Do Democrats Collaborate With Neo-Nazis to Malign and Defame Republicans in Florida?
Who are the Neo-Nazis that appear at every conservative event in Florida? Are they real Neo-Nazis or imposters? Does it even matter as they're still spreading hate?
Floridians are so happy with the job Governor Ron DeSantis is doing that his political enemies are having to resort to calling him a Nazi. Florida’s top Democrat, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, routinely compares the former high school history teacher to Adolf Hitler as she confirmed in an interview with Miami NewsChannel 5’s Michael Williams,
"What I said, very clearly, was that a lot of the actions that Ron DeSantis has been taking mirror some of the actions that were taken by Hitler on his rise to power."1
Just as Broward County Democrats began claiming DeSantis was the second coming of Hitler a bizarre phenomenon began occurring. Almost every time conservatives gather in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, or Miami individuals, typically dressed in Black Bloc claiming to be Neo-Nazis, show up to protest carrying flags and signs emblazoned with Nazi swastikas, SS bolts, and antisemitic messages. Their protests are almost immediately covered by leftwing alternative media and quickly followed by Democratic condemnations from Charlie Crist and Nikki Fried of Governor DeSantis and other conservatives for not repudiating the protesters quickly enough.
For some strange reason, this relatively small group of Nazi protesters don’t attend events promoted by Democrats despite the fact that Neo-Nazis traditionally love to protest events that celebrate LGBTQ, Black, Latino, and immigrant communities. These Neo-Nazis seem to coordinate their protests with members of the Democratic Party and the alternative and mainstream media. Who are these people? Are they genuinely committed to the Nazi movement? Perhaps it is worth taking a moment to understand what real Nazis in America look like.
FLORIDA’S NEO-NAZIS
Thanks to the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center we know exactly who the Neo-Nazis are in Florida - we know their names, and addresses, and even have their pictures. Thanks to the Bureau of Prisons we even know the identities of transient Neo-Nazis as they move in and out of America’s various jails and prisons. It is important to realize that the vast majority of people who identify as Neo-Nazis were introduced to the American Nazi Party while serving time in prison. If it weren’t for prison gangs there would only be a dozen Neo-Nazis in the United States according to the ADL.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, there is one Neo-Nazi group in Florida. Based in Kissimmee the group of approximately 12-24 members has been led by Burt Colucci since 2019 and is called the National Socialists Movement (NSM).2 The ADL claims that the Neo-Nazi movement and the NSM specifically have been on the decline since 2017. Florida’s NSM is the most active Neo-Nazi group in America holding rallies across the country and livestreaming them on the American Nazi Party’s website. If you hear of a Neo-Nazi rally anywhere in the country it is almost certainly organized by Florida’s NSM. The group typically targets LGBTQs, immigrants, Jews, and the federal government - there is no history of them holding rallies for or against conservatives.
Florida’s Neo-Nazis have been in disarray in 2022 as almost every member has been arrested for one crime or another. Attorney General Barr, at the direction of President Trump, directed the FBI to infiltrate and dismantle the NSM for its involvement in the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally - an effort that was exceedingly successful. To make matters worse for the Nazis, the NSM and its leaders were also found liable for civil conspiracy for the Charlottesville attack and have been ordered to pay the victims more than $2 million dollars in damages - defunding the movement completely.
At the end of the day, the 2017 Unite the Right rally was perhaps the height of the Neo-Nazi movement in the United States - things have declined since then with almost no Neo-Nazi activity in 2022 according to the ADL.
2021 - 2022 • Leadership Arrested, Awaiting Trial, Convicted
Sept 2021 • Longview, TX • Conference (16 Members)
Apr2021 • Phoenix, AZ • Flash Protest @ Park (14 Members)
Jun 2020 • Ulysses, PA • Flash Protest @ Park (15 Members)
Jun 2019 • Ulysses, PA • Conference (10 Members)
Jul 2019 • Tazewell, TN • Failed Alliance with KKK (6 Members)
Jun 2019 8 Detroit, MI • Pride Parade Protest (10 Members)
Nov2019 • Little Rock, AR • Rally at Capitol (20 Members)
Apr 2018 • Newnan, GA • Public Rally (10 Members + 30 Aryans)
Oct 2017 • Shelbyville, TN • White Lives Matter (20+ Members)
Aug 2017 • Charlottesville, VA • Unite the Right Rally (30+ Members)
So who are the Neo-Nazis that are protesting conservatives in Florida?
FLORIDA’S NEO-NEO-NAZIS
It is clear that the Neo-Nazis that protest at conservative events throughout Florida haven’t been identified by the Anti-Defamation League or the Southern Poverty Law Center. This new Neo-Nazi cell is VERY different than any other Nazi group we’ve ever seen anywhere in America. I’m calling these folks Neo-Neo-Nazis as they are different from typical Neo-Nazis in the following ways:
Do not have prison gang tattoos (most Neo-Nazis do)
Are either slender or athletic (most Neo-Nazis are obese)
Are clean shaven and have crew cuts (most Neo-Nazis with hair have beards and those who don’t are bald)
They conceal their identities by wearing masks and reflective sunglasses (Neo-Nazis do not hide their identities)
They carry college student-style backpacks (Neo-Nazis aren’t allowed to carry backpacks for safety)
They have multiple members with GoPro cameras strapped to their bodies (Neo-Nazis do not film their rallies for safety)
They include women in their group (Neo-Nazis generally don’t let women actively march or participate meaningfully in their events)
In an effort to see if I could uncover the identities of the Neo-Nazis who were present at the Tampa Convention Center on July 23rd I distributed a ‘Seeking Information’ poster from the newly created “Department of Denazification” on various ANTIFA and Anti-Nazi Subreddits.
The responses I got were telling. For some reason, these groups dedicated to the destruction of Nazis suddenly had a change of heart. Some ANTIFA members accused me of “illegally doxxing” the protesters. One member explained,
“There may be more going on that you don’t understand. These people haven’t done anything illegal. They don’t deserve to be be doxxed.”
Another user warned,
“They are allowed to do all of this. You are not allowed to doxx people's personal information.”
Another user misunderstood that the National Socialist Movement is the official name of the Neo-Nazi movement in Florida pointing out,
“Suspect one literally has a National Socialist Movement hat. Fuck off. Sure is easy to treat it like some quirky belief when you're not in the line of fire.”
When I explained, she said she assumed they were ANTIFA and didn’t realize they were Nazis. But most people knew exactly who the Neo-Nazis were holding themselves out to be and who they actually are. Eventually, I was banned from each group as they realized I was a conservative having a little fun at their expense but before I was it was clear almost everyone knew that the Neo-Neo-Nazis were pretending to be Nazis and that they were there to smear conservatives as dangerous Neo-Nazis.
The truth of the matter is that most of the people who were dressed up like Neo-Nazis at the Tampa Convention Center protesting conservatives on July 23rd were most likely Democrats, Lincoln Project, paid actors, or maybe even ANTIFA. Fortunately, we have LOTS of photos taken at the event so we can get a good look at these Neo-Neo-Nazis. Coincidentally, a freelance photographer named Dave Decker who regularly covers protests and marches for BLM, LGBTQ, reproductive rights, and Democratic campaigns somehow knew that the Neo-Neo-Nazis would be at the Convention Center. According to people at the protest, Decker worked with the Neo-Neo-Nazis directing their movement to get the best pictures of the Nazi imagery. So let’s not waste any more time - let’s take a look at the Neo-Neo-Nazis taking Florida by storm.
We’re starting with who I am calling Suspect No. 1. He is the exception that proves the rule. Suspect No. 1 seems to have an authentic NSM shirt and hat. No one else at the event had a similar shirt making me think he bought it himself. The fact that it is new threw me off a little bit but I do think it is authentic and it is something ONLY he was wearing at the protest. He also seems to have a LOT of tattoos that I would describe as prison tattoos. There are some lightning bolts but he seems to have covered up the various symbols with more recent tattoos - perhaps covering them to get a job. He’s not hiding his identity which is the rule among Neo-Nazis. Finally, in all of the videos and pictures, the other Neo-Neo-Nazis were avoiding him like the plague. You could imagine them privately whispering to one another, “Holy crap, that guy is a real Nazi!”
Suspect No. 10 looks like he was plucked out of the Hillsborough County Democratic office. He isn’t wearing any Nazi gear and he’s carrying both the Nazi flag and a DeSantis flag. He filmed his fellow Neo-Neo-Nazis with a GoPro camera attached to what looks like an emasculating BDSM harness. Like the rest of the Neo-Neo-Nazis Suspect No. 10 carefully conceals his identity throughout the event. He only communicates with a freelance photographer that covered the protests to position the DeSantis flag with his fellow protesters and their Nazi flags and signs. You can see below just how often the flag is captured with the various Neo-Neo-Nazis.
While I’m not sure what gender Suspect No. 7 identifies as she appears to be a biological female. Real Neo-Nazis rarely allow women to join them in these sorts of actions - there are exceptions to this rule - but they are rare. She also has short blonde hair and black nail polish - both very rare fashion choices for traditional Neo-Nazi women. She doesn’t appear to be wearing any NSM gear that I can see but to be honest I’m not sure what her shirt says (hopefully something good). The fact that she’s carrying an artistic silhouette of a swastika on a black background is also suspect. Most Neo-Nazis aren’t that crafty. She is also carrying pepper spray or mace - Neo-Nazis are very careful never to bring weapons to these events as they provide the police justification to arrest them. Finally, like her fellow Neo-Neo-Nazis, she’s hiding her identity.
Suspect No. 4 is similar to several of his fellow Neo-Neo-Nazis so we won’t bother to include their photos in this discussion. The suspect isn’t really wearing any NSM-related gear. He’s got a shirt that says something but I can’t read it because he’s wearing the same emasculating BDSM harness and GoPro camera that Suspect No. 10 is wearing. He is also wearing a German M40 WWII Halloween costume helmet made from green plastic. I have seen Neo-Nazis wearing M-40 Stahlhelm made from heavy gauge mild steel painted satin black with SS decals - but I don’t think a self-respecting Nazi would be caught wearing a helmet made for LARPers especially one in green. The biggest giveaway that he and his fellow Neo-Neo-Nazis aren’t real Nazis are the stickers on their bullhorns - multiple Alex Jones INFOWARS stickers along with Blue Lives Matter and Thin Blue Line stickers. The Neo-Nazis do NOT like Alex Jones (he spreads negative conspiracy theories about them) nor do they like the police (most are felons).
UPDATE: Several people have mentioned that Suspects No. 4 and 7 (the folks wearing the skull facemask) might be members of a group called AtomWaffen Division (AWD) as their members were known to wear the scary masks. It turns out that a LOT of people wear skull face masks as well - more than 1,000 sellers on Amazon have one or more variations of the skull face mask for sale [HERE].
Just who are the AtomWaffen Division? Eighteen-year-old Brandon Clint Russell, a citizen of the Bahamas, founded a group he called the AtomWaffen Division in Tampa around 2014. At some point, Russell’s best friends and roommates (Devon Arthurs, Jeremy Himmelman, and Andrew Oneschuk) tired of his Nazi-LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) and got the brilliant idea of converting to a radical form of Islam.
In Flordia, Devon Arthurs, a former AtomWaffen member who converted to Islam, is accused of killing his two roommates in May because they criticized his conversion and were planning to blow up a nuclear power plant, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
In 2017 the three Muslim extremists got into an altercation and Arthurs (18) shot and killed Himmelman (22) and Oneschuck (18). According to prosecutors Himmelman and Oneschuck questioned Arthurs’ conversion to Islam after he criticized their plan to blow up a nuclear power plant with Hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD). Arthur would later explain that he didn’t think HMTD would be an effective means of destroying a nuclear reactor arguing that HMTD is only useful for suicide bombs.
When Russell returned home he was devastated when found the bodies of his roommates and best friends, despite his anguish he was arrested by the FBI for their murder. The FBI quickly determined that Russell wasn’t involved in the murders but eventually prosecuted him after finding HMTD explosive material commonly used by Al-Qaeda suicide bombers in the apartment. Russell was released from prison on August 23, 2021, and has reportedly not returned to his pre-arrest Nazi-LARPing activities.
The only AtomWaffen activity occurring now seems to be from a small band of a dozen or so online trolls who delight in provoking outrage. The Associated Press reported that so-called AtomWaffen members don’t see themselves as monsters - instead, they see themselves as provocateurs that parody neo-Nazi activities for an online audience
Were the protesters in skull masks AtomWaffen LARPers or were they real Neo-Nazis trying to provoke outrage against Governor DeSantis? The real question is whether Charlie Crist or Nikki Fried are coordinating with them.
The next group of Suspects No. 3, 8, 9, 11, and 12 didn’t interact with the other suspects who were wearing black bloc and were suspiciously identified by ANTIFA Subreddit users as ANTIFA members. This group in red were all wearing newly printed masks and shirts sporting Nazi symbols - some of which are used by Ukraine’s Nazi Azov Battalion. They were carrying a brand new German War Ensign featuring a swastika and a Black Sun flag. Neither are common among Neo-Nazi groups because their European cousins can’t use them. The Black Sun flag is being sold to Americans as it is seen as a Pro-Ukraine war flag - Neo-Nazis who use the symbol do so as tattoos or a logo on a war shield but not as an ensign. The men in red were generally fit and definitely did not appear to be ANTIFA. They were all carrying backpacks that are commonly used by college students. In fact, when I looked through pictures from local college Democrat groups I found a number of doppelgangers.
Suspect No. 2 will be our last. In various videos and photographs, it was clear she was VERY uncomfortable and nervous. She was with the suspects wearing red shirts (she is wearing the same red shirt and mask (for some reason she also wore a long sleeve yellow shirt underneath despite 92º temperatures). She also had a hat sporting the Black Sun symbol. Her presence as a woman at a Neo-Nazi event would be unlikely and like her fellow red shirt companions, she carried a college-style backpack. Finally, she was standing back with a handheld gimble-mounted GoPro filming her comrades - something real Neo-Nazis never do. It would be one thing if she was filming counter-protesters threatening her friends but in this case, she was filming their protest as if it was a performance.
I can’t help but think the suspects wearing the red shirt were hired like the Tiki Torch white nationalists that the Lincoln Project hired to ‘support’ Glenn Younkin in Charlottesville, VA. If you don’t remember that false flag operation you can read all about it HERE. Take a look at the Tiki Torch actors and tell me that you don’t see a similarity with the red-shirted Neo-Neo-Nazis:
At the end of the day, it is clear to me that political opponents of Governor DeSantis and conservatives, in general, are actively attempting to connect the GOP with Nazis in the minds of Florida voters. The fact is, there isn’t a single GOP official who supports Neo-Nazis. The governor has repeatedly denounced the Neo-Nazis despite the fact that he believes that they are being used by Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist and their fellow Democrats.
The irony is that Nikki and Charlie and their allies are allegedly working with people who parade around Florida wearing symbols that were used by Nazis in WWII - the same people that killed millions of Jews - the relatives of many of their constituents. The Neo-Nazis the Democrats allegedly coordinate with might be ‘fake Neo-Nazis’ but the hate they spread is very real. They carry antisemitic signs, shout racist and homophobic slurs, and make Florida an inhospitable place to live and work. The real Neo-Nazis in Florida number less than two dozen today - it is time for Nikki, Charlie, and the Democrats to let them die. It is time to stop spreading hate.
The next time you see a group of Neo-Nazis protesting at a conservative event and see Nikki Fried, Charlie Crist, or Andrew Gillum giving a press conference criticizing Governor DeSantis for not denouncing the Neo-Nazis fast enough remember that it is very likely they coordinated the whole thing. If you’re a reporter you might ask them about it…
UPDATE: Attendees at the event who tried to talk to the Neo-Nazis were pretty sure they weren’t real Nazis either:
Burke, Peter. “'Dictator' Desantis? Nikki Fried Says Governor Seeks 'to Gain Power' with Sights on White House.” WPTV, WPTV, 8 Apr. 2022, https://www.wptv.com/news/political/to-the-point/dictator-desantis-nikki-fried-says-governor-seeks-to-gain-power-with-sights-on-white-house.
“National Socialist Movement.” ADL, https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/national-socialist-movement.