Upcoming Neo-Nazi Rally Shows How Disparate Extreme-Right Groups Work Together

An upcoming neo-Nazi rally shows how interconnected some of the seemingly disparate groups on the extreme right truly are. 

For months now, two neo-Nazi groups, the Blood Tribe and the Goyim Defense League (GDL,) have been grabbing headlines across the United States. A midwest chapter of the Blood Tribe recently disrupted a Wisconsin Pride event where a group of Nazis, some of them armed, waved swastika flags and chanted hate slogans. Meanwhile, the GDL is primarily known for their trolly antisemitic stunts and a war they’re waging (and losing) against a Florida sheriff.  

While the two groups share a common goal, the creation of a white ethnostate, they couldn’t be any more different aesthetically.

The Blood Tribe embodies a traditional neo-Nazi look. Donned in black with red overshirts, ski masks, and chanting slogans like “there will be blood, blood, blood” they’re built for intimidation. GDL members are often found in ill-fitting Hawaiian shirts and cargo shirts with unkempt beards and are very online. The group's leaders likewise embody their aesthetic. The Blood Tribe has Christopher Pohlhaus, a Maine-based former marine who preaches toughness and physical fitness and recently purchased land to set up a camp for his neo-Nazis. Whereas the GDL has Jon Minadeo, a neo-Nazi far more likely to dress in drag than any sort of military garb whose entire modus operandi is 4chan-esque stunts like trolling Omegle to find children he can groom. 

The two leaders know each other—one even tattooed Nazi symbology on the other—and actively work together both in promoting each other and organizing events together. 

The two leaders have spent significant time together over the last several years filming videos and networking. They’re now working on perhaps their biggest project yet, an upcoming rally in Florida sometime during the coming months. The two groups are actively vetting members–they’re hoping for 100–to attend the rally and show massive on-the-ground support. 

Joshua Fisher-Birch, an analyst for the Counter Extremism Program, told VICE News that while both groups are different aesthetically at their heart they’re built around “conduct(ing) real-world events and try to create viral incidents on social media to spread their message further.” 

“This upcoming demonstration in Florida shows that they are focused on finding allies to participate in public demonstrations that seek to get media attention,” said Fisher Birch. “While it has been billed as a ‘unity’ event, it is among groups with a lot in common regarding prior events, tactics, and ideology.”

The two openly neo-Nazi leaders have raised over $3,000 on Give Send Go to fund neo-Nazi's trips and housing during the rally in Florida—Pohlhaus previously used the site to try and crowd fund a whites only community. The two have also been making the rounds on neo-Nazi podcasts and livestreams to promote the upcoming rally.  

“The upcoming joint demonstration is an opportunity for Blood Tribe and other participating groups to recruit, solicit donations, and sell merchandise,” said Fisher-Birch. “All these activities rely on either the cooperation, lack of action, or apathy of online fundraising websites, social media sites, and communications platforms that assist these activities.” 

It’s important to realize that most of these groups don’t pop up and sustain themselves out of nowhere, underneath the surface they share a common root system. 

The relationship between the Blood Tribe and the GDL is just one example of how truly incestuous the groups on the extreme right are. We can see other symbiotic relationships across the entire ecosystem. The Active Clubs (neo-Nazi groups built around fitness), Patriot Front, and White Lives Matter have held events together, publicly support one another, and certainly share members. Another prime example is The Base and Atomwaffen, two of the most militant groups in recent memory, which shared members, ideology, and tradecraft. 

However, as is often the case with far-right groups, in-fighting abounds. Within the Blood Tribe and the GDL, not everyone is a fan of the partnership. On August 1, Pohlhaus took to Telegram to push back on his followers who don’t like Minadeo and called the GDL leader a fed and the Florida rally a honey trap.  

“The dude's a good guy, I've met him multiple times and I've tattooed [Nazi] symbology on him. I have enough relationships with people directly in his life to be confident in the fact he is one of us,” said Pohlhaus. 

Regardless of their followers' distrust towards the other groups, the two are marching forward in lockstep. Pohlhaus and Minadeo recently did a livestream together where they hyped up their upcoming rally and made comments about beating up Jewish people.