FBI says neo-Nazis harassed journalists, Cabinet official
SEATTLE — Federal prosecutors have charged five people tied to a neoNazi group with engaging in a campaign to intimidate and harass journalists and others, including a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, a university and a church.
The charges, announced Wednesday in Virginia and Washington state, are part of a broader recent crackdown by federal law enforcement on violent white supremacists in the United States. Authorities said the individuals were associated with the Atomwaffen Division, a small but violent paramilitary neo-Nazi group.
In the Virginia case, prosecutors accused John Cameron Denton, 26, whom they described as a former Atomwaffen leader, of harassment through a tactic known as “swatting” — calling police and falsely describing an imminent threat at a specific location, causing authorities to respond in force.
In one instance, prosecutors said, Denton targeted an investigative journalist at ProPublica because he was angry that the news organization had named him in its reporting on Atomwaffen.
In other cases in 2018 and 2019, prosecutors said, Denton and others placed swatting calls that targeted Old Dominion University, Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, and an unnamed Cabinet official who authorities said was under Secret Service protection. Last month, prosecutors said, Denton met with an undercover FBI agent and described his efforts.
“Denton said that if he was ‘raided’ for swatting ProPublica, then it would be good for Atomwaffen Division because the swatting would be seen as a top-tier crime,” Jonathan Myles Lund, an FBI agent, wrote in an affidavit. The affidavit named 134 law enforcement agencies that investigators believe received swatting calls from Denton and others.
Authorities said Denton operated with others, including two foreign nationals who live outside the United States, and another man, John William Kirby Kelley, who was arrested earlier and accused of playing a role in the swatting incidents. Kelley was a student at Old Dominion University.
In Seattle on Wednesday, prosecutors unsealed a conspiracy charge against Kaleb James Cole, 24, a leader of Atomwaffen’s chapter in Washington, accusing him of sending threatening mail and cyberstalking. The others charged were Cameron Brandon Shea, 24, of Redmond,
Washington, described as a high-level recruiter for the group; Taylor Ashley Parker-Dipeppe, 20, of Spring Hill, Florida; and Johnny Roman Garza, 20, of Queen Creek, Arizona.
Authorities said the quartet devised an operation called Erste Saule, or “first pillar” in German, which Shea described in an encrypted chat room as an effort to target “journalists houses and media buildings to send a clear message.”
The goal, Shea said, was to “erode the media/states air of legitimacy by showing people that they have names and addresses, and hopefully embolden others to act.”
Prosecutors said Cole and Shea were the “primary organizers.” When members of Atomwaffen suggested Jewish or black journalists as possible targets, Shea and Cole offered praise. Shea said he wanted his victims to feel “terrorized.” Cole suggested buying rag dolls and sticking knives through their heads and leaving them at the locations of their targets, according to the charges.
Authorities said Cole and Shea created posters that included Nazi symbols, threatening language and masked figures with guns and Molotov cocktails, then printed and delivered or mailed the posters to their targets.
Raymond Duda, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s office in Seattle, said Atomwaffen surfaced on law enforcement’s radar in 2018, and members have gone on to participate in military-style training camps and “hate camps.” He said the FBI was continuing to investigate the group around the country.