蜜桃传媒

Jeff Schoep once led the National Socialist Movement (NSM). Once the largest and most active neo-Nazi group in the United States, NSM was known for the crudeness of its propaganda, the violence it worked hard to provoke and the faux SS outfits that have caused many other neo-Nazis to deride NSM members as 鈥淗ollywood Nazis.鈥� Then, as legal pressures mounted, he claimed in August 2019 that he had chosen to leave it all behind. Schoep and the NSM were defendants in the听Sines v. Kessler听civil trial targeting those who planned and promoted the deadly 2017 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in Charlottesville. On Nov. 23, 2021, a federal court in Virginia found both Schoep and NSM, along a slew of other defendants, guilty on charges of civil conspiracy.

In His Own Words

鈥淚n the National Socialist Movement 鈥� we called ourselves a 鈥榳hite civil rights organization.鈥� Most of the guys will tell you they were not white supremacists. We knew, publicly speaking, we gave like a pep speech 鈥� before a rally, and told people: No racial epithets, no cussing. 鈥� We knew that those buzzwords were not going to go over well with the public. I don鈥檛 think as long as I can remember I ever called myself a white supremacist.鈥� 鈥� Jeff Schoep, talk at the New American Foundation, Washington, D.C., 2019

鈥淭he white race in America is becoming a minority very fast. 鈥� The white people standing here today, standing up on behalf of our people, are amongst the few that have the testicular fortitude to stand for our people. Every time someone stands up and says something pro-white in this country it鈥檚 called hate, it鈥檚 called racism.鈥� 鈥� Jeff Schoep, in a speech at a rally in Little Rock, Arkansas, November 2018

鈥淲e are the front line of the fight for the white race. We are the shock troops for the white race.鈥� 鈥� Jeff Schoep, speech at a rally in Pikeville, Kentucky, April 29, 2017

鈥淲e like our symbol. It鈥檚 meaningful to us. The symbol of the swastika is a symbol of white power. We鈥檙e willing to accept groups into our movement that are more moderate. But we鈥檙e not going to tolerate infighting in the white nationalist movement anymore 鈥� period.鈥� 鈥� Jeff Schoep, in an interview with Vocativ, April 28, 2016

鈥淩ev. Matt Hale is a friend, and a good man. 鈥� I do fully believe he was framed and set up by an informant. . . . Rev. Hale鈥檚 case is one of the scariest set-ups I can think of.鈥�
鈥� Jeff Schoep, in an interview with a national socialist black metal zine, Mar. 14, 2016

Background

Jeff Schoep claimed he realized he was a neo-Nazi in the fourth grade, when he read Adolf Hitler鈥檚听Mein Kampf. At 19, he joined the National Socialist American Workers Freedom Movement. The group was, at the time, a minor neo-Nazi group founded in 1974 in South St. Paul, Minnesota, by Robert Brannen and Cliff Herrington, both former officials of the American Nazi Party of the 1960s.

Schoep tried to invigorate the aging hate group by distributing literature, organizing rallies and recruiting younger members, including unaffiliated racist skinheads. Much of this activity took place in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, where Schoep resided. As a result of these activities, his profile rose quickly within the neo-Nazi movement. In 1994, Schoep was invited to speak at the Aryan Nations World Congress in Idaho, a key neo-Nazi event presided over by Richard Butler, a major figurehead within this country鈥檚 white power movement. In Idaho, Schoep shared the podium with white supremacist leaders such as听Louis Beam, J.B. Stoner and Neuman Britton.

In 1994, Schoep took over the National Socialist American Workers Freedom Movement, renaming it the National Socialist Movement, after the group's leader, Cliff Herrington, stepped down. Schoep was then only 21. Herrington hoped Schoep would be able to revitalize the group and attract younger members. Schoep conducted outreach to the Klan and created a special NSM Skinhead Division that offered discounted memberships to racist skinheads for just $35.

In 1998, Schoep was arrested on a felony burglary charge. According to court records, Schoep 鈥� unemployed at the time 鈥� helped the mother of his daughter steal $4,000 worth of computer equipment. Four children were in the back seat of the getaway car during the burglary. Schoep pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation.

Under Schoep鈥檚 leadership, the NSM became one of the most active neo-Nazi organizations in the country. Still, it was frequently ridiculed by more elitist white supremacists for the crudeness of its propaganda and its members鈥� predilection for brown shirts, swastika armbands and shiny boots. Its growth, however, was as much due to Schoep鈥檚 organizing abilities as it was the near-collapse of two larger neo-Nazi groups, the听National Alliance听and the Aryan Nations. The leaders of both groups died in the early 2000s, leaving these movements lost and rudderless. The upset of a third, the World Church of the Creator (later renamed the听Creativity Movement), whose leader was sentenced in 2003听to 40 years in prison for soliciting the murder of a federal judge, contributed to NSM鈥檚 growing membership as well.

Schoep is also known for focusing on recruiting children 鈥� specifically, 14- to 17-year-olds who Schoep says are taught military skills and how to become a 鈥渕ore effective warrior鈥� in NSM鈥檚 Viking Youth Corps, the group鈥檚 youth division.

Schoep鈥檚 greatest success, however, was regularly organizing NSM rallies across the country. Though anti-racist protesters typically outnumber Schoep's uniformed followers by at least two-to-one at these events, they were nevertheless consistent. Additionally, Schoep frequently appears at Ku Klux Klan gatherings and racist skinhead music festivals. During this period, Schoep sought to capitalize on rising anti-immigrant sentiment in America by focusing his speeches on Latinos 鈥渂reeding us out of existence.鈥� According to Schoep then, illegal immigration from Latin America is driven by an international Jewish conspiracy whose leaders are plotting 鈥渢he destruction of all races through the evils of race mixing.鈥�

In 2009, the NSM gave up its brown shirts for a new look, black BDUs, or Battle Dress Uniforms. The change may have been helpful as they attracted 100 members to participate in a march in St. Louis before holding a rally beneath the city's landmark Gateway Arch in April. It proved to be one of the group鈥檚 largest protests for some time.

'Schoep is in this just for the money'

In 2009, WikiLeaks released hundreds of private NSM emails. The messages revealed an organization rife with infighting. Among the highlights was a major dust-up in fall 2007 that featured claims that an NSM official was collaborating with the Anti-Defamation League. The leaks led to the ouster or resignation of several key members, including the group鈥檚 2008 presidential candidate.

Schoep complained about having to 鈥減lay babysitter鈥� for a squabbling membership that would be 鈥渂etter served if the drama is saved for the playground.鈥� Some members alleged that Schoep was cynically exploiting his followers for his own financial gain. 鈥淣SM members make no mistake,鈥� one warned. 鈥淛eff Schoep is in this just for the money and he really doesn鈥檛 give a damn about the White Race.鈥�

Schoep鈥檚 ex-wife painted a similar picture of the ostensible ideologue in a 2012 interview with the听Intelligence Report. Joanna Schoep married the NSM 鈥渃ommander鈥� in 2008 after meeting him on a conservative online forum. She lived with him in Detroit until December 2011, when they split acrimoniously; she had recently been through breast cancer treatments and discovered he was having a relationship with another woman.

Joanna Schoep said her former husband had privately accepted her nonwhite ancestry and that of her 17-year-old daughter, who is part African American, but kept his new family鈥檚 racial background 鈥� anathema to neo-Nazis 鈥� secret from his followers in the NSM. Though publicly a believer in the NSM鈥檚 racist ideology, Schoep was not overtly racist to their minority neighbors or Joanna鈥檚 nonwhite friends, she said. He was instead mostly a raging anti-Semite, who 鈥渂lames the Jews for everything.鈥� But the true purpose of Schoep鈥檚 involvement in neo-Nazism, she said, is 鈥渢o boost his ego, gain a Jim Jones type of following and make some money.鈥�

The NSM tries to start a white ethnostate

In August 2013,听Hatewatch听补苍诲听The Bismarck Tribune听reported that the then-61-year-old neo-Nazi Paul Craig Cobb had donated several properties to NSM in the small town of Leith, North Dakota. Cobb, as he had advertised on numerous neo-Nazi forums, sought to transform the town, with a population of 19, into an all-white haven. 鈥淚 would like to see it prosper and move forward,鈥� Schoep told听The New York Times听. 鈥淧eople should move there and get the process going. It gives us a base of support for elections and things like that.鈥�

The situation in Leith escalated not long thereafter, when Schoep and other NSM members visited the town in late September 2013. The group of neo-Nazis were met with hundreds of counterprotesters. Schoep and a dozen or so NSM members planted Nazi flags on Cobb鈥檚 properties, as Hatewatch听reported听at the time.

Cobb鈥檚 vision of a 鈥淧ioneer Little Europe鈥� didn鈥檛 last long. On Jan. 15, 2014, the听Grand Forks Herald听听as a show of support for Cobb, who, along with white supremacist Kynan Dutton, was on trial for allegedly terrorizing the residents of Leith. The two faced several felony charges. These were, in part, leveled as a result of a mid-November 2013 鈥渟afety patrol鈥� around Leith. During their 鈥減atrol,鈥� Dutton and Cobb reportedly marched around town with rifles while hurling insults and threatening residents.

颁辞产产听pleaded guilty听to one count of felony terrorizing and five counts of misdemeanor menacing on Feb. 27, 2014.

NSM capitalizes on the Trump era

NSM, like many other neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups, capitalized on the Trump campaign鈥檚 momentum and growing media interest in the movement, beginning in mid-2015.

In April 2016, NSM joined a hodgepodge of white nationalist, racist skinhead, and Klan groups to form a new coalition known as the Aryan Nationalist Alliance (ANA), after a rally in Rome, Georgia. Schoep originally piloted the coalition, though he received aid from Aryan Strikeforce鈥檚 Josh Steever and Steve 鈥淏owers鈥� Natasi, of New Jersey and Pennsylvania respectively. Some within the ANA would later rebrand themselves as the National Front (NF), following on the heels of Schoep鈥檚 own efforts to rework the NSM鈥檚 image in the wake of Trump鈥檚 electoral win in November 2016.

In late 2016, NSM replaced its longtime swastika logo with the othala rune. The move, Schoep told听The New York Times听in Dec. 10, 2016, article, was 鈥渁n attempt to become more integrated and more mainstream.鈥�

In late April 2017, the National Front 鈥� along with Matthew Heimbach鈥檚 group the Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) and NSM 鈥� made its way to Pikeville, Kentucky, for the 鈥淭ake A Stand for White Working Families鈥� rally, which was set to be held on April 29. As It鈥檚 Going Down reported on Mar. 27, 2017, the April 29 rally was meant to be part of a two-day event, including a conference the day prior. Though plans to hold the conference at the nearby Jenny Wiley State Park fell through,听The听Guardian听reported that Schoep told a gathering of neo-Nazis and white nationalists on private land the night before the rally in downtown Pikeville that 鈥渢hey were 鈥榳arriors for your people.鈥欌�� The rally was, for all intents and purposes, a failure. The event, which was supposedly in support of white working-class families in Appalachia, received significant pushback. Even though NSM and other NF groups joining it had counted on the fact that the surrounding county had gone for Trump in 2016, they did not receive the warm welcome they anticipated.

In the months to come, the NF鈥檚 dreams of building a robust 鈥渂oots-and-suits鈥� coalition were slowly stamped out. A new opportunity for unifying the extreme, racist right presented itself in Charlottesville, Virginia. In late July, Schoep announced that NSM would join Richard Spencer, Jason Kessler and others at the Aug. 12 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally. (Though Schoep was not listed as one of the rally鈥檚 speakers, two NF members, namely Matthew Heimbach and the League of the South鈥檚 Michael Hill, were advertised as ones.)

Prosecutors during the Sines v. Kessler civil trial, brought by Integrity First for America, shed further light on Schoep鈥檚 contact with other 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� organizers. During the Sines v. Kessler civil trial, which took place between late October and November of 2021, prosecutors presented evidence showing that Schoep first contacted the rally鈥檚 main organizer, Jason Kessler, over text message on June 25, 2017. Kessler subsequently invited Schoep to the event鈥檚 planning chatroom on the messaging app Discord on July 26, 2017, according to from Integrity First for America.

鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to finally see everyone working together,鈥� Schoep wrote in an email response to Kessler鈥檚 Discord invite. He continued, encouraging Kessler to see what the NSM had done in Pikeville.

鈥淚 would like you to see what we bring to the table besides experience and men who are battle tested in the streets,鈥� Schoep wrote in the same email.

Immediately after the rallies on Aug. 11 and 12, Schoep tweeted: 鈥淚t was an Honor to stand with U all in C鈥橵ille this weekend. NSM, NF, TWP, LOS, VA, ECK, CHS, and the rest, true warriors!鈥�

Though Schoep has continued to deny any wrongdoing on the part of NSM, court documents described him as working his way through McIntire Park, 鈥渁ttacking protesters along the way.鈥�

鈥淚 was offered a ride to safety and declined to leave until the women and others were safe, so we just marched back through antifa. 鈥� We went right through [antifa] like warriors,鈥� he is quoted as saying.

Likewise, in a tweet sent on Aug. 13, 2017, which the prosecution presented during their cross-examination of Schoep in Sines v. Kessler, he wrote: 鈥淪elf-defense is beautiful, I knocked out an antifa scumbag who attacked us in Charlottesville. Laid him out in the street #JeffSchoep.鈥�

In an article published the day after 鈥淯nite the Right,鈥� Schoep described Charlottesville as a success. He portrayed anti-racist activist Heather Heyer鈥檚 murder at the hand of white supremacist James Fields as a stain on the overall success of the event. Charlottesville was,听, 鈥渢he largest [rally] he had ever seen.鈥�

鈥淯sually our rallies are peaking between 100, 200 at most. Seeing this many people was 鈥� it鈥檚 the start of something big, I think,鈥� he told听Guardian听reporters.

In October 2017, Integrity First for America (IFA) filed their Sines v. Kessler lawsuit against Schoep, NSM, and other 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� organizers. The Nationalist Front dissolved entirely the following year.听

After the National Socialist Movement

Ongoing legal struggles left Schoep, not to mention the NSM, in desperate financial straits. On March 1, 2019, Schoep informed NSM members in a press release that he intended to step down as Commander, passing the torch onto longtime member Burt Colucci.

As听Hatewatch first reported听on Feb. 15, 2019, Schoep鈥檚 departure from the group came a mere few weeks after he turned over control of the group to black civil rights advocate from California, James Hart Stern. According to听, Stern began convincing Schoep to sign over NSM to him in late 2018, in part because of Schoep鈥檚 ongoing legal issues surrounding Charlottesville. Incorporation papers filed in Michigan and as legal documents related to Integrity First for America鈥檚 Charlottesville lawsuit listed Stern as the 鈥淧resident/Director鈥� of NSM as early as mid-January 2019.

In the press release announcing his departure from NSM, Schoep accused of Stern 鈥渂ad faith actions鈥� and claimed that he had 鈥渇raudulently manipulated me for the purposes of gaining control of, and dissolving NSM.鈥�

Schoep reemerged on Aug. 12, 2019, to announce he had decided to renounce his lifelong neo-Nazi views. In a statement published on his new personal website, he proclaimed: 鈥淚 realized many of the principles I had once held so dearly and sacrificed so much for were wrong. 鈥� It is now my mission to be a positive, peaceful influence of change and understanding for all humanity in these uncertain times.鈥�

But this 鈥渕ission鈥� did not include immediately cooperating with the ongoing Charlottesville lawsuit.

Instead,听as Hatewatch reported听on Sept. 11, 2019, Schoep and his attorney, Edward ReBrook, consistently attempted to 鈥渄elay the plaintiffs from receiving information.鈥�

Since departing NSM and announcing his alleged departure from the movement, Schoep rebranded himself as a self-described 鈥減eace advocate.鈥�

For months, however, little changed about Schoep鈥檚 cooperation with the plaintiffs in听Sines v. Kessler. Though Schoep told Hatewatch in an email that he had already surrendered his computer and cellphone to the plaintiffs, court documents through March 2020 indicate otherwise. In one motion to compel discovery, filed on Mar. 27, 2020, IFA鈥檚 attorneys describe Schoep鈥檚 鈥渃onduct in this litigation鈥� as demonstrating 鈥渁 pattern of resistance, recalcitrance, and outright defiance of Court orders and . . . [his] discovery obligations.鈥� When Schoep finally did provide something to the plaintiffs in IFA鈥檚 case, the same filing describes him as doing 鈥渢he minimum possible to attempt to avoid sanctions.鈥� Among some of Schoep鈥檚 arguments in defense of his lack of participation with the plaintiffs included a statement claiming he had dropped his phone, which he had used to communicate during 鈥淯nite the Right,鈥� in a toilet.

Another motion to compel discovery from NSM in听Sines v. Kessler, filed on Mar. 11, 2020, notes that Schoep and his girlfriend 鈥渉ave continued to participate in NSM鈥檚 activities, even as Schoep claims to have left the white-supremacist movement.鈥� On Oct. 13, 2019, the deposition states, Schoep 鈥渨arned鈥� current NSM Commander Burt Colucci that one of the callers on his podcast was an informant with the federal government. Furthermore, Schoep鈥檚 girlfriend, who has claimed in March 2020 that 鈥渁lmost a year has passed since I left the far-right,鈥� is said to have 鈥溾�榠nformally鈥� remained a member of NSM and manages NSM鈥檚 website.鈥� Colucci, for instance, requested she update the NSM site 鈥渁s recently as December 2, 2019,鈥� the deposition notes.

On March 29, 2020, Schoep appeared on a podcast put out by the Clarion Project, which the 蜜桃传媒 has in the past listed as an anti-Muslim hate group, to discuss his 鈥渄eradicalization鈥� process.

On Nov. 23, 2021, a federal court in Virginia the National Socialist Movement and its former leader, Jeff Schoep, liable on charges of civil conspiracy theory in the Sines v. Kessler case against the organizers of the 2017 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally. The jury allotted Schoep $500,000 in punitive damages and another $1,000,000 to NSM, now under the leadership of Burt Colucci.