Shaun Winkler – Atlanta Antifascists

“Heritage Not Hate” and White Nationalist Networks

On August 15, 2020, racists and the far-Right vow to rally at Stone Mountain outside Atlanta.

*Heritage Not Hate private Facebook group*

An earlier alert discussed the upcoming rally and Stone Mountain Park’s history. We noted how two projects promoting the August 15 rallies – Protect the South and American Patriots USA – have their roots in neo-Nazi organizing. Both projects now try to build broader alliances through coded messaging.

We also mentioned the “Defending Stone Mountain” call to action from leaders of the Confederate States III% militia (CSIII%). CSIII% is a nominally non-racist far-Right group. In this update, we focus on these “Defending Stone Mountain” organizers and their ties to white nationalist networks.

At the end of this update, we discuss a new white supremacist project from a long-familiar face who is also trying to agitate around the Confederate carvings on Stone Mountain.

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*

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?”

International Keystone Knights of KKK Hosting “White Christian Community Event” in Rockmart, Georgia, October 1st 2016

Update 9/23/2016, 6PM: According to The Polk County Standard Journal, the Klan event has now been cancelled.

Update 9/19/2016: Permit for the KKK event in Rockmart is now available here.

On October 1^st – the same day the white supremacist Hammerskin Nation will hold a major racist festival in Georgia – the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (IKKKKK) have announced a gathering at Seaborn Jones Park in downtown Rockmart, Georgia.

Rockmart is approximately an hour northwest of Atlanta by car. It is approximately 25 minutes north of Draketown GA where the “Hammerfest” gathering is expected to take place. (The Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Draketown is also where the “Aryan Nationalist Alliance” will gather on September 17^th.)

The October 1^st IKKKKK gathering is promoted as a “White Christian Community Event” running from 10AM to 6PM and featuring vendors, music and food. Seaborn Jones Park is a public space operated by the City of Rockmart.

edited-keystone-knights-at-seaborne-jones-park-rockmart-ga-oct-1st-2016 Flyer for the Klan event in Rockmart, GA October 1^st

A promotional image for the October 1^st IKKKKK gathering was circulated online by Greg “Thor” Calhoun of Cedartown, Georgia. At the time of writing, promotion does not seem to have advanced far beyond Calhoun notifying those already in his circles.

Greg Calhoun was previously involved in the Aryan Nations Knights of the KKK, where he was active alongside Shaun Winkler of Mississippi, a longstanding white power militant and one-time “Imperial Wizard” of the Aryan Nations KKK. Both Calhoun and Winkler eventually switched organization affiliation to the International Keystone Knights. (Winkler is now a member of the National Socialist Movement.)

shawn-winkler-photo-posted-to-vk-19-jun-2016-with-greg-calhoun-dl-8-27-2016 Greg Calhoun (L) and Shaun Winkler (R) earlier this year.

On November 14, 2015, Greg Calhoun and his wife Jodi organized a “Defend Stone Mountain” rally at Stone Mountain Park – an event where there was an “obvious” Klan presence according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The November 14, 2015 rally organized by the Calhouns was the immediate precursor to the April 23, 2016 “Rock Stone Mountain” white power rally at the same park, an event which met with concerted anti-racist resistance.

In filings with the Georgia Corporations Division, the International Keystone Knights presently lists “Greg Cochran” as its agent for the State of Georgia – yet the address provided in these filings indicates that “Greg Cochran” is the same person as Gregory Todd Calhoun.

Regionally, October 1^st is an unusually busy day for white supremacist organizers. As well as the Hammerskins-sponsored “Hammerfest” in Georgia plus the IKKKKK “White Christian Community Event” in downtown Rockmart, the annual “Stormfront Summit” will be held in East Tennessee on the same weekend, featuring speakers such as David Duke, Paul Fromm, and Atlanta white nationalist/real estate lawyer Sam Dickson.

Aryan Nationalist Alliance Gathering at Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Draketown, Sept. 17 2016

Update 9/13/2016: According to the NSM, Matthew Heimbach has cancelled his appearance at the Aryan Nationalist Alliance event “due to a conflict on time.”

The Aryan Nationalist Alliance (ANA) – the pact of white supremacist groups established just before the National Socialist Movement (NSM) / Loyal White Knights of the KKK rally in Rome GA on April 23 – has now announced a gathering at the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Draketown (near Temple) GA on September 17^th.

The ANA meeting will take place exactly two weeks before Hammerfest, which is the national gathering for another white supremacist organization, the Hammerskin Nation. Hammerfest is also expected to take place at the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar. (The Georgia Peach is less than an hour’s drive west of Atlanta; since publishing our initial story on Hammerfest, we have received further corroboration that Patrick Lanzo’s Georgia Peach will be the venue on Oct. 1^st.)

Aryan National Alliance Sept 17 2016 GA Peach EDITED Aryan Nationalist Alliance event announced on front page of National Socialist Movement website

The September 17 Aryan Nationalist Alliance event is announced on the front page of the National Socialist Movement’s website. The gathering was initially planned as a regional meeting for the National Socialist Movement, but was subsequently broadened to be an Aryan Nationalist Alliance event involving several organizations. Matthew Heimbach of the Traditionalist Worker Party – also scheduled to appear at Hammerfest on Oct 1^st – will speak, as will the head of the NSM, Jeff Schoep. The announcement promises a “Swastika & Cross Lighting” for the evening.

The National Socialist Movement in Georgia has been formally reorganized over recent months with new leadership. The NSM head organizer in GA is now Floyd Eric Meadows, who has a past with the League of the South and the Southern Cross Militant Knights of the KKK. Prior to his new role as state leader for the NSM, Meadows had been listed as an NSM member in 2011.

Regionally, the NSM has used its April 23^rd events in Georgia plus its central role within the Aryan Nationalist Alliance to draw white power activists into its ranks. Shaun Winkler of Mississippi (previously involved with the Aryan Nations and the International Keystone Knights of the KKK) as well as Rebecca Barnette of Tennessee (one of the main organizers of White Lives Matter) are two Southern white supremacist leaders who have joined with the NSM in recent months.

As always, if you have information on white power organizing in Georgia and especially near Atlanta, please get in contact.