A few years ago, the people behind the now-defunct white nationalist website VDARE bought a castle (yes, a castle) in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. It got a fair bit of coverage at the time, but there hasn't been all that much reporting on what they've been doing in there since then.

Now it's clear that the castle was the venue for a recent conference that brought a bunch of Patriot Front goons to town, along with a handful of leading antisemitic and "race science" intellectuals from around the US. And this is after the VDARE people promised to be nice, quiet neighbors.

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On March 7-9 of this year, the neo-fascist American Freedom Party (AFP) held what it billed as its “National Convention” at a location that organizers kept secret from the public. Participants later said that it was in West Virginia without specifying where, however they did post photos from the conference online. A close examination of these images reveals that the conference took place at the Berkeley Springs Castle, which is owned by the people who ran the now-defunct white nationalist website VDARE.

...

The Brimelows’ presence has been a source of tension in Berkeley Springs from the start. Peter Brimelow has downplayed residents’ concerns, saying that he wasn’t organizing big rallies in town or doing anything disruptive and that “We just want to be quiet, good neighbors.” Yet the VDARE website also described the castle as a “meeting place” for like-minded people, and Lydia Brimelow stated during a 2022 podcast appearance that “My vision is it becomes a big hub of American patriotism.”

One reason why the recent conference is noteworthy is because it provided exactly the kind of “meeting place” that VDARE promised while breaking any sort of commitment to simply be “quiet, good neighbors,” highlighting the inherent contradiction between the two.

https://alasbarricadas.noblogs.org/post/2025/03/31/a-fascist-gathering-in-west-virginia/

"I wasn't racist until people were mean to me, just don't dig into my past, but I swear it's true..."

This one has some really vile, threatening, racist language, so be warned.

https://idavox.com/index.php/2025/04/01/philly-area-woman-with-a-history-of-terroristic-threats-declares-she-is-a-white-supremacist-to-shoot-n-after-incident-at-free-concert/

A Tennessee mainstream news piece went out yesterday covering Patriot Front and including detailed aerial photographs of their compound in the east of the state.

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/this-isnt-your-granddads-kkk-inside-the-influential-hate-group-thats-expanding-in-tennessee

While we're glad that this information is reaching a wide audience, and overall Phil Williams has done fantastic work covering the far right, we'd also like to note that our group is the one that originally exposed Ian Michael Elliott in 2021 and also first discovered and published the location and ownership of the compound in 2024.

We're not mentioning our original pieces because we're in it for the credit, but because it's better for everyone when news sources cite original antifascist grassroots research. The more exposure our pieces get, the more likely it is we get tips on white supremacist activity.

https://atlantaantifa.org/2021/12/04/ian-michael-elliott-alabama-patriot-front-member-neo-nazi-and-combat-instructor/

https://atlantaantifa.org/2024/01/30/revealed-patriot-front-linked-aryan-tribal-land-in-eastern-tennessee/

More links exposing white supremacists and neo-Nazis in the south:

https://appalachiaresearchclub.noblogs.org/research-club-roundup-appalachias-neo-nazi-network/#more-92

https://arelephanteau.noblogs.org/post/2024/11/15/aryan-freedom-network-north-carolina-exposed/

A self-proclaimed “tribe” of racist heathens is building a compound on a 122-acre property in Tellico Plains, eastern Tennessee. This group overlaps with Patriot Front (PF), a fascist organization with members nationwide, and the “Church of Aryanity,” a racist cult that refers to Adolf Hitler as “the Great One.” The leader of the Tennessee “tribe” is Brian Culpepper, who spent a decade in the white supremacist National Socialist Movement (NSM) and was its PR Director for several years.

In 2022, Patriot Front used the large property—mostly woodland but with cleared areas—to train its members for street demonstrations. Last year, PF members traveled to work construction on the property, including a large building intended as a combined martial arts dojo, heathen temple, and home for PF member, Ian Michael Elliott. As construction on the land progresses, the property will host increasingly large racist gatherings. At least equally dangerous, the “tribal land” will bring together far-right martial artists, aspiring street brawlers from fascist “Active Clubs,” and some of the most violent fringes of the neo-Nazi scene. It already provides a home for committed PF members. By documenting this compound and revealing its location, we hope to warn eastern Tennessee residents about the white supremacist threat in their midst.

https://atlantaantifa.org/2024/01/30/revealed-patriot-front-linked-aryan-tribal-land-in-eastern-tennessee/

In early February though, Aidan Harding wasn’t in court for his “activism” as a white supremacist, but for possession of CSAM (child sexual abuse material), all as part of his bid to be welcomed into Nazi Satanist cult and off-shoot of the Order of Nine Angles, “764.” The CSAM was found on his devices that were seized in the December raid. Harding was later arrested on firearms transfer/falsification charges on January 16, 2025 and while under arrest, remanded into federal custody because of the CSAM charges.

The judge allowed evidence showcasing Aidan’s Nazi and white supremacist ideologies to be admitted, because they are deeply relevant to his possession of CSAM. Members of 764 seek to manipulate, blackmail, and otherwise extort minors — often children of color and LGBTQ kids — into acts of self-harm and mutiliation, animal abuse, bestiality, violence, sexual exploitation, and even suicide on-camera or livestream — all of which they document in photographs and video. This “content” then serves to gain 764 members increasing clout within their cult.

Aidan Harding was quickly identified earlier this year after he and Noah Cron “demonstrated” on the Liberty Bridge, waving swastika flags, shouting epithets and slurs, and threatening drivers with mace. Their actions thus far — from waving flags to spray painting Patriot Front graffiti under a bridge in the south hills — seem relatively mild, but the evidence presented in court on February 12 of this year points to a pattern of escalation.

https://pghfashwatch.noblogs.org/post/2025/02/27/pittsburgh-nazi-aidan-harding-charged-with-possession-of-csam-linked-to-satanic-hitler-worship-cult-764/

#CSAM #ChildAbuse #SexualAbuse #O9A #Pittsburgh #Grooming #764 #NaziSatanism #AidanHarding #NoahCron #NeoNazis #fcknzs #fascism #OrderOfNineAngles #PatriotFront

On the night of Jan. 4, four avowed white supremacists entered a secure multi-industry property just across the Tennessee River that includes a nuclear power plant.

Two of those men, Aiden Daniel Cuevas, 19, and Aidan Christian Stamper, 19, hail from Madison, Alabama. The other two men are identified as Brandon Dean Crews, 24, of Iuka, Mississippi, and Logan Gulbranson, 18, of Cole Harber, North Dakota.

The Tishomingo County Sheriff’s Office has charged all four men with felony trespassing and burglary in connection to the incident.

...

“If you look at what these four gentlemen post online about what they believe in, the ideology that they follow, and the belief that they hold in their heart: these are accelerationist neo-Nazis,” Tischauser said. “These are young kids—some of them are still teenagers—committed to bringing about a nationalist socialist society. And they’re willing to use violence to achieve this objective, at least according to their social media posts. It could be bluster, they could be trying to troll people and make people like me look foolish—but I tend to trust what people say, especially when it’s about violence.”

...

“Accelerationist neo-Nazis see attacks against electrical grids and infrastructure as helping to accelerate the collapse of our social system,” Tischauser said. “They think that the race war is right around the corner.”

https://www.alreporter.com/2025/02/25/alabama-white-supremacists-charged-with-trespass-burglary-at-nuclear-power-plant-site/

I'm hear Patriot Front is at the "March for Life" in DC.

Again.

I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but if you've got an event that regularly draws support from organized, highly visible Nazis, and your organizers can't/won't keep them out, and participants can't/won't keep them out, it might be time to consider that your goals might just be consistent with Nazi goals and that "pro-life" doesn't mean what you think it means.

Just a thought.

Patriot Front lost in court today and, while they'll never actually pay all of what they now owe, it's nice that they just got hit with a good seven figures in damages: $2,755,000 in total.

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A federal judge on Monday ordered the white supremacist group Patriot Front and its leader to pay more than $2.7 million in damages to a Black musician for violating his civil rights by attacking him in Boston’s Back Bay in 2022 during a “flash march” through the city over the Fourth of July weekend.

The assault on Charles M. Murrel III as he walked along Dartmouth Street on his way to the Boston Public Library to play his saxophone was encouraged by the group’s leader, Thomas Rousseau, who led the marchers and “glorified” the attack afterward by celebrating a video clip that had been posted online, US District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in a 27-page decision.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/13/metro/patriot-front-civil-rights-black-musician-boston-attack/

"Meet Noah Samuel Cron and Aidan Andrew Harding. On September 27, 2024 Noah and Aidan were detained by the South Park Township Police Department. According to public records they were stopped by police due to a report of individuals spray painting the Green Man’s Tunnel on Piney Fork Rd. Upon arrival, an officer observed Noah and Aidan near a partially finished spray painted wall. Both were wearing latex gloves and were in possession of multiple spray paint cans. The nearly finished graffiti message written in red and blue spray paint read: BETTER DEAD THAN RED PATRIOTFRON. Both artists were charged with Criminal Mischief, Criminal Conspiracy, and Disorderly Conduct. At their Preliminary Hearing on January 8th, 2025 both were offered a plea deal down to a summary offense and a $550 restitution to be split between their coffers."

https://idavox.com/index.php/2025/01/09/swastika-flag-waving-stunt-exposes-pittsburgh-patriot-front-members/

Report on the American Renaissance conference in Montgomery Bell State Park, Burns, Tennessee, a few weeks ago.

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/confronting-hate/inside-the-influential-white-supremacist-conference-that-calls-tennessee-home-away-from-home

This article is from last February, but I guess I missed it at the time, and it's still relevant. The upshot: federal agents will never be our friends (no matter what your favorite cool kid podcaster says). They may take down some awful people when it serves their own objectives, but their objectives don't include other people's liberation, and particularly not the liberation of populations targeted by white nationalist groups like Patriot Front.

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“The prosecution in Coeur d'Alene finally had an opportunity to hold them accountable for their harassment and their intimidation of the diverse community,” Tischauser said.

Instead, Rousseau’s case never got to trial.

While most of Rousseau’s underlings have either been found guilty of conspiracy to riot or pleaded to a lesser infraction, Judge John Cafferty dismissed the case against the white nationalist leader in November.

“This is an important case. It should not be dismissed lightly,” Cafferty said, according to court transcripts. “I tried to do what I could to not get to this point.”

But after a year and a half of delays, lost evidence and failures of prosecutors to follow court orders, he said he didn’t have a choice. The prosecutors, on the other hand, blamed judges and defense attorneys for the case devolving “into a forum for fishing expeditions justified by nothing more than bumper sticker claims.”

In all, it highlights just how difficult it is for an overwhelmed and understaffed team of prosecutors to take on a case involving so many extremists at once.

It’s one reason why, Kris Goldsmith, head of an anti-fascist research organization, said the Patriot Front case should not have been handled by local prosecutors to begin with.

“Expecting a city prosecutor to take on a national white supremacist organization is disappointing,” Goldsmith said. “The FBI is just sitting on their hands.”

In fact, court documents suggest, the FBI made prosecuting Patriot Front a lot harder.

https://www.investigatewest.org/news/how-local-idaho-prosecutors-lost-the-case-against-patriot-fronts-white-nationalist-leader-17706733

Statement Against Fascist Disaster Tourism in Western North Carolina:

Via Hellbender AVL

We’ve been seeing local and regional responses in WNC from regular people autonomously addressing each other’s immediate needs in the face of ongoing crisis from the effects of Hurricane Helene. Simultaneously, we’ve been seeing fascist and white supremacist formations all reacting to the crisis with responses of their own. It’s important to understand that an inherent part of fascist thinking and organizing is to seize on moments of crisis and of failures of the state to further their own agenda. Fascists prop themselves up as a solution to the state’s inadequacy and enact programmatic violence against marginalized community members. It is under this guise of a helping hand that fascists are propagandizing their efforts to further their larger goal of white supremacy, whether that be through the lens of ethnonationalism, ecofascism, accelerationism, or a broader ethnocentrism. We didn’t want fascists on our streets before the floods, and we certainly don’t want them while our roads are washed away.

Fascists positioning themselves as providers of resources to whomever they deem ‘worthy recipients’ is unacceptable. We know that these same people advocate for the death and decimation of whole groups of people based on their marginalized identities – from Black, Indigenous, or immigrant communities, to LGBTQ+ community members, and residents who use drugs and may be homeless. This is not ‘help’ they are providing to people; this is an opaque contract of white supremacist eugenics signed with the deaths of those they consider ‘less deserving’. Humanitarian aid with qualifications is not humanitarian. When climate crisis strikes, we put mutual aid into practice. We take back our lives and ensure our collective survival, together.

Another way we can collectively support one another’s well-being is by standing together against these clear efforts by fascists to take advantage of us. Appalachia has been taken advantage of enough. Within the past week we’ve seen Patriot Front, Proud Boys, Asatru Folk Assembly and Active Club chapters all swoop in for photo opportunities posing as saviors, in hollow attempts to use our communities’ plight to legitimize themselves. While the people of WNC have been constantly readjusting our lives to eke out what quality we can in an ever-growing economy of tourism, we now need to understand the economy of disaster tourism developing before our eyes. As we continue to determine our own futures amidst the ongoing crises that leave some worse off than others, lets make sure we all are taken care of. By keeping fascists from being able to decide who gets to live and who gets to die, we take back our lives through defending each other’s.

– Some Appalachian Antifascists

https://hellbenderavl.noblogs.org/post/2024/10/07/statement-against-fascist-disaster-tourism-in-western-north-carolina/

WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF HEADLINE IS THAT !????????? #antifa #paloalto #patriotfront

Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau has pleaded down to a disorderly conduct conviction in his tiki torch trial in Charlottesville. He's now the third participant in the big march on the weekend of Unite the Right to have done so (several others have been convicted, but I've lost track of how many). All were charged under Virginia's anti-KKK statute that bars using fire to intimidate.

The judge accepted the plea "because of Rousseau's lack of a criminal record and the fact that he didn't make physical contact with any counterprotesters" at the Rotunda on the University of Virginia campus on the night of the march. It's true that Rousseau has never been convicted. But he (along with Patriot Front at large and several of its members) has a trial pending in Boston for an assault that took place when they marched there a couple of years ago, and he was lucky to get his personal "conspiracy to riot" charges dropped in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, late last year (although a bunch of other PF members were convicted, including one for having child porn on his phone). It's not a coincidence that the assault in Boston targeted a Black man and the march they were plotting in Coeur d'Alene was targeting a pride event. So sure, Rousseau has a clean record, but it seems completely bonkers for a judge to pretend they don't know that he's obviously going to go out and keep doing the same shit. This is what he does. It's actually his full-time job.

It's not that I'm a fan of putting people in cages. It's just the logic at work here is, well, foolish.

https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-courts/patriot-front-leader-takes-no-jail-disorderly-conduct-plea-after-torch-charge/article_3e872f70-84f7-11ef-87af-6b2701fc6862.html

Members of Patriot Front and White Lives Matter just got 364-day sentences in Washington State for malicious mischief after they vandalized a rainbow-painted fence. That’s the maximum allowable sentence.

https://www.chronline.com/stories/judge-delivers-maximum-sentence-to-three-men-convicted-for-defacing-the-friendship-fence-in,363017

Patriot Front paste ups covered in Superior, Colorado

Via Front Range AFA

This is a useful piece on neo-Nazi infiltration of martial arts contests. However, it gives the impression that Ian Elliott is no longer part of Patriot Front. As we and others have pointed out, Elliott remains a high-profile, active PF member. His handle on the Telegram messaging application even provides his alias within that organization, followed by the letters "PF" to indicate his organizational affiliation.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/family-friendly-gym-training-partner-identified-as-alleged-neo-nazi?ref=home?ref=home

depaywalled link: https://archive.is/mpiqF