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May 12, 20

“Patriot” Group led by Neo-Nazi Gains Support of GOP Candidates, State House Representative in Georgia

Atlanta Antifascists reports on how the group American Patriots USA (APUSA), run by long-time white supremacist organizer Chester Doles, is making inroads and connections with the local Republican Party in Georgia and explains how Doles considers working with the GOP, including supporting candidates of color, to be a “Trojan Horse” for his wider neo-Nazi views.

A video released last week by Atlanta Antifascists highlights the white supremacist heart of “American Patriots USA” (APUSA), an organization in north Georgia now embraced by several Republican candidates. APUSA is led by Chester Doles, a Klan then neo-Nazi organizer with a history of violence, including a violent attack on an African-American man riding in a truck with a white woman.

Chester Doles, a Life Time of White Supremacy, from the KKK to Unite the Right

In March, Doles’ APUSA hosted current State House Representative for District 8, Matthew Gurtler, at a meeting. Gurtler is currently running in the GOP primary for Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, where he is competing against APUSA’s favored candidate, Michael Boggus, who has effectively merged his campaign with the organization.

State House Representative for District 8, Matthew Gurtler and Chester Doles on the far right

The new video features leaked footage from an October 2019 American Patriots USA promotional video. That video was not placed on APUSA’s website and is only available through an obscure link on their YouTube channel. In the video speech, Chester Doles presented APUSA as a continuation of his early 2000s work leading the Georgia unit of the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi organization best known for promoting the book the Turner Diaries, which inspired the Oklahoma City bombing. The two-minute video circulated by Atlanta Antifascists excerpts Doles’ longer speech and is available here.

As Doles proudly discusses, in 2001 and 2002 he organized anti-immigrant rallies in Gainesville, Georgia for the National Alliance. Doles highlights his work alongside Billy Roper, a militant racist then also part of the National Alliance. After the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, Roper stated:

We may not want them marrying our daughters…. But anyone who is willing to drive a plane into a building to kill Jews is alright by me. I wish our members had half as much testicular fortitude.

Billy Roper

In a 2005 interview, Roper openly called for genocide:

Every non-White on the planet has to become extinct. We need to remove these minor-league amateur races out of the game, and refine the playoff brackets a bit, if you get my meaning. The whole world is ours, and the only part of the earth that non-Whites should inherit is however much it requires to cover them.

Doles’ video speech also includes dog-whistle language about “our ancestors […] calling out to you from your soul”, which will be immediately understood by racist heathens as a reference to their belief system.

The leaked video further confirms what antifascists have documented for months: that APUSA is an ideologically white nationalist organization. Recently, APUSA tried to disguise its politics by endorsing Republican candidates including people of color, hoping to assemble a broader “Constitutionalist” front. Doles has discussed alliances with right-wing people of color as a “Trojan Horse” tactic.

Some candidates now endorsed by APUSA include Danny Ellyson (for Congress, 8th District), Johsie Cruz (for Congress, 4th District) and Hubert Owens, Jr (for Georgia House of Representatives District 93). Less surprising is APUSA’s alliance with far-Right militiaman Michael Boggus (for Congress, 9th District). The Boggus campaign in Georgia’s 9th Congressional District is APUSA’s current focus.

None of this could happen without GOP silence. When Chester Doles held a far-Right rally in Dahlonega, Georgia last year featuring white nationalist speakers, GOP Congressman Doug Collins repudiated the event, but the local Lumpkin County Republican Party refused to either endorse or condemn the rally.

“APUSA is using Republican fringe candidates to build broader support, but this video demonstrates its neo-Nazi core,” says Doug of Atlanta Antifascists. “It’s shameful that GOP candidates and even a current State House Rep work to assist organized white nationalists without a peep of criticism.”

Chester Doles and David Duke

For more information on Atlanta Antifascists, visit: atlantaantifa.org

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Atlanta Antifascists oppose white supremacist and fascist organizing in our region through education, confrontation, and building a grassroots culture of resistance. We oppose sexism, homophobia, anti-trans bigotry, and all other forms of oppression. We want a classless free society.

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