Second Member of Neo-Nazi Group Famous for Attacking LGBTQ Community as “Groomers” Arrested for Child Pornography

CW: The article contains discussion of child sexual abuse.

The second member of a violent neo-Nazi organization, the Nationalist Social Club-131 (NSC-131), which is active on the east coast, has been arrested for possessing child pornography. Last month, Stephen Farrea, 34, had his home raided and was arrested “on one count of possessing child pornography” by law enforcement “after receiving a tip,” according to the Boston Globe. In 2022, Farrea was arrested for posting NSC-131 flyers up at a school.

Farrea is actually the second member of NSC-131 to be arrested for possession of child pornography. In 2021, Andrew Hazelton was also arrested and “charged with possessing child pornography.” According to the Press Herald:

Hazelton had stacks of crisp, freshly printed NSC fliers in his apartment at the time he was arrested, which were shown to a reporter by Hazelton’s roommate. The propaganda calls on white men to organize and protect their families and property against perceived enemies.

As an organization, NSC-131 attempts to blend the aesthetics of neo-Nazi active clubs, groups like Patriot Front, and an open embrace of Nazi symbolism. As This Week in Fascism wrote:

Based in the New England and Massachusetts area, NSC-131 includes ex-members of Patriot Front and in many ways, blends PF’s organizational blueprint with more confrontational street politics. The group is known for openly flying swastika flags and throwing up Hitler salutes in public, but will also hand out flyers, put up graffiti, and hold demonstrations and flash rallies. The group is also known for attempting to hold protests against anarchist and left-wing events and spaces.

It is led by long-time white supremacist organizer Chris Hood and is capable of mobilizing upwards of several dozen members. In the spring of 2022 the group grabbed headlines after the lead singer of the punk band the Dropkick Murphy’s called the group out on social media for using the band’s song in a promotional video. The racists never materialized for the potential brawl.

Another report on It’s Going Down wrote:

[NSC-131 leader Chris] Hood commented that the goal of NSC and other like minded fascist formations is to essentially build networks of “white gangs” that are able to carry out actions, distribute propaganda, and attack their enemies. This strategy is in contrast, but not ultimately competing with or opposed to, the entryism of the Groyper movement or the organizationalism of groups like Patriot Front, which have a set brand and at least publicly, shy away from utilizing symbols such as the swastika.

In the northeast area, NSC-13 has rallied outside of various events in an effort to decry “groomers,” a right-wing conspiracy theory pushed by far-Right grifters like Chris Rufo that falsely claims LGBTQ+ people are attempting to indoctrinate children and engage in sexual acts with them. As the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reported:

On the morning of July 23, 2022, some two dozen NSC-131 members shouted slurs, passed out homophobic and anti-trans propaganda, and threw up Hitler salutes outside of a drag queen story hour in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, located right outside of Boston.

Two weeks later, on Aug. 7, 2022, concerns over similar possible violence prompted a Boston-area drag queen to cancel a story hour in Boston’s Seaport District.

In early 2023, a group of masked NSC-131 members interrupted another story event, calling the drag queen who was there to read to children a “pedophile” and “groomer.”

As antifascist researcher Spencer Sunshine recently pointed out in an interview on Yeah Nah Pasaran, pedophilia and abuse of children is common among many white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations, which also celebrate and embrace violent misogyny and patriarchy as part of their worldview.

Systematic sexual abuse of children is a real problem, and perpetrators have been exposed in institutions such as the Catholic Church, far-Right evangelical churches, organizations like the Boy Scouts, and at the hands of law enforcement – institutions that the fascists all seek to up-hold and valorize.