SPLC Intelligence Report: Three Radical-Right Propagandists Exposed

Three radical-right propagandists who spread extremist messages through racist cartoons, Internet videos and even tours glorifying Nazi landmarks are exposed in the latest issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, released today.

Also featured in the Fall 2013 issue of the SPLC’s quarterly investigative journal are the stories of two former racist activists who have rejected white nationalist propaganda and left the movement.

“Propagandists for the radical right are becoming more creative and more devious, too, as they work to get their message out to a wider audience,” said Mark Potok, senior fellow at the SPLC and editor of the Intelligence Report. “Their use of humor and other non-threatening approaches is proving to be a surprisingly effective recruitment tool.”

In this issue:

• “The Smiling Nationalist” profiles Paul Ray Ramsey, a 50-year-old father of two from suburban Tulsa, Okla., who has delighted racists as “Ramzpaul,” a smirking video blogger. His flippant videos, which have racked up nearly 5 million views, promote racial separatism with a smile and have become a weekly staple on white supremacist websites.

• “Following the White Rabbit” examines Timothy Gallaher Murdock, a formerly anonymous figure who calls himself Horus the Avenger and has operated White Rabbit Radio, an online community of racists. Murdock, 43, has become a key propagandist of the racist right, even attracting the attention of Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik. The Dearborn Heights, Mich., resident’s message is also being spread through professional cartoons featuring characters that represent white people and their purported enemies.

• “Touring the Third Reich” examines Sharkhunters International, a tour group focused on Nazi history from the Nazi point of view. The Hernando, Fla., group, which offers tours of Nazi-era sites across the globe, has ties to prominent neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers, and advertises its tours in pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic publications. Its founder serves as an editorial adviser to a Holocaust-denial journal and has dined with neo-Nazi and former Klan boss David Duke. The group, which offers a membership program for travelers, claims 7,700 members in 76 countries.

Another feature, “Leaving White Nationalism,” examines the stories of two activists who have left the movement: Derek Black, the 24-year-old son of a prominent former Klan leader who founded and still heads the largest racist Web forum in the world; and Corinna Burt, a 34-year-old mother of two, bodybuilder and former adult film star who was involved with a neo-Nazi group.

Black now calls white nationalism “principally flawed” and “an entrenched desire to preserve white power at the expense of others.” Burt says she realized “that this entire movement is a huge waste of life” that leads to “ruined families, destroyed careers and often a loss of personal freedom.”

“Despite the constant churn of extremist propaganda, there is a steady trickle of disillusioned former racist activists leaving the white nationalist movement,” Potok said. “Even some of the most prominent members of the movement can sometimes find an exit.”