Anti-Vaccine Conference in Metro Atlanta Promotes Far-right and Antisemitic Poison

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.

“VIP dinner” promotional image
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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.  

Occidental Dissent website

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.

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