Defunct neo-Nazi and white nationalist American political party
The
Traditionalist Worker Party
(
TWP
) was a
neo-Nazi
political party active in the United States between 2013 and 2018, affiliated with the broader "
alt-right
" movement that became active within the U.S. during the 2010s. It was considered a
hate group
by the
Southern Poverty Law Center
's
list
.
[4]
Established by
Matthew Heimbach
under the name
Traditionalist Youth Network
(
TYN
), the group promoted white separatism and a
white supremacist
view of
Christianity
. As a member of the neo-Nazi
Nationalist Front
, the TWP held a number of protests and other local events. In 2015, the Traditionalist Workers Party changed into a political party so as to run in elections for local office. In April 2018,
The Washington Post
reported that the TWP had been disbanded the previous month after group leader Matthew Heimbach's arrest for battery.
[2]
In July 2021, Heimbach announced his intention to reform the party along
National Bolshevik
lines.
[5]
History
[
edit
]
Traditionalist Youth Network
[
edit
]
Flag of the Traditionalist Youth Network
The Traditionalist Youth Network was established in May 2013 by
Matthew Heimbach
and Matt Parrott.
[6]
Heimbach has been a white supremacist activist since fall 2011, when he formed a group at
Towson University
in
Maryland
and invited the white supremacist
Jared Taylor
to speak at Towson's campus. The following year, Heimbach founded a "
White Student Union
" on campus, adopting racist and
antisemitic
views.
[6]
In spring 2013, upon graduation, Heimbach established the Traditionalist Youth Network in partnership with Parrot, who founded a white supremacist group, Hoosier Nation, in
Indiana
around 2009.
[6]
The group eventually became a chapter of
American Third Position
(later known as the
American Freedom Party
).
[6]
Traditionalist Worker Party
[
edit
]
The
Southern Poverty Law Center
(SPLC), which tracks
extremist
groups, has
designated
the Traditionalist Worker Party as a
hate group
and has written of Heimbach: "Considered by many to be the face of a new generation of white nationalists... Since graduating in the spring of 2013, he has entrenched himself further in the white nationalist movement and become a regular speaker on the radical-right lecture circuit."
[7]
In January 2015 the TYN established the Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) as its
political-party
offshoot in preparation for the 2016 elections, and a small group of candidates from the
far right
announced plans to run under its banner.
[8]
The party states that it stands against "economic exploitation, federal tyranny, and anti-Christian degeneracy".
[8]
The group's strategy differs from that of the
American Freedom Party
(AFP), a different fringe group: while the AFP "has long run presidential candidates with no hope of success" in order to "exploit the election cycle as a way to raise money and generate publicity for their racist positions, TWP actually hopes to win by running for local offices in small communities."
[8]
One element that separated the Traditionalist Worker Party from many other far-right organizations was its anti-capitalist positions "denouncing corporate interests and environmental degradation, endorsing worker unions and [supporting] nationalization of key industries."
[9]
Heimbach and other Traditionalist Worker Party leaders publicly supported organizations and such as the
Nation of Islam
,
Hezbollah
, and the governments of
Bashar al-Assad
,
North Korea
, the Russian Federation, and China, stating that "Our policy is, if you're a group that's dedicated to a political revolution through peaceful, legal and honorable means, then you're someone we can work with...They want independence for their communities; they want
self-determination
. [That's something] all nationalists can stand by."
[10]
The Traditionalist Worker Party endorsed the creation of a "Traditionalist International" so that nationalist organizations, under Russian leadership, could work to advance their far-right, separatist, and often
homophobic
and
anti-semitic
beliefs in global politics.
[11]
The organization focused its attention on developing chapters in impoverished areas through charity events, following the model by the Greek fascist party
Golden Dawn
, and putting forward a message that "these are people that the establishment doesn't care about" and working to provide a political voice for.
[12]
[13]
Nationalist Front
[
edit
]
On April 22, 2016, the Traditionalist Worker Party formed a coalition with several other organizations called the Aryan Nationalist Alliance. The Aryan Nationalist Alliance later changed its name to
Nationalist Front
.
[14]
Its aim was to unite white supremacist,
neo-Confederate
, and white nationalist groups under a common umbrella. The coalition was joined by the neo-Nazi
National Socialist Movement
(NSM), neo-confederate
League of the South
, the neo-Nazi
Vanguard America
, and four other groups.
[15]
[16]
In April 2017, the group organized the white supremacist rally in
Pikeville, Kentucky
which attracted 125 to 150 supporters.
[17]
In August 2017, the affiliated groups participated in the
Unite the Right rally
in
Charlottesville, Virginia
.
[18]
In October 2017, the Nationalist Front was a key organizer of the "White Lives Matter" rally in
Shelbyville
and
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
. Participating groups included: NSM, TWP, League of the South, Vanguard America,
The Right Stuff
, and
Anti-Communist Action
.
[19]
[20]
Internal conflict and disbandment
[
edit
]
On March 13, 2018, Heimbach was arrested in
Paoli, Indiana
, on charges of
domestic battery
arising from a domestic dispute. Following this, Parrott shut down the TWP's websites and said he planned to delete membership data, citing privacy concerns. According to Parrott, the TWP no longer existed, as the incident had destroyed the group's credibility.
[21]
[22]
[23]
Days later, however, Parrott filed a
sworn declaration
in court (in an ongoing federal civil lawsuit over the
Unite the Right rally
in 2017), stating that he had not deleted or destroyed the membership information, as it was relevant to the ongoing litigation.
[24]
On April 5, 2018, the left-wing media collective
Unicorn Riot
released hundreds of thousands of messages on TWP's Discord server and associated ones such as "Silver Guild" and "Not Tradworker" as part of a series on alt-right and neo-Nazi organizations. The messages on TWP's Discord server revealed that the group promoted and praised
Dylann Roof
, the perpetrator of the
Charleston church shooting
at
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church
in
Charleston, South Carolina
as well as
James Alex Fields
, the man behind the
Charlottesville car attack
during the violent
Unite the Right rally
in
Charlottesville, Virginia
. The group also praised Jacob Scott Goodwin, a member of the group that was involved in the
beating of DeAndre Harris
in the parking lot during that rally. Additionally, there was a conflict within TWP over one of its members, Colton Williams, taking issue with another member having a non-white spouse. These conversations also included the group's ties to
Atomwaffen Division
, a violent neo-Nazi terrorist network linked to 5 murders such as
the death of Blaze Bernstein
of which Mark "Illegal Aryan" Daniel Reardon and Vasilios "VasilistheGreek" Pistolis were members of both organizations. Despite his group having been involved in violent incidents as well, Heimbach expressed concern over Atomwaffen's level of extremism and influence and eventually denounced it.
[25]
Ideology
[
edit
]
Alternative flag of the Traditionalist Worker Party
Heimbach and his group advocated
white separatism
, and the group also adhered to a
white nationalist
and
white supremacist
ideology
.
[6]
[26]
[27]
Heimbach and Parrott are "self-declared
ethnonationalists
"
[28]
who aim to create a separate
white ethnostate
.
[29]
Specifically, the group promoted a
white supremacist interpretation of Christianity
,
[6]
recruiting members to battle what it terms "anti-Christian degeneracy."
[30]
The group advocated the prohibition of
abortion
, restrictions on
immigration
, and the carrying out of what Heimbach calls "peaceful secessionist projects."
[29]
In media reports, Heimbach has been called an "
alt-right
personality".
[31]
The SPLC describes the group's ideology as being "virulently
racist
and
anti-Semitic
."
[8]
The SPLC and the
Anti-Defamation League
both note that the group is modeled after the European
Identitarian movement
.
[8]
[6]
The TWP proclaims itself to be "against
modernism
,
individualism
,
globalism
and
Marxism
."
[6]
The group identifies itself as an
anti-capitalist
organization and it connects this position to its advocacy of
nationalism
by stating "For us, to be anti-capitalist is to be a nationalist.
Nationalism
is a bulwark against
capitalist exploitation
and
globalism
."
[29]
The Traditionalist Worker Party rejected
multiracial societies
and the concept of
civic nationalism
, instead, it believed that "The ethnic community is the definition of a true nation. Shared blood, history, and traditions are what make a people and bind us together as an extended family."
[32]
The rejection of multiculturalism as organizational policy is a continuation of the group's virulent
white separatist
beliefs.
In 2016, Heimbach hailed the
British vote to leave the European Union
as "the greatest European nationalist victory since 1933," the
year of the Nazi rise to power
in Germany.
[30]
In 2016, the TWP and the
Barnes Review
, a
Holocaust denial
publication, announced a partnership to promote each other.
[28]
Organization and activities
[
edit
]
Traditionalist Youth Networks's only active university chapter is at the
Indiana University Bloomington
; this group is led by a white-supremacist activist Thomas Buhls, who has been affiliated with the
Harrison, Arkansas
-based Knights Party, a
Ku Klux Klan
group.
[6]
In December 2016, the group's founder Heimbach claimed that it had some three dozen active chapters and 500 members across the United States; analysts at the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League state that these numbers are likely exaggerated.
[29]
The SPLC's 2017 annual report identifies the TWP as having chapters in
Paoli
and
Bloomington, Indiana
;
Benson, North Carolina
, and
Wisconsin
, and the affiliated Traditionalist Worker Party as having chapters in Paoli and
Columbus, Indiana
;
Sacramento, California
;
Louisville
,
Madisonville
, and
Murray, Kentucky
;
Kansas
;
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
;
Dallas, Texas
; and Virginia.
[33]
In August 2013, the group protested a leftist bookstore in
Bloomington, Indiana
; in October 2013, the group held rallies protesting campus speeches by anti-racist educator
Tim Wise
.
[6]
In September 2013, the group, as Traditionalist Youth Network, held an event in
Corunna, Michigan
, in support of
Syrian president
Bashar al-Assad
's government.
[34]
The group initially planned a "Koran BBQ" that would feature the
burning
of copies of the
Qur'an
and pictures of
Muhammad
, to show "Islamic immigrants and citizens alike that they are not welcome here in Michigan"; however, this was changed to a pro-Assad protest after the U.S. government announced its plans to support
Syrian rebels
.
[34]
Heimbach told
MLive
that he did not regret the group's original plan, and that the group supported Islam "when it's in its own home in the Middle East."
[34]
In 2014, the group filed an
amicus brief
in a
federal court
in Michigan in the case of
DeBoer v. Snyder
. In its brief, the group took a stance against
same-sex marriage
, which Parrott described as part of "the Leftists [sic] social engineering campaign to destroy every last vestige of Western civilization."
[35]
Later the same year, the group filed a second amicus brief in a case in Maryland challenging a
law prohibiting assault weapons
; in a four-page filing, the TYN stated that it opposed "the enemy of freedom?the Culture Distorter?in its sights and wishes to shoot down unconstitutional legislation that disarms our people".
[36]
In July 2015, the group called for the filing of hate-crime charges in connection with the beating of a white man in
Fountain Square, Cincinnati
. The local prosecutor,
Hamilton County
Prosecutor
Joe Deters
, stated that there was no evidence of ethnic intimidation in the crime.
[37]
At a March 2016,
Donald Trump
rally at the
Kentucky International Convention Center
in
Louisville
,
[38]
Heimbach was filmed shoving a black woman who was protesting Trump.
[26]
Heimbach and two other men were initially charged with misdemeanor harassment with physical contact and were served with a criminal summons in April 2017.
[39]
The charge was later amended to second-degree
disorderly conduct
; in June 2017, Heimbach entered an
Alford
plea
, a form of guilty plea.
[39]
Heimbach was fined $145, was ordered to attend anger management classes, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail; the jail sentence was
suspended
on the condition that Heimbach not commit another crime within two years.
[39]
[40]
In 2018, after Heimbach was charged with misdemeanor battery and felony domestic battery in Indiana in a separate case, Heimbach's probation in the Kentucky case was revoked and he was sent to jail for 38 days.
[41]
In a separate civil case, Heimbach is being sued in federal court for
assault
and
battery
by the woman he accosted at the March 2016 rally, Kashiya Nwanguma, and two of her fellow protesters, Henry Brousseau and Molly Shah, who allege that they were also the victims of violence at the rally. Also named as defendants are Alvin Bamberger (who is accused of assault and battery) and Donald Trump and Trump's campaign (who are accused of incitement to riot, negligence, and
vicarious liability
).
[42]
In the case, Heimbach, who is representing himself, said that he "relied on Trump's authority" in order to oust the woman from the rally, citing Trump's directive to "Get 'em out of here" and promise to "pay for the legal fees" of supporters who expelled dissidents from rallies.
[38]
On this basis, Heimbach has filed court papers seeking
indemnity
from Trump.
[43]
In November 2017, the group created an online
crowdfunding
platform called "GoyFundMe" for racists, white supremacists, and other extremists with the objective of advancing their causes.
[44]
The name is a
play
on the name of the
GoFundMe
crowdfunding platform, founded in 2010, and the word
goy
.
Twitter
suspended the account of Matt Heimbach on January 3, 2017.
[45]
The account for the group itself was suspended from Twitter on December 18, 2017.
[46]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Staff
"When the big tent collapses: private Discord posts offer an honest look at a perpetually dishonest movement"
Southern Poverty Law Center
- ^
a
b
McCoy Terrence (April 20, 2018)
"'Imploding': Financial troubles. Lawsuits. Trailer park brawls. Has the alt-right peaked?"
The Washington Post
- ^
McAllister, Shay (March 13, 2018).
"Indiana white nationalist leader arrested on assault charges"
.
WHAS-TV
. Retrieved
March 14,
2018
.
- ^
Beirich, Heidi (Spring 2019).
The Year in Hate and Extremism: Rage Against Change
(PDF)
.
Intelligence Report
(Report).
Montgomery, Alabama
:
Southern Poverty Law Center
.
OCLC
796223066
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on October 28, 2020.
- ^
Greenblatt, Mark; Knapp, Lauren (July 20, 2021).
"Extremist Heimbach To Relaunch Hate Group, Says He Supports Violence"
.
Newsy
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
Traditionalist Youth Network
,
Anti-Defamation League
(February 7, 2014).
- ^
"Matthew Heimbach"
. Southern Poverty Law Center
. Retrieved
March 21,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Keegan Hankes,
Meet the New Wave of Extremists Gearing Up for the 2016 Elections
, Southern Poverty Law Center (October 19, 2015).
- ^
"Is there a neo-Nazi storm brewing in Trump country?"
.
TheGuardian.com
. June 4, 2017.
- ^
"I had lunch with a right-wing white nationalist group. Here's what I learned"
.
Los Angeles Times
. July 24, 2016.
- ^
Feuer, Alan; Higgins, Andrew (December 3, 2016).
"Extremists Turn to a Leader to Protect Western Values: Vladimir Putin"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
"Golden Dawn food rally raises tensions in Athens"
.
TheGuardian.com
. May 2013.
- ^
Fausset, Richard (November 25, 2017).
"A Voice of Hate in America's Heartland"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Viets, Sarah.
"Nationalist Front Chumming up to Klan Members Once Again"
.
Southern Poverty Law Center
.
- ^
"Nationalist Front Limps in 2016"
,
Intelligence Report
,
Southern Poverty Law Center
, August 8, 2017
- ^
Natalie Allison (October 25, 2017):
"4 extremist groups that will be part of weekend's White Lives Matter rallies"
,
USA Today
- ^
"White Supremacist Nationalist Front Plans Rallies in Tennessee"
,
Anti-Defamation League
blog, October 24, 2017
- ^
Jack Smith IV (October 11, 2017):
"White nationalist alliance plans "White Lives Matter" rally for Tennessee"
,
Mic.com
- ^
Mariah Timms and Natalie Allison (October 27, 2017):
"White Lives Matter Murfreesboro rally: What we know now"
,
The Tennessean
- ^
"The far right returns to middle Tennessee"
,
Hatewatch
- ^
Weill, Kelly (March 14, 2018).
"Neo-Nazi Group Implodes Over Love Triangle Turned Trailer Brawl"
.
The Daily Beast
. Retrieved
March 14,
2018
.
- ^
Barrouquere, Brett; Janik, Rachel (March 13, 2018).
"TWP chief Matthew Heimbach arrested for battery after affair with top spokesman's wife"
.
Hatewatch
. Southern Poverty Law Center
. Retrieved
March 14,
2018
.
- ^
Fischer, Jordan (March 13, 2018).
"Indiana white nationalist leader Matthew Heimbach charged with domestic battery"
.
RTV6
. ABC News
. Retrieved
March 14,
2018
.
- ^
Barrouquere, Brett (March 27, 2018).
"Lawyer: Traditionalist Worker Party membership roll still exists, despite Matt Parrott's vow to destroy database"
.
Hatewatch
. Southern Poverty Law Center.
- ^
"Visions of Chaos: Weighing the Violent Legacy of Iron March"
.
Southern Poverty Law Center
.
- ^
a
b
Joe Heim,
This white nationalist who shoved a Trump protester may be the next David Duke
,
Washington Post
(April 12, 2016).
- ^
Clashes at white-supremacist rally in Sacramento leave 10 injured
, BBC News (June 27, 2016).
- ^
a
b
Sarah Viets & Ryan Lenz,
Matt Heimbach's Traditionalist Youth Network is Cutting Deals with Holocaust Deniers
,
Hatewatch
, Southern Poverty Law Center (July 11, 2016).
- ^
a
b
c
d
Bavis, Lauren (December 4, 2016).
"White nationalist group seeks to form separate community in Paoli"
.
The Hoosier Times
. The Herald-Times. Archived from
the original
on August 15, 2019
. Retrieved
August 15,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Jon Schuppe,
'Garrulous and Polite': The White Nationalist Behind Violent California Rally
, NBC News (June 27, 2016).
- ^
"City plans alternate events, urges ignoring Klan rally"
.
Daily Progress
. June 20, 2017.
- ^
"A tale of two movements: Run the Jewels 1, Traditionalist Worker Party 0"
. October 18, 2017.
- ^
Sarah Begley,
Read the List of the 917 Hate Groups Identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center
,
Time
(February 15, 2017).
- ^
a
b
c
Gary Ridley (September 10, 2013).
"Group with alleged ties to white supremacist movement plans Syria protest in Corunna"
.
MLive
.
- ^
Ryan Lenz,
Traditionalist Youth Network Takes on 'Culture Distorters' in Marriage Equality Debate
, Southern Poverty Law Center (March 26, 2014).
- ^
Hatewatch Staff,
Traditionalist Youth Network Files Another Amicus Brief
, Southern Poverty Law Center (October 8, 2014).
- ^
Michael Baldwin (July 15, 2015).
"Do "White lives matter?" Group calls for hate crime charges"
.
WXIX-TV
.
- ^
a
b
Nicole Hensley,
Matthew Heimbach claims he acted on Trump's 'get 'em out of here' order to remove protester at Louisville rally
,
New York Daily News
(April 18, 2017).
- ^
a
b
c
Thomas Novelly & Matthew Glowicki,
White nationalist pleads guilty to disorderly conduct at Trump rally in Louisville
,
Courier Journal
(July 19, 2017).
- ^
White nationalist leader pleads guilty in Trump rally case
,
Associated Press
(July 20, 2017).
- ^
Jason Riley,
White nationalist who harassed woman at Trump rally ordered to serve 38 days in jail
, WDRB (May 15, 2018).
- ^
Avi Selk,
The violent rally Trump can't move past
,
Washington Post
(April 3, 2017).
- ^
David Zucchino,
A Trump Campaign Rally Led to Shoving, and Legal Wrangling, Too
,
New York Times
(May 27, 2017).
- ^
Sommer, Allison Kaplan (December 1, 2017).
"What Is GoyFundMe? The Alt-right's New Fundraising Tool, Explained"
.
Haaretz
. Retrieved
December 2,
2017
.
- ^
Ohlheiser, Abby (January 3, 2017).
"Just a 'speed bump': White nationalist says a Twitter ban won't stop the spread of his views"
.
Washington Post
.
- ^
Michel, Casey (December 18, 2017).
"Here are all of the white nationalists suspended in Twitter's 'purge'
"
.
ThinkProgress
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Foundations and
related topics
| |
---|
Organizations
| Europe
| |
---|
North America
| |
---|
Oceania
| |
---|
South Africa
| |
---|
|
---|
Media
| Music
| |
---|
Print media
| |
---|
Radio shows
| |
---|
Websites
| |
---|
|
---|
Opposition
| |
---|
|
|
---|
Groups
| Extant
| Germany
and Austria
| |
---|
Europe
| |
---|
International
| |
---|
|
---|
Defunct
| Germany
and Austria
| |
---|
Europe
| |
---|
International
| |
---|
|
---|
|
---|
People
| |
---|
|