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 “2nd 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.
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SCK-KKK: A Klan Group in North Georgia

Update 2/14/2020: This article discusses a nighttime photo of people giving Klan salutes, that was posted online in 2018. One of the individuals in the photo was unidentified when we first published our article. He is Douglas Leroy Savage of Cleveland, Georgia.

Introduction

On September 14, 2019, a “Patriots”/Trump rally took place in Dahlonega, Georgia. The main organizer for the rally was Chester Doles, a neo-Nazi and self-described “fourth-generation Klansman”. Although organizers claimed their rally was not white supremacist, and the speaker lineup even included Black conservative commentator Lucretia Hughes in addition to white nationalist speakers, one of the main organized groups at the rally was from a North Georgia-based Ku Klux Klan faction, the SCKKKK. Here, we identify several members or supporters of this Klan group, discuss their role in the September 14 Dahlonega rally, and provide some background on their organization.

Dahlonega

On the day of Doles’ rally, a group of approximately twenty people marched with Doles into their designated rally area. Doles’ supporters had initially met up in a nearby parking lot. A picture from this lot shows that two KKK members, Jonathan Keith Miller and Robert C. McDuffie, were among the first to meet up with Doles.

Jonathan Miller and Robert McDuffie meet up with Chester Doles in parking lot before rally. Original image from reporter Doug Richards’ Twitter.

By the time Doles’ group marched in, three others formed a small group with McDuffie and Miller. The five stuck together throughout the event. Two of the others, Robert Craig Korom and Cody Steven Cantrell, are Klan supporters and likely members. We have not identified the fifth member of the group, and therefore cannot establish whether he is a Ku Klux Klan member or merely tagged along with the Klan group for Doles’ rally.

Ku Klux Klan group in Dahlonega, September 14, 2019. Still from News2Share footage. 
Unidentified fifth member of group, 9/14/2019.
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Documentation: Far-Right “Patriots”/Trump Rally, Dahlonega, Georgia, September 14, 2019 (Gallery 1 of 2)

American Patriots USA supporters Coltyn Sosebee (black t-shirt with hands on barrier) and Joshua Mote (red “Make America Great Again” cap).
Lucretia Hughes (center) chats with Confederate Patriot Rebels (green shirts on left).
Rally organizer Chester Doles (front) marches in with supporters. Klansman Jonathan Miller is wearing sandals and checkered shorts, carrying Trump 2020 flag.
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