International Keystone Knights – Atlanta Antifascists

Update: American Patriots USA “Chaplain” Robert Timothy Dickenson and Militant White Supremacy

Update: in a statement on December 21, American Patriots USA leader Chester Doles claimed that he expelled Dickenson from the organization.

Robert Timothy Dickenson is the chaplain of north Georgia’s American Patriots USA (APUSA), an organization founded by white supremacists in 2019. Led by Chester Doles, APUSA has tried to build broader alliances on the far-Right. Dickenson attended APUSA’s founding meeting on December 14, 2019 and has remained a key participant at least up to its last major event, a “Back the Blue” fundraiser this September in Dahlonega.

*Tim Dickenson (3^rd from left) in Dahlonega, Georgia, September 12, 2020. Also pictured (L-R): Chester Doles, Michael Boggus, Jim Higginbotham* (of “Justice Mulisha”).

In an earlier article, we highlighted that Dickenson was a member of the Original Knight Riders, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan circa 2015. We noted that last year Dickenson accompanied an American Patriots USA float in Dahlonega’s Gold Rush Days parade while wearing a sweatshirt for a different Klan group, the International Keystone Knights of the KKK.

Here, we provide further documentation on APUSA’s chaplain. We have documented that APUSA’s overall leader, Chester Doles, participated in 2017’s violent “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia with a contingent of Hammerskin Nation gang members. Robert Tim Dickenson also took part in the bloody Virginia rally, marching alongside and later posing for photos with the League of the South, a white supremacist and Southern secessionist organization. Earlier in 2017, Dickenson was photographed at a rally by the Nationalist Front – a now-defunct coalition of white power groups – in Pikeville, Kentucky. Dickenson attended the April 2017 Kentucky event as a member of the Original Knight Riders, showing that his membership in that Klan group continued beyond 2015.

*Dickenson with League of the South members after “Unite the Right”, 2017, posing with anti-racist banner that was grabbed during clash.* Dickenson is on right holding rifle.

Our original article also discussed a racist church which we provisionally linked to Dickenson. A 2018 business filing in South Carolina confirms this earlier analysis.

Robert Timothy Dickenson: Klan Supporter in North Georgia’s “American Patriots USA”

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 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.*

North Georgia: “American Patriots USA” Update

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 “2^nd 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.*

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*

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*

Victory: The Collapse of “Rock Stone Mountain II”

For months, white supremacists promised to rally on February 2^nd – the Saturday before the Super Bowl – at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta. Despite having hyped their rally since September, their rally completely unraveled in the days leading up to the event. Different “Rock Stone Mountain II” organizers gave different accounts of the collapse. On the 2nd, approximately 150 anti-racists held a celebration march in the community of Stone Mountain, which culminated in burning a Klansman in effigy. Stone Mountain Park – the would-be site of the white supremacist mobilization – was closed for the day, which the Park had abruptly announced the evening before. On Saturday, lines of police in full riot gear waited in formation just behind the closed-off pedestrian gate to the Park.

Anti-racists march in Stone Mountain, February 2nd, 2019

We have covered white supremacist planning for “Rock Stone Mountain II” since October of last year, when we provided not just an overview of the scheduled event, but also profiled twelve people who had signed up as “going” on Facebook. As we stressed from the beginning, “Rock Stone Mountain II” was an explicitly white nationalist rally, whose initial two leaders were neo-Nazi John Michael Estes and the Georgia Grand Dragon for the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Greg Calhoun. Both these figures were involved with the first “Rock Stone Mountain” at Stone Mountain Park in April 2016, which was outnumbered almost ten-to-one by counter-protesters and met with fierce resistance.

F.L.O.W.E.R. coalition banner, February 2nd, 2019

If the “Rock Stone Mountain II” organizers were hoping to do better than their 2016 event, it soon became apparent that they faced steep challenges. In early November, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association – which operates Stone Mountain Park – announced that it would not grant a permit for “Rock Stone Mountain II”. (The Park permitted and protected the initial “Rock Stone Mountain” white power rally of April 2016.) In addition, a coalition of anti-racists – operating under the name FrontLine Organization Working to End Racism, or F.L.O.W.E.R. – was organizing mass opposition to the Klan-/neo-Nazi event, vowing to show up and confront the white supremacists on the day. Continue reading “Victory: The Collapse of “Rock Stone Mountain II””

Permit Denied to White Supremacist “Rock Stone Mountain II” Rally

Citing safety concerns and potential disruption to services at their Park, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association has denied a permit to the “Rock Stone Mountain II” white power rally advertised for February 2, 2019. However, at the time of writing Rock Stone Mountain organizers have not publicly canceled their event. Since it is possible that the event’s Klan and white supremacist organizers may try to proceed without a permit or make other plans for the day, we are still asking all anti-racists and community allies to be ready to respond on February 2.

This image was posted to the Rock Stone Mountain Facebook page on November 11 after Stone Mountain Park denied the permit application for their rally, suggesting that organizers may still be making plans.

In denying the permit for February 2, 2019, the Memorial Association cited anti-racist protest at the park during the initial “Rock Stone Mountain” of April 2016. Continue reading “Permit Denied to White Supremacist “Rock Stone Mountain II” Rally”

“Rock Stone Mountain II” White Supremacist Rally Scheduled for February 2, 2019 Outside Atlanta

Klansmen, neo-Nazis and white supremacists have announced their plan for a “resistance” rally at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta on February 2, 2019. The rally – “Rock Stone Mountain II” – is a sequel to the white power “Rock Stone Mountain” rally organized in April 2016 at the Park. In 2016, the organizers’ goal to have a white supremacist show of force was undermined by a multifaceted anti-racist mobilization of hundreds of counter-protestors. The white supremacists brought out just dozens, who were kept inside a police pen.

Anti-racists are again calling for a mass presence at Stone Mountain Park on February 2, to oppose the Klan and white supremacist organizing. Rock Stone Mountain II’s racist organizers hope to fare better than they did in 2016. The white nationalist rampage in Charlottesville, 2017 shows the danger of allowing organized racist movements to grow. It is crucial that we defend our communities and stand against them.

Rallying against the racists, Stone Mountain Park, April 2016

Continue reading ““Rock Stone Mountain II” White Supremacist Rally Scheduled for February 2, 2019 Outside Atlanta”

Who Are the White Supremacists Attending February’s “Rock Stone Mountain II” Rally?

Is the upcoming “Rock Stone Mountain II” rally about “resistance to communism” as its current Facebook event page claims, or is it an overt white supremacist gathering? This article highlights a dozen individuals who marked themselves as “going” to the “Rock Stone Mountain” event outside Atlanta, which is scheduled for February 2nd, 2019. Although there is no guarantee that everyone listed will attend, looking at those who plan to show up gives a clear indication of the rally’s white supremacist and extreme-Right character.

We used two Facebook “going” lists for Rock Stone Mountain II for this article. First, we used the list of people who said they were “going” on the current Facebook event page. We also downloaded the “going” list for an earlier Rock Stone Mountain II event page, which was eventually deleted by Facebook. We used this earlier list as a source for the last few names discussed in this article.

Listed as “Going” on the Current “Rock Stone Mountain II” Facebook Event

John Michael Estes

John Michael Estes (Note that “88” on shirt is alphanumeric code for “H.H.” or “Heil Hitler.”)

John Michael Estes is the primary organizer for “Rock Stone Mountain II”, just as he was for the first “Rock Stone Mountain” in 2016. We have already discussed Estes’ worldview in an earlier article written before the first Rock Stone Mountain rally. Estes is a white supremacist who was radicalized by ordering books from the Aryan Nations while in prison. Estes has since that time moved through a variety of white power circles, from racist “Christian Identity” religion (which believes that whites are God’s true chosen people) to racially-charged versions of Odinism. Continue reading “Who Are the White Supremacists Attending February’s “Rock Stone Mountain II” Rally?”

Georgia Neo-Nazi Broadcast Cancelled

“NSM Hoff” – a white supremacist internet radio show that was part of the National Socialist Movement’s “Radio Network” – has been cancelled by its host Floyd Eric Meadows of Rome, Georgia. The weekly show began in August 2016 and discussed “Anglo-Saxon and National Socialist Spirituality” from a racist heathen/neo-pagan perspective. A brief “eulogy” for the show was posted on the National Socialist Movement Media Radio Network page on December 27, 2016, confirming that the show had been cancelled by its host “due to a variety of personal situations.”

nsm-hoff-eulogy-late-dec-2016

Floyd Eric Meadows is a longstanding white supremacist in Georgia. A couple of months after the April 23, 2016 National Socialist Movement (NSM) rally held in Rome, GA, Meadows hosted a smaller “meet and greet” home gathering attended by NSM and International Keystone Knights of the KKK members. In July, “Eric” was announced as the NSM leader for Georgia; Meadows’ internet radio broadcast began the month after that.

As well as pontificating about a racist variant of neo-paganism, the NSM Hoff show discussed less airy matters, such as Eric Meadows’ preparations for an Aryan Nationalist Alliance (now renamed Nationalist Front) gathering in Draketown, GA in mid-September. (The Draketown event featured not just a swastika-burning in the field behind the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar, but also a pagan wedding ceremony for Meadows attended by his neo-Nazi pals.) The NSM Hoff show also discussed Meadows’ longer-term ambition to build a racist heathen enclave in Eastern Tennessee.

eric-meadows-angie-johnson-nazi-rally5119 Eric Meadows and Angela Kay Johnson, both of Rome, GA, at Nationalist Front rally in Harrisburg, PA, November 5, 2016. Photo courtesy of Restoring the Honor.

Meadows’ “personal situations” seem to have started around the time he and his partner travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for a November 5 pre-election rally organized by the NSM and its Nationalist Front alliance. While Meadows was away, over 150 of his closest neighbors received an anti-fascist mailing setting out Meadows’ history and affiliations. The next Monday, in place of the scheduled “NSM Hoff” broadcast from Meadows, an earlier archived episode was reposted. Reruns continued until the show was officially cancelled at the end of December.

While Eric Meadows seems to have temporarily gone quiet, there is no evidence that he has cut ties with the white supremacist movement or that he will remain inactive forever. We also do not believe that the end of Meadows’ broadcast spells the end of National Socialist Movement activity in our state – this organization has resurfaced time and again in Georgia, often with a new leader at its helm. If you have information about NSM or other white supremacist activity in our state, please get in contact.