SKINHEADS IN AMERICA - SKINHEADS IN AMERICA - SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Skinheads In l aw e n f o r c e m e n t s p e c i a l r e p o r t America Racists On The Rampage includes: Racist Skinhead Movement History • Timeline • Glossary • Portraits • Symbols • Recent Developments Skinheads In America A P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e S o u t h e r n P o v e r t y L aw C e n t e r Racists On The Rampage Racist Skinhead Movement History • Timeline • Glossary Portraits • Symbols • Recent Developments a p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e s o u t h e r n p o v e r t y l aw c e n t e r
SKINHEADS IN AMERICA Racist skinheads are one of the potentially most dangerous radical-right threats facing law enforcement today. The products of a frequently violent and criminal subculture, these men and women, typically imbued with neo-Nazi beliefs about Jews, blacks, ho- mosexuals and others, are also notoriously difficult to track. Organized into small, mo- bile “crews” or acting individually, skinheads tend to move around frequently and often without warning, even as they network and organize across regions. For law enforcement, this poses a particular problem — responding to crimes and even conspiracies crossing multiple jurisdictions. As these extremists extend their reach across the country, it is vital that law enforcement officers who deal with them become familiar with the activities of skinheads nationwide. What follows is a general essay on the history and nature of the skinhead movement, pre- pared with the needs of law enforcement officers in mind. After that, we reprint recent reports on the contemporary skinhead movement in America, including an overview of the latest developments, portraits of 10 particularly frightening leaders, and a gallery of insignias and tattoos commonly used by racist skinheads. This booklet was prepared by the staff of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, which tracks the American radical right and also publishes the investigative magazine Intelligence Report. Contributors included Susy Buchanan, Anthony Griggs, David Holthouse, Brentin Mock, Laurie Wood and Alexander Zaitchik. It was edited by Holthouse and Intelligence Project Director Mark Potok. I N T E L L I G E N C E PROJECT TM
IN AMERICA i. introduction The racist skinhead movement in the United States has entered its third decade. Since the first skinhead gangs surfaced in Texas and the Midwest in the early 1980s, this racist and violent subculture has established itself ing-class counterpoints to foppish mods, long-haired hippies, mohawked in dozens of states from coast to coast and punks and made-up goths. has authored some of the country’s most vi- The skinhead style first emerged cious hate crimes in memory, from arson as part of a non-racist and multira- cial scene. White skinheads took on a to assault to murder. The racist skinheads’ persona that reflected admiration for trademark style — shaved head, combat and kinship with a new generation of boots, bomber jacket, neo-Nazi and white working-class West Indian immigrants into the United Kingdom. Like the Ja- power tattoos — has become a fixture in maican immigrants of the time, the first American culture. skinheads were clean-cut, neat, and sharp-looking compared to the shag- The scowling skinhead has joined the America have darkened with steady gier youth styles of the period. (White hooded Klansman as an immediately post-World War II immigration from skinheads eventually lost their affinity recognizable icon of hate. Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, a for Jamaica as Rastafarian fashions Unlike the Klan, racist skinhead cul- nativist backlash has appeared in both became ascendant, with their overtones ture is not native to the United States. mainstream and extremist forms. The of black pride and pan-Africanism.) And unlike the Klan, it is a truly global skinhead movement is the most violent Many early white skinheads were phenomenon, with skinhead gangs and ideologically crude form of this vaguely nationalistic and “proud to be haunting major cities and towns in just backlash. Depending on the country, British,” but their deepest loyalties lay about every white-majority country on racist skinheads may have shadowy with their childhood chums and the earth. From Austria to Australia and ties to radical parties participating in local soccer team, not the “white race,” Argentina to America, working-class electoral politics. Skinhead groups in as professed by today’s racist skin- youths can be found dressed in some the U.S. lack such connections, but for heads. While known for their youthful local variation on the skinhead theme, those unlucky enough to encounter aggression, petty criminality, and soc- espousing a crude worldview that is them on a darkened street, this does cer stadium violence, this activity was viciously anti-foreigner, anti-black, anti- not make them any less fearsome. seen as borne out of economic hard- gay, and anti-Semitic. In recent years, the ship and a general spirit of bully-boy Internet and cheap international airfares ii. origins rebellion — not blind race hatred. In- have allowed skinhead groups across The first skinheads emerged in the late deed, the first skinhead music was reg- the planet to communicate and organize 1960s as just one of the many distinct gae and ska, both black musical forms; in ways that would have shocked the youth cultures that flowered in post- the earliest targets of white skinheads’ original skinheads of the 1960s and ’70s, war Britain. Taking elements of Eng- anger and homemade weapons were whose vision and turf was limited to the lish “mod” and Jamaican immigrant each other and rival soccer fans. East London neighborhoods in which fashion, these working-class London But a split between racist and non- they grew up and lived. youths crafted an identity in self-con- racist skinheads was apparent and The growth of the racist skinhead scious opposition to the middle-class began deepening soon after the style movement has mirrored the rise in “longhairs.” At various points in their was born. By the early ’70s, skinhead KEVIN SCANLON non-white immigration to the West. early development, English skinheads attacks on South Asian immigrants in As the skin hues of Europe and North positioned themselves as tough work- London — the infamous sport of “Paki intelligence report special edition 3
bashing” — had become an international iii. skinheads in the u.s. But Martell had merely proven he was news story. These violent skinheads had The neo-Nazi skinhead phenomenon ahead of his time, and his defeat was not yet acquired the trappings of neo- spread quickly to the United States. By local. When he first started recruiting Nazi costumes and ideology, but they the early 1980s, skinhead activity was for CASH, there were likely fewer than were already acting like Hitler’s goon reported in Texas and the Midwest, 200 racist skinheads in the United Sates. squads, the brown shirts. One skinhead among other places. But the movement By 1989, when he was convicted of home explained a typical “Paki bash” to a Time only started gaining national attention invasion, aggravated battery, and rob- magazine journalist in 1970: “You go up during the last third of the decade. It bery and sentenced to 11 years in prison, to them and bump into them, and then was then that skinhead gangs like the there were an estimated 3,000. you nut [forehead bash] them right, and Dallas Hammerskins made a splash A major force behind this national then you hit them, and as they go down with violent racist attacks on immi- growth spurt was Tom Metzger, a Fall- you give them a kicking, bash them with grants and blacks. brook, Calif.-based former Klansman an iron bar, and take their watches and The most important skinhead gang in and longtime leader of the neo-Nazi rings and things like that.” raising the American movement’s early group White Aryan Resistance (WAR). More than 50 such attacks were profile was Chicago’s CASH (Chicago Around 1986, Metzger formed WAR reported within a span of weeks in Area Skin Heads), which made national Youth and launched an organized 1970, triggering street protests by Brit- headlines with a brutal 1987 crime spree skinhead outreach campaign. Together ish South Asians. A definitive break that involved assaults on six Hispanic with his teenage son, John, Metzger between racist and non-racist skins women, swastikas painted on three sought to ground the dispersed move- had occurred. synagogues, and numerous incidents of ment in ideology and direct its wild During the early to mid-’70s, Eng- vandalism to Jewish-owned business. and chaotic youthful energy into build- land’s skinheads went into temporary The leader of CASH was an ex-con and ing smart, well-trained, and obedient decline. They experienced a revival former member of the American Nazi street cells around the country. In in 1976, when a new generation of skin- Party named Clark Martell. 1988, Tom Metzger organized the first heads started earning a fresh reputa- In the mid-1980s, Martell played the major hate rock festival in the U.S., tion for violence through attacks on role of a skinhead Johnny Appleseed, Aryan Fest, in Oklahoma. (The annual punks, homosexuals, and immigrants. performing around Chicago with his festival, now under the management of Fueling these attacks and cementing punk band Romantic Violence and pass- Volksfront, a skinhead group based in the new racist skinhead identity was ing out American Nazi Party newslet- Oregon, remains a main event on the increasing association with two neofas- ters and copies of National Socialist annual skinhead social calendar.) cist political parties, the National Front Skinhead magazine between his band’s It was also in 1988 that Metzger’s and the British Movement. The latter, sets. Martell’s neo-Nazi recruiting efforts bore their most bitter fruit. In founded by long-time neo-Nazi Colin drive caught the attention of Chicago’s November, WAR Youth representative Jordan in 1968, did the most to stamp numerous “traditional,” or non-rac- Dave Mazella visited Portland, Ore., a swastika on the racist sector of the ist, skinheads, including a number to train and guide members of a local skinhead movement. The British Move- of African Americans. (According to skinhead crew, East Side White Pride. ment ran candidates in the 1974 U.K. Chicago punk lore, the city’s skinhead During this visit, a group of Portland general elections who espoused neo- scene was founded by black, non-racist skins under Mazella’s tutelage attacked Nazi ideas and wore swastikas while skins). Enjoying the advantage of vastly a group of Ethiopian immigrants in the handing out party literature featuring superior numbers, anti-racist crews middle of a street with steel-toed boots the image and words of Adolf Hitler. such as Skinheads of Chicago (SHOC) and a baseball bat. One of them, gradu- In 1975, the British Movement gained routinely ganged up on CASH skins at ate student Mulugeta Seraw, died from a charismatic leader in the form of shows and in the streets. “They grew out his wounds. Although Metzger would Michael McLaughlin, who reached out of what we are — the punk scene — so later lose a bruising $12.5 million law- to the racist skinheads and appealed to it’s up to us to combat them,” a member suit brought against his organization their sensibilities and skills by empha- of the Chicago Anti-Racist Action (ARA) by the Southern Poverty Law Center sizing violence and street-level hate. skinhead crew told the Chicago Tribune. and the Anti-Defamation League — a Between the arrival of Michael By the time Martell and the other five suit that effectively wrecked WAR McLaughlin in 1975 and the election CASH skins were arrested for a grue- as an organization capable of putting of Margaret Thatcher as British prime some 1987 attack on a former member, skinheads into the street — he contin- minister in 1979, the first hardcore neo- CASH had been more or less beaten ues propaganda efforts to this day from Nazi skinheads were born. into submission by anti-racist skins. a new base in Indiana. But Metzger’s 4 intelligence report special edition
current operation is limited to a news- movement continued to grow and was announcing that the group was separat- paper, an “Aryan update” telephone responsible for hundreds of racially ing itself “from the racist movement.” hotline, and a website (resist.com) that motivated crimes around the coun- The announcement explained: “We do is largely devoted to racist and anti-Se- try. It was also during this period, in not see anything positive being accom- mitic “humor.” 1997, that Denver police officer Bruce plished, for our nation or our people, The murder of Mulugeta Seraw was Vander Jagt became the first American by participating in the white racial- hardly unique during the American police officer killed in the line of duty ist movement as it stands. We have skinhead movement’s growth years. by a racist skinhead. attempted to change this movement Indeed, there were scores of brutal Hammerskin dominance failed to from within and have not succeeded. skinhead assaults around the country outlast the decade, however. As early It is our opinion that a large number during the late ’80s and early ’90s, as 1999, Hammerskins around the of the people involved in the greater including the cold-blooded murders country were complaining in private movement are paid informants, social of black men in Birmingham, Ala., and and on message boards about the outcasts, and general losers in life.” Arlington, Texas. heavy-handed and “elitist” leadership The third decade of skinheads in Those responsible for these mur- style of the organization’s top officers. America thus finds skinhead groups in ders included members of the dreaded The number of HSN chapters dropped disarray but hardly in decline. The num- Confederate Hammerskins, a confed- off, with new regional groups rising ber of skinhead groups has trebled in the last four years, totaling some 60 by early The scowling skinhead has joined 2007. These new groups are defined by a violent gangster ethos that is only partly the hooded Klansman as an imme- informed by racist and neo-Nazi ideology. diately recognizable icon of hate. iv. music & culture Along with exposure to extremist po- litical parties and hate literature, music eration of skinheads founded in Dallas up and loudly asserting their indepen- has always been a key element in the in 1987. After spreading throughout the dence. Chief among these renegade growth of the racist skinhead subcul- South, Hammerskin-affiliated gangs skinhead groups were, first, the Outlaw ture. This is appropriate, as the original began appearing on the east and west Hammerskins, and then the Hoosier skinhead scene was based around clubs coasts in the early 1990s. State Skinheads in Indiana and the playing ska and reggae. The hard-driv- It was out of these geographi- Ohio State Skinheads, which in 2004 ing rock-and-roll favored by today’s cally disparate Hammerskin gangs merged to form the Vinlander Social racist skinheads both exploits and that Hammerskin Nation (HSN) was Club, a.k.a. the Vinlanders. In 2005, channels the youthful energy of mem- formed in 1994. The idea was to unite the Vinlanders hosted the first Blood & bers and potential teenage recruits. all of the regional Hammerskin groups Honour USA Council, a unity meeting The importance of music in building into a national and even international of regional skinhead crews also known the racist skinhead scene was appar- force, with affiliated chapters in Eu- as the Council of 28 (because B is the ent by the late ’70s, when a hate-rock rope. And for a while, the plan worked. second letter of the alphabet and H scene exploded alongside the punk Hammerskin Nation established itself the eighth), in Ohio. It is at this annual rock movement, spreading lyrics that as the most powerful skinhead organi- gathering that skins would, according were anti-immigrant, anti-black, and zation in the country during the mid- to the Vinlander web site, “meet yearly anti-Semitic. Groups such as Skrew- and late ’90s. At its peak, HSN directed with other crews and exchange ideas driver, Skullhead, and No Remorse nearly 30 chapters and ran a success- and debate direction and tactics.” And forged a common skinhead culture in ful record label, publishing house, drink lakes of beer, of course. sweaty, beer-soaked, makeshift concert and website. The HSN symbol of two Incredibly violent, full of swagger, halls, with lyrics professing broth- crossed hammers swept the skinhead and loathe to take orders from any- erhood among whites and violent, scene. And an annual meeting and one, the Vinlanders were thought to uncompromising antagonism to out- concert, Hammerfest, was launched represent the future in a more decen- siders of all kinds. The early hate-rock in 1999, allowing HSN members from tralized skinhead scene. But in the first skinhead scene in Britain coalesced around the world to meet and organize. weeks of 2007, Vinlander founder Brien around what were known as the “Rock Throughout this period of Hammer- James, a particularly violent racist, Against Communism” (RAC) concerts, skin ascendancy, the racist skinhead posted a notice on the group’s website the first of which was held in Leeds in intelligence report special edition 5
1978. RAC shows were organized in recruiters for the movement in history. reference and even annual events. The opposition to the earlier “Rock Against (Burdi has since renounced hate and ease with which interested parties can Racism” concerts, a series of musical embraced Eastern mysticism.) access hate literature and music online events meant to counter growing racist The first label to seriously challenge has also given rise to the phenomenon currents in English culture. A sub- the dominance of Resistance Records was of the “internet Nazi” — young fellow genre of punk that often veered toward Minnesota-based Panzerfaust, named af- travelers who are not part of organized racism was known as Oi!, which soon ter a Nazi-era German anti-tank weapon. skinhead gangs but who profess al- became global (if not completely accu- Before imploding amid a scandal involv- legiance to the movement’s code and rate) shorthand for skinhead music. ing the non-Aryan heritage of its founder, support purveyors of skinhead para- By the mid-1980s, a racist skinhead Anthony Pierpont, Panzerfaust was best phernalia with online orders. culture defined by loud hate-rock, known for a failed 2005 plan to distrib- The country with the worst skin- cases of cheap beer, bloody “boot par- ute 100,000 hate-rock sampler CDs in head problem today is Russia, where it ties” directed against immigrants and schoolyards across the nation. is estimated there are tens of thou- others, and the flagrant display of neo- The impact of U.S. hate rock is not sands of active neo-Nazi skinheads, in- Nazi iconography and paraphernalia limited to the United States. Since the cluding thousands in the capital alone. had spread to Western Europe and production, performance, and distribu- In recent years, immigrants, students North America. Although focused on a tion of such music is illegal in many and even senior embassy staff from skinhead gang in Melbourne, Australia, countries in Western Europe, the U.S., Asian and African nations have been the 1992 Russell Crowe film “Romper with its First Amendment guarantees of the victims of assaults and murders on Stomper” paints a particularly vivid free speech, has become a main provider the streets of Moscow. and well-researched picture of the day- of music to skinheads internationally As in Western European countries, to-day life of skinheads immersed in (just as U.S. computer servers host most Russian skinhead violence often dovetails this culture. (A later film that explored European hate sites in order to keep with soccer hooliganism. A 2002 report the racist skinhead culture, this one their owners clear of European anti- in The Nation described the trend: set in California, was 1998’s “American hate legislation). This relationship was “In the past few years a curious syn- History X,” starring Edward Norton.) built in part by the outreach programs of thesis of the soccer hooligan and skin- The importance of music in grow- Resistance Records under George Burdi, head movements has been observed ing the worldwide skinhead movement who used to offer Eastern Europeans steadily gaining strength in the city. cannot be overstated. William Pierce, CDs at 90% discounts, as well as free It’s no longer uncommon in Moscow leader of the neo-Nazi National Alli- license to reproduce the music. to see crowds of 300-400 soccer fans ance until his death in 2002, under- The center of gravity for hate-rock — dressed in the black bomber jackets stood well the potential impact of hate- today is probably “RadioWhite,” an on- and black boots popularized by German rock. “Music speaks to us at a deeper line white power music Internet radio skinheads — loitering on the streets in level than books or political rhetoric: station that maintains multiple 24-hour the city’s outer regions, and not always music speaks directly to the soul,” said music feeds. Other new media plat- on the same nights as soccer matches.” Pierce, author of the seminal hate-lit forms — including social networking Some of these skinheads, the article novel, The Turner Diaries. sites like MySpace and video file-shar- notes, have been seen wearing the Putting this insight into practice, ing sites like YouTube — are being used armbands of the neo-Nazi Russian Pierce purchased the ailing hate- by racist skinhead groups to recruit and National Unity party, suggesting links rock label and distributor Resistance expose others to their views. between street hate and organized Records in 1999 and built the company political parties. Such links are sus- into a major force in the world skin- v. the international scene pected to be common in many Western head movement. Resistance Records The connections between racist skin- European countries, where radical par- had been originally founded in 1993 heads in the U.S. and Europe are not ties participate in electoral politics, in by George Burdi, a young Canadian limited to hate-rock catalogs. With recent years with sobering success. skinhead who also started the band the rise of the Internet, groups scat- Across Europe, radical parties are RAHOWA (an acronym for Racial Holy tered across the globe have been able on the rise, exploiting fears over im- War), which was one of the most popu- to communicate and link up as never migration. In several of these coun- lar and influential hate-rock bands of before, transforming the skinhead tries, associations have been traced the period. Bernie Farber of the Cana- movement from an exclusively neigh- between skinhead gangs and parties dian Jewish Congress has described borhood-based phenomenon into a with representatives in regional and Burdi as one of the most effective global culture with common points of national bodies. 6 intelligence report special edition
AS THE POWER OF THE CENTRALIZED HAMMERSKIN NATION DECLINES, A RISE IN INDEPENDENT SKIN CREWS MAY BRING A NEW ERA OF VIOLENCE 8 intelligence report special edition
MOTLEY CREWS L ast Memorial Day weekend, three racist skinheads stood side-by-side to pose for a photo at the Imperial Klans of America compound near Dawson Springs, Ky., where the IKA hosts the annual white power gathering Nordic Fest. Two of them — Eric Fairburn and Brien James, both founders of the Hoosier State Skinheads — flipped off the camera while holding a red, white, and black flag upside down. The flag displayed the marching ham- mers symbol of Hammerskin Nation, a coalition of regional skinhead groups that dominated the United States skinhead scene for almost a decade. By posing with the flag upside down, Fairburn, James, and their accomplice declared the reign of Hammerskin Nation finished. Lest there be any mistaking their intent, the skinhead in the middle, a member of the Keystone State Skinheads, held his arms downward, fists closed, a deliberate inversion of the Hammerskin Nation signal of crossed arms up. The photo is a remarkable symbol of the rapid and treach- erous balkanization under way among organized skinheads in America, as well as a telling indicator of how the skin- head scene in this country, now more than ever, is less the revolutionary political movement its adherents claim than a disjointed criminal subculture. The skins in the photo are behaving like gangbangers, not race warriors. They’re “diss- ing” the Hammerskins, their fellow Aryans, right down to the gang signs. intelligence report special edition 9
These trends parallel an alarming resurgence in skinhead activity nationwide, which continues to intensify. At the be- ginning of 2002, there were 18 skinhead crews active in the United States, most of them under the control of Hammer- skin Nation. That count has now more than tripled to 59 ac- tive crews, only six of which belong to Hammerskin Nation. As the power of the Hammerskins has waned, the skin- head scene has entered a free-for-all phase, with new and unaffiliated local, state, and regional crews proliferating rapidly. More and more of these newcomers subscribe to the ultra-violent ethos and disorganized crime profiteering of a chaotic band of Midwest-based gangster skins known as the Vinlanders. While there’s no skinhead census, and no official statistics on skinhead-specific crime, cops on the street that specialize in tracking skins say the facts are clear. “Skinhead activity has easily doubled in the last couple of years, and the Vin- lander influence is huge,” says Matt Browning, a detective with the Mesa, Ariz., police department who has investi- gated white power gangs in his region and their nationwide Picking a fight: By posting this photo connections for 10 years, including two years undercover. on the Internet, members of the “They’re more violent, they’re more technically savvy than Vinlanders Social Club were issuing a before in terms of using the Internet to organize, and, while direct challenge to the waning power they’re still motivated by race and politics, it’s also about of Hammerskin Nation. money now.” Bloodshed and Retaliation The ongoing devolution of the skinhead scene began with what will live in infamy in skinhead lore as “the pool cue and be a “prospect” for one year, then a “probate” for six months. blowtorch incident.” It happened in mid-1999, when Ham- All this time, and forever after, they were required to pay merskin Nation’s power was peaking, with about 600 Ham- $10 a month in dues to their local chapter, and $10 a month merskins distributed across five regional divisions. To be- to Hammerskin national leaders in Dallas, who asserted do- come a Hammerskin, a skinhead who wanted to join had to minion over skinheads nationwide, portrayed Hammerskin RACIST SKINHEADS a timeline of the movement CIRCA CIRCA CIRCA 1969 EARLY 1982 Racist skinheads begin to appear 1986 Romantic Violence, also known as The original skinhead subculture explodes among urban, working- class youths in Britain, combin- 1980s in U.S. in significant numbers. British skinhead scene factionalizes. White CASH (Chicago Area Skinheads), takes form as one of the first true racist skinhead gangs in the United ing style elements drawn from power skinheads develop a separate subculture States, followed in short order by white “Mods” and West Indian based on the white nationalist music of “Rock the Confederate Hammerskins “Rudeboys.” Though tinged with Against Communism” bands like Skrewdriver, in Dallas. soccer hooliganism, traditional Skullhead, and No corbis/bettman skinhead culture is not racist Remorse who opposed Former California Klan (to this day, there are black the “Rock Against leader Tom Metzger forms “trad” skins). Racism” concerts of anti- the Aryan Youth Move- racist skins. ment, a skinhead division of his white supremacist group White Aryan Resistance (WAR). 10 intelligence report
level and nature of skinhead criminal activity in this country and abroad. The order was simple: Hammerskin leaders had deter- mined that a certain Hammerskin was no longer worthy of membership due to his persistent sexual propositioning of a fellow member’s wife. They directed the Indiana Hammer- skins to seek out this offender, inform him of their decision, and then “remove” his Hammerskin “colors,” meaning any patches, pins or other markers indicating his affiliation. Looking back, the Dallas shot callers may wish they’d been more specific on the meaning of “remove.” When a pack of five Indiana Hammerskins tracked down the offender, they not only roughed him up and tore off his colors, they held him down, burned off his Hammerskin tattoos with a blowtorch, and then shoved a pool cue up his rectum. The Hammerskin leaders were outraged and banished the attackers for exceeding their orders. Basically, the five Indiana skinheads were punished for being too violent. Eight of the other Indiana Hammerskins turned in their patches in protest of the punishment and together, the 13 former Hammerskins formed a new, rogue crew they called Outlaw Hammerskins, which represented the first serious challenge to Hammerskin Nation authority. From their very beginning, the Outlaw Hammerskins represented a new breed of racist skinhead. They avowed white power, yet listened to black gangsta rap. They had neo- Nazi tattoos, yet dripped with gold chains. They wore Doc Martens, but also gold teeth. They formed close ties with the Nation as elite, and enforced strict codes of conduct. Hell’s Angels, working security at the outlaw biker gang’s Early that summer, these leaders issued a direct order to events (the father of Jeremy Maske, one of the founding the members and two probates of the Indiana chapter of the Outlaw skinheads, was the president of the Indiana chapter Northern Hammerskins that set in motion a cycle of blood- of the Hell’s Angels at the time). shed, retaliation, and dissent that continues to shape the Within a few months, the Outlaw Hammerskins had ap wide world photo 1988 Skinhead violence Members of the Confederate Hammerskins patrol Robert E. Lee Park in Dallas, beating any non-white they come across. The gang erupts across the is ultimately linked to 40 crimes, includ- United States, with ing the vandalism of a Dallas synagogue. scores of violent Police foil a plot by armed Hammerskins attacks and murders to destroy Jewish businesses on Nov. 9, recorded over the next the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the four years. Nazi pogrom also known as the “Night of Broken Glass.” Tom Metzger and son A flying chair breaks the nose John organize the of television talk show host Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw is first hate rock festival, Geraldo Rivera during a brawl beaten to death by members of East Side Aryan Fest, which is between skinhead gang leaders White Pride, a Portland, Ore., gang with held in Oklahoma. and African-American activists on the set of close ties to WAR. “The Geraldo Rivera Show.” intelligence report special edition 11
Eastern Hammerskins member Bob Himes, who runs a Pennsylva- chapters across Indiana and nia tattoo shop, displays a body Wisconsin. Their creed was “take covered in skinhead iconography, it to the extreme.” If another skin- including the crossed hammers head crew mocked them for being (right) that symbolize Hammer- “whiggers” (white “niggers”), skin Nation. Outlaw Hammerskins would beat them down. If attacked with fists and feet, Outlaw Hammerskins would retaliate with bats Falling Hammers and knives. If a rival pulled a knife, an Outlaw Hammerskin On Memorial Day weekend 2000, less than a year after the pulled a gun. Outlaw Hammerskins formed, three vanloads of Outlaw “We do remain open and hospitable to other racialists Hammerskin hooligans showed up at the Imperial Klans of who pass through our cities and states. However, we do America compound, looking to start trouble at Nordic Fest, not tolerate disrespect,” they announced on their website. which at that time was heavily attended by Hammerskin Na- “Meaning we don’t talk shit. There is no ‘next time.’ We’ll tion skinheads. The Outlaw Hammerskins skins were heavily light you up on the fucking spot.” armed, and when IKA security refused to allow them into 1991 In June, more than 60 Aryan 1994 1997 Bruce Vander Jagt becomes the first American police officer National Front (ANF) skinheads Regional Hammerskin factions unite killed in the line of duty by a racist skinhead when he’s gunned and Klansmen march through under the common banner of Hammer- down in Denver by 25-year-old racist Matthaus Jaehnig after downtown Birmingham in a skin Nation (HSN). a high-speed chase. The next week, a dramatic show of force. dead pig bearing Vander Jagt’s name is Skinhead gang leader Randall dumped outside a Denver police sub- Lee Krager (left) forms station, and Denver skinheads Nathan 1992 Volksfront in Oregon. Thill and Jeremiah Barnum murder a West African immigrant they encounter In April, members of the skinhead gang ANF murder a homeless black man in Birming- 1995 Southern California skinhead at a bus stop. Thill later tells a reporter that he killed Oumar Dia because he was “wearing the enemy’s uni- ham, Ala., after attending a Randall Rojas beats a homeless form” — his black skin. Hitler birthday party. black man to death behind a fast-food restaurant. Nathan Thill 12 intelligence report special edition
the festival, they fired a volley of shots into the air, putting have continued the Outlaw Hammerskin tradition of openly Hammerskin Nation on notice. challenging and disrespecting Hammerskin Nation and its The following year, Outlaw Hammerskins showed up in only ally, the Portland, Ore.-based regional crew Volksfront. force at Nordic Fest, making it clear the event was no longer Two of these new, unruly crews, the Hoosier State Hammerskin Nation’s exclusive skinhead stomping ground. Skinheads and the Ohio State Skinheads, rose directly from In part because of this loss of face, Hammerskin Nation the ashes of the Outlaw Hammerskins. The Hoosier State membership numbers began to wither. Today, Hammerskin Skinheads were co-founded by former Outlaw Hammer- Nation is more like Hammerskin Hamlet. It’s down to about skins Brien James and Eric Fairburn (see profiles, p. 50 and 150 members. “Hammers have been dropping their patches p. 49). James and Fairburn also attended the first meeting all over the place,” says Detective Browning. The decline of in Central Ohio in 2003 of the Ohio State Skinheads, whose the Hammerskin Nation has been fueled by the insurrection founders include other former Outlaw Hammerskins. (Ohio of the Outlaw Hammerskins, lawsuits filed by hate crime vic- State Skinheads now has three local chapters in Ohio). tims, and widespread discontent with Hammerskin Nation’s The largest statewide crew now active is the Keystone elitism among working-class, anti-authoritarian racist youths. State Skinheads, which formed in September 2001 in Har- Still another big factor was the collapse of Panzerfaust risburg, Pa. (One of its five founders, Steven Smith, is a Records, a hate rock music company that distributed popular former Aryan Nations member who was recruited into the Hammerskin Nation-affiliated bands like Max Resist, Bound neo-Nazi movement while an Army soldier stationed at Fort for Glory, and the Mid-Town Boot Boys. Panzerfaust’s owner, Bragg, N.C.) The Keystone State Skinheads now has nine Anthony Pierpont, poured hundreds of thousands of dollars chapters across Pennsylvania and sponsors regular concerts into Hammerskin Nation festivals and legal battles after he and “white power picnics.” Its logo is a pit bull or bulldog in founded the label in 1998, but had to scuttle the company a circle made of chain against a red, black, and white back- last year after the Intelligence Report revealed he’s of Mexi- ground (see logos chart, p. 56). can descent. (Despite being a “mud person,” Pierpont is still The Ohio State Skinheads, Hoosier State Skinheads, and active in the business side of organized hate. His most recent Keystone State Skinheads are all also part of the Vinlander venture is manufacturing T-shirts for National Socialist Social Club, a.k.a. the Vinlanders, a skinhead “warrior clan” Movement commander Jeff Schoep and National Alliance devoted to drinking, fighting, and a racist variant of Odinism, chairman Erich Gliebe; see related story, p. 11). a form of ancient paganism once practiced by Vikings. Fair- burn, James, and other Hoosier State and Ohio State Skin- Rise of the Regional Crews heads founded the Vinlanders in 2004; today, that group has Infighting caused the Outlaw Hammerskins to implode in about 200 full members. Unlike Hammerskin Nation, which 2002, but by then they’d made an indelible mark on skinhead requires even probationary members to renounce their al- culture. Instead of leading to a return to power for Hammer- legiance to any other skinhead crew, the Vinlanders allow skin Nation, the demise of the Outlaw Hammerskins sparked and even encourage dual membership. A Vinlander can be an the still-ongoing surge of independent, regional crews that Ohio State or Hoosier State Skinhead, and vice-versa. 1999 Florida skinheads attack interra- 1998 cial couples, killing a woman and a child in two separate incidents. Independent Nazi Skins gang leader John “Polar Bear” Butler ambushes Five ousted members of the Northern Region of Hammerskin Shane McCormick 2001 Midland Hammerskin Shane McCormick and kills two Anti-Racist Action members in the desert outside Las Vegas Nation form a renegade outfit they call Outlaw Hammerskins. 2000 While Hammerskin (above) stabs a black man in a Missouri restaurant. on the Fourth of July. Hammerskin Nation reorganizes Nation remains the Hammerfest attendance drops to 220 and throws its first Hammerfest, nation’s largest skin- as HSN’s elitist posturing and relentless the group’s signature hate rock head organization, attempts to dictate the rules of skinhead festival, in rural Bremen, Ga. the number of HSN culture in the U.S. breed widespread More than 600 skinheads from chapters drops from resentment. ap wide world photo across the country attend. 27 to 19. intelligence report special edition 13
“Everyone [in Arizona] wants to be Vinlander now,” says Detective Browning. “The Vinlanders have very quickly gone from a little skinhead group in the Midwest to a national force with a great web presence. The bigger they become, the more power they have, and they’re getting bigger.” On Oct. 22, 2005, on the Logan, Ohio, property of Ohio State Skinheads member Kevin Kislingbury, the Vinlander Social Club hosted the first official Blood and Honour coun- cil, a unity meeting of regional skinhead crews also known as the Council of 28. The meeting was attended by at least 60 representatives of more than a dozen skinhead crews, including Hoosier and Ohio State Skinheads, Keystone State Skinheads, the New Jersey Skins, the Canyon State Skins (Arizona), and the Maryland Skins (one of the fastest grow- ing state crews), as well as the Imperial Klans of America and the National Alliance. Conspicuously absent at the Blood and Honour council was anyone representing Hammerskin Nation or Volksfront. Recruitment Commerce According to the minutes of the meeting, the council mem- bers decided they would meet once a year in the future, and that any group “meeting the council criteria” would send two representatives. They also established a “uniform code of appearance and conduct” for “large scale public actions,” and designated the neo-Nazi National Alliance as their of- ficial “political outlet.” patches, and other paraphernalia to countries where such The former Outlaw Hammerskins also reversed them- items are banned. But when the Outlaw Hammerskins broke selves on the issue of hate rock, according to the minutes, away, they announced they would have nothing to do with deciding by majority vote to “explore the option of holding the shady business of hate rock or recruitment commerce. events for the general public for profit.” This was a major With the exception of the Keystone State Skinheads, the shift. Hammerskin Nation and Volksfront have a long his- council crews had all followed suit. tory of organizing hate rock festivals to raise money and also So what changed their minds? of channeling hate rock CDs and neo-Nazi flags, shirts, pins, Perhaps the hate rock company representatives who also 2002 Skinhead Kevin A. Johnson beats a 2003 man to death outside the Courtesy The number of skinhead chapters nationwide more than doubles, due mostly Diner in St. Louis while spewing to the rapidly increasing strength of independent, regional skinhead crews, anti-Semitic epithets, although his most notably the Hoosier State Skins victim is not Jewish. (Indiana and Illinois), the Ohio State Skinheads, and the Pennsylvania-based The Outlaw Hammerskins implode Keystone State Skinheads. due to infighting. Kurtis William Monschke, head of the HSN’s power continues to wane. Washington state chapter of Volksfront, helps three other racist skinheads use Hammerfest attendance baseball bats and rocks to beat to death dwindles to 150. a homeless white man in Tacoma. Kurtis Monschke 14 intelligence report special edition
RACIST SKINHEAD GLOSSARY 14/88: Common white supremacist Hammerskins: A nationwide skinhead code. 14 stands for the “14 words” syndicate, also known as Hammerskin slogan coined by David Lane, who is Nation, with regional factions and chap- serving a 190-year sentence for his ters that once dominated skin subculture part in the assassination of a Jewish nationwide. talk show host: “We must secure the HSN: Hammerskin Nation. existence of our people and a future for white children.” 88 means “Heil Hitler,” HFFH: “Hammerskin Forever Forever as H is the eighth letter of the alphabet. Hammerskin.” 28: Shorthand for Blood and Honour, a Hang-around: A young person who skinhead group. associates with skinheads but is not yet a probate (see below), akin to a gang- 38: Confederate Hammerskins, the banger “wannabe.” southern faction of Hammerskin Nation (see below). Probate: A “member in waiting” who is on probation for a set amount of time Boot party: Beating a victim to the before he or she becomes a full-fledged ground then stomping and kicking him member of a skinhead crew. or her with steel-toed boots. RAHOWA: Short for “Racial Holy War,” Braces: Suspenders. a slogan that originally came out of the Crew: Skinhead gang or faction. neo-Nazi Church of the Creator; also the name of a defunct band. Colors: Marks identifying affiliation; can be tattoos, patches on jackets, etc. Red laces: Bootlace color indicating the attended the Council of 28 convinced wearer has shed blood for the skinhead the skinhead leaders there that if they Curbing, curb job: Breaking a victim’s movement. Racist skinheads will often would just put down their mead drink- jaw or neck by forcing his or her face randomly attack non-whites to “earn” ing horns and pick up their thinking against a street curb and kicking the their red laces. caps, they could make serious money. back the of the victim’s head; popular- “The Vinlanders have the backing of ized in the 1998 cult movie, “American Spider web tattoo: Racist skinhead the hate rock record labels now, the History X.” “badge of honor,” often worn on the labels are bringing money to the table,” elbow, indicating wearer has committed Dr. Martens (a.k.a. Doc Martens): Brand murder for the skinhead movement. of durable boots popular with skinheads as well as young people in all walks of SHARP: Short for Skinheads Against life, though skins lace the boots differ- Racial Prejudice, commonly known as 2004 ently (see “straight-laced”) and wear SHARP skins, who often battle racist skins. either red or white laces (see below). Non-Hammerskin crews Skinbyrd: Female skinhead. Homey sock: Pool ball in a sock wrapped continue to evolve and unify. in tape so it doesn’t split open when Straight-laced: A complex boot-lacing used as a weapon. system favored by racist skins who lace Members of the Hoosier State their boots in horizontal, straight lines Skins and Ohio State Skinheads Featherwood: Female skinhead. JANET JENSON / [Tacoma, WASH.] NEWS-TRIBUNE rather than X or cross patterns. — including several former Outlaw Five words: “I have nothing to say.” Hammerskins — form the Vin- White laces: Bootlace color identifying Skinheads are exhorted to give this stan- lander Social Club, also known as a skinhead as being “white power,” as dard response to any and all media and the Vinlanders, a skinhead “warrior opposed to a non-racist (“traditional”) or law enforcement inquiries. clan” devoted to drinking, fight- anti-racist skin. ing, and a racist form of Odinism, Fred Perry: Brand of polo shirt favored ZOG: Shorthand for “Zionist Occupation a pagan religion once practiced by by skinheads. [or Occupied] Government,” reflecting Norse Vikings. Fresh cut: A newly indoctrinated the neo-Nazi conspiracy theory that the skinhead whose head has recently been American government is secretly con- shaved for the first time. trolled by a powerful Jewish cabal. intelligence report special edition 15
entirely of Polish-speak- ing immigrants). Skinhead criminal activity in the United States is still far less se- vere than in Moscow or, for that matter, Prague or Paris. But as inde- pendent crews continue to proliferate, and the ultra-violent skins of the Vinlanders and similar groups vie with the left- overs of Hammerskin Nation, it seems likely Billy Roper (right), a former National that skinhead activity Alliance official who now heads White here will grow, as it has Revolution, has repeatedly tried to recently after about a bring racist skinheads into the decade in remission. mainstream of the radical right. So far, most of the serious violence has been contained within the white power world says Detective Browning. to supply them with merchandise they (for example, the vicious White power music, after all, is a otherwise couldn’t have. beating the Vinlanders gave a National more lucrative underground trade in For these reasons, U.S. skinheads Socialist Movement speaker and two of Europe than dealing in hashish, ac- wield huge influence overseas, espe- his comrades at this year’s Nordic Fest). cording to Interpol. The demand for cially in Germany and the former Soviet But as any gang cop knows, the most American skinhead music is tremen- Union, where there are 30,000-50,000 dangerous member of a street gang is dous there both because there are skinheads in Moscow alone, according not the “O.G.” (“Original Gangster”) with far more skinheads and because it’s to Russian police. They terrorize and kill a well-established street reputation, but illegal for hate rock bands to perform, non-whites and Jews at a rate unimagi- the newbie looking to do whatever it record, or even rehearse in most Eu- nable in this country. In Russia, skin- takes to make a name for himself and his ropean countries. So while skinheads head culture, much of it exported from gang. The skinhead scene in this country in Europe for the most part consider the U.S., has brought death and destruc- has become a land of the white power their American counterparts to be tion for a generation. (There is also some up-and-comers, each of them a human drunken buffoons — and with good European influence on U.S. skinheads. hand grenade, just looking for an excuse reason — they are dependent upon the For example, the Burnden County to pull their own pin. disorganized crime of U.S. skinheads Hooligans, a New Jersey crew, consists 2006 Skinhead resurgence parallels rise in skinhead-related criminal activity. 2005 The Vinlanders host the first official Blood and Honour Council, a unity meeting of regional skinhead crews also known as the Council of 28 (B is the second letter of the alphabet, H is the eighth; hence, 28 stands for Blood and Honour). The council is attended by at least 60 members of more than a dozen white supremacist groups. 16 intelligence report special edition
the godfathers ONCE, RACIST SKINHEADS WERE REGARDED AS TOO EXPLOSIVELY VIOLENT TO BE POLITICIZED. TWO FORMER KLANSMEN CHANGED ALL THAT FOR GOOD W ap wide world photo hen young racists across the United States began emulating white-pow- er British skinheads in the 1980s, it soon became apparent they had neither the discipline nor the charismatic leader- ship of the Nazi SS soldiers they idolized. They were loose cadres of ultra-violent outcasts, prone to poorly planned bursts of vicious, high-profile criminality, who found themselves as shunned by the leaders of established white supremacist orga- nizations as they were by mainstream society. That began to change after two Klansmen- turned-neo-Nazi leaders — Tom Metzger in the mid-to-late 1980s, followed by Bill Riccio in the early 1990s — showed that it’s possible, at least for a while, to harness skinhead rage in the service Former Klan leader Tom Metzger of a larger racist cause. Where other hate group was one of the first Americans leaders saw drunken, unmanageable miscreants, to see in racist skinheads the Metzger and later Riccio saw disaffected but potential “shock troops” for a malleable foot soldiers in need of a father figure coming race war. — potential “shock troops” in the coming race war. Like drug kingpins who use gangbangers to sling crack, these two merchants of hate enlisted and organized racist skinheads to do the dirty work of deemed necessary, brute force and intimidation. But these the white power movement. By doing so, they shifted the two self-appointed guidance counselors for neo-Nazi way racist skins are viewed by adult hate group leaders. youth also unwittingly demonstrated the collateral dam- While skinheads are still as likely as they ever were to get age skinheads cause their handlers when they learn their drunk and beat each other up or spontaneously commit a lessons all too well. random murder, it’s become the standard for neo-Nazi or- ganizations like the National Socialist Movement and the TOM METZGER Creativity Movement to seek out and recruit skinheads. With his black cowboy hat and brash swagger, Thomas Metzger and Riccio showed the potential value racist Linton Metzger has carefully cultivated an outlaw image skins hold for the white power movement in terms of over his 30-year-career as a racist. The tough-talking generating publicity, fundraising, recruiting, and, when television repairman and former California grand dragon intelligence report special edition 17
of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan alliance with American Front (one of the two other ESWP skins pleaded guilty was the first major racist leader in the first skinhead crews to develop chap- to murder, the Southern Poverty Law United States to invite skinheads into ters in multiple states), Metzger wasn’t Center sued both Metzgers on behalf of the organized white supremacist fold. choosy. In 1988, he and his son John the victim’s family and won a $12.5 mil- Metzger’s youth outreach efforts threw the first-ever hate rock festival, lion wrongful death verdict that ruined even predated the arrival of racist Aryan Fest, which was open to all skin- the Metzgers financially. skinhead culture in the U.S. in the heads. Skins from all over the country While the money trouble and public early 1980s. traveled to the festival in Oklahoma. scrutiny forced Metzger to stop network- In 1979, when teenager Greg From that point on, Metzger was a ing directly with skinheads, he main- Withrow created a furor by starting a sought-after speaker at rallies and con- tained the WAR hotline and kept publish- “White Students Union” at his north- certs sponsored by a variety of crews. ing white supremacist pamphlets. ern California high school, Metzger One of Metzger’s most devoted fol- In 1993, then 17-year-old Richard took Withrow under his wing, ulti- lowers was Dave Mazella, a California Campos was arrested for a series of mately transforming Withrow’s fledg- skinhead who took part in the traveling firebombings in Sacramento, Calif. His ling organization into the Aryan Youth skinhead circus Metzger put together targets included the house of a Sacra- Movement (AYM), a junior- mento city councilman, an varsity version of Metzger’s NAACP office, the office of own organization, White “Operate like a Nazi submarine! Use your the Japanese American Citi- Aryan Resistance (WAR). periscope! We have to infiltrate! Infiltrate zens League, a synagogue, Metzger then began insert- the military! Infiltrate your local and a state anti-discrimina- ing AYM’s teen newsletter governments! Infiltrate your school board! tion office. Investigators into WAR newspapers. found that Campos had When the first domestic Infiltrate law enforcement!” called the WAR hotline to crop of racist skinheads listen to Metzger’s messages began sprouting in the early-to-mid for the talk shows. “Tom Metzger was 34 times in a single month just before 1980s, White Aryan Resistance and the like a father to me,” Mazella later said. he carried out the bombings, which Aryan Youth Movement quickly moved After their nationally televised ap- Campos had credited to the “Aryan to become the first hate groups where pearances, Metzger promoted Mazella Liberation Front,” a domestic terror- skinhead culture and exploits were to vice president of AYM, where he ist organization of which he was the celebrated rather than shunned. “I was reported directly to John Metzger. only member. Campos told police he’d the first in the country to recognize When word reached WAR’s Fall- become “racially aware” after reading a skinheads and befriend them” Metzger brook, Calif., headquarters that in- White Aryan Resistance flier. Campos told a reporter in 2004. dependent skinhead gangs in the was tried as an adult, convicted, and Metzger tailored his pitch to suit Pacific Northwest were rapidly gaining sentenced to 17 years in prison. the skins’ affinity for rebellion, por- strength, Metzger dispatched Mazella to Since the civil judgment against traying his group as anti-authoritarian Portland, where the WAR emissary used him, Metzger has advocated “lone and pro-working class. “WAR wears no videotapes of his talk show shenanigans wolf” white supremacist activism, uniform, carries no membership card, to get in with the members of East Side which is leaderless and covert. A lone takes no secret oath,” he said. White Pride. John Metzger also sent wolf, according to Metzger, “gathers Metzger and a handful of skinhead ESWP a letter of introduction that read intelligence and carefully digests and protégés made the rounds of television in part, “You’ll get a feel of how we work develops this information into thoughts talk shows, defining skinhead culture when you meet Dave Mazella.” and suggestions.” Then he acts. for the shocked audiences of Oprah In Portland, Mazella arranged for Metzger, who recently moved to Winfrey, Geraldo Rivera and Phil Do- ESWP members to talk to Tom Metzger Warsaw, Ind., continues to speak at nahue. He established a 24-hour WAR directly on the phone, and drove the skinhead rallies, although his organiza- telephone hotline, with outgoing racist Portland skins around in his van to lo- tion is now little more than a publisher. messages scripted for skinheads, and cal high schools, where they distributed In January 2004, he addressed a crowd supplied early skinhead crews with AYM papers. He led them in violent of about 100 skinheads at a hate rock free bundles of WAR and AYM publi- attacks to prove his bona fides. festival outside Phoenix that was orga- cations to distribute on their own turf. On Nov. 12, 1988, three weeks after nized by the Portland, Ore.-based skin- These tactical moves were intended to WAR’s emissary arrived in Portland, head crew Volksfront. “Don’t operate make all racist skinheads and poten- ESWP skinhead Ken Mieske beat to like a battleship,” he shouted. “Operate tial skinheads feel part of a growing death an Ethiopian immigrant. The first like a Nazi submarine! Use your peri- national phenomenon. person Mieske called after the murder scope! We have to infiltrate! Infiltrate While he formed a particularly close was John Metzger. After Mieske and the military! Infiltrate your local gov- 18 intelligence report special edition
You can also read