The “US Men’s Academy” (USMA) is a Christian fraternal organization founded 2022 which promotes so-called “Alpha” masculinity and rigid gender roles. USMA has been active on the ground in North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene, using disaster relief to raise the organization’s profile and to attract members. USMA’s leader is Dustin Lee Barnes of Blairsville, Georgia. We exposed Barnes in late 2021, when he was a Georgia administrator for the racist “White Lives Matter” (WLM) network. There is no indication that Barnes abandoned white supremacist politics when he founded USMA.
US Men’s Academy website highlights disaster relief
2023 introduction: The documentation below was originally published as a long Twitter thread, in the aftermath of the neo-Confederate, racist, and militia mobilization in the community of Stone Mountain on August 15, 2020. We are republishing it on our site for two reasons. First, especially with Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, that site is not suited for anti-racist archives, because information can disappear at any time. Second, Judah Buggay performed with the “Jubilee” family musical act at this year’s Sons of Confederate Veterans “Confederate Memorial Day” rally at Stone Mountain Park. We wish to remind readers of the unambiguous racism of the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ chosen entertainment and that less than three years ago, Judah Buggay was attempting to club anti-racist protesters just outside the Park
Update, April 2024: We have identified another participant in the Goyim Defense League rally outside Chabad Lubavitch of Cobb County. GDL member Mel Travis Layton (AKA “John 8:44”) of Missouri was the driver of the white Jeep which passed by the rally several times. Although his face is not visible in footage from East Cobb on June 24, Layton can be seen harassing Temple Beth Israel in downtown Macon the day before. Comments by “John 8:44” in the GDL chat on Telegram indicated that he was part of the group targeting Georgia synagogues over the June weekend. “John 8:44’s” electronic trail allowed us to identify Layton.
Mel Travis Layton (on right, wearing cap) harassing Temple Beth Israel in Macon, Georgia, June 23, 2023Mel Travis Layton
Updated August 2023 to include identification of Amanda Sue Onger (AKA “GothWaffen”) of Florida.
On the evening of Saturday, June 24, supporters of the antisemitic and neo-Nazi “Goyim Defense League” (GDL) rallied outside Chabad Lubavitch of Cobb County in the Atlanta suburbs. The GDL participants held Nazi flags and made “Sieg Heil” salutes in a clear attempt at intimidation.
One day earlier, many of the same characters rallied outside another synagogue, Temple Beth Israel in downtown Macon, Georgia. The GDL’s main figurehead, Jon Eugene Minadeo II (“Handsome Truth”), was briefly arrested over minor charges, but was soon released from jail and continued his Georgia harassment campaign. The GDL is less of a concrete group than a propaganda outfit and brand centering around Minadeo.
GDL neo-Nazis outside Chabad Lubavitch of Cobb County, 6/24/2023
In this photo album, we show twelve participants at the GDL’s East Cobb rally on Saturday. The footage is not clear enough to make any determination concerning the driver of the white Jeep that passed by the rally several times.
Of the twelve GDL participants pictured here, we identify the majority by name and associate the remainder with their online aliases. Most of those named here have already been publicly identified by other researchers and monitoring groups. However, GDL participant Matthew Thomas Bukaty of Florida is newly identified. Bukaty goes by the alias “DJ Boomer Tech” online. As well as participating in the GDL’s harassment campaigns, Bukaty is involved with the “Funky Side of Fash” project, which streams electronic music mixes combined with neo-Nazi imagery.
Only four of the neo-Nazis outside Chabad Lubavitch on Saturday appear to be based in Georgia: longtime white supremacist Michael David Weaver; Hilary and Philip Jacobs; as well as “Philly Fresh” (alias). The Jacobs couple as well as Weaver are the most active distributors of GDL propaganda in our state, often throwing bags of antisemitic propaganda onto lawns under the cover of darkness. “Philly Fresh” is part of the White Lives Matter – Georgia chat as well as active within the GDL. Over the last couple of years, our group has identified several others involved in GDL propaganda distribution in Georgia: see the tag on our website for details.
We are publishing these photos as a resource to other antifascist researchers and in the hope that someone will recognize the neo-Nazis who have not yet been publicly exposed. If you have any tips, please get in touch.
Update 3/14/2023: After several requests for information, Aiken County Emergency Medical Services has clarified that Devin Brosnahan is no longer employed with them. Please get in touch if you have information on Brosnahan’s current employers.
Summary: Devin Brosnahan is a neo-Nazi leader in Augusta, Georgia. Under the alias “Levi Savage,” Brosnahan leads the Georgia chapter of White Lives Matter. Last year, we appealed for information on “Levi” after we had identified Hunter Forsyth as another White Lives Matter administrator. Now, we can explain how we identified “Levi” while outlining his racist and antisemitic activity with White Lives Matter and other groups. Brosnahan works as an emergency medical technician, an alarming job for a committed and active neo-Nazi. Online records indicate that last year he worked for Aiken County Emergency Medical Services across the state line in South Carolina. Aiken County EMS must clarify whether Brosnahan remains an employee, as he is an obvious danger to those around him and to those he would be expected to provide aid to.
Introduction
Devin Daniel Brosnahan
In December, we appealed for information on a white nationalist operating under the alias “Levi Savage.” “Levi” was an administrator for the White Lives Matter – Georgia (WLM – GA) channel on the Telegram messaging application. As well as his WLM – GA activities, he targeted neighborhoods with propaganda for the hardcore antisemitic Goyim Defense League (GDL). In an appearance on an online fascist broadcast, “Levi” claimed that his job was “basically an ambulance driver” and stated that his racist worldview helps him to “deal” at work. We had already traced “Levi” to the metro Augusta, Georgia area and determined several specific details about him. For example, we learned that he had a close connection to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in his earlier life, although his relationship with the church might have soured.
Devin Brosnahan: 2022 employee at Aiken County Emergency Medical Services (South Carolina)
We can now identify “Levi” as Devin Daniel Brosnahan, born on October 6, 2000 and currently living in Augusta. Brosnahan is a licensed Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), with online records showing that last year he worked for Aiken County Emergency Medical Services in South Carolina—just across the state line from Augusta. If Brosnahan continues to work as an EMT, he is a potential life-endangering threat to every person of color, LGBTQ+ individual, or Jewish person he encounters. With the publication of this article, we call on Aiken County Emergency Medical Services to clarify whether Brosnahan still works for them. Any emergency medical service employing Brosnahan endangers vulnerable people and must fire the neo-Nazi immediately.
Update 2/27/2023: We have identified this neo-Nazi as Devin Brosnahan of Augusta, Georgia. See our article here.
A neo-Nazi operating under the alias of “Levi Savage” is currently the head of the White Lives Matter (WLM) network in Georgia. “Levi” is an administrator for WLM’s Georgia announcement channel and discussion group on the Telegram messaging app. “Levi” has traveled our state spreading antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda. According to a February 2022 interview, he works as an ambulance driver. We are spreading our documentation on “Levi” in the hope that community members will be able to identify him, as his neo-Nazi activism not only makes him unfit for emergency medical work but also jeopardizes those around him.
Images of “Levi Savage”: the first is from Georgia White Lives Matter video assembled by Hunter Forsyth; the other three are from a Goyim Defense League video circulated by “Levi”
Key facts about “Levi Savage”:
He lived in Utah before moving (or returning) to Georgia.
He has been active in White Lives Matter’s Georgia chapter since at least February.
His earliest activities for WLM centered on the Augusta metropolitan area.
In January 2022, “Levi” identified himself as a member of the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi organization. “Levi” has also distributed propaganda for the Goyim Defense League, a hardcore antisemitic propaganda project.
In a February 18, 2022 interview on a fascist internet show, “Levi” stated: “I work in the Emergency Medical Services, I’m basically an ambulance driver.” He also stated that he had been working at that job for about “six months” but had “been aware of emergency medical services all my life […] it’s been a big background for me.”
Levi is a Onewheel enthusiast and has distributed WLM and Goyim Defense League materials while riding his Onewheel.
Although he has criticized Christianity, “Levi” appears to have past ties and cultural sympathies with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Since “Levi’s” early WLM propaganda activity appeared around Evans, Martinez, and Augusta, one potential workplace for him (if he remains in the same job) is Gold Cross EMS, which provides emergency ambulance services for Columbia, Richmond, and Jefferson counties. We encourage readers to pass along our documentation to any contacts working in the Emergency Medical Services field in Georgia. For anyone with potential tips on “Levi,” please send us a message.
Update 6/3/2022: The far-right anti-vaccine conference is now taking place at the DoubleTree in Roswell, Georgia. Please contact the hotel directly as well as the company that manages it, Hospitality Ventures Management Group, with your concerns.
Update 6/2/2022: Unity North Atlanta has canceled the reservation for Next Steps conference.
Introduction
On Friday and Saturday, June 3-4, “Next Steps,” a major anti-vaccine and COVID-19 denial conference, is scheduled to take place at Unity North Atlanta in Marietta, Georgia. QAnon believer Tiendra “Tia” Severino (née Demian) of Tucker, Georgia organized the conference with support from Timothy John Ray’s “UI Media” network. Tim Ray and at least two other speakers are vocal antisemites. One of these speakers has proclaimed that the “God of the Jews is Satan himself.”
Tiendra Severino of Tucker, Georgia
“UI Media” and the “Next Steps” conference are thoroughly intertwined. The conference will feature a “UI Media Awards” ceremony presented by Tia Severino and Tim Ray. UI Media is the exclusive source for footage of the conference and markets “digital replay[s]” of conference workshops on its website. Conference organizer Tia Severino has hosted her show on UI Media for the past two years. The conference’s “VIP Party” on Saturday night will be held in Canton, Georgia, which happens to be where Tim Ray owns a home.
Timothy John Ray of Canton, Georgia
The “Next Steps” conference features big names from anti-vaccine and COVID-19 denial circles, such as Dr. Christiane Northrup, who played a key role in amplifying coronavirus disinformation in the pandemic’s first year, and COVID/snake venom conspiracy theorist Dr. Bryan Ardis. The conference also reflects the deep antisemitism of Tim Ray and his “UI Media” project. A couple scheduled to speak at the conference’s “VIP Dinner” on Friday argues that a Jewish conspiracy has plotted for centuries to rule the world, currently controls the US government, and aims to enslave all non-Jewish people. Tim Ray finds this theory credible enough to promote the couple and other hardcore antisemites on his UI Media site. In a speech to an anti-mask/anti-vaccine rally in Atlanta last year, Tim Ray made thinly coded references to conspiracy theories of Jewish power, blaming “international Sabbatian cabalists” for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Promotional image for Next Steps conference
As well as spreading medical falsehoods and stirring up hatred against Jewish people, the Next Steps conference has ties to other far-Right organizers in Georgia and nationally. We document these ties throughout this piece. Since the conference aims to not only undermine public health measures but to normalize far-right and antisemitic organizing, we believe it deserves a response. We include action items at the end of this article.
Dustin Lee Barnes and Juliette Rose Barnes (née Fretté) purchased a homestead in Blairsville, Georgia this year after moving across the country from Washington state. Dustin Lee Barnes is a neo-Nazi and Army Rangers veteran who leads the “White Lives Matter” (WLM) network in Georgia. He has placed WLM propaganda around Blairsville, forcing park employees to regularly clean up his racist stickers at Meeks Park. His wife, Juliette Rose Barnes (née Fretté), is a former feminist and Playboy model who now operates a far-Right conspiracy theory website. Before their relocation to north Georgia, the couple were active against Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 health measures in Washington last year.
Caleb Petersen, at the time a Mechanical Engineering graduate student at Auburn University in Alabama, was the president of the unofficial “White Student Union” on campus from 2017-2018. The white nationalist/Alt-Right “Union” spread antisemitic propaganda on Auburn’s campus in the lead-up to racist leader Richard Spencer’s speaking event there. The group continued until 2018, when Petersen was exposed as its leader.
Twitter and Caleb Peterson don’t want you to see this old Tweet. The website mentioned in the text is archived here.
On December 1, 2021, Twitter used its new “private media” policy to lock the account of our organization, until we deleted a 2018 Tweet about Petersen. Petersen seemingly does not want people talking about his leadership of an antisemitic, white power group. Too bad. Twitter working to protect white nationalists from exposure and public scrutiny is reprehensible.
Petersen was featured in a 2017 documentary on Richard Spencer and the Alt-Right, produced by Channel 4 in the UK. Although he did not provide a name and his face was blurred, the “White Student Union” leader talking about “the death of our [white] race” is clearly Petersen, who will be recognizable by voice to anyone who has met him.
Images of Caleb Petersen from Channel 4 documentary.
Petersen may be currently pretending to be respectable and not a white supremacist. He has made no amends for his racist and antisemitic agitation, but seems interested in burying the truth about it.
We are not going to forget. Please reach out if you have further information on Caleb Petersen or any of his political associates.
Update 9/2/2021: Organizers have officially canceled the far-Right conference.
Update: On the site for his District 14 labor commissioner run, Georgia State Senator Bruce Thompson confirmed he is speaking at the “Christian Veterans United” conference.
Warning: This article contains descriptions of rape.
Daryush “Roosh” Valizadeh, a notorious far-Right antisemite, misogynist, and rape apologist, is a featured speaker at the upcoming “Faith and Freedom Men’s Conference” organized by Christian Veterans United. The conference is scheduled to take place on September 10th and 11th, in or near metro Atlanta. Two venues, Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Buckhead and the First Baptist Church in Woodstock, have so far canceled use of their spaces after learning of the event’s true nature. Organizers are vowing to go ahead with the event but have not publicly announced their new venue.
Conference promotional image
Daryush “Roosh” Valizadeh
GA State Senator Bruce Thompson
As well as Valizadeh, the Christian Veterans United website lists Jesse Lee Peterson, a rightwing commentator who bemoans women’s suffrage, and Bruce Thompson, Georgia State Senator representing District 14, as event speakers. By appearing alongside Valizadeh, perhaps the world’s most notorious women-hating propagandist, State Senator Thompson would normalize Jew-hatred and violence against women.
At the time of publication, Thompson has not responded to a request to confirm his appearance at the Conference, though his name and image feature on the event’s website. We will update this article if Thompson issues a clarification.
Racist and antisemitic anti-vaxxer Christopher Mark Head, who had promoted the rally and who we exposed before the event, did not show up at Piedmont Park on the day.
The “Worldwide Freedom Rally” at Piedmont Park was advertised with posters trivializing the Holocaust (by comparing it to health measures) and featuring the slogan “Save the Children” – a QAnon reference.
“Sailing to Denver”
Eugene Owens (AKA “Kilgore Rand”) of “I Do Not Comply” and rally organizer Karen Denise Cortes Hernandez (AKA “Kay P”). Read more here about Eugene Owens’ far-Right networking and his rock band Faithless Town’s COVID-19 disinformation efforts.
