March 21, 2009
On March 21, 2009, the New Jersey-based League of American Patriots (LOAP), a white supremacist group, attempted to host an organizational meeting at a Clifton, New Jersey public library, in part to commemorate the its one-year anniversary. Shortly after the approximately 15 attendees arrived, about five anti-racist protestors disrupted the meeting by entering the room with a rolling camera. A reported "brawl" then ensued, and police were called to the scene. The LOAP members then left the library but convened at another location.
A few days later, LOAP's leader Alex Carmichael, using the name "Slim Pickens," posted information about the meeting and disruption to Stormfront, the most popular white supremacist Internet forum. LOAP has made use of Stormfront in the past to publicize its events and spread information about the group, including the March meeting, on the forum. Carmichael wrote that in spite of the interruption at the library, LOAP continued the meeting at a "private establishment."
In his Stormfront post, Carmichael also alluded to "upcoming projects" that LOAP has planned, and stated that the group "has settled on a highly secure venue" for its bi-monthly meetings in the metro New York area.
Recent Activity
In January 2009, LOAP placed racist fliers in a New Jersey neighborhood, urging readers to "Stop Minority [Non-White] Crime Now!" The fliers, which sought to demonize the black and Latino communities, claimed, "The single best indicator to the level of crime is the percentage of non-Whites in the population." Manipulating statistics released by the United States government, LOAP was attempting to legitimize its racist views.
LOAP gained national attention during the 2008 presidential election by placing racist, anti-Obama fliers in a New Jersey neighborhood in September and in a Pennsylvania neighborhood in November. The fliers, left in the driveways of several residents, villified Barack Obama, segments of the black community, and undocumented immigrants from Latin America.
One flier questioned, "Do You Want a Black President" and stated "Black Ruled Nations most unstable and violent in the world." It also questioned, "Why should we seal our fate by allowing a black ruler to destroy us." Another flier depicted undocumented immigrants as criminals and a drain on American social services. It cited research completed by the National Policy Institute, a self-styled, racist think tank, and the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigrant think tank.
In addition to leaving their materials at private homes, LOAP members have held organizational meetings and a barbecue, and distributed literature at anti-immigrant and community events in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Ideology
LOAP, founded in March 2008, espouses a white supremacist ideology and encourages white people to organize in an effort to impact the United States and Western civilization. The group bans homosexuals and individuals who are not "of complete European Christian ancestry" from membership, and it opposes race "mixing" in society.
Leadership
Alex Carmichael, an active attorney based in Garfield, New Jersey, is behind the League of American Patriots. Most recently, Carmichael sued Virginia-based neo-Nazi leader Bill White for allegedly linking Carmichael to neo-Nazi leader Kevin Alfred Strom, former leader of the now-defunct National Vanguard, who recently served time for owning child pornography.
Affiliations/Links
The LOAP Web site links to anti-Semitic and racist groups and Web sites. It provides links to the Web sites of the racist National Policy Institute (which LOAP cites in one of its leaflets) and the virulently anti-Semitic American Free Press newspaper. The LOAP Web site also links to the white supremacist publication American Renaissance and discusses conferences convened by American Renaissance as an "important means of educating and bringing new people to our cause." LOAP also promotes Stormfront, the most popular white supremacist Internet forum, as "an invaluable tool for our community," and the group posted information about one of its events to the forum.
The LOAP also promotes an anti-immigrant ideology. It provides links to anti-immigrant Web sites including VDare, which also features racist and anti-Semitic writings; the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the largest anti-immigrant group in the United States; and the Minuteman Project, a border vigilante group.
"The League is dedicated to… organizing our people into a force capable of shaping the destiny of America and the West generally."
-- Statement from LOAP