Fighting Antisemitism: How ADL Monitored and Responded to GDL

To understand how ADL responds when organized hate comes to town, let’s take you to Georgia earlier this year. That’s when at least 11 individuals affiliated with the Goyim Defense League (GDL), a loose network of people who share antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ+ and white supremacist thinking, set out on a “Name the Nose Tour” – their words – to antagonize Jewish communities in the Peach State. Their overriding goal: to turn communities against the Jewish people by spreading myths and conspiracy theories.

They distributed fliers in various city neighborhoods, blaming Jews for Covid-19, pornography, the slave trade and perceived societal woes. They gathered outside several synagogues, where they yelled slurs, insulted passersby, brandished offensive signs and waved swastika flags. They hung an anti-LGBTQ+ effigy from a street sign. And wherever they went, as they tend to do, they aimed to provoke reactions, even violence, that they could film or livestream to engage with and entertain followers and, ultimately, feed GDL’s coffers.

Our Center on Extremism (COE) and its team of investigators knew GDL was planning to swing through Georgia weeks in advance. We didn’t know exactly when or where they’d land, but we made efforts to give law enforcement officials a heads up in early June. When Jon Minadeo II, GDL’s leader and a Florida resident, said that he was on a road trip with “a van full of Nazis” and “headed for a weekend of Jew naming,” we knew what that meant.

We alerted law enforcement, outlining the group's past efforts. We sent an advisory to Jewish community leaders in synagogues and other institutions to educate them, provide advance notice, share tips for best practices if GDL showed up – do not engage with these individuals, for example – and offer our support.

Nearly a dozen ADL staff members in Georgia and elsewhere remained on-call throughout the weekend and into the wee hours of each morning. We tuned in when reports came in of overnight fliering around Warner Robins, a city in middle Georgia, and were on alert when individuals demonstrated outside a synagogue in Macon, a larger city north of Warner Robins and en route to Atlanta. Ten of the 11 participants were known to ADL COE as associates of the GDL. We witnessed the swift law enforcement presence and watched in real time as county deputies arrested Minadeo for disorderly conduct and a noise ordinance violation, and then as the group dispersed. But we also knew as soon as Minadeo was released on bail the group would resume its fliering.

The following day, they showed up to heckle people who rallied outside the synagogue in support of the Jewish community. COE continued to monitor GDL's activity working closely with regional staff and law enforcement. Along the way, we fielded queries from elected officials and organizational leaders, and made sure targeted communities knew they were not alone. 

By Saturday evening, we watched GDL supporters land in Marietta, a suburb north of Atlanta. There they set out to stir up reactions outside another synagogue, where dozens of peaceful counter protesters assembled across the street.

ADL doesn’t always know why hate groups choose the places they target, but over this weekend we could speculate. Driving up I-75 from Florida, Macon (and nearby Warner Robins) is the first major stop. And the Marietta synagogue is right near where Leo Frank, a Jewish man, was lynched by a mob in 1915, two years after the founding of our organization. Photos GDL supporters took by Frank’s memorial that night suggested their being there was no accident.

We weighed responses, crafted statements and put out social media posts to help alert the community and the public. More hateful fliers were distributed overnight in Marietta and nearby Sandy Springs. Others were reported elsewhere in Georgia on Monday, June 26, but by then the tour had petered out.

Using our expertise and knowledge, we prepared the Jewish community for what the weekend would bring. We also met with local political leaders, supported their anti-hate work and welcomed statements of solidarity with the Jewish community from valued partners, such as the Georgia NAACP. We participated in and helped facilitate unity and interfaith events planned in the aftermath, including one in Macon that drew nearly 1,000 people.

The groundswell of support for the Jewish community and relationship building, throughout the weekend and afterward, proved more powerful than the actions of GDL ever were.

As one affected rabbi put it, “We can’t have our heads in the sand. We need to know what’s out there. But if their intention was to make the Jewish people in my neighborhood feel more proud and more connected to their neighbors, they far surpassed their goal.”

GDL, unfortunately, will not disappear overnight. But when they show up to troll our communities, as demonstrated in June, you can bet ADL will be ready.