Lies, Damned Lies, and Cameron Padgett: The Secret Life of the Atlanta-area Racist Who Books Richard Spencer’s Campus Visits

Update 5/1/2018: Padgett’s lawsuit against Penn State has been thrown out. Padgett has also dropped his lawsuit against University of Cincinnati.

Summary: Cameron Padgett, who books speaking events for white nationalist leader Richard Spencer on US campuses, has cultivated a media persona as a clean-cut, law-abiding student who cares deeply about free speech and advocacy for white people. In reality, the campus events organized by Padgett for Spencer show military-style coordination with white nationalist groups and predictably lead to racist violence. Contrary to his friendly media face, Padgett is an active participant in the white supremacist movement. Padgett took part in a racist torchlit rally in Charlottesville, Virginia during October – eight weeks after the “Unite the Right” rampage there – and soon after livestreamed himself harassing a working class Latinx community in Atlanta. Padgett frequently rails against the “degeneracy” of the modern age, while being careful to conceal his own history of forgery and drug charges in Chatham County, Georgia. When Padgett received a ticket while driving to the October white power rally in Charlottesville, Padgett gave the address of Safety Net Recovery, a sober living program. Drug use and addiction do not deserve contempt. We condemn Padgett’s racism, his scapegoat politics, and his hypocrisy. Continue reading “Lies, Damned Lies, and Cameron Padgett: The Secret Life of the Atlanta-area Racist Who Books Richard Spencer’s Campus Visits”

Georgia Neo-Nazi Organizer is Senior at Whitewater High School (Fayetteville, GA)

Anti-racists have discovered that Donovan Stai – currently a senior at Whitewater High School in Fayetteville, Georgia – worked throughout 2017 as state leader for Vanguard America, a self-proclaimed “fascist” organization whose website rants about “bloodthirsty negroes” and “Jewish puppet masters.” As a state leader for Vanguard America, Stai propagandized via the “Vanguard Georgia” Twitter account, he assisted with the group’s internal organization, and he participated in campaigns of coordinated harassment. Stai has signaled support for violence and even murder on behalf of his neo-Nazi cause. Given the number of murders committed by neo-Nazis and white supremacists over the last year, we believe that Stai’s embrace of racist violence should concern the community.

donovan stai
Donovan Stai

Vanguard America

Donovan Stai’s organization, Vanguard America, is notorious as the organization that James Alex Fields, Jr. stood with at the bloody “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017. The afternoon of “Unite the Right,” Fields drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist counter-protesters, murdering Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others. Vanguard America denies that Fields was a member of their organization, even though Fields stood in formation with Vanguard America members at Charlottesville that day and held a shield featuring a Vanguard America logo. Donovan Stai did not attend the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally, although at least one Vanguard America member from Georgia was there. Typing from afar, Stai celebrated the white power violence in Charlottesville, encouraging attendees to “Beat their [anti-racists] shit in” and later posting an image glorifying James Field, Jr.’s murderous attack.

Vanguard America is a white nationalist and self-declared “fascist” organization formed in 2015. The organization promotes a “blood and soil” nationalism similar to the German Nazi worldview. Over the last year, Vanguard America has been increasingly explicit in its neo-Nazism, for example posting Hitler quotes and pictures of its members with Nazi flags to social media. In the aftermath of “Unite the Right,” another organization, Patriot Front, splintered from Vanguard America and pursued more “patriotic” branding.

Vanguard America operates as part of the “Nationalist Frontwhite power alliance, including other racist groups such as the National Socialist Movement, the Traditionalist Worker Party, and the League of the South.

Donovan Stai’s Neo-Nazi Profiles

Donovan Stai used several different accounts for white power organizing. The first account is Stai’s personal Twitter account @hldisL which was created in March 2015. This account lasted until mid-December 2017, when Twitter removed many Vanguard America accounts. @hldisL used various names on this account, such as “Goebbels Jr” (a reference to the Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels), “See Kyle” (which sounds like “Sieg Heil” when said aloud), “Sceneablist”, and earlier in the account’s life “Donovan Hawks” and “Donovan Stai”. In the beginning @hldisL promoted anti-feminist and libertarian themes, but it became increasingly radical and racist as time passed. A backup account, @JosephRedRay / “Col. Raymond” was established in January 2017 – by that time the content was explicitly racist, antisemitic, and Alt-Right (that backup account was also suspended in 2017.)

hldisL Jun 15 2015 Donovan Stai
@hldisL account in  June 2015, using the name “Donovan Stai”
hldisL with Vanguard America logo
@hldisL account in 2017 featuring Vanguard America logo superimposed on a Confederate battle flag

The Twitter account for Vanguard America in Georgia — @gavanguard / “Vanguard Georgia” – was established in March 2017. (An earlier Twitter account for Vanguard Georgia was established in January 2017 — giving its location as Columbus, Georgia — but that account did not last long.) It was clear from its early days that @hldisL was responsible for the Vanguard Georgia organizational account that began in March 2017. First, a masthead image of the Vanguard America logo superimposed on a Confederate battle flag was used by both @hldisL and @gavanguard at various times. Second, @hldisL / “Goebbels Jr.” was one of the first accounts followed by @gavanguard. Finally, in March 2017 @hldisL continually retweeted the @gavanguard account, trying to increase the following for the new Vanguard Georgia account.

vanguard georgia twitter screencap 2017
Vanguard Georgia profile operated by Donovan Stai

For a .pdf archive from Donovan Stai’s @hldisL, @JosephRedRay, and @GaVanguard accounts on Twitter, click here (or follow the link at the end of this article).

In November 2017, the Unicorn Riot journalism collective leaked logs from the “Southern Front” Discord server. Discord is a messaging system used by video gamers, which has also been adopted by more tech-savvy portions of the extreme-Right. The “Southern Front” server facilitated communication between Vanguard America members located in the US South. A user named “The Don GA” is identified in the leaked Vanguard America chats as a “SL,” which in context appears to stand for “state leader.” (In addition to being part of Vanguard America, “The Don GA” also showed up in leaked chats from the far-Right group Anti-Communist Action.) On six different occasions “The Don GA” posted URLs for posts by the @gavanguard Twitter account within the “Southern Front” Discord server. The leaked Southern Front chats cut off shortly after “Unite the Right,” at the time Patriot Front splintered off from Vanguard America.

While “The Don GA” Discord user was clearly connected to the @gavanguard Twitter account, the @gavanguard Twitter account was linked to the @hldisL personal one, and @hldisL initially used the real name “Donovan Stai,” some readers may still question that Donovan Stai was behind all these accounts. For these skeptical readers, we will point out that “The Don GA” posted an image of dogs to the “Southern Front” server, which includes a Stai family pet. “The Don GA” also commented about starting a Wisconsin chapter for Vanguard America, which corresponds with Donovan Stai having lived in Wisconsin earlier in life. (Both Donovan Stai and the @hldisL Twitter account are also Green Bay Packers fans.) Atlanta Antifascists possess a screenshot from the @hldisL Twitter account providing a birthday of February 3; this is also Donovan Stai’s birthday. A photo posted to the @hldisL account in August 2016 has its face almost entirely covered but is consistent with Stai’s appearance.

hldisL 7 Aug 2016
In August 2016, @hldisL posted this self-portrait to his account. While the face is obscured, it is consistent with Donovan Stai’s appearance.

Although both Stai’s personal @hldisL twitter as well the Vanguard Georgia account were removed by Twitter in December 2017, there is no sign that Stai has distanced himself from Vanguard America or the white power movement since that time. We now examine some of Donovan Stai’s activity more closely.

Glorifying Intimidation and Murder

Chatting with his Vanguard America peers in the “Southern Front” Discord server, Donovan Stai made a series of posts laughing about and endorsing racial intimidation and murder. In a May 17, 2017, post, “The Don GA” / Stai shared an image celebrating Dylan M. Mahone, who had been arrested the month prior for vandalizing a Jewish Community Center and nearby church in Fairfax County, Virginia with graffiti including a swastika. (Mahone also placed antisemitic flyers for the “Aryan Underground” at a Northern Virginia Community College campus in March 2017.) Following on from his image celebrating Dylan Mahone’s actions, Donovan Stai wrote: “As apart [sic] of our new vetting process [for Vanguard America] we shall make everyone burn down a synagogue.”

Earlier on May 17, Donovan Stai proposed an image of Dylann Roofthe white supremacist murderer behind the Charleston Emanuel AME Church massacre – as the insignia for the “South District” of Vanguard America.

While the arson proposal and the Dylann Roof insignia comment from Stai may not have been meant literally, they nevertheless communicated a clear message to his peers: attacks on synagogues and the murder of Black churchgoers are all funny, and these acts may be something to emulate. When diehard racists rile each other up with these sorts of comments, the result is that further acts of violence become more likely.

On the same server, Donovan Stai celebrated white supremacist violence at the “Unite the Right” rally. While Stai did not attend the rally, his comments on the Discord server that day are gleeful. In a post time-stamped the next day, Stai shared an image to the Discord server celebrating James Alex Fields, Jr.’s vehicular murder of Heather Heyer.

The Don GA james alex fields jr meme
Image posted by Donovan Stai / “The Don GA” celebrating white supremacist murder in Charlottesville, Virginia, August 2017

Active Harassment 

At times, Donovan Stai moved from celebrating racist intimidation and violence, to actively participating in harassment. For example, the Vanguard Georgia Twitter account circulated the personal information of (or “doxxed”) Georgetown University Professor Dr. C. Christine Fair on May 22, 2017. The post linking to Fair’s personal information was also retweeted by Stai’s @hldisL account. At the time, Christine Fair was being harassed by white nationalists due to her confronting racist “Alt-Right” leader Richard Spencer at her Alexandria, Virginia gym, which then ended Spencer’s membership .

Stai circulates Christine Fair dox
Online harassment by Donovan Stai against C. Christine Fair

A couple of months earlier, Donovan Stai targeted journalist Kurt Eichenwald, arguably attempting an assault against him. As a journalist, Kurt Eichenwald angered some Trump supporters with his critical reporting on Trump’s business interests. For bigots on the Alt-Right, Eichenwald’s Jewish heritage was a further reason to attack him. Eichenwald has written about his epilepsy diagnosis on several occasions. In December 2016, he was sent a strobe-light animated graphic on Twitter, containing the words “You deserve a seizure for your posts.” According to Eichenwald, the flashing image did indeed cause a seizure. In March 2017, a veteran who sent the image to Eichenwald was arrested (He currently faces assault charges and a hate crime enhancement). Since the initial attempted assault, dozens of other people sent flashing images to Eichenwald, presumably with the aim of inducing another seizure. Donovan Stai, using his @hldisL account, was one of them. Stai sent Eichenwald a strobe-light image on March 17, 2017. Stai then added “I hope he [Eichenwald] wore his helmet.” (While the archived version of the post from Stai / @hldisL does not flash, archived comments as well as discussion from the 4Chan message board, all make clear that the original file was a strobe-light animation.)

hldisL targets Eichenwald
Donovan Stai sends an animated strobe-light image to Kurt Eichenwald, March 2017. Stai’s follow-up comment shows that he clearly hoped to cause an epileptic seizure.

Due to his neo-Nazi ideology, his comments glorifying intimidation and even murder, and his history of harassment, we believe that community members should be warned about Donovan Stai. After graduation, Donovan Stai hopes to become an emergency medical technician or a firefighter. We believe that Stai should not be allowed to infiltrate these professions. People of Color or Jewish people should not be forced to trust their lives to a member of a neo-Nazi group.

Was Donovan Stai Influenced by White Power Teacher at Whitewater High School?

Finally, some readers may recognize Whitewater High School in Fayetteville – which Donovan Stai attends — as the school where Hitler-admiring racist Joshua David Hitson taught English until August 2017, when Hitson resigned after being exposed to the community as a white power agitator. (The ex-Principal for Whitewater High School, Roy Rabold, took an aggressive stance in defense of Joshua Hitson despite all the available evidence.)

Since Joshua Hitson’s time as a white nationalist teacher at Whitewater High School overlaps with Donovan Stai’s time there as a student, this suggests several interesting questions. Did Joshua David Hitson play a role in Donovan Stai’s radicalization, or politically mentor Stai in any way? Did Joshua Hitson and Donovan Stai organize together on white nationalist projects?

At present, we do not have enough information to draw definite conclusions. We do know that Joshua Hitson’s “Contrarian Gent” Twitter was one of the first accounts followed by Stai’s “Vanguard Georgia”. Donovan Stai also used his personal Twitter accounts (@hldisL and @JosephRedRay) to retweet “Contrarian Gent” / Hitson. These close online associations suggest that Hitson and Stai may have coordinated politically offline also. If you have more information about Donovan Stai’s racist organizing, including any further links to Joshua David Hitson, we would like to hear from you.

Early accounts followed by GaVanguard twitter
Joshua David Hitson’s @ContrarianGent Twitter account was one of the very first followed by Vanguard Georgia / @gavanguard

Twitter ArchiveStai Twitter Archive coverClick here for an archive of materials from the @gavanguard, @hldisL and @JosephRedRay Twitter accounts.

 

Racists Menace Tennessee Church Reeling from Mass Shooting

An earlier version of this article gave Justin Lamar Burger’s name as “Justin William Burger.” We apologize for this error.

Update 11/08/17: The fifth and final participant in the Burnette Chapel protest (who gave the name of “Leah” to media) has been identified as Florida resident Haley Olivia Copeland.

 

Justin Burger (Douglasville, Georgia), Ian Booton (Gibson, GA) and University of Central Florida Student Simon Michael Dickerman in Far-Right Flash Protest at Burnette Chapel
 
On Sunday, October 29, white nationalists held a five-person flash protest outside the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee (about twenty minutes from Nashville.) A month earlier, gunman Emanuel Kidega Samson targeted Burnette Chapel, killing one congregation member and wounding seven more. A note left in the shooter’s car allegedly mentioned Dylann Roof, the white supremacist responsible for 2015 massacre at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. White nationalists have now seized on the Burnette Chapel shooting for propaganda purposes, for a couple of reasons. First, the mention of Dylann Roof in the note left in Samson’s vehicle could be used to build a “revenge” narrative around the Antioch shooting — a narrative which is helpful to white nationalists. Second, Emanuel Samson was born in Sudan but spent most of his life in the United States. Far-Right commentators such as Alabama-based League of the South publicist/“Alt-South” blogger Bradley Dean Griffin have seized upon the Antioch shooting to increase racist and anti-immigrant sentiment. The shooting is also useful to white nationalists because it can be used to draw false equivalencies and to deflect attention from their own movement’s role in radicalizing Charleston murderer Dylann Roof.
 
shelbyville wlm overpowered
White nationalists outnumbered in Shelbyville, Tennessee, October 28, 2017
The Burnette Chapel attack was referenced frequently by the Nationalist Front –- a racist umbrella grouping involving the National Socialist Movement, League of the South, Traditionalist Worker Party, Vanguard America and others –- as it organized for its “White Lives Matter” demonstration in Middle Tennessee on Saturday, October 28. Apart from flash mobs, the “White Lives Matter” rally was the first major street demonstration by white nationalists in the US, since the bloody and disastrous “Unite the Right” rally in Virginia this August. Nationalist Front organizers had initially planned to demonstrate in both Shelbyville and Murfreesboro on Saturday the 28th, but after their forces were outnumbered in Shelbyville, Nationalist Front organizers abruptly canceled their second demonstration in Murfreesboro, where a large counter-protest awaited them. On Saturday night following the dismal Shelbyville rally, members of the racist and fascist Traditionalist Worker Party assaulted an interracial couple at a pub in Brentwood, Tennessee.
 
Shelbyville TN tradworker shields
Traditionalist Worker Party shields, Shelbyville October 28 
Throughout the weekend of the “White Lives Matter” rally, rumors swirled that Nationalist Front members would show up in Antioch and hold a protest outside Burnette Chapel. However, no such protest occurred on Friday. On Saturday in Shelbyville, racist organizers announced an evening presence at the Antioch church, but this event was eventually cancelled just as the Murfreesboro demonstration had been earlier. However, the next morning, a handful of militant racists showed up outside Burnette Chapel with a banner, until the arrival of police shooed them away. The flash protest was documented by Newsweek correspondent Michael Hayden. By showing up at a church that had already experienced trauma and violence, the white nationalists made it even plainer that their movement does not care about the Burnette Chapel congregation. The racist movement just hoped to exploit a tragedy for its own agenda. 
 
The five white nationalist protesters outside Burnette Chapel on Sunday stated to Newsweek that they were part of Identity Evropa, a racist organization that focuses on college-aged recruits. However, Identity Evropa leader Elliott Kline (AKA “Eli Mosley”) has denied that the five demonstrators in Antioch were members, claiming instead that they were “trolling” by mentioning Identity Evropa as their organization. Surprisingly, Kline seems to be correct. One of the white power protesters outside Burnette Chapel has been identified by Nebraska antifascists as Daniel Kleve of the Vanguard America, which unlike Identity Evropa is affiliated with the Nationalist Front. Although one of the Antioch, Tennessee protesters (who gave her name as “Leah”) remains unidentified, we have identified the remaining three as Justin Lamar Burger of Douglasville, Georgia; Ian Mathis George Booton of Gibson, Georgia; and University of Central Florida student Simon Michael Dickerman. Similarly to Daniel Kleve of Nebraska, Burger, Booton, and Dickerman traveled from out-of-state to participate in the “White Lives Matter” demonstration.
 
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Justin Burger (L) and Ian Booton (R) outside Burnette Chapel in Antioch, Tennessee, October 29, 2017. Photo courtesy of Michael E Hayden.
 

Continue reading “Racists Menace Tennessee Church Reeling from Mass Shooting”

Update: Evan Thomas Anderson, Atlanta Property, and May 13 Charlottesville White Power Rally

In late August, we published “‘Right-Wing Gentrification Gangs’: White Nationalists and Atlanta Property Development.” In the article, we discussed several white nationalists involved in the Atlanta property market. One of these figures is Evan Thomas Anderson AKA Evan Thomas Kuettner, a leader in the racist Identity Evropa organization. Anderson’s company Sun Rising LLC owns property in Atlanta.

In particular, our article drew attention to a building and adjacent lots owned by Anderson in the Lakewood neighborhood.

Lakewood

On Saturday, September 2 — days after the “Gentrification Gangs” article was published — Evan Anderson was seen at his building in Lakewood, removing the “For Sale or Lease” sign with his phone number. Anderson was assisted at the building by someone resembling Casey Jordan Cooper, another Identity Evropa leader and second-year law student at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. (Our article also mentioned Casey Cooper’s hope to invest in Atlanta property.)

lakewood sept 2 2017 I

lakewood sept 2 2017 II
Sept 2, 2017: Evan Anderson removes sign at his building in Lakewood, assisted by someone resembling local white nationalist Casey Jordan Cooper
Within a week from the sign being removed, Evan Anderson sold his building in Lakewood. Sun Rising LLC/Anderson still owns nearby lots in that neighborhood as well as other property in Atlanta.

Evan Anderson and the May 13, 2017 Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia

We have also discovered that Evan Anderson did not just speak at the May 13, 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia — a racist gathering which set the stage for the bloody “Unite the Right” event there this August — but that Anderson booked a park used for this day of activity. Anderson reserved Pen Park for an alleged “Marketing Network Group Dinner.” This was actually where racists gathered and dined before their nighttime torch rally at Lee Park.

Charlottesville Evan Anderson May email

Charlottesville Marketing Network Group Dinner may 13 2017
Evan Anderson books Pen Park in Charlottesville for a “Marketing Network Group Dinner” — actually a white power rally.
It is unsurprising that Evan Anderson supplied an Alexandria, Virginia address on this paperwork, since Anderson has posted to social media about spending time near Washington, DC (and has helped with National Policy Institute conferences in DC.)

evanthomas1985 aug 25 2017 tweet DC
August Twitter post from “Evan Thomas” about spending time in Washington, DC (picture now deleted.)
Alexandria, Virginia is also the current base of operations for white power leader Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute, whose efforts Anderson assists.

If you have more information about Evan Thomas Kuettner/Evan Thomas Anderson or other racists operating in our region, please contact us.

“Right-Wing Gentrification Gangs”: White Nationalists and Atlanta Property Development

Update 10/11/2017 here.

Introduction

Since the early 2000s, Atlanta white nationalist attorney Sam Dickson has been accumulating property in Atlanta, making a profit from gentrification and rising property values in our city. Dickson has built a “multi-million dollar business” from purchasing unpaid tax debts, then using them as leverage to obtain properties at bargain prices. Dickson has focused on property in South Atlanta, often in neighborhoods that are historically Black and working class. Dickson has been accused of “bullying” tactics to gain title.

Dickson’s moneymaking from the Atlanta property market was highlighted in a 2006 article published by the state-friendly, anti-extremist Southern Poverty Law Center. Other white nationalist and far-Right figures — currently or recently involved in the Atlanta property market — have received less attention. This article discusses some of these figures, showing how organized white nationalists gain both politically and economically from gentrification in our city.

Sam Dickson

Georgia attorney Samuel Glasgow Dickson has been a major figure on the racist far-Right since the 1970s. In 1978, Dickson campaigned for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia on a segregationist platform, receiving 11% of the vote. A lawyer since 1972, Dickson was known for representing Klansmen. Dickson participated in organizations such as the World Anti-Communist League (which included war criminals and far-Right terrorists) as well as the Council of Conservative Citizens (which traces back to the segregationist White Citizens’ Councils.) Dickson was active in Holocaust-denial circles – he published “Revisionist” materials and hosted events in Atlanta. Holocaust-denier David Irving spent time at Dickson’s property in Key West, Florida while facing criminal charges in Europe.

In 1994, Dickson gave a talk at the first American Renaissance conference, a suit-and-tie-style white nationalist gathering. Dickson has presented at every American Renaissance conference since then. He is also a regular speaker at the “Alt-Right” gatherings of the National Policy Institute. Predictably, Dickson was a speaker at the “Atlanta Forum” gathering in Marietta, Georgia this January, which brought together racist Southern nationalists and “Alt-Right” white nationalists. When Auburn University in Alabama tried to cancel an appearance by white power leader Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute, Dickson filed a lawsuit so the event could go ahead. Dickson gave a talk when white nationalists assembled in mass in Charlottesville, Virginia on May 13, 2017 – the white nationalists’ evening event was reminiscent of Klan ceremonies. Sam Dickson was again in Charlottesville for the bloody “Unite the Right” far-Right rally on August 12, 2017, where white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. murdered anti-racist Heather Heyer and wounded over a dozen more in a car attack.

dickson charlottesville may 2017
Sam Dickson holding megaphone at white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, May 13, 2017. “Alt-Right” leaders Richard Spencer, Nathan Damigo and Mike Peinovich (“Mike Enoch”) also visible in photo.

While staying active on the white power scene, Dickson has spent over a decade and a half buying up land around Atlanta, frequently using tax liens he has purchased to encourage property owners to sell low. When areas are redeveloped, Dickson stands to profit. Predictably, other white nationalists and far-Right figures now have their names on Fulton County property records, operating at various degrees of proximity or separation from Dickson himself. Continue reading ““Right-Wing Gentrification Gangs”: White Nationalists and Atlanta Property Development”

Dossier: White Power Organizer and Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School Student Casey Jordan Cooper

From Casey Cooper Information:

In March 2017, Atlanta Antifascists exposed Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School student Casey Jordan Cooper (AKA “Phoenix Reich”) as one of the most active white power organizers in the Metro Atlanta area. We documented that Cooper made a death threat against a Black activist in our city and that he published racist comments about others at his law school. In May 2017, yet more information about Cooper came to light, revealing that Cooper is affiliated with the white nationalist organization Identity Evropa and that he organized other racists to paste propaganda such as “Why White Women Shouldn’t Date Black Men” around Georgia campuses. Since Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School seems unconcerned by their student’s behavior, we are releasing this dossier with over 500 pages of documentation on Casey Cooper and his white power agitation. Download the dossier here.

cooper dossier cover

Cooper Charlottesville for blog

Casey Jordan Cooper at white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, May 2017