Hate By Any Other Name Still Stinks

The threat comes when hate-filled humans band together, like a pack of starving wolves, and feed on their preferred prey. When hate leads to hateful actions, that right becomes something very, very wrong.

The Department of Justice explains this issue in a fact sheet about hate crime. That article states:

“Under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, people cannot be prosecuted simply for their beliefs. People may be offended or upset about beliefs that are untrue or based upon false stereotypes, but it is not a crime to express offensive beliefs, or to join with others who share such views. However, the First Amendment does not protect against committing a crime, just because the conduct is rooted in philosophical beliefs.”

Hate Crimes or Just Crimes?

This type of hate is not just a group of bigots standing on a sidewalk yelling racial epithets at passersby. It is organized, large and dangerous.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – August 12, 2017:

The Department of Justice recently indicted 68 members of the Peckerwoods on 76 charges. Charges for the San Fernando Valley-based white supremacist gang members included drug trafficking, illegal possession of firearms and financial fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Central California reported in October 2024.

An indictment is an allegation of a crime. Defendants are presumed innocent until/unless proven guilty in court. The maximum sentence for the charges is life in federal prison, the DOJ said.

Law enforcement officers seized illegal firearms and “dozens of pounds of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin,” the press release stated.

“The Peckerwoods’ violent white-supremacist ideology and wide-ranging criminal activity pose a grave menace to our community,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in the press release. “By allegedly engaging in everything from drug-trafficking to firearms offenses to identity theft to COVID fraud, and through their alliance with a neo-Nazi prison gang, the Peckerwoods are a destructive force.”

“The San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods, the Aryan Brotherhood and their associates are fused by one thing: hatred,” DEA Special Agent in Charge Matthew Allen said in that announcement. “It appears, however, that the business of hate was not enough for them. Driven by greed, they engaged in other crimes, including drug distribution, pushing out deadly fentanyl onto our streets.”

The September 26 indictment claims the Peckerwoods are associated with two major prison gangs, the Aryan Brotherhood white supremacists and the Mexican Mafia– which controls most Latino gangs in California. Peckerwoods symbology include swastikas, the number 88 (for “Heil Hitler”) and images of Nazi aircraft, the indictment states.

“From at least December 2016 to September 2024, Peckerwoods members conducted and participated in the affairs of their criminal enterprise by engaging in violence and threats of violence to preserve and expand the gang’s criminal operations, which promoted a climate of fear,” the DOJ press release said. “To generate revenue for the gang, its members trafficked narcotics, including fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine.”

The indictment also alleges they raised money with “robberies and financial fraud and participated in identity theft schemes.”

“The proliferation of gang-related organized crime deteriorates the core of our society,” Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi said in the DOJ article. “Taking guns out of the hands of gang members and drugs from our streets is just one more step towards reducing this deterioration.”

Fear of Repeating History

Perhaps because of the historically immense consequences of one breed of hate, the “white supremacy” groups are considered especially dangerous. That is why that particular ilk is the subject of this article.

Typically these hate groups– such as Neo-Nazis, Skinheads, White Nationalists, Ku Klux Klan, etc. – believe anyone different from them is inferior. Their targets include those of different races, religions, national origin and sexual orientation.

For the past 80 years, Americans have said what happened in Germany in the 1930s “can’t happen here.” The large number of organizations, with thousands of fanatical members, espousing the Nazi philosophy of an Übermenschen– a superior race– raises fears that maybe it can.

New Faces of ‘White Power’

Hate groups are no strangers to American society. There were anti-immigrant groups such as the Anti-Chinese Leagues in the West and the nativist Bowery Boys and other gangs in New York in the 1800s.

The most famous of American hate groups is the Ku Klux Klan. It began in the South and spread to other states. It enjoyed political power and protection, faded out and revived during the Civil Rights Movement.

Organizations using hate to support criminal enterprises are the most dangerous threat to society. Many of these gangs began in prisons.

One of the new thugs on the block is the Florida-based Unforgiven prison gang. Its emblem is a German Iron Cross entwined with the Nazi Swastika and the SS’s double lightning bolts in the center. It is an obvious endorsement of Adolph Hitler’s hate-based doctrines of racial superiority.

In March, four gang members were convicted on numerous federal charges after an investigation that began in October 2015. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) called the indictments “a huge win” in a press release.

Maverick Maher, 42, of Pensacola; Scott Marshall, 48, of Port Richey; Brandon Welch, 36, of Milton; and Joshua Williamson, 39, of Live Oak, face maximum sentences of up to 20 years for assault in aid of racketeering. Marshall was also convicted of kidnapping, which carries a possible life sentence.

“Since its founding, the gang has grown to include members inside and outside the Department of Corrections,” the ATF press release reported. The gang’s written “constitution” requires those seeking membership to commit “an extreme act of violence— and calls for violence against members who commit ‘violations,’” the press release added.

The most serious offense occurred on Jan. 2, 2019. Welch and Williamson stabbed a fellow Unforgiven member (identified only as J.T.) 12 times in the Columbia Correctional Institution. The victim went to the hospital by helicopter with serious injuries but survived.

The four were also among 16 Unforgiven members indicted in a separate action in July 2021. The indictment states they “engaged in acts of violence, including acts and threats involving murder, kidnapping, robbery, as well as dealing in a controlled substance and obstructing justice.”

The ‘Deadpool’ Killer

The most recent Unforgiven to make headlines is Wade Wilson, convicted in Florida state court of two murders. He was given a death sentence for strangling two Cape Coral women in separate events on Oct. 7, 2019.

The press dubbed him “the Deadpool Killer” because he shares the name of the Marvel comics and movie hero Deadpool.

He was convicted in June 2024 and sent to Florida’s death row in August, the Florida State Attorney’s Office reported in a press release. The murders were especially “heinous, atrocious and cruel,” the statement said.

“This sentence is for the victims,” State Attorney Amira Fox said in the release. “This case is about them.”

On Oct. 7, 2019, Wilson broke into Kristine Milton’s home and strangled her as she slept in bed. He stole her car and visited his girlfriend in Fort Myers. He attempted to drag her into the car. When she resisted, he “viciously attacked her,” the State Attorney’s Office said. She fought back, escaped and called police.

Later that day, Wilson saw Diane Ruiz walking on a Cape Coral street. He pulled over, lured her into his car and asked for directions. He then beat and strangled her, threw her out of the car and repeatedly ran over her.

Besides two counts of first-degree murder, Wilson was convicted of grand theft of a vehicle, burglary, battery and petty theft.

“The defendant will pay the ultimate price, the highest penalty the criminal justice system has, because of the unthinkable things he did to these two victims,” Fox avowed in the press release.

She said Wilson “is being idolized by some people who are somehow proud to mix their names with his, through public comments, fundraising for him, or holding him up to be some sort of positive representation of a man, ignoring that he is nothing more than a vicious killer and about the most poor representation of a man that there could ever be.”

Fox said Wilson’s victims “suffered tremendously, due to his decision to kill, due to his horrific actions. They fought back, they fought for their lives. This defendant is no idol. It is disgraceful and pitiful to hold him up as such.”

Hate by the Numbers

It is easy to view the hate-crime numbers as insignificant when compared to other tragedies like auto accident fatalities, homicides, drug overdoses and suicide. In a nation of 335 million people, approximately 14,400 victims of hate crimes doesn’t sound like much.

The Department of Justice report for 2023 found a slight increase in hate crimes and victims from 2022. Oddly, there were fewer offenders.

There were 11,862 incidents involving 13,829 offenses and 14,416 victims in 2023, the DOJ said in its September 2024 report. That compares to 2022, when there were 11,634 incidents, 11,337 offenses and 13,711 victims. There were 10,299 “known offenders” in 2022 and 9,739 in 2023, the DOJ noted.

Race, ethnicity and ancestry were the reason for attacks in 52.5 percent of cases, the DOJ said. Religion was the trigger in 22.5 percent and sexual orientation in 18.4 percent. The other cases were due to gender identity (4.1 percent), disability (1.6 percent) and gender (0.9 percent).

Another indicator of the growth of the white supremacy philosophy is the number of hate and anti-government extremist groups. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) identified 595 hate groups and 835 anti-government organizations in its 2023 hate crime report. These include “a growing wave of white nationalism increasingly motivated by theocratic beliefs and conspiracy theories.”

The SPLC said “white power” groups “intensified their efforts over the past year to recruit new members, increase their online presence and in-person demonstrations, exploit international and domestic conflicts, lobby the government and, in some cases, directly participate in elections, especially at the local level.”

These organizations typically target “communities of color, immigrant communities, minority faith communities and LGBTQ+ communities” with “hate-filled rhetoric and antigovernment conspiracies through actions such as banning books, protesting drag story hours and using school boards as political battlegrounds.”

Some Good News Among the Bad

It’s not all gloom and doom. There is reason for optimism in the nation’s fight against hate, the SPLC said.

“Despite an alarming spike in hard-right groups and actions, we are encouraged by communities who have joined together to push back against voices that are preaching division and hate,” SPLC Intelligence Project Interim Director Rachel Carroll Rivas said in that report. “In the face of hate and bigotry, we can— and we will— remain hopeful and safeguard our multiracial, inclusive democracy for generations to come.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also tracks the rise in racist organizations. Its 2023 report found a “double-digit increase in white supremacist propaganda efforts, setting a new record for the second year in a row.”

The 12 percent increase represented 7,567 cases in 2023 compared to 6,746 in 2022– the highest since ADL started tracking the propaganda incidents in 2017. Incidents in that report include “distribution of racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ fliers, stickers, banners, graffiti, posters and laser projections.”

ADL said there was a 30 percent increase in antisemitic propaganda (1,112 from 852). Anti-LGBTQ incidents rose 141 percent (164 from 68).

“Propaganda campaigns are hugely popular among white supremacist groups and movements because they provoke media and online attention for the groups and messaging while limiting the risk of individual exposure, arrests and public backlash that often accompany more public activities,” the ADL reported. “Propaganda, which can affect entire communities, allows a small number of people to have an outsized impact.”

Aryan This-N-That

Hitler used the term “Aryan” as a synonym for the white race, especially Nordic tribes with blond hair and blue eyes. Ironically, the word comes to us from the Persians – modern-day Iranians. The Persian word was Eran, which means “of the Aryans.” Yes, that is where Iran got its modern name.

The designation also includes the people of northern India.

While the various Aryan entitled groups take racist pride in the term, it belongs to people they consider to be a “mud race.” The swastika originated in India. The word comes from combining two Sanskrit words, su (good) and asti (to be), and originally meant “well-being.”

Etymology aside, these groups are evil and dangerous because of what they believe and what they do– not because of what they call themselves. Most are criminal gangs, not political resistance parties.

There are some familiar names on this list, including Aryan Nation and Aryan Brotherhood. There are some lesser known, such as the all-female Women’s Aryan Union. There are also new ones, like the Aryan Cowboy Brotherhood.

The National Socialist Movement

The National Socialist Movement (NSM) was once the largest neo-Nazi organization in the U.S. It was established in 1974. Since 1994, under the leadership of Jeff Schoep, the group has conducted high-profile protests and rallies.

It’s membership has dwindled over the past decade, due in part to its role in the deadly August 2017 “Unite the Right” riot in Charlottesville, Va., the SPLC noted in an article about the NSM. In that report, the SPLC cites the group’s “violent antisemitic rhetoric, its racist views and its policy allowing members of other white supremacy groups to join NSM while remaining members of other groups.”

Here are a few quotes from the NSM’s “25 Point Plan,” included in the SPLC article, that shine a light on the organization’s philosophy.

• “Immigration into the White Homeland shall be limited to members of the White European Race, defined as White Caucasians who are the descendants of indigenous Europeans.”
• “Groups who are not Europeans are separate ethnicities and thus shall have their own homelands, separate from ours.”
• “The guiding principle of The National Socialist Movement Corporation is fighting for civil rights and self-determination of Whites in America. The Fourteen Words, ‘We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children,’ best exemplifies the mission of our movement.”

Other Neo-Nazi Groups

Other neo-Nazi organizations that have gained notoriety include Blood Tribe, Vinland Rebels and the Goyim Defense League. Unfortunately, there are too many such groups to list them all.

The Anti-Defamation League notes Blood Tribe was established in 2020 by ex-Marine Christopher Pohlhaus, also known as Hammer. He sold white supremacist propaganda online.

In his podcasts, he urged followers to wage “a last stand, a righteous war” against any who threaten whites’ “birthright and posterity.”

ADL says Blood Tribe has several dozen members and thousands of online followers. In addition to hate for non-white races and LGBTQ individuals, Blood Tribe does not allow female members, stresses masculinity and physical fitness, and worships Hitler and the Norse gods.

Pohlhaus and his followers believe Hitler was the reincarnation of Wotan– the German name for Odin and the namesake for the fourth day of the week.

A Martyr for the Cause

Over 40 years ago, a small gang of neo-Nazis conducted a series of armed robberies to fund their revolution.

The Order’s crime spree only lasted from December 1983 to September 1984, the online Hatewatch site reported in December. They robbed a bank, three armored cars and smaller targets. The $4.1 million stolen was used to fund the gang’s activities and aid other white supremacy groups. The group produced counterfeit money and murdered a law enforcement officer in Missouri.

A gang member turned informant. Authorities tracked down Order founder Robert Mathews at his home on Whidbey Island, Wash., on Dec. 8, 1984. Approximately 75 law enforcement agents exchanged gunfire with Mathews, the Wikipedia bio on Mathews states. When flares were fired into the house from a helicopter, they ignited a cache of ammunition that turned the house into a fireball.

Mathews died in the inferno of burns and smoke inhalation. Although Mathews fired over 1,000 rounds at officers, no police were injured in the incident, Wikipedia noted.

Some white supremacists recognize Dec. 8 as “Martyr’s Day” and regard Mathews as a hero.

Members of the group, also known as the Silent Brotherhood– an homage to the infamous Nazi Waffen SS unit– killed Jewish radio host Allen Berg in Denver in June 1984. Berg was just one person on the Silent Brotherhood’s assassination list.

That case recently came to light when Richard Scutari was set for release on Jan. 21. He served 38 years of a 60-year sentence for racketeering and conspiracy, Hatewatch stated. Scutari was present at Berg’s murder but did not directly participate, officials said.

The crimes themselves are “old news.” All but two of the 16 Order members arrested are dead or have served their sentences. What makes Scutari relevant for this article is the insight his case shines on the philosophy of hate groups.

A Coming Revolution

Scutari did not spend his years in prison repenting of his sins. He was able to spread his gospel of hate across the globe. He was instrumental in setting up white supremacy groups in Sweden and Finland in the 1990s and 2000s, Hatewatch reported. Those organizations became the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM), which now also operates in Norway, Denmark and Iceland, Hatewatch noted.

The U.S. State Department lists NRM and its leaders as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Their activities include bombing a refugee center in 2017 and plots against “political opponents, protesters, journalists, and other perceived adversaries,” the article states. Hatewatch said the NRM’s status as a terrorist organization makes it illegal for those in the U.S. to provide it with financial or other material support.

In an October 2000 letter to Swedish NRM leader Magnus Söderman, Scutari wrote of a coming “revolution.”

“There is room for both views on revolution,” Scutari wrote. “Those who think the time (is) now should quit running their mouths and start acting. Those who do not think the time is now should prepare for when the time is right, while at the same time they should be working on building a cultural foundation.”

Scutari told Söderman a revolution comes when it’s ready “and not one day before. And it will come when the people of differing opinions are pushed into it.”

Söderman hailed Donald Trump’s 2016 election as president, posting on social media that “we must demand that he, as POTUS, releases Richard Scutari from prison!” That didn’t happen.

A letter from Scutari was posted on social media on March 17, 2019, two days after a white supremacist murdered 51 and wounded 89 victims in attacks on several mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, Hatewatch noted.

“Things are going to blow up in this country,” Scutari wrote. “I hope I get a chance to live for a few years in the so-called free world before they do.”

‘Christian’ Racists

In August 2023, the United Methodist Church & Society website interviewed Dr. Joseph Wiinikka-Lydon about “Christian nationalism.” Wiinikka-Lydon is a senior research analyst with SPLC.

He told the website that “Christian nationalism, as an identity and a vision of the United States, is informed both by white supremacy and Christian supremacy over culture and politics. It subscribes to American Exceptionalism, where the United States is understood to have a special, God-given mission to save the world.

“The resulting vision of the country is one that is exclusive, less caring, and even cruel, and which has the backing of the divine, at least for its adherents,” the researcher added.

‘Patriot’ Hate Groups

Groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers gained notoriety, serving almost as a modern version of Hitler’s Brownshirts. They, and other hate groups, claim to be patriotic Americans dedicated to defending America’s values and way of life from those who would strip them from us.

Their ideology contradicts the values of this country, the foundations of the nation, and a way of life that holds dear the belief that “all men are created equal” and are guaranteed equal protection under our laws.

Just as the Christian hate groups are anti-Christian, these “patriots” are definitely anti-American.

Criminals Masquerading as Political Activists

Many of the far-right hate groups began in prisons. Many chapters outside the prison walls attract criminals and engage in criminal activities. We have looked at a few examples earlier in the article.

The Office of Justice Programs’ description of one prison gang-turned community gang – the Aryan Circle– fits most others.

“Inside prisons, it is involved in the smuggling of contraband (particularly drugs and tobacco),” the abstract for a report on the gang states. “Outside of prison, members engage in drug trafficking and a variety of theft and robbery rings. Organized violence is a significant feature of AC activity, which includes killing suspected informants and attacking rival gangs. Members have also committed hate crimes, both inside and outside of prisons.”

Fighting the Hatemongers

One of then-Attorney General Merrick Garland’s first initiatives in 2021 was to combat the increase in hate crimes, a DOJ Fact Sheet on hate crimes notes.

“Hate crimes and other bias-related incidents instill fear across entire communities and
undermine the principles upon which our democracy stands,” Garland wrote in a May 2021 memorandum to DOJ employees. “All people in this country should be able to live without fear of being attacked or harassed because of where they are from, what they look like, whom they love, or how they worship.

“Since its founding, the Department of Justice has sought to combat unlawful acts of hate,” Garland continued. “As members of the Department, we must continue and build upon that work to the greatest extent possible.”

Garland said DOJ procedures “will enhance our current efforts to combat unlawful acts of hate by improving incident reporting, increasing law enforcement training and coordination at all levels of government, prioritizing community outreach, and making better use of civil enforcement mechanisms.”

Trump Creates Task Force

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 29 instructing the DOJ to take additional action against anti-Semitism. On Feb. 3, the DOJ created the multi-agency Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism. Its primary goal is to end anti-Semitic harassment on school and college campuses. Its actions will be coordinated through the DOJ Civil Rights Division (CRD).

“Anti-Semitism in any environment is repugnant to this Nation’s ideals,” CRD Senior Counsel Leo Terrell said in a DOJ press release. Terrell will lead the task force. “The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found,” he added.

The DOJ, FBI, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices post news releases often on the arrests, indictments, convictions and sentences of members of hate groups and gangs. Despite this effort, hate crimes appear to be increasing.

Points To Ponder

If you want a rosebush, you can’t plant a stinkweed seed. If you want a society that gives all people respect, equal rights, opportunity, protection and a guarantee to the “pursuit of happiness,” you cannot sow hate, fear, intimidation, verbal/physical attacks and discrimination.

In 1946, German Lutheran minister Martin Niemoller, a former Nazi supporter, wrote words that have become an alarm siren for the ages.

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.

But it can’t happen here, right?

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