Nazi “Prank” at Houston Anime Con No Joking Matter

Seems a Texas based neo-Nazi activist who worked with Richard Spencer dressed up as one of his other heroes – an SS soldier at a recent comic book convention.

On the surface it couldn’t sound more ridiculous: a young man dresses up as an SS officer to attend a scandal-prone anime convention in Houston, where he proceeds to hijack an abandoned panel and read what was described as “Anne Frank fan-fiction.” It may sound like a tasteless joke, offensive but unworthy of much serious attention beyond a sad shake of the head.

It turns out, however, that the man who made the appearances to the Anime Matsuri convention on March 30th is more dedicated to his beliefs than one might assume. Image quality always leaves room for doubt, but he bears a strong resemblance to a known Fascist activist from Houston named Dustin Allman.

Allman was, along with Preston Wiginton and Joffre Cross III, a key organizer of Richard Spencer’s 2016 visit to Texas A&M University. He was also spotted at the Vanguard/Daily Stormer-led “Texas is Ours” rally in June of 2017. At “Texas is Ours” he was recorded bragging of his work with Cross, who is himself a neo-Nazi celebrity notorious for attempting to sell stolen military gear to Fascists.

This is another example that should inform our attitude toward creating anti-fascist culture, particularly “jokes.” Some may be inclined to look the other way or downplay the significance of jokes and pranks, but all too often humor is simply a dishonest front for people who are serious – deadly serious – about their beliefs. When we see someone being a Nazi “ironically,” we should instead take them literally.