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Internet Service Providers: A Link to Hate While most Internet access providers have policies that regulate offensive speech, most do not ban hate speech outright. Some providers cite their First Amendment rights as reason enough not to interfere with content on their servers. For some web sites, regulating content remains a work in progress. Today, Internet providers such as America Online have clear guidelines regulating what is acceptable and what is not acceptable behavior on their servers. An AOL subscriber can lose privileges simply because of a complaint from another user. AOL and others have worked closely with ADL to respond responsibly to hate on their servers. But some Internet service providers have been less willing to establish firm policies against hate speech, citing the First Amendment in their defense. For example, Earthlink of Pasadena, Calif., states in its "acceptable use policy" that the site "supports the free flow of information and ideas over the Internet" and does not actively monitor the content of web sites it hosts. Although Earthlink makes clear that illegal activities are not permitted on its site, that one caveat didn't stop the neo-Nazi web site "For Folk and Fatherland" from establishing a home page through Earthlink. The web site reprints Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and more than two dozen of Hitler's speeches. It's not illegal activity, but the message is clearly hateful. Those hate groups that do find trouble gaining access to mainstream Internet service providers can turn to one of a number of renegades of the Web, hate institutions such as Don Black's "Stormfront." Since becoming the first hate site to go live in 1995, "Stormfront" has leapt into the business of hosting extremist sites, describing itself as "an association of White activists on the Internet whose work is partially supported by providing webhosting for other sites." At least one extremist bumped from a mainstream online service has taken refuge on Black's server. Alex Curtis' "Nationalist Observer" site, once hosted by America Online, now resides at "Stormfront." The implication is clear: No matter how many mainstream Internet providers rebuff the bigots, those determined enough to establish a racist site will be able to find a willing host.
The Consequences of Right-Wing Extremism on the Internet Creating Electronic Community of Hate.. The Internet has provided the means for those on the far-right to create an "electronic community of hate." There are three important, measurable respects in which the "electronic community of hate" strengthens the work of right-wing extremists offline. The Internet provides instant and anonymous access to propaganda that inspires and guides criminal activity helps more effectively coordinate their activities offers new ways to make money These consequences of right-wing extremism on the Internet should be of concern to us all. Online, racists, anti-Semites, and anti-government extremists can reach a much larger audience than ever before. Anyone using the Internet may inadvertently be exposed to hate online. Though gauging the affect of extremist material on the vast population of Internet users presents enormous difficulties, substantial information does exist about a small subset of this group: right-wing extremists. In the Internet age, these extremists can communicate with thousands of their compatriots with the click of a mouse.
The explosion of the Internet, and especially the startling increase in the number of teenagers and even children online, has raised important concerns among parents and educators. Among the distractions and diversions along the information superhighway, there are potent dangers. Much of the attention has been focused on online pornography and sex predators. Less has been said of the dangers of hatred and bigotry on the Internet. But the problem has been well documented. And the multiplying of hate sites on the Internet is really just the tip of the iceberg. While it's a marvelous medium for education, communication, entertainment and commerce, the Internet has a dark side. Hate groups have emerged from the back alleys of the past to post their hateful ideas online, in full view of everyone, where they can hide behind their anonymity while spewing their hatred for a potential audience of thousands, if not millions. The Internet is a relatively cheap and highly effective way for hate groups as diverse as the National Alliance and the Ku Klux Klan, as well as anti-Semites, right-wing extremists, militia groups and others to propagate their hateful ideas. What's more, it's becoming a powerful recruitment tool for these groups. Where the activities of hate groups once were limited by geographical boundaries, the Internet allows even the smallest fringe group to spread hate and freely recruit members online by tapping into the worldwide audience that the Web provides. Technology also offers such groups the ability to post messages in chat rooms and communicate like never before. Recently, the Anti-Defamation League, which is at the forefront of tracking this trend of hate online and exposing the phenomenon in numerous reports, has responded to several incidents where hatred and bigotry has found its way onto mainstream Internet portals. For instance, the ADL recently fielded dozens of complaints about the presence of hate "clubs" on Yahoo, one of the Internet's most popular sites. Dozens of hate groups had established "clubs" in plain view on Yahoo's servers. In this case, ADL and Yahoo were able to work together to pull the plug on these haters, resulting in the company's removal of some of the most offensive clubs because they stood in violation of the site's terms of service agreement, which clearly prohibits hate speech. This was one instance where it was possible to rein in white supremacist and racist groups from spreading racism and bigotry. But in the vast majority of cases, online hate speech remains protected under the First Amendment. Hate speech and the many varied forums available on the Internet for the exchange of information have opened up a new set of legal quandaries. Many of the thorniest issues surrounding hate speech ultimately will be decided in the courts. Christopher Wolf, is a partner with the law firm of Proskauer Rose LLP, in Washington, D.C. Considered one of America's leading practitioners in the area of high technology law, he has litigated cutting edge Internet issues involving online privacy, jurisdiction over web site operations, domain names and protection of intellectual property. Mr. Wolf is chairman of the Anti-Defamation League's Internet Policy Committee. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was originally published on GigaLaw.com in July 2000.
The Consequences of Right-Wing Extremism on the Internet Creating Electronic Community of Hate The Internet has provided the far-right fringe with formerly inconceivable opportunities. Online, racists, anti-Semites, and anti-government extremists can reach a much larger audience than ever before and can more easily portray themselves as legitimate. Anyone using the Internet may inadvertently be exposed to hate online. When uninformed or easily influenced people � particularly children � come across hate propaganda, they can fall prey to its deceptive reasoning and adopt hateful beliefs themselves, sometimes going so far as to act on what they have read. Gauging the affects of online hate on this vast population of Internet users presents enormous difficulties. No reliable measurement has been taken of the number of Internet users who find and read hateful material online. Nor can one safely generalize about the ways in which this material affects the beliefs and actions of those who read it. Yet there is a subset of this enormous group of Internet users about whom substantial information does exist: known, active, right-wing extremists. Though the number of active right-wing extremists is relatively small, the harm they can cause is significant. By spreading their views, racists, anti-Semites, and anti-government "patriots" encourage and sustain prejudice in the mainstream. In addition, these extremists are often ready to break the law in support of their beliefs. The Internet has provided the means for extremists to create an "electronic community of hate." In the Internet age, extremists are no longer isolated from others who share their beliefs. Now, they can communicate with thousands of their compatriots with the click of a mouse, from the comfort of their own homes. Just as it has benefited millions of ordinary people, the Internet has profited, connected, and inspired extremists in previously unimaginable ways. This report will detail three important, measurable respects in which the "electronic community of hate" strengthens the work of right-wing extremists offline. First of all, the Internet has provided them with instant and anonymous access to propaganda that inspires and guides criminal activity. Secondly, it has helps them to more effectively coordinate their activities. Finally, it offers them new ways to make money. These, then, are actual, measurable consequences of right-wing extremism on the Internet and should be of concern to us all. More on The Consequences @ groups.msn.com/SpeakingOutAgainstRacism
Internet Hate Speech and the Law -- All of this raises the question, what should be done about this spread of hate through cyberspace? Most people, when they are presented with the scope of the problem say, "There ought to be a law." That certainly was the reaction of Congress when it enacted the Communications Decency Act, which dealt not only with pornography, but also with some extremist groups, but the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently ruled that the Act was overly broad. Other attempts to regulate the Internet in the United States have virtually all been struck down because of the same reason. It's very hard to create a prohibition or a prescription against the free flow information. You have to deal with hate speech in other, more creative ways. One method available to individual computer users is to deny the bigots access to home computers. ADL has developed a HateFilter, which is designed for parents to use in home computers to filter out some of the most offensive hate sites. The software is primarily intended for use as an educational tool. It blocks access to sites and redirects the user to information about hate groups at the ADL home page. There are legal remedies, however, when hate speech crosses the line into threats and intimidation. Under the law, threats are not protected under the First Amendment. This applies to threats involving racial epithets or those motivated by racial animus. A threatening private message sent over the Internet to a victim, or even a public message displayed on a web site describing intent to commit acts of racially motivated violence, can be prosecuted under the law. Similarly, harassing speech is not constitutionally protected because the speech in question usually amounts to impermissible conduct, not just speech. Both harassment and threats must be directed at specific individuals. Blanket statements expressing hatred of an ethnic, racial or religious group cannot be considered harassment, even if those statements cause emotional distress. Another unprotected activity is incitement to violence. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brandenburg v. Ohio that there is a line between speech that is "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action..." and speech that is not likely to incite such action. Still, the Brandenburg standard is a high bar to meet. Online hate speech will rarely be punishable under this test. Likewise, the concept of "group libel" -- comments directed toward Jews, blacks or any other religious or racial group -- cannot be used as a weapon against haters who spew invective online or off. The courts have repeatedly held that libel directed against religious or racial groups does not create an actionable offensive. Libel on the Internet directed toward a particular person or entity, of course, is actionable under the law just as libelous remarks uttered in any public forum. While hate speech online is not in itself punishable, it may provide evidence of motive in a hate crime case. Forty-two states and the District of Columbia currently have some form of a hate crime law on the books that enable prosecutors to seek increased penalties when a victim is targeted in a bias crime. When hate speech on the Internet inspires violence, the evidence could aid the prosecution in seeking an increased penalty under the hate crimes statute. While this concept has only been applied to movies thus far, there have been an increasing number of crimes being committed by perpetrators who read hate literature online. The racially motivated shooting of blacks, Asian-Americans and Jews in suburban Chicago over July Fourth weekend in 1999 was carried out by a member of World Church of the Creator, Benjamin Nathaniel Smith, who, according to law enforcement officials, has admitted to reading hate literature online. There have been similar cases where perpetrators of hate crimes have found inspiration in literature easily obtainable on the Internet. Even with laws against intimidating speech, the anonymity of the Internet makes it difficult to track down and prosecute perpetrators of threatening messages. This proved true in a recent case involving a Detroit boy who received a barrage of anti-Semitic death threats in his mailbox. The 11-year-old, who innocently stumbled upon a hater while surfing through a public chat area, immediately reported the incident to his parents, who notified the local police. Not surprisingly, their investigation turned up few clues as to the source of the anonymous threats. Eventually, it was determined the source was disguised, quite possibly outside of the country, and obviously well beyond the reach of local authorities. Yet there have been other successful prosecutions against senders of hate mail. A student at the University of California in Irvine who transmitted threatening e-mails to Asian students was caught and convicted of a civil rights violation. There have been other convictions. Still, the law isn't always a panacea to hate. The best antidote to hate speech, ADL maintains, is more speech. Public awareness of hate on the Internet, whether through reports and studies or media coverage, can go a long way to help sensitize the public, private Internet companies, and government regulators to the problem. A summary of groundbreaking cases involving online hate speech and a legal analysis of issues relating to hate on the Internet is available in the ADL report, "Combating Extremism in Cyberspace: The Legal Issues Affecting Internet Hate Speech."
The Internet as a Hate Tool For years, hate groups have created written materials of every kind to spread their propaganda, including books, glossy magazines, newspapers, flyers and even graffiti. As communication technologies advanced, these groups have kept up. First, they used standard broadcast-band and shortwave radio, audiotape, videotape and public-access cable TV. More recently, bigots of all kinds recognized the Internet's power and rushed to use it to rally their supporters, preach to the unconverted, and intimidate those whom they perceive as their enemies. Even before Stormfront appeared on the Web, extremists had begun exploiting other ways to use the Internet, and these practices continue today. Lively conversations take place on numerous extremist Internet Relay Chat channels, such as #Nazi and #Klan. The USENET, a collection of thousands of public discussion groups (or newsgroups) on which people write, read and respond to messages, attracts hundreds of thousands of participants each day, both active (those who write) and passive (those who simply read or "lurk"). Newsgroups have been compared to community bulletin boards. Haters of all sorts debate, rant, and insult their opponents on newsgroups with titles such as alt.politics.white-power and alt.revisionism. Electronic mailing lists (or "listservs") flourish as well. Such lists are like private "bulletin boards" available only to subscribers. While some lists keep their subscription information confidential, most are easy to join. Postings to some of these lists are moderated (i.e., monitored by the list operator who applies certain standards of acceptability), but others are entirely unregulated. In fashioning their lists, extremists and racists create an "electronic community" of like-minded people. Before the Internet, many extremists worked in relative isolation, forced to make a great effort to connect with others who shared their ideology. Today, on the Internet, bigots communicate easily, inexpensively, and sometimes anonymously with With encrypted E-mail, extremists have found a secure forum in which to exchange ideas and plans. hundreds of fellow extremists. Online, extremists reinforce more easily each other's hateful convictions. Extremists also use E-mail, which allows them to communicate with one another directly, their missives ostensibly hidden from public view. In fact, E-mail is not truly private: computer-savvy individuals can intercept and read private messages. Some users, nervous about eavesdroppers, now use cryptographic programs. Cryptography converts written material using a secret code, rendering it unreadable by anyone who does not have the means to decode it. With encrypted E-mail, extremists have found a secure forum in which to exchange ideas and plans. E-mail can also be used to spread hate propaganda. With a mailing list and a message, hate mailings can easily reach the mailboxes of large numbers of people. Enterprising haters have managed to mass-mail hate materials to tens, hundreds, or even thousands of unsuspecting people without revealing their identity. Though purveyors of hate make use of all the communication tools the Internet provides, the World Wide Web is their forum of choice. In addition to its multimedia capabilities and popularity with Internet users, the Web allows bigots to control their message. Organized haters complain about civil rights activists who critique their manifestoes in USENET newsgroups and other interactive forums. In contrast, haters can refuse to publish critical messages on their Web sites, just as a TV station can refuse to broadcast another station's opinions over its airwaves. Furthermore, it is impossible for someone surfing the Web to know if any particular organization, other than one with a national reputation, is credible. Both the reputable and the disreputable are on the Web, and many Web users lack the experience and knowledge to distinguish between them. Increasingly, Web development tools have made it simple for bigots to create sites that visually resemble those of reputable organizations. Consequently, hate groups using the Web can more easily portray themselves as legitimate voices of authority.
IHomophobia Online: The Westboro Baptist Church Many racist and anti-Semitic Web sites also contain anti-gay propaganda, but some Web pages, in particular C.N.G. (Cyber Nationalists Group) and S.T.R.A.I.G.H.T (Society To Remove All Immoral Godless Homosexual Trash), focus their hatred primarily on gays and lesbians. Perhaps the most vile and best-known anti-gay Web site is God Hates Fags, which is maintained by Benjamin Phelps, grandson and compatriot of Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) leader Fred Phelps. Incorporated May 15, 1967 as a not-for-profit organization adhering to Calvinistic Baptist beliefs,65 WBC (which is located in Topeka, Kansas) is well-known for picketing the funerals of AIDS victims and others it perceives as homosexual or connected to homosexuality. God Hates Fags contains an archive of photos depicting Fred Phelps and his supporters picketing, carrying signs bearing slogans such as "No Fags in Heaven"; "Thank God for AIDS," and "2 Gay Rights: AIDS and Hell." According to God Hates Fags, WBC has "conducted some 10,000 such demonstrations during the last five years at homosexual parades and other events," including the funeral of slain University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard. The site reprints dozens of flyers promoting its activities, including a few regarding Shepard. One states: Matt Shepard now believes the Bible. He checked into Hell Oct. 12 [1998] where the worm that eats on him never dies and the fire is never quenched...Not the wealth of the world, nor an act of Congress, nor a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, nor all the prayers of mankind, nor any power on earth � can buy Matt Shepard a drop of water to cool his tongue or ease his pain � or ease his sentence a day short of eternity.66 Citing the Book of Romans, WBC asserts that the Bible deems gays and anyone who supports them "worthy of death." The group believes the activities of gays and their supporters encourage God's anger against humankind. Addressing homosexuals, WBC states, "it was your ilk who brought destruction on Sodom, and it will be your ilk who fuels God's wrath to the point that there will be no remedy." Reflecting a conspiracy-oriented outlook, WBC declares that gays have an "agenda" they are trying to impose on an unsuspecting public. This agenda involves "desensitizing the public," convincing people "to affirm their filthy lifestyle," and turning them away from Christianity. WBC believes, homosexuality is no longer classified as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association only because gays used "guerrilla theater tactics" at that group's convention for two successive years. WBC also believes that gays "infiltrate the house of God to try to make themselves look holy," and calls religious congregations that welcome gay members, ordain gay ministers, or perform gay marriages, "fag churches." While WBC's anti-gay activities have received much press coverage, its anti-Semitism has gone largely unnoticed. According to God Hates Fags The only true Jews are Christians. The rest of the people who claim to be Jews aren't, and they are nothing more than typical, impenitent sinners, who have no Lamb. As evidence of their apostacy [sic], the vast majority of Jews support fags.67 In 1995, WBC picketed a synagogue in Kansas because it was holding a commemoration for victims of the Holocaust, including homosexuals.68 According to WBC, "fags" aren't the only people "God hates": he "hates baby-killers," too.69 Like God Hates Fags, the Christian Gallery Web site attacks gays, but its main focus is near-violent opposition to abortion.
Bomb-Making Manuals: Explosive Content In November 1995, Ray Lampley, Cecilia Lampley, and John Baird began construction of a bomb with the help of the bomb-making manual entitled "Homemade C-4." When the FBI arrested the conspirators, law enforcement agents recovered the bomb-making manuals Anarchist's Cookbook and Homemade Weapons, in addition to the "Homemade C-4" text, from the Lampley residence. Many of these bomb-making instructions are available online. Numerous pages devoted to terror manuals are currently present on the Web, and explosives enthusiasts regularly post information at USENET newsgroups. Additionally, some white supremacist pages sites, such as Death 2 ZOG (Zionist Occupation Government), have posted bomb-making instructions. Covered with Nazi and World Church of the Creator symbols, this site urges its readers to "Kill the jew [sic] pig before it's too late" and proclaims its support for "black on black violence." Death 2 ZOG contains downloadable copies of bomb-making manuals such as "Jolly Roger Cookbook," "The Big Book of Mischief" and "Anarchy Cookbook." William Powell's legendary Anarchist's Cookbook, first published in 1971, has inspired many Web pages. Though Powell's book has not been available on the Web in its entirety, a number of Web pages contain works named after it, such as "The Anarchist Cookbook IV," otherwise known as the BHU Pyrotechnics Cookbook. Explosive-related sections of this document, which is widely available on the Web, include "Making Plastic Explosives," "Napalm" and "Revised Pipe Bombs Numerous pages devoted to terror manuals are currently present on the Web, and explosives enthusiasts regularly post information at USENET newsgroups. 4.14." "The Anarchy Cookbook IV" also contains instructive information about lock picking, computer "hacking," and robbing Automated Teller Machines. Many versions of another popular online manual, the Terrorist's Handbook, include a disclaimer that warns, "don't try anything you find in this document!!! Many of the instructions doesn't [sic] even work." Yet these directions are posted nonetheless, instructing readers how to construct "High Order Explosives" such as "Ammonium Nitrate," "Dynamite," and "TNT" as well as "Molotov Cocktails," "Phone Bombs," and other destructive devices. Significantly, this Handbook also includes a "Checklist for Raids on Labs," concluding that "in the end, the serious terrorist would probably realize that if he/she wishes to make a truly useful explosive, he or she will have to steal the chemicals to make the explosive from a lab." According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Federal agents investigating at least 30 bombings and four attempted bombings between 1985 and June 1996 recovered bomb-making literature that the suspects had obtained from the Internet.76 In these investigations, the possession of bomb-making literature has been taken by law enforcement authorities as strong circumstantial evidence that this literature has been used to plan crimes. Like other extremist material on the Internet, bomb-making manuals are readily accessible to children. In fact, these tracts have already been accessed by eager, impressionable youngsters. The Washington Post has described discussions among 14-year-olds about "which propellants are best to use, which Web sites have the best recipes and whether tin or aluminum soda cans make better bomb casings."77 Furthermore, children have used recipes found on the Web to create and detonate bombs. For example, two 15-year-old boys from Orem, Utah, landed in a juvenile-detention center after they constructed a pipe bomb using online instructions. Similarly, three high school students in Ogden, Utah, who ignited a bomb at a Jehovah's Witnesses church later told police they learned how to make the device from a Web page devoted to the Anarchists Cookbook.78
Anti-Abortion Extremism in Cyberspace: The Creator's Rights Party A 54-year-old Georgia native and self-taught computer consultant, Neal Horsley leads the militant anti-abortion Creator's Rights Party. Horsley developed his extremist views in the 1980s, while a scholarship student at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania, a conservative seminary with Presbyterian roots. "I stood on the podium at Westminster and said the day will come when abortionists will be looking down the barrel of a gun," Horsley told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "it put me on the fringe."70 At the Creator's Rights Party page within his Christian Gallery Web site, Horsley posts an anti-gay article entitled "Arresting Homosexuals (for their own good)." Citing the Matthew Shepard murder, Horsley asserts that gays should be locked up because they inspire revulsion in the general populace. Describing gays as "faggots who will burn in hell" and the "living embodiment of the death of man," Horsley believes homosexual activity to be part of "Satan's plan," for "as long as homosexuals are protected from law enforcement, all the massive legions of fornicators and adulterers and other breeds of sexual outlaw can consider themselves safe."71 Horsley reserves even more extreme hatred for abortion providers. Though many Web sites, including some racist and anti-Semitic pages like James Wickstrom and August Kreis's Posse Comitatus site, express fierce opposition to abortion, Horsley's site stands out as one of the most virulent anti-abortion sites on the Web. The Nuremberg Files offers extensive personal information about abortion providers: pictures; work and home addresses and phone numbers; license-plate numbers; Social Security numbers; names and birth dates of spouses and children. Viewers are exhorted to send photos, videotapes and data on "the abortionist, their car, their house, friends, and anything else of interest." The site says that the information garnered will be used to prosecute abortion providers when abortion becomes illegal, just as Nazi leaders were prosecuted after the Second World War. Many observers, however, worry that this information has been and will be used for a more violent, threatening purpose. The list of abortion providers at The Nuremberg Files site reads like a list of targets for assassination. Names listed in plain black lettering are still "working"; those printed in "Greyed-out" letters are "wounded"; and those names that are crossed out ("Strikethrough") indicate doctors who have been murdered ("fatality"). Within hours of Dr. Slepian's slaying, Horsley crossed out his name, indicating that he had become a "fatality." The Nuremberg Files are not alone at Christian Gallery in their seeming promotion of the murder of abortion doctors. Christian Gallery features "Why I Shot An Abortionist," by death row inmate Paul Hill, who has promoted the "justifiable homicide" of abortion practitioners. The article describes Hill's "joy" after killing an abortion doctor and gives voice to his feeling that, in murdering the doctor, God had done "great things" through him. Christian Gallery deems Hill an "American Hero." Additionally, the site voices support for the "Army of God," a name used by anti-abortion activists who published a bomb-making manual and claimed responsibility for abortion clinic bombings. "Look closely at the pictures of the tortured dead babies," Horsley writes. "You will see there what motivates thousands of individuals in the USA today to think about blowing up abortion clinics and worse. Look closely and you will see why many people in this nation think waging war to stop the war against God's children is a reasonable action." Beyond allegedly promoting the murder of abortion providers and the bombing of clinics, Horsley encourages one strategy "guaranteed" to end legalized abortion: "Secession Via Nuclear Weapons." He encourages states to take control of the Federal government's nuclear weapons and threaten to secede from the United States unless there is a "return to God's plan for government." Citing the Declaration of Independence in support of his position, Horsley explains that "God's plan" includes intolerance of homosexuality and a legal ban on abortion.72 In the midst of his plea for secession, Horsley mentions The Republic of Texas. This anti-government group wants to secede from the United States and misleadingly cites legal and historical documents to justify its illegal activities. Such tactics are characteristic of the militia and "common law court" movements.
IPress Release Anti-Semitism-USA Extremists and Racists are Targeting Children and Creating an 'Electric Community of Hate' on the Internet. New ADL Book Examines Latest Developments New York, NY, June 23, 1999�Extremists and racists are creating an "electronic community of hate" that specifically targets children with its propaganda, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Poisoning the Web: Hatred Online documents how bigots communicate on the Internet easily, inexpensively, and sometimes anonymously with hundreds of fellow extremists and others. The ADL report exposes long-time haters with records of violence as among those who are reaching out to children online. Along with updates on the traditional hate groups such as the KKK, Neo-Nazi skinheads, the National Alliance and many others, ADL reports on the dangers of online bomb-making manuals, the role of women in white supremacy online, and anti-abortion extremism in cyberspace. "While the Internet provides us with extraordinary possibilities for communication in today�s fast-paced age of information, it is also an ideal tool for spreading hate. Our findings show that conspiracy-laden anti-Semitism continues to be a prominent theme on hate Web sites. Cowards can hide in the Web�s anonymity while reaching out to the most vulnerable members of our society," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Poisoning the Web is the result of the constant vigilance of ADL�s Internet Monitoring Unit at scrutinizing the Web. Our aim is to expose haters and help parents assist their to children make intelligent and informed decisions about whom they let into their homes and offices." According to Poisoning the Web, the World Church of the Creator "Kids!" Site - subtitled "Creativity for Children!" - utilizes enticing graphics and child-friendly language to lure young Web users. Available at the "Kids!" site are "coloring pages" and "crossword puzzles." Children are urged to "have fun" solving these puzzles while helping "educate" themselves "in the Creed of Creativity." Kids are encouraged to E-mail the site so that Creators can "answer any questions" they might have. "With summer well on the way, our youth are spending more time in front of the computer, increasing their chances of encountering the hate and bigotry that is so readily accessible. Now is the time to arm ourselves with information," said Howard P. Berkowitz, ADL National Chairman. "Extremists are trying to seduce our children with multimedia on-line messages designed to mask the hideous face of hatred and violence and attract and influence young people. This is why ADL continues to create resources such as Poisoning the Web and the ADL HateFilter� to help children safely navigate the net by providing them with the necessary tools to tell good information from bad information." Poisoning the Web provides the historical background of hate online, current trends gathered by the ADL Internet Monitoring Unit, legal and societal implications and suggestions for counteracting online hatred. ADL exposes the perpetrators of "cyber hate" and juxtaposes their recent activities online with their long histories of hate and their records of violence. Before the Internet, many extremists worked in relative isolation, forced to make a concerted effort to connect with others who shared their ideology. Today, on the Internet, bigots communicate more easily and inexpensively with hundreds of fellow extremists, reinforcing each other�s hateful convictions. White supremacist Don Black claims that Web surfers have accessed his site Stormfront more than a million times since its debut. National Alliance (NA) members correspond privately via E-mail not only with potential recruits, but also with each other. The organization claims to have established a "Rapid Response Team (RRT), which gathers information or quickly alerts other NA members when an "emergency arises." Like other white supremacist groups, the KKK has turned to the Internet as a means to revitalize their movement and attract a new cadre of supporters and activists. One Klan member is quoted as saying, "Up until last month, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Realm of Florida was very small. But now we have a website up, and our numbers are growing dramatically." Also featured in the report are answers to "10 Frequently Asked Questions About Law and Hate on the Internet" including: What kind of hate speech on the Internet is not protected by the First Amendment? Has anyone ever been successfully prosecuted in the United States for sending racist threats via E-mail? Has anyone ever been held liable in the United States for encouraging acts of violence on the World Wide Web? Can hate crimes laws be used against hate on the Internet? What are Internet �filters� and when is their use appropriate? Poisoning the Web is the latest in a series of reports on this topic published by ADL, the leading authority on hate on the Internet. Previous publications include High-Tech Hate: Extremist Use of the Internet, Warning Hate Zone: A Parent�s Guide and The Web of Hate. Other relevant ADL materials include 101 Ways to Make Your Community a Prejudice-Free Zone, and What to Tell Your Child About Prejudice and Discrimination. ADL recently released a first-of-its-kind educational filter software product. ADL HateFilter provides users not only with the option of screening out hate sites, but is unique in that it also provides a link to obtain educational information about the anti-Semitic, racist and extremist individuals and groups who espouse their dangerous and divisive views on the Internet. The ADL HateFilter can be downloaded to your computer from the ADL web site. Editor�s Note: Toschedule an interview with an expert, please contact the Media Relations Department at (212) 885-7749 by e-mail adlmedia@adl.org. The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
INeo-Nazis: Stormtroopers of the Web While the National Alliance and Aryan Nations Web sites pay tribute to Nazism mostly by espousing neo-Nazi philosophies, other Web sites make direct references to Nazism's most significant historical manifestation, Adolf Hitler's Nazi party. The symbols associated with Hitler's Nazis are attractive to bigots on the Web because they suggest anti-Semitism in an immediate, forceful way to the general public. Like Identity "churches," neo-Nazis use the Web to market merchandise, selling items emblazoned with the instantly recognizable symbols of Hitler's Nazi party. Naming itself for the Shutzstaffel, the elite section of the Nazi Party that ran Hitler's extermination camps, the online store SS Enterprises specializes in selling Nazi-related paraphernalia, including newly-designed T-shirts, pins, patches, hats, stickers, flags, belt buckles, arm bands, and helmets bearing swastikas, the initials "SS," a German eagle, or an iron cross. Also available are Nazi patches, pins, rings, and hats designed during Hitler's era. Like the T-shirt a music fan might buy at a rock concert, one shirt reads "Adolf Hitler European The symbols associated with Hitler's Nazis are attractive to bigots on the Web because they suggest anti-Semitism in an immediate, forceful way to the general public. Tour 1939-1945," listing the nations that Hitler invaded during those years. Other white supremacist T-shirts sold by SS Enterprises feature racist slogans such as "If we knew they were going to be this much trouble, we'd a picked our own damn cotton!!" or depictions of Klansmen behind phrases like "Boyz N' the Hood." Another shirt depicts a "Black Family Tree": a tree with nooses hung from it, seemingly ready for a Klan-style lynching.
Cyber-fascists on the march Fascist groups are using the information superhighway to spread theword of Aryan supremacy, reports BRUCE COHENNeo-Nazis and racists are spinning a busy web of hate on the Internet. Previously limited to private bulletin boards, a number of these siteshave emerged on the World Wide Web, offering a chilling and fascinatinginsight into the mind of the 21st-century fascist. Jew-hater supreme is Canadian Ernest Z�ndel, whose Z�ndelsite on theWeb specialises in revisionist history denying the Holocaust. "We are hoping to enroll you as an active intellectual -- one of theZ�ndel Internet Freedom Fighters," says Z�ndel, probably the most visible Nazi in North America. Z�ndel's leitmotif is that post-war Germany, which was "bombed into thestone age" by the Allies, is "still under an occupation governmentcontrolled and terrorised by alien interests, suppression, treason andsubversion". You can test this assertion, says Z�ndel, with a nine-letter word: saythat you doubt the Holocaust. To assist you in your doubts, Z�ndel supplies a variety of revisionistworks on his Internet site, among them: * Auschwitz: Myths and Facts; * Inside the Auschwitz "Gas Chambers"; * The "Liberation of the Camps": Facts vs. Lies; and * A Revisionist Challenge to the US Holocaust Museum. The National Alliance is another white supremacist grouping on the Webdetermined to preserve the Aryan nation from Jews and "mud-people". Says the alliance: "After the sickness of multiculturalism, which isdestroying America, Britain, and every other Aryan nation in which itis being promoted, has been swept away, we must again have a raciallyclean area of the Earth for the further development of our people. Wemust have White schools, White residential neighbourhoods and recreation areas, White workplaces, White farms and countryside. Wemust have no non-Whites in our living space, and we must have openspace around us for expansion." Ring any bells? Its Aryan society is Jew-free: "What we must have ... is a thoroughrooting out of Semitic and other non-Aryan values and customseverywhere." And it's sure to be a cultural rave: "This means a society in whichyoung men and women gather to revel with polkas or waltzes, reels orjigs, or any other White dances, but never to undulate or jerk tonegroid jazz or rock rhythms. It means pop music without Barry Manilowand art galleries without Marc Chagall." A RABID treatise called Who Rules America, which is found on several ofthese anti-Semitic sites, demands that the "alien (read Jewish) grip onAmercian news and entertainment media must be broken". Its analysis of mass media control and manipulation is in fact quitegood, borrowing heavily on the left critique. "The mass media form forus our image of the world and then tell us what to think about thatimage ... they not only slant what they present, but they establishtacit boundaries and ground rules for the permissible spectrum ofopinion. "No king or pope of old, no conquering general or high priest everdisposed of a power even remotely approaching that of the few dozen menwho control America's mass news and entertainment media." But the analysis quickly descends into a Jewish conspiracy, a showbizversion of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The 2Oth-century enemy is no longer the Jewish banker, but the mediamogul. And Jewish control over the television networks' entertainmentprogramming is seen as the thin end of the wedge. "They decide just howhard to push various propaganda themes in their network programming:interracial marriage, homosexuality, feminism, gun control, 'Holocaust're-enactments, the menace of 'White extremism'." Time-Warner's Gerald Levin, Disney's Michael Eisner, Paramount's MarvinDavis, CBS's Laurence Tisch, Columbia's Peter Guber, Viacom's SummerRedstone (aka Murray Rothstein), and MCA's Lew Wasserman -- are all,yes, Jews. And, of course, there are the Jew Newhouses, the JewSulzbergers (New York Times) and don't forget that Jewess, the Washington Post's Kathryn Meyer Graham. The alliance proclaims: "The Jewish control of the American mass mediais the single most important fact of life, not just in America, but inthe whole world today. There is nothing -- plague, famine, economiccollapse, even nuclear war -- more dangerous to the future of ourpeople. "We must oppose the further spreading of this poison among our people,and we must break the power of those who are spreading it. "To permit the Jews, with their 3 000-year history of nation-wrecking,from ancient Egypt to Russia, to hold such power over us is tantamountto race suicide." Once you've latched on to the evils of the Jewsmedia, it's just a small conceptual leap to the Jewnited Snakes of America controlled by the ZOG(Zionist Occupational Government). At the Jew World Order WWW page, you'll be asked to consider some bigquestions of our time: Do Jews have secret understandings that are kept from gentiles? Why have Jews many times fabricated phoney "hate crimes" and then blamed them on gentiles? How is the Holocaust used for Jewish advantage? Did the Holocaust actually happen? What was the Jewish role in communism and the Russian Revolution? Finally, what role are Jews now playing in the total destruction of Western Civilisation? Want to network with these fascists? A one-stop Web site is Stormfront-- "a resource for those courageous men and women fighting to preservetheir White, Western culture, ideals and freedom of speech and association." Stormfront provides scores of links to other fascist resources on theInternet and on bulletin boards, and it has extensive archives ofracist and anti-Semitic material. This small but angry band is testing the limits of free expression onthe information highway. Frankly, they worry me a lot more than thepornographers on the 'Net.
The National Alliance: Pierce's Cybernauts The National Alliance (NA) was originally established as the "Youth for Wallace" campaign in support of the failed 1968 Presidential bid of Alabama Governor George Wallace. After Wallace lost, the group was renamed the "National Youth Alliance." In 1970, William Pierce, a former American Nazi Party official, joined the group, and in 1974 (around the time that David Duke founded his Knights of the Ku Klux Klan), Pierce took the reins and dropped the word "Youth" from the organization's name. Now in his mid-60s, Pierce still leads the group out of a compound in West Virginia. Using the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald, he authored the novel The Turner Diaries, which details a successful world revolution by an all-white army, and the systematic extermination of Blacks, Jews, and other minorities. Many extremists regard The Turner Diaries as an explicit terrorism manual, and the novel is believed to have inspired several major acts of violence, including the April 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Pierce continues to encourage violence, viewing it as the ultimate solution to what he terms "the Jewish problem." His weekly radio program, American Dissident Voices (ADV), is rife with incendiary speech. Between his novels and his broadcasts, Pierce provides bigots with both an ideological and a practical framework for committing acts of mass destruction. The National Alliance is currently the largest and most active neo-Nazi organization in the nation. In the past several years, dozens of violent crimes, including murders, bombings and robberies, have been traced to NA members or appear to have been inspired by the group's propaganda. At the same time, the organization's membership base has experienced major growth, with its numbers more than doubling since 1992. The NA's current strength can be attributed to several factors: its willingness to cooperate with other extremists (such as David Duke); its energetic recruitment and other promotional activities; its vicious, but deceptively intellectualized propaganda, and a skillful embrace of the Internet. A former physics professor at Oregon State University, Pierce was quick to understand the potential power of the Internet. Today, the NA's site is one of the best-organized and most informative hate sites on the Web. It promotes Pierce's Nazi-like ideology: biological determinism, hierarchical organization, an emphasis on will and sacrifice, and "a long-term eugenics program involving at least the entire populations of Europe and America." In the section of its site entitled "What is the National Alliance?," the NA calls for the creation of "White Living Space" purged of all non-whites and demands the formation of a government "wholly committed to the service of [the white] race and subject to no non-Aryan influence." On the site, this section is reprinted in Swedish, Dutch, and German, as are French and German translations of The Turner Diaries and the text of selected ADV broadcasts in Swedish. Also included on the NA's site are Pierce's anti-Semitic screed "Who Rules America" (a particular favorite among online bigots) and articles from the NA's print publications, Free Speech and National Vanguard. These documents contain familiar themes: America is in decline, its vital essence polluted by non-Aryans, and only the revolutionary program of the NA can save it. Hate of non-whites runs through these pieces, but an extra dose of venom is reserved for Jews, who are cast as the source of all evil, driven by biological necessity to destroy "Aryan" society. Even when one of Pierce's articles blames America's presumed decline on the influx of non-Europeans, Jews are portrayed as the force responsible for this by spreading that most noxious of all ideas, "equality." The NA Web site also features an online version of the NA's National Vanguard Books catalog, which offers an extensive selection of racist and anti-Semitic books, videotapes, and cassettes. These items are divided into categories such as "National Socialist Revolution"; "Race: Science and Sociology"; and an especially long list of materials concerned with "Communism, Zionism, Feminism, and the Jews." Visitors can order books from the National Alliance by downloading a user-friendly order form from the NA site, printing it out, and sending it to the NA with payment. Additionally, "any White person (a non-Jewish person of wholly European ancestry) of good character and at least 18 years of age who accepts as his own the goals of the National Alliance" can apply for membership using the Web, by downloading and printing out a membership form and mailing it to the group. Users can also find items relating to a particular topic by plugging in key words to the site's search engine; over 250 items turned up when searching for the term "Jews." Each week, Pierce's ADV radio program � transmitted over nine AM or FM radio stations and on shortwave � appears at the site on the day it has been broadcast on the radio. These broadcasts are stored in the site's archives for several months, ready to be listened to at any time, anywhere in the world. NA sympathizers have also increased the group's exposure by using public Internet forums, sending unsolicited E-mail messages, and disrupting USENET newsgroups. In the "Reviews and Commentaries" section of the Web site for Amazon.com, visitors are invited to comment on books they have read. In at least two reviews (no longer at the site), NA supporters promoted their organization's message. Reviewing The Turner Diaries, one of these sympathizers urged other readers to "contact the author's organization, the National Alliance, and get involved in the struggle for self determination and freedom for our people." Another commentary lamented that whites who "just sit on their butts all day and allow the Jewish takeover of the U.S. to continue unchallenged really need to read the chapter called the 'Day of the Rope.' Everyone else who wants to fight needs to join the [NA]." In October 1994, thousands of people in four states received an unsolicited E-mail message containing NA propaganda from an untraceable address. An action like this is considered a serious breach of "netiquette" (responsible Internet use). The NA disavowed this act but noted its interest in sending unsolicited messages in its newsletter: It is easy to understand the temptation to [fraudulently use an E-mail account to send E-mail]...[Having] the right person's password can open up all sorts of possibilities for large-volume transmissions. It is important for the Alliance to continue to exploit the Information Superhighway fully. Persons accessible through various computer networks are usually professionals...and it [is] useful for us to saturate them with our message, whether they like it or not.15 A similar transmission of another National Alliance piece occurred in 1995, on the eve of the Jewish High Holy Days, and again in February 1998, when hundreds of people received an unsolicited E-mail message containing the transcript of Pierce's ADV program entitled "Bill, Monica, and Saddam." In it, Pierce claimed that by writing about the Monica Lewinsky affair, the "Jewish media bosses" harmed President Clinton, who "would do whatever they told him to do," but "had screwed up so many times that he had become a liability for them." Pierce also asserted that the United States would attack Iraq and aid Israel, 'We have organized members working as teams, not identifying themselves as Alliance members but going into these discussion groups and virtually taking them over,' Pierce explained. adding "the Jews would like to have us get rid of Saddam Hussein and cripple Iraq for them." Those sympathetic to the NA have also targeted specific institutions, such as Southwest Texas University. In April 1998, three Black students there were charged with raping two white students at a dormitory party. The campus NAACP chapter voiced opposition to the charges and criticized school administrators for a "rush to judgment." In response, a National Alliance supporter sent 16,000 unsolicited E-mail messages to students and faculty calling on the NAACP to apologize to "victims of rape" and all white women. "The truth is," the E-mail read, "White people in this country are under attack by an ever-growing population of black criminals." NA sympathizers have also posted thousands of messages to USENET newsgroups, seeing them as a way to broadcast their message widely. In its July 1995 Bulletin, the NA encouraged "the Alliance's seasoned cybernauts" to spread its Web site address "as widely as possible." That same year, ADL released Hate Group Recruitment on the Internet, a report that dealt in part with the activities of NA sympathizer Milton John Kleim. Kleim, self-described "Net Nazi Number One," flooded newsgroups with messages attacking Jews and non-whites, openly calling for authoritarian government and expressing admiration for William Pierce. In an article titled "On Tactics and Strategy for USENET," Kleim urged "cyber guerillas" to leave the safety of racist newsgroups and post specially tailored messages to mainstream newsgroups. For instance, in a group focusing on food, writers might push the "kosher tax" message, charging that kosher food supervision costs consumers money. Above all, Kleim encouraged USENET bigots to "repeat powerful themes OVER AND OVER AND OVER" and "systematically post the address for the [National] Alliance Website." During the O.J. Simpson trial, Kleim and other racists posted messages to the alt.fan.oj-simpson newsgroup declaring that white people are now victims and should not take it anymore. Many ended their messages with an advertisement for the NA Web site. In a 1996 speech to the NA's Cleveland unit, Pierce described the NA's organized effort to dominate discussions in USENET newsgroups. He outlined the operations of an "Alliance Cybercell," a group of NA supporters active in USENET newsgroups. "We have organized members working as teams, not identifying themselves as Alliance members but going into these discussion groups and virtually taking them over," Pierce explained. These cell leaders "decide what discussion groups they want to get into...analyze the situation, analyze the types of propaganda that have been presented by the other side and we go in there and just tear them apart." Though Pierce encouraged online NA supporters to shift their recruiting activities from public debate to private discussions, one still finds NA members descending on USENET newsgroups and other public forums where they believe they might find sympathizers, spewing their hateful propaganda and inviting people to visit the NA Web site. NA members correspond privately via E-mail not only with potential recruits, but also with each other. The organization claims to have established a "Rapid Response Team (RRT)," a group of NA volunteers who are contacted via E-mail to respond to special situations. According to the NA, this team serves many purposes, from gathering information to quickly alerting other NA members in their area when an "emergency" arises. In a July 1998 ADV broadcast, Pierce asked: What can we do to free ourselves from the Jews? What can we do to break their death grip on our mass media of news and entertainment and on our political system? How can we bring about an end to their racket of using us to extort money from the rest of the world for them? William Pierce, like David Duke and Don Black, clearly sees the Internet as part of the answer to these questions, deeming it "the one medium where we are on an equal footing with CBS, NBC, and all the rest of them." Also Online: Explosion of Hate: The Growing Danger of the National Alliance
Echoing Male Counterparts Some hateful women on the Web echo the positions promoted by their male counterparts: opposition to non-whites, hatred of miscegenation and anger at "anti-White" control of the media. Her Race From the Her Race Web site comes "Gaia: Everyone's Mother" by Inga Niteau. Niteau declares, "Whites are facing extinction as more non-Whites reproduce and invade our lands." She believes "only whites have succeeded in inhibiting their animal instincts by reproducing at a rate that is balanced by the mortality rate." Niteau also asserts that "Whites have a right to have many more children than non-Caucasians." "Lights, Camera, Action," by Lisa Turner, declares that "White people are subjected to anti-White images via television and motion pictures" because "the enemy forces have total control of the film world and movie-making business." Turner dreams of a "White people's 'Oscars'" at which whites "all sit together in a dazzling hall and applaud as our enemies do now for their lackeys." World Church of the Creator Women's Frontier The World Church of the Creator (WCOTC) Women's Frontier Web site contains some of the same articles as the male-oriented World Church sites (WCOTC is a pseudo-theological extremist group that attacks Christianity, Judaism, Blacks and immigrants with equal vehemence). These documents point to Jews as Satan's children and deem Blacks and other minorities subhuman "mud" people. "We believe it is vitally important for White people -- especially our White Sisters -- to fully understand the bizarre, disgusting and criminal behavior of the inferior mud races," explains the site in introducing "The Mud Chronicles," accounts of Black and Asian mishaps. Women for Aryan Unity Characterizing advocates of tolerance as "credulous, dependent, and conformist creatures," "The Aryan Struggle," an article at the Women for Aryan Unity Web site, claims that "nature has revolted against race mixing," resulting in a "sickly population." The article also asserts that those who "don't believe there is a race problem all over the world" have been cowed by "psychological conditioning and institutional dictates." Though many of these sites bear some resemblance to those created by racist men, most women's hate sites focus on discussions about proper roles for extremist females. Interestingly, the positions voiced at these sites mirror those expressed in conventional discussions about women's roles in mainstream society, contrasting "stay-at-home" mothers with working women.
Don Black: White Pride World Wide An unmistakable logo greets visitors to the Stormfront Home Page, the gateway to Don Black's online world of bigotry: a cross ringed by the words "White Pride World Wide." Under this logo, Black describes his site: Stormfront is a resource for those courageous men and women fighting to preserve their White Western culture, ideals and freedom of speech and association � a forum for planning strategies and forming political and social groups to ensure victory.7 Though Black claims to be a "White Nationalist," not a hatemonger, his idea of "White Pride" involves demeaning, demonizing and menacing Jews and non-whites, and his concept of "victory" includes the creation of ethnically cleansed political enclaves. Since its creation, Stormfront has served as a veritable supermarket of online hate, stocking its shelves with many forms of anti-Semitism and racism. In its first two years, Stormfront featured the writings of William Pierce of the neo-Nazi National Alliance; David Duke; representatives of the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review and other assorted extremists. Conspiracy-laden discussions of the destruction of the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas; the shootout at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, between the FBI and white-separatist Randy Weaver; and the bombing of the Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City appeared on the site's Home Page. In one article, Kirk Lyons, defender and self-proclaimed sympathizer of right-wing extremists, likened the events at the Branch Davidian compound to the Nazi destruction of the town of Lidice in Czechoslovakia.8 In another piece, Eustace Mullins, an aged anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist who has spread hate for more than 40 years, suggested that the likely party responsible for the bombing in Oklahoma City is the Anti-Defamation League.9 In addition to text articles, early versions of Stormfront housed a library of neo-Nazi graphics available for downloading, a list of phone numbers for racist computer bulletin boards that were not on the Internet, and a short page of links to other hateful Web sites. By 1997, Black's site became home to the Web pages of other extremists, such as Aryan Nations and Ed Fields, racist publisher of The Truth At Last, a hate-filled newspaper. He also posted new reprints of white supremacist articles and essays, such as The Talmud: Judaism's holiest book documented and exposed. Meant to inflame Christians by characterizing the Talmud as primarily anti-Christian and filled with "malice," "hate-mongering" and "barbarities," this particularly scurrilous tract willfully distorts and misrepresents an important religious document while demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of its history, complexity, and role in Jewish religious practice. In addition, Black posted Louis Beam's article entitled "The Conspiracy to Erect an Electronic Iron Curtain." Drawing on images of the Inquisition, Beam's diatribe describes a massive conspiracy, led by a coalition of Jewish groups (including ADL) and the government, to censor the Internet. According to Beam, Writing about Jewish religious leaders and government spymasters operating in a collusive effort to erect an electronic iron curtain to restrict freedom of speech and information does not make one anti-Semitic or anti-government. The truth is anti-Semitic. The government is erecting a police state. The author opposes both oppressive religious groups and repressive government. If speaking the truth and opposing tyranny makes one anti-Semitic and anti-government, then I am both... On January 13, 1998, Black appeared on the ABC-TV program "Nightline." Presented in an introductory segment as "a former member of the Ku Klux Klan," he explained how he has "recruited people" via the Internet whom he "otherwise wouldn't have reached." He also commented Stormfront has served as a veritable supermarket of online hate, stocking its shelves with many forms of anti-Semitism and racism. that sites such as Stormfront "provide those people who are attracted to our ideas with a forum to talk to each other and to form a virtual community." Despite the fact that Black's racist and anti-Semitic views were clearly reported in a pre-recorded introduction, the program gave him the opportunity to market these views in a mainstream forum. In his subsequent discussion with Ted Koppel, "Nightline's" host, and Floyd Abrams, a prominent First Amendment attorney (both of whom rejected his bigotry), Black tried to portray himself as reasonable. "You may consider my views dangerous, but so were those of the Founding Fathers, who were considered dangerous," he claimed. "In fact, their views...weren't that much different from my own." Later in the discussion, Black declared that "Fifty, 60, 70 years ago, what I'm saying was part of the mainstream." He claimed a four-fold increase in visitors to his site during the days that followed the broadcast. Perhaps emboldened by this jump in traffic, Black has since picked up the pace of his online activities. Some of Black's recent efforts have involved the expansion of Stormfront: enlarging its collection of links, adding an interactive chat room, and housing additional racist Web sites. One of these sites, Our Legacy of Truth, offers the text of works such as "Proof of Negro Inferiority" by Alexander Winchell and Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, as well as Willie Martin's "1001 Quotes By and About Jews." This pernicious compendium of quotations strings together mistranslated remarks made by Jews, statements of well-known non-Jews taken out of context, and the ravings of anti-Semites, so as to give readers the impression that Jews are constantly striving for global control. Another site now housed by Black, Jew Watch organizes its anti-Semitic materials much in the same way a popular Web directory might group more benign information. White Singles, serves as a free dating service for white supremacists. "Women and men listed on WS [White Singles] are heterosexual, white gentiles only," its Home Page declares. Well over 200 men and women have registered for this service, many of them submitting pictures of themselves for viewing by prospective mates. A third new site at Stormfront, White Nationalist News Agency (NNA), posts the text of articles from the Associated Press and other reputable news sources, seemingly without legal permission. Attached to these articles are the racist and anti-Semitic comments of Vincent Breeding, NNA editor and National Alliance activist of Tampa, Florida. Clickable, colorful advertisements for the sites of the National Alliance and Holocaust denier Ernst Z�ndel have also appeared at the NNA site. Beyond his additions to Stormfront, Black has begun to help other white supremacists by hosting their sites without publicly admitting that he is doing so. Unlike sites such as The Truth at Last or White Nationalist News Agency, which are housed by Black and are in effect part of Stormfront, it is not readily apparent that he services these other sites. Adrian Edward Marlow of Suisun City, California, maintains one of these sites, White Pride World Wide.10 In fact, Marlow owns Black's Web server, the computer that contains his Web site and makes it available to Internet users. Black rents this server from Marlow and controls it electronically from a remote location: his home in West Palm Beach, Florida.11 Marlow also uses his own server to co-host white supremacist sites with Don Black. Not surprisingly, White Pride World Wide is advertised on Stormfront and links to the mailing lists and chat room at Black's site. The rest of the site reflects Black's values as well: it includes "1001 Quotes By and About Jews," Madison Grant's racist tract The Passing of the Great Race and transcriptions of Louis Beam's speeches. Like Stormfront, White Pride World Wide also houses other racist Web sites, such as Verboten (a German-language extremist site) and women.wpww.com (a site created by and for white supremacist women). Black hosts a site named Blitzcast, which Stormfront and White Pride World Wide recommend for those seeking online, racist audio "broadcasts." Using free audio software easily downloadable from the Web, visitors to Blitzcast can listen to the speeches of American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell, the weekly radio addresses of National Alliance leader William Pierce, and the ravings of anti-Semitic Jew Benjamin Freedman. Also appearing at Blitzcast is Frank Weltner, who uses the pseudonym "Von Goldstein Mohammed" and runs Jew Watch, yet another site hosted by Black.12 Jew Watch organizes its anti-Semitic materials much in the same way a popular Web directory might group more benign information. Weltner presents accusations that Jews were behind the terrors caused by Russia's Communist regime in "Jews, Communism, and The Job of Killing Off the USSR's Christians." "Jewish Genocides Today and Yesterday" describes an alleged Jewish plan to deport non-Jews from the U.S. in 1946. "90% of All United States News-papers Are Owned and Run by Jews" repeats the oft-heard charge that Jews run the media, and "The Rothschild Internationalist-Zionist- Banking-One World Order Family" claims that Jews control the world of finance. Adolf Hitler's writings, transcripts of Father Charles Coughlin's anti-Semitic radio broadcasts, and the text of Henry Ford Sr.'s bigoted International Jew are all available at Jew Watch as well. A subtler, though equally virulent anti-Semitism pervades the Bamboo Delight Web site. Hosted by Black, the site hides downloadable anti-Semitic and racist computer programs behind the false front of a company selling "Tai Chi Chuan Chinese Exercise" materials. Looking past "Asian Health Philosophy" items such as the "Nine Treasure Exercises of Ancient China" videotape and the "Skinny Buddha Weight Loss Method" pamphlet, Web surfers find the downloadable computer programs "Jew Rats," "Police Patriots," "ZOG" and "Talmud." These programs are interactive in the same way that Web pages are interactive: users "click through" their contents, viewing various pages filled with text and graphics. "Jew Rats" is a multi-panel cartoon that depicts Jews as rats that kill Christians and encourage integration. Blacks are depicted as sub-human gorillas. "ZOG" contains the complete text of the "classic" anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion along with dozens of other documents that claim knowledge of Jewish plans for world domination. When Marlow created Web sites at more than ten domain names that resembled the names of major daily newspapers, another misleading Web venture involving Black garnered attention. In October 1998, Marlow linked these sites directly to Stormfront. Consequently, Web users looking for news about Philadelphia at "philadelphiainquirer.com," for example, ended up visiting Don Black's site, not the Philadelphia Inquirer Home Page (which is located at phillynews.com). Other newspapers affected included the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Atlanta Constitution, and the London Telegraph. As Black's site has grown and he has aggressively continued to promote it, an increasing number of Web users have been visiting Stormfront. Black told the Associated Press that the number of contacts to Stormfront doubled during the domain name incident, to 2,000 per day. According to Black, Web surfers have accessed Stormfront more than a million times since its debut. Web users visiting Stormfront right now will likely find a bold advertisement in the lower left-hand corner of their screens. By clicking on it, they arrive at the Web site for perhaps America's best-known and most politically active racist: Black's mentor,
The Coming White Revolution: Born on the Internet by David Duke The following article lets those who are not on the Internet --- understand its power. For internet veterans and those who are new to it, this article shows how we can utilize it to awaken our people and change the world. I ask everybody I know if they are on the Internet, and I am amazed when patriots tell me they are not online. A medical doctor friend of mine, Bill, a brilliant endocrinologist who graduated from Tulane Medical School, answered that he just was "uncomfortable withcomputers." "Do you use computers for your patient records, billing, and insurance?" I asked. "Yes, of course," he answered, "In fact, my office couldn't get along without it." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, it was obvious that he knew exactly what I would say next. But, I said it anyway, "Once you are on the Internet, you will wonder how you ever got along without it." More Important than Television Having the Internet in your home is more important than having a television. I repeat, having the Internet is more important than having a TV in your home. The major Broadcast TV networks or the many Cable TV stations are owned and controlled by the enemies of our heritage. They push the entire liberal agenda including: gun control, affirmative action, forced-integration, taxpayer-financed welfare illegitimacy, massive immigration, racial miscegenation, and, of course, big government and the so-called New World Order. Until recently they controlled most mediums of mass communication; but now the Internet changes everything. Through a computer, a $75 modem and your telephone line, you can research almost any subject-instantly. You can hear "radio" programs from anywhere in the world-played through your computer, and you can send or receive mail in a matter of seconds to or from anyone else in the world on the Internet-all free. In this short article I will explain how the Internet will facilitate a world-wide revolution of White awareness. Before I tell you how the Internet will spawn a political revolution around the world, let me give you an idea of its power in some of the typical little things you can do on the "Net." On the Net you can instantly (and for free) search for and look up a phone number and complete address (with zip code) for anyone with a listed telephone in the United States and in many parts of the world. On the Net you can do the following free and almost instantly: Read today's issue of USA Today. Find a hundred different recipes for "chicken a la king." Get a current price on a stock, bond, commodity, or mutual fund. Get all up-to-the-minute sport scores you want. Download a great computer pinball game. Find out the weather forecast for your city or any city in the world-some places even have live TV cameras hooked up to the Internet so you can see their weather as if you were there and looked out the window. Look for the cheapest airfares or travel bargains. Find the cheapest rental car rates. Play chess with a master in Moscow. Copy and print out Mark Twain's books, or all of Shakespeare's plays, or all of Keats' poems. Access the card catalogue at the Library of Congress. Get reviews of any new movie or old movie you might want to watch. Listen to samples of a new CD of your favorite musician. Get a golf or tennis lesson, or lessons in any sporting activity. See the latest photos of the Hale Bop comet or the earth from the space shuttle. Get a picture and knowledge base on almost any plant you can imagine, or animal, or geographic area. Pick a pet with pictures and descriptions of every animal imaginable-with prices and the addresses of breeders in you area. Discover up-to-date information on every imaginable medical condition-as well have your questions answered by physicians. Get any tax form or instruction booklets from the IRS.(ugh) ou can even make USA or international phone calls with sound and pictures for free. The things I mention are equivalent to a grain of sand on the endless beach of the Internet. There are literally billions of pieces of information on the Net about almost any subject. Every day more and more information becomes available to you on the Internet. 99% of the information and material on the Internet is free. You get excellent colors, pictures and sound, and good quality video will be available in the coming months and years ahead. Do not get the impression that it takes some sort of computer genius to access the power of the Internet, because it doesn't. One may not understand the physical properties of electricity, yet anyone can certainly turn on a light switch. Accessing the net is actually not much more complicated than operating a TV. You don't have to understand anything of how a TV works to easily access its features. Once you learn a few basics-using the Net is as simple as tuning a television. But, having your computer connected to the Net is like having access to millions of channels! Or, if you prefer, I'll use the analogy of having access to thousands of libraries of knowledge. The alien, anti-White media has been my unrelenting enemy. It has been yours as well, because it supports every pernicious liberal program that you can imagine. Up until now, unless someone met me personally, or read my material, the only way they could judge me is by what the liberal-biased media says. Now, that situation has changed. Millions of people are going online in America. Now, If they want to find out about me and my ideas and issues all they have to do is go into one of the search engines and search for "David Duke." Hundreds of sources will show up. There they can access my site and read my writings and reference material, and even hear my radio program which is broadcast 24 hours-a-day to the four corners of the earth. World-Wide Radio Let me ask you a question, how many millions of dollars would it cost me to have a radio station that could broadcast my radio programs to the entire globe-24 hours-a-day? Through the Internet, I do it RIGHT NOW and a microscopic fraction of the cost. To listen anywhere in the world, all it takes is having a computer and simply being connected to the Internet! The technology I use is called TrueSpeech, which means, all you have to do is go to my Internet site: www.duke.org, and point what is called a mouse and click its button, and in seconds you are hearing my latest radio program! If someone is on the Internet, it is just as easy for him to listen to my radio show as turning on a radio show or a TV show in his own home town! On the Internet, one can get my site as easily and quickly as you could access NBC online or any other Internet source. As far as accessibility, all Internet sites are EQUAL. The only thing that can limit access to a site is so many people tuning in that the site needs more computers and more phone lines so they can access it speedily. The mass media has become democratized. No longer do you need millions of dollars to reach millions of people. You don't have to have huge advertising contracts. The only thing you need is an interesting, timely, and powerful message. The Internet is the fastest growing communication phenomenon in the history the world. In the Western nations it is estimated that a majority of people will have Internet access within a decade. It will eventually be looked upon as much as a necessity of life as family's refrigerator. Not only can one get written text, photos, and sound over the Net, but within a decade people will be able to get high quality video programs, documentaries, movies, and TV-type talk shows. Just as I now have the power of a world-wide radio station, in a few years it will be just as easy and almost as inexpensive to have a world-wide television station. Anyone will be able to have his own station accessible by people anywhere. The station's viewership will limited only by its own popularity. Unleashing the Power of Free Speech By the time children born today are in high school, 95% of mail will be electronic (Email). You can send letters for free -on the Net- to any other person on the Net anywhere in the world -in a matter of seconds. And they can click a button and respond to you instantly. You can also attach documents, textfiles, sound files, or even video files to your e-mail. You can keep your address book on your computer. When most people are on this system, it will mean that if you are impressed by an article on race or one of my radio programs, you can send to hundreds of your friends and acquaintances by making one little click on your computer mouse - with no postage or long-distance phone costs! If one out of ten of your friends does the same, the program spreads around the nation and the world at tremendous speed. No longer will the minority of minds who enforce the doctrine of the "politically correct" be in control. Information will flow freely and powerfully. By typing www.duke.org, people can immediately get my side of the story and have access to the documents, scientific studies and political facts upon which I base my opinions. When they lie about me, I offer evidence and prove them wrong. When egalitarians say that no mainstream scientists believe in inherent differences, instantly they are refuted by lucid and fascinating articles on my page by the leading psychologists, biologists, geneticists, historians, archeologists, anthropologists, and educators of the world. Right now I have dozens of articles from our point of view on my Internet site. For a long time, I stood up to the scorn and abuse of my critics. I knew that the scientific truth is on our side. And now, for the first time in my life, I can disseminate that truth to the millions who are ready for it, even hungry for it. The evidence is overwhelming that race is a vital factor in human affairs and civilization. History will prove us right about race being important just as Galileo was ultimately proven right about the earth revolving around the sun. Our opponents today practice the same kind of intellectual and physical intimidation as the Inquisitors did in the Middle Ages. In those dark times as more and more intelligent men read the proofs of Galileo and Copernicus-the truth won out. When there is a free and open discussion of the race issue, fact and reason will triumph. My friends, that free and open discussion is coming and it comes by way of the Internet. The Internet gives millions access to the truth that many didn't even know existed. Never in the history of man can powerful information travel so fast and so far. I believe that the Internet will begin a chain reaction of racial enlightenment that will shake the world by the speed of its intellectual conquest. Centuries ago, in a single generation, Islam swept the Arab world. The Arabs were suited to it and ready for it, and it exploded across history. Now, there is a new racial consciousness growing in our people that will sweep the West even more dramatically than Islam swept theArabs. As the new millennium approaches, one can feel the currents of history moving swiftly around us. The same race that created the brilliant technology of the Internet, will - through this powerful tool - be awakened from its long sleep. Our people will learn that our very survival is in jeopardy. We will finally realize that our culture and traditions are under attack; that our values and morality, our freedom and prosperity are in danger. Even more importantly, our best minds will finally come to understand that our very genotype faces possible extinction. Massive immigration, differential birthrates and miscegenation will constitute a political and social nightmare for Western nations, one from which we must awaken if our people are to live. Our people will learn that every sacrifice of our ancestors for thousands of generations will be in vain if our genes are drowned in the dark flood. And they will know that every dream of the future will be lost in the trampled mud of the Third World unless we find in our own genetic soul the trait of courage so well displayed by ourforefathers. When the racial truth is known, our people will apply the genius and dedication that was used to unlock the secrets of DNA, conquer diseases, and travel into space- to safeguard our very existence and fashion a healthy and natural society that will take us to a higher level of life. If you are not on the Internet, get on board. If you are somewhat unfamiliar with computers, most computer shops will set up your new computer and Internet connection at your home or office for a nominal fee. Using your eyes, your brain, and your fingers - you can participate in the Internet revolution that will awaken our people and pave the way for the survival of our heritage and way of life. by David Duke David Duke Report - Box 88 - Covington, LA 70434 -www.duke.org Print and copy this short essay. Distribute it among your friends and co-workers who are not yet internet-active. [The above 'graf is Duke's statement, not mine. -- tallpaul]
ADL Exposes Blueprint for Terrorism on the Internet; Site Encourages "Lone Wolf" Activism New York, NY, October 26, 2000 � The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has identified a blueprint for terrorism on the Internet created and maintained by Alex Curtis, a San Diego racist who is gaining prominence among some of the nation�s most virulent extremist groups. Curtis advises white supremacists and other extremists on how to effectively attack Jews, Blacks and other minorities. His Web site tells racists who commit acts of violence how to minimize the punishment they receive for their crimes, according to the new ADL report, Alex Curtis: Lone Wolf of Hate Prowls the Internet. The League�s report describes how Curtis, a once little-known racist, now ranks as one of the most vocal proponents of "lone wolf" activism, thanks largely to the power of the Internet. Using his "White Racist" Web site as a means of distributing anti-Semitic and racist literature, Curtis, 25, of San Diego, encourages fellow racists to act alone in committing violent acts so their cohorts will not be held legally responsible for their crimes. Mixed with his virulent attacks against minorities, his model of "lone wolf" activism has captured the imagination of some of the hate movement�s most visible and notorious figures. "Here is an individual who not only advocates individual acts of terrorism, but goes so far as to provide advice on how to carry them out," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Alex Curtis personifies a new kind of hater, a person who casts himself as an ideologue and agitates for violent underground campaigns against the government. The real danger in his message is that it seems to be having an effect, at least among other racists and bigots who are communicating with him." Urges Followers to Remain Anonymous Unlike other racists who use the World Wide Web to recruit new members and raise funds for organizational activities, Curtis encourages serious racists to distance themselves from the group mentality. Meanwhile, much of his Web site is devoted to excessively violent proposals. One section promotes biological warfare as a means for achieving terroristic aims. Curtis writes of a violent revolution that will topple the United States government � which he considers a "Jew-occupied government" � and replace it with a "race-centered" government with citizenship and residency restricted to those "of pure White ancestry." In one reference to Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, Curtis writes: "A thousand McVeighs � would end any semblance of stability in this racially corrupt society." He considers integration and intermarriage the components of a Jewish plot to commit "genocide" against the "white race." Growing Influence on the Internet Once a relatively obscure figure, Curtis has raised his profile among active bigots by using the Internet to his benefit. Among those veteran extremists who have applauded his "lone wolf" activism are Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan Resistance; Matt Hale, leader of the virulently anti-Semitic and racist World Church of the Creator; and Richard Butler, the high-profile leader of Aryan Nations. Curtis regularly corresponds with various white supremacists serving prison time and publishes their responses on his Web site. Curtis boasts that he maintains a list of more than 800 individuals who subscribe to his e-mail updates. He claims to "reach 100s � 1000s of the most radical racists in the world each week." These extremists can explore his Web site, sign up for his E-mail mailing list, or call his telephone lines to listen to recorded messages. Don Black�s Stormfront, as well as many other extremist Internet sites, offer links to Curtis� Web site, giving sympathetic followers the ability to tap into his rhetoric with the click of a mouse. There is no indication that anyone has yet followed the instructions found on the "White Racist" Web site, according to the ADL report. However, two men charged in the firebomings of three synagogues and the murder of a gay couple allegedly placed calls from their home near Sacramento, Calif., to one of Curtis� telephone lines before committing those crimes, according to police records. EDITORS NOTE: For more information on Alex Curtis or to arrange interview with ADL experts, contact the Media Relations Department at (212) 885-7749. The report is available Alex Curtis: Lone Wolf of Hate Prowls the Internet on this site. The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
Identity Church Movement: The Worship of Hate The Identity Church movement, a pseudo-theological manifestation of racism and anti-Semitism on the far right, first came to light in the U.S. during the late 1970s and early 1980s, though its roots lie in the late years of the last century, with the British movement known as Anglo-Israelism. Anglo-Israelism held that white Anglo-Saxons are descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Adherents to this doctrine believed that England and the U.S. are the true Israel in which Biblical promises to the "Chosen People" are to be fulfilled. The Identity movement takes the position that white Anglo-Saxons � not Jews � are the real Biblical "Chosen People;" that Jews are the descendants of a union between Eve and Satan; and that the white race is inherently superior to other races. Identity believers assert that Blacks and other nonwhites are "mud people," on the same spiritual level as animals, and therefore without souls. A nationwide movement, Identity has filled dozens of "churches" with its hate. Additionally, Identity has become the "religion" of choice for many hate groups, including Aryan Nations and the Posse Comitatus, in addition to some factions of the Ku Klux Klan. Numerous Identity "churches" have established a Web presence in recent years, among them America's Promise Ministries, Stone Kingdom Ministries, and Kingdom Identity Ministries. Many of these organizations have made good use of the Web to market their pamphlets, books, and videotapes to their supporters. America's Promise Ministries offers Web users a vast Many of these organizations have made good use of the Web to market their pamphlets, books, and videotapes to their supporters. online catalog of books, pamphlets, audio tapes, and video tapes filled with their racist beliefs. Along with a section full of online Identity books and book reviews, the Stone Kingdom Ministries Web site lists hundreds of "Bible Studies on Audiocassettes" for sale. Among bumper stickers, decals, charts, and other merchandise, the Kingdom Identity Ministries Web site retails Identity-based books written for children. Also at the Kingdom Identity site, Web users can enroll in a correspondence course, which consists of studying almost 300 pages of Identity materials, to receive a "Certificate in Christian Education." With links to these "churches" at its Web site, the bimonthly newspaper The Jubilee of Midpines, California, serves as a national umbrella publication for Identity believers. Like the Web sites for those groups, the Jubilee site puts the power of the Web to use to raise funds. In addition to selling books and videotapes that the Jubilee guarantees "you won't find in the B. Dalton bookstore," visitors to the Jubilee site can sign up for subscriptions to the newspaper's print edition; buy advertising in its print or online versions, and purchase inexpensive, long distance telephone service that will benefit The Jubilee. While some Identity "churches" focus on the Web's commercial potential, paramilitary Identity groups such as the Posse Comitatus and Aryan Nations have used it to encourage action. Ideologically, early Identity "theologians" William Potter Gale and Wesley Swift deeply influenced these particularly vicious organizations.
IIdentity Church Movement: Aryan Nations A contemporary of Posse Comitatus co-founder William Potter Gale, Wesley Swift was a Klan organizer who served as an aide to Gerald L.K. Smith, for many years America's most notorious peddler of anti-Semitism. During the 1950s, Swift was a leader of a Los Angeles church called the "Anglo-Saxon Christian Congregation." When Swift died, "Rev." Richard G. Butler proclaimed his "Church of Jesus Christ Christian" (CJCC) the direct successor to Swift's church. In the early 1970s, Butler formed a new group around his church: Aryan Nations (AN). Since then, he has held court at a 20-acre AN/CJCC compound in Northern Idaho, anticipating the creation of an exclusively white "national racist state" in the Pacific Northwest. At its Web site, AN preaches that God's creation of Adam marked "the placing of the White Race upon this earth"; and that "the twelve tribes of Israel" are "now scattered throughout the world" and are "now known as the Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Teutonic, Scandinavian, Celtic peoples." As a corollary, all non-whites are seen as inferior, but it is the Jews who are singled out as the special object of AN's "theologically" based hatred. AN vilifies Jews as "the natural enemy of our Aryan (White) Race. This is attested by scripture and all secular history. The Jew is like a destroying virus that attacks our racial body to destroy our Aryan culture and the purity of our Race." Citing the Book of Revelation, AN envisions a "battle" being fought "between the children of darkness (today known as Jews) and the children of light...the Aryan Race, the true Israel of the bible." According to AN, there will "soon" be a "day of reckoning," in which "the usurper will be thrown out by the terrible might of Yahweh's people, as they return to their roots and their special destiny." In this struggle between the Jews and "the children of light," AN claims that the Jews have a surrogate: the United States Government, often referred to as "ZOG" (Zionist Occupied Government). In 1996, AN posted to its site an "Aryan Declaration of Independence," which declared, "the history of the present Zionist Occupied Government of the United States of America is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations... [all] having a direct object � the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states." Holding "the eradication of the White race and its culture" as "one of its foremost purposes," this "ZOG" is accused of relinquishing the "powers of government to private corporations, White traitors and ruling class Jewish families." AN perceives itself as literally surrounded by enemies: vigorously fighting back is not only a solution to its problems, but a duty. According to AN, those whites who resist "ZOG" are "chosen and faithful," and the white "Racial Nation has a right and is under obligation to preserve itself and its members." Although primarily an Identity group, AN embraces a neo-Nazi philosophy. Richard Butler himself has praised Hitler, and at the AN Web site, which announces, "WE BELIEVE in the gam-ma'di'on...a cross formed of four capital gammas...in the figure of a swastika," he is pictured giving the raised stiff-arm Nazi salute. One of the most ambitious Identity Web sites, the AN site contains a membership application, a substantial book catalog, an online "Literature Archives" of hateful texts, and a long list of links to other hate sites. However, the most significant aspect of the site may be its growing One of the most ambitious Identity Web sites, the AN site contains a membership application, a substantial book catalog, an online 'Literature Archives' of hateful texts, and a long list of links to other hate sites. "Public Notices" section, providing timely information about AN's activities and opinions. Two "Public Notices" from early 1998 are of particular interest. In February 1998, when the FBI arrested Larry Wayne Harris for alleged possession of a biological weapon, the media reported on Harris' membership in Aryan Nations. Less than a week after the arrest, the "Public Notice" titled "Nations Places US/UN de facto Govt. on Notice" quickly provided Web users with a clear picture of AN's position. This statement criticized the media for connecting Harris with AN and attacked the FBI for wrongfully arresting him. Additionally, AN described a "criminal conspiracy" orchestrated by the Federal government and the media to use biological weapons in U.S. cities and blame the ensuing destruction on AN, leading to the "slaughter" of AN members. A second relevant posting, the "Common Law Criminal Warrant" for Thom Barklett Elliott, appeared in the "Public Notices" section in early March, 1998. It included the birth date, driver's license number, last-known whereabouts, and physical characteristics of Elliott, a former AN member accused of stealing $2,200 from the group. This "Warrant" informed Elliott that he could "redeem himself" by returning the allegedly stolen funds or "turning himself in to any [AN] officer." Otherwise, the "Warrant" explained, AN "Fully Executes This Affidavit of Common Law Criminal Warrant." Such statements reflect a philosophy of vigilante justice as well as the potential for vigilante violence by AN members or sympathizers. That potential is not entirely hypothetical, as AN is no stranger to violence. During the early 1980s, several of Butler's followers joined members of the neo-Nazi National Alliance and some Klan splinter groups to form a secret organization called The Silent Brotherhood, also known as The Order, which planned to overthrow the U.S. government. To raise money for its planned revolution, The Order engaged in a crime spree involving murder, counterfeiting, bank robberies, and armored-car hold-ups. Ostensibly, the group's activities ended with the death of its founder and leader, Robert J. Mathews, in a shootout with Federal agents in December 1984 and the incarceration of many of its members. Yet The Order has taken on a new life on the World Wide Web, serving as inspiration for today's Identity adherents and other white supremacists. Hosted by the same Internet Service Provider as the AN Web site, the 14 Word Press Web site is devoted to the work of David Lane, an imprisoned member of The Order. Lane's best-known legacy is the "14 words": "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children." Despite the fact that Lane is a convicted felon serving a 190-year sentence in a high-security prison, his writings, including pieces from his monthly Focus Fourteen newsletter, can reach millions through the Internet. Among his columns, many of which are offered at the 14 Word Press site, is a sympathetic letter to convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. As violent Identity adherents like Richard Butler, James Wickstrom, and August Kreis look to the works of early believers like Wesley Swift and William Potter Gale, other racists on the Internet have turned for inspiration to history's most destructive anti-Semite, the driving force behind the genocide of more than 6 million Jews: Adolf Hitler.
Identity Church Movement: Posse Comitatus William Potter Gale created an Identity group named Posse Comitatus, which means "power of the county" in Latin. Other Posses unaffiliated with Gale sprang up in its wake, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. Loosely affiliated bands of armed anti-tax and anti-Federal government vigilantes and survivalists, these Posses believed that all government power is rooted at the county, not Federal, level. Because they are convinced that the Federal government is controlled by "enemies" (usually Jews), Posse adherents resist paying taxes as well as other duties of law-abiding citizens. Aspects of the Posse's ideology, most notably its fierce hostility to Federal authority, reverberate among today's militia and common law court activists. In the 1970s, Posses attracted Klan members and other anti-Semites (among them David Duke), and in 1983, these groups gained nationwide attention when active Posse member Gordon Kahl murdered two Federal Marshals in North Dakota and became a fugitive. When Kahl died in a shootout with Arkansas law enforcement officers, Posses and other Identity groups made him a martyr. In 1991, James Wickstrom, an Identity minister and Posse leader based in Michigan, was convicted of plotting to distribute $100,000 in counterfeit bills to white supremacists at a 1988 Aryan Nations event. He was released from prison in 1994 and today runs a Posse Web site with fellow Identity "Pastor" August Kreis of Pennsylvania. At his Posse Web site, Kreis calls "the occupying forces" of the "zionist [sic] or jewish [sic] occupied government" the enemies of "We the People" and describes them as the reason that the government has "grossly overstepped its bounds." Expressing his desire to establish an Identity-based theocracy in their place, he writes: I have heard it said that if those of us who are adherents to Racial Identity ever come to power there would be less tolerance in this country than there is now. I would have to agree with that statement. Because, we would bring this country back under God's law! We are not in this fight to regain a piece of paper that doesn't even mention God! [i.e., the U.S. Constitution] It's because of that piece of paper that we're in the mess we're in now...Tolerance, is the whole problem! We would have his [sic] law...there would be NO tolerance.25 Kreis and Wickstrom also use their Web site to editorialize about current events. Written by Kreis, "Villain or American Folk Hero?" voices support for alleged abortion clinic bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. Kreis claims that "those who call themselves Identity" and "a growing consensus of conservative Christians" believe Rudolph has "done the will of...God." In justifying Rudolph's alleged actions, Kreis stresses that "it is...an inarguable matter of Scriptural mandate that those involved with [abortion] have committed capital murder � a crime punishable by DEATH!" Kreis maintains that "several hundred [Jewish Occupational Government] agents" are chasing Rudolph to "execute him" on the spot, and he urges "the proud European White folk living in this country" to "rise up against this tyrannical, parasitic [Jewish] communist government." Perhaps Rudolph engenders greater sympathy among this group because he himself may be an Identity believer: in 1984, he and his family spent several months at the Schell City, Missouri, Church of Israel compound run by Identity preacher Dan Gayman. With regard to the brutal murder on October 23, 1998, of Dr. Barnett Slepian of upstate New York, likely targeted because he performed abortions, Kreis and Wickstrom comment, "Not much needs to be said. The justice in the 'putting to DEATH' of this jewish [sic] abortionist says it all!...Pray that other True Israelite Warriors across this land continue to rid our country of these murdering bastards!"
