Marjorie Taylor Greene – Atlanta Antifascists

Georgia III% Martyrs Roll Call

The Georgia III% Martyrs are a fairly new III% militia. Originally formed after a split from Chris Hill’s Georgia III% Security Force, they received major media attention when they acted as armed security for a Kelly Loeffler and Marjorie Taylor Greene campaign event in Ringgold, GA. During the summer their members also conducted armed surveillance of at least one BLM march. Their provocative name, signifying a willingness to die for their right-wing nationalist cause, has raised eyebrows even within the militia world. Like most III% groups, they claim to reject overt white nationalism but embrace racist xenophobia and Islamophobia.

The Georgia III% Martyrs have recently allied themselves with Chester Doles, a white supremacist and neo-Nazi of long standing. Since last year, Doles has pretended to have left the white power movement, although his social media shows that Doles is still highly networked with Klansmen and neo-Nazis, and that he regularly promotes racist websites and themes. There was conflict between the two parties as recently as last year, when the Martyrs ejected Doles from the Marjorie Taylor Greene campaign event in Ringgold, but their differences have been set aside.

We are exposing known members of the Georgia III% Martyrs in order to warn their communities. The members of this militia are volatile and happy to ally with white nationalists.

LEADER

Names: Justin Bowen Thayer, Justin Thayer, Justin “Slayer” Thayer
Born: 1987
Location: Bremen, Georgia
Employment: Starr Services
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thayer7420 (removed)
Known arrests: March 2019 domestic violence arrest (media link), November 2019, DUI (police record), April 2020, DUI: (court case)

MEMBER

Names: Jake Michael Bassett, Jake Cheek, BassettHound
Born: 1994
Location: Carrollton, Georgia
Affiliations: Georgia III% Martyrs
Facebook: account 1 and account 2
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bassetthound1
MeWe: https://mewe.com/i/bassetthound

MEMBER

Name: Jerry Ray Pless
Born: 1982
Location: Dalton, GA
Affiliations: Georgia III% Martyrs
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerry-pless-a18b83166 (listed as working at Tandus Centiva)
Facebook: account 1 and account 2

Update: Georgia Republican Candidates Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gurtler Assist Recruitment for Antisemitic “Patriots” Group

Update 8/11/2020: Marjorie Taylor Greene won in the GA14 Republican runoff and will likely head to Congress. Matt Gurtler was defeated in GA09.

On August 11^th, Georgia Congressional candidates Marjorie Taylor Greene (14^th District) and Matt Gurtler (9^th District) will compete in runoff elections for their Districts’ Republican nominations. Greene faces John Cowan for the 14^th District nomination, while Gurtler is competing against Andrew Clyde in the 9^th District. Both the 9^th and the 14^th Districts lean heavily Republican, so whoever wins the GOP nomination for each of these districts is likely to take a seat in Congress. Both Greene and Gurtler have ties to American Patriots USA, an ostensibly pro-Trump organization with roots in the neo-Nazi and Klan undergrounds.

*Chester Doles video with Marjorie Greene sign in background*

We have covered the “American Patriots USA” (APUSA) organization in north Georgia since it was formed last year, in the wake of a September far-Right rally in Dahlonega. That rally’s organizer and APUSA’s leader, Chester Doles, has a history spanning decades in the white supremacist movement. Doles led a Ku Klux Klan group, operated the Georgia unit of the neo-Nazi “National Alliance”, and more recently supported the violent Hammerskins racist gang. Other white nationalists are also involved with APUSA, and Doles has boasted that there is no “Jew loving [… in] this Crew”. The organization has also built tactical alliances with some far-Right people of color.

As we documented in our May article, Doles has now built bridges to Republican candidates. In late February, Doles and other members posed with Marjorie Taylor Greene behind an APUSA banner. In March, State House Representative and current GA09 candidate Matt Gurtler talked to an APUSA meeting and posed for a group photo.

Whitewash: “American Patriots USA” Enlists GOP Candidates to Launder White Nationalist Agenda

8/10/2020: update on Matt Gurtler and Marjorie Taylor Greene here.

As this report was being prepared for publication Thursday evening, far-Right militiaman and 9th Congressional District candidate Michael Boggus released a video on Facebook, stating that he is the new State Director for American Patriots USA. Since neo-Nazi Chester Doles and the white supremacists around Doles remain in the organization, we assume this is a shell game.

Summary: American Patriots USA (APUSA) was formed last year in north Georgia by Chester Doles, a longtime neo-Nazi. As documented in this and earlier reports, the organization is a thinly disguised front group for white supremacists. APUSA has spent the last few months building a broader front of “constitutionalist” Republican candidates, including several people of color, which it uses to mask its agenda. The white power organization even hosted a current State House Representative, Matthew Gurtler, at their March meeting. We document APUSA’s “Trojan horse” effort and highlight the complicity of GOP candidates and networks in normalizing white supremacist organizing.