead, the site mostly listed unaffiliated third parties, attendees of leftist meetings or anti-racist rallies, and people who had interacted with our social media or who were involved in anti-racist cultural efforts. Unlike anti-fascists, who expose white supremacists in order to stop their violence against marginalized groups, white supremacists have no concern for accuracy when they publish enemy lists or kill lists – precisely because their goal is to terrorize entire communities.

The webmaster of OD, Bradley Dean Griffin of Eufaula, Alabama (AKA “Hunter Wallace”), has an extensive history of harassment campaigns against perceived enemies. In late October 2018 – while the “Georgia” series was being published on OD – white supremacist Robert Bowers killed eleven people and wounded six in an attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Bowers had earlier offered Griffin an address for an anti-racist blogger targeted by Griffin. Brad Griffin also worked with white nationalist Daniel McMahon (AKA “Jack Corbin” and “Pale Horse”) against opponents. McMahon spent years harassing anti-racists – especially women – but was finally arrested last year for cyberstalking, threats, and interference against a Black candidate for office. In addition to his associates Bowers and McMahon, Griffin is active in the white supremacist/Southern secessionist League of the South and was a major promoter of 2017’s “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia (which he attended). Court documents and journalist sources both indicate that The Base member Brian Mark Lemley had earlier been a member of Griffin’s organization, The League of the South.

*Brad Griffin (outside Auburn University Richard Spencer event, 2017)*

Occidental Dissent is hosted by Bluehost with its domain name registered through GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY). Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) also provides “reverse CDN” services for the site. Bluehost is now owned by the Endurance International Group (NASDAQ:EIGI). After the Tree of Life massacre by Griffin’s associate Bowers, both Bluehost and GoDaddy were warned about OD. The companies completely ignored concerns about their assistance for a major white power propaganda site. In their efforts to keep OD and its lists online, these companies almost contributed to the brutal murder of a couple.

Georgia “The Base” Members Arrested in Murder Conspiracy

Three members of the white supremacist group The Base have been arrested in Georgia, as part of a broader sweep against the organization. The Georgia arrests were revealed Thursday, January 16.

Georgia “The Base” arrestees L-R: Luke Austin Lane of Silver Creek, Michael John Helterbrand of Dalton, and Jacob Kaderli of Dacula.

The Georgia arrestees were allegedly plotting to murder a couple who they believed to be “Antifa”. They also allegedly planned to kill another member of The Base who helped hatch the murder plot but who they considered incompetent. Read The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the Georgia arrests here.

One of those arrested, Luke Austin Lane of Silver Creek, Georgia, went by the online alias “TMB” and was the main recruiter for The Base in our state. On the Fascist Forge website, Lane/TMB’s profile was connected to that of Matthew Ryan Burchfield, a neo-Nazi we exposed last year and who is currently in Ukraine.

Atlanta Antifascists are following this situation closely. See our Twitter and Facebook pages for updates.

Madison, Georgia’s Worst Kept Secret: John Richard Thompson is with the Ku Klux Klan

Update: Kenny Schneck, a Georgia neo-Nazi mentioned in this article, died in late April 2020.

On October 4-5, 2019, the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (IKKKKK) held a two-day event on private property in Morgan County, Georgia (approximately half an hour south of Athens, GA). According to the Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy quoted by local media, a Friday KKK meeting was attended by approximately ten people. A related social event the next day attracted approximately thirty. The event also included a cross lighting, although electric lights rather than fire were used due to a law against burning after dark. An International Keystone Knights banner was displayed outside the property. Approximately sixty federal, state and local cops patrolled the area while the racist gathering took place, essentially giving the KKK free security at public expense.

*Local news story shows Klan banner outside property*

The local Morgan County Citizen discussed the Klan gathering as happening at a residence “on Aqua Lane” with the nighttime cross lighting being visible “off of Aqua Road”. Although the paper did not print the name of the individual who hosted the Klan event, we can confirm that the event was hosted at John Richard Thompson’s property in Madison. While Madison County property records list his land as being on Aqua Road, Thompson’s property also borders Aqua Lane on the opposite side.

*John Richard Thompson and wife Bonita Thompson*

Start the Next Decade Off Right: Kick White Nationalism to the Curb

This blog entry is directed towards any fascists, white nationalists, or those on the edges of these movements:

A new decade is here and we at Atlanta Antifascists want to give you a piece of advice: if you want the 2020s to be a positive decade for you, then you need to leave the fascist movement. Look, one of your leaders has already started the New Year off with an arrest for alleged kidnapping and domestic violence. This is not a movement you want to be associated with, and the consequences are often life-ruining. For example, in the past year multiple fascists our group has exposed have been fired from their jobs and had their personal lives upended on top of a job firing. You can try to move, but your continued involvement in white nationalist circles will follow you.

Luckily for you, there are options to leave the white power movement. Contrary to the established mythology around “red-pilling”, people leave all the time, either publicly or privately. There are groups that can help you exit the movement like the Free Radicals Project. Our group is not associated with the Free Radicals Project, but we do see their important work. Be aware that grifters are also out there. We strongly advise you to not associate yourself with them – firstly for safety reasons, and secondly because from the perspective of our group, they don’t count.

We don’t go after people for their pasts. If it’s clear that you’ve left white nationalism behind, we’ll leave you alone. Just send us an email with an account of your time in the movement as a token of good faith/sincerity (what you’ve done, with what organizations, etc.), be ready to answer some follow-up questions, and make clear in your actions going forward that you’ve left white nationalism behind. That’s all. We can’t speak for anyone else you may have harmed, but we don’t get in the way of people trying to do better by themselves and others.

Let the 2020s be a decade of growth and sincere change for the better. Reach out for help leaving the fascist movement, and if you’re in our region, send us a message to let us know about your choice.

What You Did Last Summer: Atlanta Attorney Michael A. Dominy, Sam Dickson, and US-Russia Far-Right Networking

In the summer of 2018, longstanding racist leader and Atlanta attorney Sam Dickson traveled for weeks in Russia. According to an interview with “The Political Cesspool” white nationalist radio show not long after his return (broadcast August 11, 2018), “several other people” accompanied Dickson on his trip in Russia. The July 2018 trip centered around attending a commemoration for the 100^th anniversary of the execution of the Romanov family by Bolsheviks, and Dickson claims to have met with several “Russian nationalists” while in the country.

*Sam Dickson message on Twitter about 2018 trip to Russia*

Our organization has discussed Dickson at length in other articles. He’s a key figure in the white nationalist movement, with a history spanning several decades. Dickson has talked at every conference for the “suit-and-tie” racists of American Renaissance since the first one in 1994. Dickson is listed as a Director for the shadowy Charles Martel Society, which publishes the Occidental Quarterly – an attempt to provide white nationalism with a veneer of respectability and intellectualism. By providing seed money for the National Policy Institute, the Charles Martel Society also helped to create the modern “Alt-Right.” Dickson mentors and seemingly employs younger white nationalists in the Atlanta area.

The 2018 Russia trip was “only the second time I’ve been in Russia,” Dickson remarked in a follow-up appearance on The Political Cesspool (broadcast September 1, 2018). In March 2015, Dickson gave a speech at the “International Russian Conservative Forum” (IRCF) in St. Petersburg. Dickson’s longtime political associate Jared Taylor of American Renaissance also traveled to the IRCF and talked. In total, the IRCF attracted approximately 150 representatives from far-Right organizations and parties in Russia, Western Europe, and the US.

*Sam Dickson speaking at the International Russian Conservative Forum in St. Petersburg, March 2015*

Here, we identify another member of Dickson’s group who traveled to Russia in July 2018: Atlanta attorney Michael A. Dominy. We discuss Dominy’s political connections, Dickson and Dominy’s apparent main contact in Russia, and that contact’s involvement with the state.

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.

Georgia Southern University Enables White Nationalist Recruitment, Viral Video for “American Identity Movement”

On November 16, 2019, student Charles Robertson posted a video of his class presentation for a writing class at Georgia Southern University in southeast Georgia. The YouTube video, titled “Irreplaceable”, presents the theory that “replacement” immigration from non-white countries is a kind of genocide aimed at destroying white people. The “great replacement” conspiracy theory is a well-known predictor of white supremacist violence and has been cited in mass murder manifestos such as that of the Christchurch shooter.

During his presentation, Charles Allen Robertson advertised the organization American Identity Movement (AmIM) by featuring an image of its banner on the screen. AmIM is a white nationalist group formerly known as “Identity Evropa”, and under that name is currently being sued for its role in Unite the Right at Charlottesville, VA, 2017. Afterward, in the comments of the YouTube video, Robertson engaged with commenters, basked in their praise, and gave out information on the racial composition of his class. Commenters began to abuse one of Robertson’s classmates – briefly audible in the video – with racial slurs. The video quickly went viral in multiple far-Right communities, including 4chan’s /pol/ network. The viral video currently has almost three thousand comments and over ninety thousand views.

*Robertson displayed an image of an American Identity Movement rally (which he had attended) when discussing “What can you do?”*

Report-Back: Opposing September 14th Far-Right Trump/“Patriots” Rally in North Georgia

Update 3/27/2020: We have now identified the International Keystone Knights of the KKK supporter discussed in this article as Robert Timothy Dickenson.

Update 12/1/2019: We have also discovered that Doles’ September 14th rally was attended by a convicted child molester, Archie Lee Atwell.

On September 14, white power organizer Chester Doles held an ostensibly pro-Trump “American Patriots” rally in the small city of Dahlonega, north Georgia. Doles’ rally, organized and promoted with other white supremacists, attracted somewhere between three dozen and fifty participants. An anti-racist counter-protest on the other side of the downtown square attracted three times that many.

*Anti-racist protest, Dahlonega, 9/14/2019*

Over six hundred police from 36 different agencies swamped the area, with multiple cops for every person in the protests. During the rally, Doles blamed “antifa” for driving down numbers for his event.

*Mass presence from police and corrections officers, September 14^th*

A report from the September 14 counter-protest on the IdaVox anti-racist news site provides a good overview of the day. Here, we discuss Dole’s organizing efforts and how they were resisted, beyond just the day of the rally.

*Chester Doles’ group – containing several Klansmen and white nationalists – marches in on 9/14*

Documentation: White Supremacist Chester Doles’ 2016 Battery Case and the Hammerskin Nation

In November 2017, white supremacist Chester Doles took a plea deal for two charges of battery in Lumpkin County, Georgia. The charges stem from a brawl involving Doles and other white supremacists affiliated with the Hammerskins gang. The incident took place at Johnny B’s restaurant and bar in Doles’ home city of Dahlonega, December 2016. Chester Doles was still on probation from his plea deal when he organized a far-Right rally in Dahlonega this September.

*Chester Doles wearing embroidered shorts for “Crew 38 – Georgia” circa 2017. Crew 38 is the support/feeder organization for the violent Hammerskins Nation gang.*

The battery case and Doles’ probation status have already been covered by the media. However, we are publishing a police report and case files from this incident for the first time. These documents highlight several key members of the Hammerskin Nation racist gang (and its “Crew 38” support formation) who were active in our region circa 2016.

IBM Botches Investigation of White Nationalist Employee

In early April, our organization exposed metro Atlanta resident John Lee Clemmer as a member of the white nationalist organization Identity Evropa (IE) and an active racist propagandist operating under the alias “Why Tea”. Clemmer bankrolled an expensive banner action by the white power organization IE on Georgia Tech campus in late 2017. Clemmer also snuck far-Right messages into his science fiction novels and forcefully campaigned against a Black teaching assistant at the University of Georgia.

We identified “Why Tea” as John Lee Clemmer via leaked discussion logs from IE, which were published by the Unicorn Riot independent media collective. Identity Evropa has now rebranded as the “American Identity Movement” (AmIM). At the time, we did not know whether Clemmer had stuck with the white power organization after its name change, but new evidence establishes that Clemmer has remained in IE/AmIM.

With the publication of our article on Clemmer, we alerted Clemmer’s employers at International Business Machines (IBM), where he was working as a managing consultant for Cloud Identity Services. We also mailed flyers to Clemmer’s neighbors in Smyrna, Georgia, informing them of the racist propagandist in their midst. In response, Clemmer lied and insisted that he had been misidentified.

In May, we updated our article to state that “We have received multiple indications that John L. Clemmer is no longer working for IBM”. We pointedly did not write that Clemmer had been fired.

Now, Unicorn Riot has published a new set of leaked messages from AmIM, providing discussion from that group’s “Dox Support” channel. This channel was established so that members of the racist organization who had been publicly identified could discuss how best to respond. John Lee Clemmer appears in this channel as “Humanbiodiversity”: a scientific-sounding euphemism for racism. In one message, “Humanbiodiversity” discusses “when antifa sent flyers to all my neighbors” and the neighbors’ responses. Due to the timing and details of what occurred, this could only refer to the mailing of John Lee Clemmer’s neighborhood. Elsewhere, “Humanbiodiversity” clumsily switches from writing about his experience in the first person to referring to John Lee Clemmer in the third person. Since Clemmer shared his thoughts in a closed chat exclusively for AmIM members, it is clear that Clemmer stuck with the white nationalist organization IE after it rebranded as AmIM.