White Nationalist-led “US Men’s Academy” Active in North Carolina Following Hurricane Helene

Report from Atlanta Antifascists about neo-Nazi led group active in the wake of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

The “US Men’s Academy” (USMA) is a Christian fraternal organization founded 2022 which promotes so-called “Alpha” masculinity and rigid gender roles. USMA has been active on the ground in North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene, using disaster relief to raise the organization’s profile and to attract members. USMA’s leader is Dustin Lee Barnes of Blairsville, Georgia. We exposed Barnes in late 2021, when he was a Georgia administrator for the racist “White Lives Matter” (WLM) network. There is no indication that Barnes abandoned white supremacist politics when he founded USMA.

As we noted in a social media post last year, Barnes’ name appears on Georgia paperwork for USMA filed in 2022. Barnes’ “Academy” overlaps with “prepper” communities. His USMA operates an alleged “elite group of first responders” called “Green Troop.” It also runs programs for boys and young men, promoting its version of “alpha” masculinity through the guise of activities such as father/son hunting events. The USMA website maintains a family-friendly image and does not feature obvious white supremacist rhetoric. Rather, USMA presents itself as building up a multi-generational Christian “tribe.” This tribe-building is a continuation of the “IRL [in real life] networking” which Barnes stressed when he was a WLM organizer.

The WLM network is unambiguously white nationalist and contains many neo-Nazis in its ranks. Barnes has a long history of far-right organizing even before WLM. When Barnes was living in Washington state, he was recorded brandishing a firearm at anti-racist protesters in July 2020. Barnes also claimed to have been active in the Proud Boys (a far-right gang) while on his path to white nationalism. Dustin Barnes’ wife Juliette shares her husband’s ideological commitments: she ran a website that promoted “Europa: The Last Battle,” a notorious Holocaust denial, pro-Hitler propaganda video. For further details, please read our original piece about Dustin and Juliette Barnes. WLM in Georgia has gone on to have other leaders, whom we have also exposed.

Dustin Barnes currently keeps his personal Facebook account clean, apart from his obvious hatred of LGBTQ+ people. However, Barnes has not abandoned his conspiracist antisemitism. Such antisemitism is centrally important to most forms of white nationalism, because the myth of a Jewish conspiracy helps to fill large holes in racist narratives. (For example, if people of color are so clearly inferior, how are white people under such threat? An alleged conspiracy behind the scenes helps to explain this.)

Responding to a post on his Facebook page this year, Barnes wrote: “Oh look … another …‘banker’ [emoji of a nose] releasing crappy music to promote sodomy.” In this context, “banker” is a coded way of saying “Jew,” especially when followed by a nose emoji, which references the ethnic stereotype of the “Jewish nose.” With this post, Barnes claims that there is a Jewish group effort to promote homosexuality. This is obvious, extreme antisemitism, but claims of this type are ubiquitous within WLM and other racist circles.

Further, our December 2021 exposé on Barnes mentioned that he had a profile on a website operated by the Goyim Defense League (GDL). The GDL is a virulently antisemitic group led by Jon Minadeo II (AKA “Handsome Truth”), a neo-Nazi. While Barnes has changed his username on the website, he visited it recently, “liking” a broadcast by Minadeo this September. This shows Barnes’ continued interest in white nationalism and even neo-Nazism.

Dustin Barnes currently runs the company Mountain View Blinds in Georgia, which he registered with the Secretary of State this year. Since Barnes may endanger people of color, Jewish people, and LGBTQ+ individuals who he encounters, we strongly warn against this company. We are also concerned about profits from the company potentially flowing to white nationalist and far-right organizing.

In North Carolina, members of Barne’s “Academy” have been focusing on the community of Buladean (approximately one hour north of Asheville) and surrounding areas for their post-hurricane efforts. In particular, USMA has built a relationship with the Buladean Community Center. We are publishing this reminder about USMA so that North Carolina residents can avoid Barnes’ organization whenever possible, and not be taken advantage of for propaganda purposes. While there is no evidence that every single “Academy” member is a white nationalist, its leader’s continuing white supremacist sympathies are clear. Using USMA’s attempted mainstream branding, the organization is likely to draw others into the racist movement through the influence of its founder and leader. We hope that readers spread our documentation on Dustin Barnes widely, so that nobody is deceived about USMA, mistakenly donates to it, or provides it with resources.

As anti-fascists in Appalachia argued in a statement against fascist “disaster tourism,” far-right groups should be resisted even if they claim to be offering relief and assistance. In the aftermath of a disaster, the allocation of resources determines who suffers more and who copes better. In some cases, this could be a matter of life and death. Fascists and white supremacists must not be allowed to impose themselves on the ground and make crucial determinations about support and resources. Rather, truly community-centered disaster relief efforts are necessary. We encourage donating to and getting involved with projects such as Mutual Aid Disaster Relief.

Finally, we encourage anyone with further information on Dustin Barnes or his associates to get in touch with us.