Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

NEO-NAZIS • 483(NSM88), founded by Ameican Nazi Party veterans Robert Brannenand Cliff Herrington in 1974, is the largest active neo-Nazi organizationin the United States. After Brannen suffered a stroke in 1983,leadership of the NSM88 passed to Herrington, and then in 1994Herrington appointed Jeff Schoep, a much younger man, to be the“Commander” of the youth, apparently a move to attract youngermen into the group.The Order, also called the Bruder Schweigen, was a neo-Nazigroup that grew out of the Aryan Nations movement. On 27 February1996, a North Carolina jury convicted James N. Burmeister, a formerprivate and paratrooper in the U.S. Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division,for the murders of a black couple in December 1995. The trialrevealed that Burmeister and other enlisted men were members ofneo-Nazi and skinhead groups even while serving in the armed forces.An army investigation of racism in the ranks completed in March1995 revealed that out of 7,600 soldiers interviewed, fewer than 100belonged to white supremacist organizations; these soldiers werethen discharged from the armed services.Those groups that adhere to the Identity Christianity or WhiteSupremacy doctrines often share beliefs and attitudes virtuallyidentical to those of the neo-Nazis. Such groups have included theAryan Nations, the Christian-Patriots Defense League, The Covenant,the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA), and the WhitePatriot Army, all of which are now defunct, as well as the varioussplinter groups of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Very often membersof these organizations either have been members of neo-Nazi groups,continue to hold membership in such groups, or will join a neo-Nazigroup in preference to, or in addition to, membership in these otherorganizations.Neo-Nazi groups have tried to coordinate their moves with similargroups both within the United States and elsewhere. The Orderdonated many of the proceeds of its armored truck robberies to anumber of neo-Nazi groups and leaders in the United States. Germanneo-Nazi groups used to receive financial support and printedmaterials from American neo-Nazis, such as Gary Lauck. Neo-Nazishave also sought sponsorship from states and groups known to behostile to Israel. Manfred Roeder, formerly a leader of the neo-NaziDeutsche Aktionsgruppen, met once with Yasir Arafat’s deputy,Khalil al Wazir, and even tried to solicit aid from Iran, but without