Who Are the Neo-Nazi Americans?

Wade Michael Page, the man who opened fire in a Wisconsin Sikh temple on Aug. 5, is a supporter of racist theories on the supremacy of the white race. The following interview with a specialist on right-wing extremism looks at the Neo-Nazi movement in the United States.

Wade Michael Page, a former soldier connected to Neo-Nazi groups, killed six people Sunday in a Sikh temple in a Milwaukee suburb. L’Express interviewed Stephane Francois, a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research and specialist on the Neo-Nazi movement in the United States.

What do you know about the Neo-Nazi movement in the United States?

One counts about 15 known Neo-Nazi groups, more or less. To this, one adds several vigilante groups as well as Aryan churches (Protestant congregations that separate the Old and New Testament, and promote the “Aryanhood” on the Nazi model of “Positive Christianity”, notably the one advocated by Alfred Rosenberg).

We can basically divide the Neo-Nazi groups into three categories. First, the “weirdos” (the lunatic fringe). Those are not very dangerous, despite their virulent assertions. The most famous of them is Gary Lauck, leader of the small American National-Socialist party who wears a fringe and mustache in the style of Hitler, and takes pictures wearing an SA uniform.

Then come the “academics.” They are intellectuals or White Nationalists who diffuse their propaganda on the best way to preserve the white race. The American Constitution, and particularly, the First Amendment which guarantees freedom of expression, allows this group of militants to spread their propaganda across the Atlantic without hindrance, especially on the Internet. They draw some of their inspiration from the ideologists of the Nouvelle Droite, the New Right in France.

Finally, there is a category with more dangerous groups. Among them, the Storm Front, founded by former members of the Klu Klux Klan, who actively advocated a “race war” between ethnic groups. Their emblem is the Celtic cross [as tattooed on Wade Michael Page’s arm]. The evolution of these groups happens in some cases by radicalization and acting out, and in other cases, during economic recessions. They then set up communities of whites in remote corners or “free zones” where they carry out a mix of their supremacist ideology and defense of nature, drawing their inspiration from the German Volkisch movement (pagan spirituality movements since the beginning of the 20th century) with Nazis Heimlich Himmler and Walter Darre as models.

Some extreme right militants are dissociating themselves from the Oak Creek killer’s actions…

True, but Wade Michael Page’s actions correspond precisely to the lone wolf strategy, theorized by an extreme right American militant, Joseph Tomasi, himself influenced by William Luther Pierce. Pierce is the author of the science fiction novel, Turner Diaries, of which the plot tells the story of Earl Turner, a hero turned martyr after he, along with an increasingly prominent White Nationalist group, eliminated the Black and Jewish population in the country, and reestablished white supremacy. The Turner Diaries are considered by the FBI as a sort of bible of the racist right, especially since the Oklahoma City bombing committed by Timothy McVeigh in 1995.

We can watch the Neo-Nazi groups, we can infiltrate them but we can’t do much against the “lone wolves,” or these individuals who act alone.

Are the small Neo-Nazi groups under more surveillance since the bombings in Oklahoma City (1995) and Atlanta (1996)?

Yes, the FBI has tracked them more since then. But as long as they don’t act out, the police leave them relatively free to convene.

Wade Michael Page is a former veteran. Are there more extreme right militants in the Army?

Not really. Especially since the U.S. Army, a professional army, sees numerous ethnic minority members from modest backgrounds enlist, often to pay for their studies. There is however a predecessor, former Lieutenant Colonel Michael Aquino, who founded a satanic group, The Temple of Satan, proclaiming white supremacy.

Wade Michael Page was a member of a rock group, End Apathy. Are music groups often used by the extreme right?

Yes, in Occidental Europe like in the United States, the skinhead movements function by leaning on rock groups. It’s at the same time a way to round up sympathizers and spread slogans, which is easier than spreading slogans through long speeches among a public often not well-read. The first of these groups were British, particularly in the Blood and Honor movement, appearing at the end of the ’70s. The better known group was the Skrewdriver. In France, where these groups are tracked, the concerts occur on the sly and are akin to treasure hunts, with reserved rooms under other pretexts. In the United States, these groups are watched less.