Craig Cobb

{{Infobox person

| name = Craig Cobb

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| birth_name = Paul Craig Cobb

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|10|9}}

| birth_place = Maryville, Missouri, U.S.

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| citizenship = American, Canadian

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Owner of defunct Podblanc, activist

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Paul Craig Cobb (born 1951){{cite web |title=Craig Cobb |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/craig-cobb |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=11 August 2023}} is an American Canadian white supremacist and member of the Creativity movement. He is also the founder of the now-defunct video sharing website Podblanc.{{cite web |last=Kärmas |first=Mihkel |date=9 November 2006 |title=Rassism on minu religioon |trans-title=Racism is my religion |url=http://ekspress.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/rassism-on-minu-religioon.d?id=69083199 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729205625/http://ekspress.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/rassism-on-minu-religioon.d?id=69083199 |archive-date=29 July 2014 |access-date=March 28, 2010 |website=Eesti Ekspress |language=Estonian}}{{cite web |last=Cobb |first=Craig |date=24 March 2010 |title=Deprogram |url=http://podblanc.com/node/40799?page=0%2C1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208112059/http://podblanc.com/node/40799?page=0,1 |archive-date=8 December 2018 |access-date=March 29, 2010 |website=Podblanc}}{{cite web |date=11 August 2009 |title=Looky Who Wants To Come To Canada: Craig Cobb |url=http://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2009/08/looky-who-wants-to-come-to-canada-craig.html |access-date=March 28, 2010 |website=Anti-Racist Canada |via=www.blogspot.com}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=April 2024}}{{cite web |last=Lindstedt |first=Martin |date=21 April 2009 |title=The Christian Identity News Network vs. Corn Cobb's Podblanc |url=http://whitenationalist.org/forum/showthread.php?p=1473#post1473 |access-date=March 30, 2010 |website=vBulletin}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=April 2024}}

Cobb is known for his attempt to take over the city of Leith, North Dakota and turn it into a neo-Nazi stronghold. The community had only sixteen residents as of the 2010 census, which was the latest at the time. Cobb purchased at least twelve plots of land in Leith, with the goal of moving in other white supremacists and taking over the city government, despite heavy opposition from locals. Welcome to Leith, a documentary film about Cobb's attempt to take over Leith, was broadcast in 2015.

In October 2013, Cobb was featured as a guest on The Trisha Goddard Show, where he met with the lone black resident of Leith and his white wife. The couple said that their lives were being disrupted and that their experience in Leith since Cobb moved in was being ridden with "turmoil and deception". The episode featured Shahrazad Ali, who agreed with Cobb on the concept of racial separation.{{cite news |date=14 October 2013 |title=No Blacks Allowed In My All White Town Says Craig Cobb |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnIbhi_UY28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015201919/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnIbhi_UY28 |archive-date=15 October 2013 |access-date=20 October 2013 |work=The Trisha Goddard Show |via=www.youtube.com}} In a November 2013 interview, Goddard revealed the results of a DNA test, to which Cobb had agreed, indicating that he was genetically 14 percent Sub-Saharan African. Cobb dismissed the results as statistical noise.{{cite web |author=Boodman |first=Eric |date=16 August 2017 |title=White nationalists are flocking to genetic ancestry tests. Some don't like what they find |url=https://www.statnews.com/2017/08/16/white-nationalists-genetic-ancestry-test/ |access-date=17 April 2024 |work=STAT News}} However, Cobb retested himself with Ancestry DNA, which allegedly showed that he has 100% European ancestry.{{Cite web |last=Abel |first=Sarah |title=Statistical noise or genetic certainty? White supremacist identity claims and the ambiguous objectivities of genetic ancestry |url=https://www.politika.io/en/article/statistical-noise-genetic-certainty-white-supremacist-identity-claims-and-the-ambiguous |access-date=20 November 2022 |website=Politika |language=en}}

Youth and early adulthood

Cobb was born in Maryville, Missouri, US on October 9, 1951 and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, US. He says he was raised as a Christian, but has since denounced Christianity, saying "I don't understand Christians. They have a need to be morally superior than the next guy. ... They are very threatened by anything with racial cohesion."{{cite web|url=http://www.grandforksherald.com/content/leith-nd-residents-want-white-supremacist-out-he-says-he-staying|work=The Grand Forks Herald|date=August 23, 2013|title=Leith, N.D., residents want white supremacist out; he says he is staying|access-date=July 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812060041/http://www.grandforksherald.com/content/leith-nd-residents-want-white-supremacist-out-he-says-he-staying|archive-date=August 12, 2014|url-status=dead}}

After serving in the military, he lived in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for five years before moving to Hawaii, where he lived for another 25 years and earned a living as a taxi driver.{{cite news|url=http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/content/white-supremacist-cobb-attends-und-symposium-faces-hatred |title=White/African American supremacist Cobb attends UND symposium on 'Faces of Hatred' |agency= Forum News Service|work=The Bemedji Pioneer| location = Minnesota | date= October 8, 2013 |access-date=October 20, 2013 |archive-date= July 15, 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150715110457/http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/content/white-supremacist-cobb-attends-und-symposium-faces-hatred | url-status=live}}

In 2003, he relocated to Frost, West Virginia, where he opened a grocery store and registered a business called "Gray's Store, Aryan Autographs and 14 Words, L.L.C." During this time, he was involved in unsolicited inter-state deliveries of a neo-Nazi newspaper published by Alex Linder,{{clarify|date=August 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.oweb.com/state/story/1029202005_staWV--AryanMessenger-M0017.asp |last1=Owens |first1=Michael |last2=Foster |first2=J. Todd |title=Aryan Messenger Comes to "Wake up White People" |work=The News-Virginian |date=28 October 2005 |access-date=March 30, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and distribution of Project Schoolyard CDs to local children.{{cite web |date=29 October 2004 |title=Racist Group Distributes White Supremacy CDs in West Virginia, Weeklies Report |url=http://www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/IRJCI/blogOct2004.htm |access-date=March 28, 2010 |website=Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues |publisher=University of Kentucky}}

Moving abroad

In late 2005, after receiving an inheritance of $85,000, he moved to Tallinn, Estonia. In Tallinn, Cobb met with white power skinheads, and purchased land {{convert|30|mi|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} south of Tallinn where he hoped to establish an "International Office of White Diaspora".{{cite news |date=3 September 2009 |title=Американский националист искал в Таллинне жену |trans-title=American nationalist was looking for wife in Tallinn |url=http://rus.postimees.ee/?id=160037 |access-date=March 31, 2010 |work=Day by Day |publisher=Postimees.ru |language=ru}}{{cite web |date= |title=U.S. Neo-Nazi Operates in Estonia |url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=801 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120003315/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=801 |archive-date=January 20, 2010 |access-date=March 28, 2010 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center}} During this period, Cobb established Podblanc, a white supremacist video sharing website. His attempts to find an Estonian woman who would marry him were unsuccessful{{cite news |date=3 September 2009 |title=Одинокий расист желает познакомиться |trans-title=Lone racist wants to meet |url=http://rus.postimees.ee/?id=159583 |access-date=March 28, 2010 |work=Day by Day |publisher=Postimees.ru |language=ru}} and he came to public attention after conducting an interview with a former Estonian Ministry of Justice employee whom he introduced as the leader of the Estonian Neo-Nazis.{{cite news |date=7 November 2006 |title=Неонацист ищет сторонников в Балтии |trans-title=Neo-Nazi supporters looking in the Baltics |url=http://www.gorod.lv/novosti/40070-neonatsist_ischet_storonnikov_v_baltii |access-date=March 28, 2010 |work=Gorod.lv |language=ru}} On August 25, 2009, he was issued a ten-year ban from Estonia and deported to Canada, where Cobb claims to hold citizenship, for "endangering state security, public order, public safety, moral standards, health, other public interests"{{cite news |last=Turay |first=Abdul |date=14 August 2009 |title=Американского неонациста высылают из Эстонии |trans-title=American neo-Nazi deported from Estonia |url=http://rus.postimees.ee/?id=152797 |access-date=March 28, 2010 |work=Postimees.ru |language=ru}} and promoting racism.{{cite web |last=Turay |first=Abdul |date=11 August 2009 |title=Neo-Nazi Thrown Out |url=http://estoniatoday.blogspot.com/2009/07/about-this-website.html |access-date=March 28, 2010 |website=Estonia Today |via=www.blogspot.com}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=April 2024}}{{cite web |date=14 August 2009 |title=Estija išsiuntė amerikietį neonacį |trans-title=Estonia sent out an American neo-Nazi |url=http://www.lrytas.lt/-12502563921250078115-estija-i%C5%A1siunt%C4%97-amerikiet%C4%AF-neonac%C4%AF.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817224421/http://www.lrytas.lt/-12502563921250078115-estija-i%C5%A1siunt%C4%97-amerikiet%C4%AF-neonac%C4%AF.htm |archive-date=17 August 2009 |access-date=March 30, 2010 |website=Lrytas.lt |language=lt}}

During his period of incarceration before deportation, his supporters in the US made contact with Canadian neo-fascist Paul Fromm in order to prepare for Cobb's anticipated arrest under Canadian hate speech laws. In March 2010, after posting videos of anti-racist activists online, he was discovered to be living in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, British Columbia, where he also made an unsuccessful attempt to register a non-profit society called Whitepeace.{{cite news|url=http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/2013/09/23/protesters-decry-neo-nazi-plans-to-run-north-dakota-town |last=Thompson |first=Dave |title=White supremacists want to take over North Dakota town |work=Edmonton Examiner |agency=Reuters |date=September 23, 2013 |access-date=October 20, 2013 |quote=...Paul Craig Cobb, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen... |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923233802/http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/2013/09/23/protesters-decry-neo-nazi-plans-to-run-north-dakota-town |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Charlie |date=25 March 2010 |title=U.S. White Supremacist Videotapes Anti-Nazi Rally in New Westminster |url=https://www.straight.com/article-299482/vancouver/us-racist-videotapes-rally |access-date=March 28, 2010 |website=The Georgia Straight}}

Returning to the US

In June 2010, Cobb was arrested by police in Vancouver, but released with a summons{{cite web|url=https://vancouversun.com/news/RCMP+seek+white+supremacist+fails+appear+court/4073749/story.html |last=Bellett |first=Gerry |title=RCMP seek white supremacist who fails to appear in court |work=The Vancouver Sun |date=7 January 2011 |access-date=7 January 2011}} after which he left Canada to return to the United States. In 2010, Cobb was living in Kalispell, Montana, which was a recruiting target for several white nationalists. Cobb engaged in a feud with another local neo-Nazi, Karl Gharst, against whom he had filed a restraining order in October 2010.{{cite web |last=Testa |first=Dan |date=October 17, 2010 |title=Another Prominent White Nationalist Screens Film at Library |url=http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/another_prominent_white_nationalist_screens_film_at_library/20127 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006211306/http://flatheadbeacon.com/2010/10/17/another-prominent-white-nationalist-screens-film-at-library/ |archive-date=October 6, 2015 |access-date=October 20, 2013 |work=Flathead Beacon}} His activities were opposed by the local pro-tolerance group Love Lives Here.{{cite web |last=Headley |first=Jessica |date=October 14, 2010 |title=New Sect Of White Nationalists Promotes In Flathead Valley |url=http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/25397939/detail.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602015908/http://www.nbcmontana.com/New-Sect-Of-White-Nationalists-Promotes-In-Flathead-Valley/14308272 |archive-date=June 2, 2015 |access-date=November 8, 2010 |website=NBC Montana}}

At the end of December 2010, Canadian authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on the charge of "willful promotion of hatred" after a failure to appear".{{cite web |last=Wintonyk |first=Darcy |date=6 January 2011 |title=B.C. Mounties hunt white supremacist over website |url=https://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-mounties-hunt-white-supremacist-over-website-1.593252 |access-date=7 January 2011 |website=CTV News}} Cobb responded to the warrant by stating "You can find me in the orange easy chair near the elevator..." at the Flathead County Library in Kalispell.{{cite web |last=Wintonyk |first=Darcy |date=7 January 2011 |title=Wanted white supremacist taunts authorities |url=https://bc.ctvnews.ca/wanted-white-supremacist-taunts-authorities-1.593396 |access-date=7 January 2011 |website=CTV News}}

Leith, North Dakota

Cobb relocated to western North Dakota for its supply of high-paying jobs at oil fields and its high proportion of white residents. He claimed that he was fired from a job over disagreements with a co-worker, and that he lost a job with a Fargo paving company after there was media coverage of his settlement plans.{{cite news|author=Nicholson, Blake|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/30/north-dakota-white-power-music-festival/2737419/|title=Tiny N.D. town fights against white supremacist|agency=Associated Press|date=August 30, 2013|access-date=August 30, 2013|work=USA Today}} While Cobb was working in Watford City, North Dakota, he found on Craigslist that there were lots available for sale in Leith, North Dakota. As of December 2013, Cobb lived in Leith, where he tried to create a white supremacist community.{{cite news

|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/08/27/wanted-in-canada-b-c-white-supremacist-seeks-to-turn-north-dakota-town-into-a-neo-nazi-enclave/

|title=Wanted in Canada, B.C. white supremacist seeks to turn North Dakota town into a neo-Nazi enclave

|first=Jennifer

|last=Saltman

|agency=Postmedia News

|work=National Post

|date=August 27, 2013

|access-date=December 17, 2015

|archive-date=February 7, 2016

|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20160207010502/http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/wanted-in-canada-b-c-white-supremacist-seeks-to-turn-north-dakota-town-into-a-neo-nazi-enclave

|url-status=dead

}} By August 2013, he had purchased 13 plots of land in the town.{{cite news |last=Donovan |first=Lauren |date=August 22, 2013 |title=Mayor: 'Everybody's wound up' over plans for white supremacist takeover of N.D. town |url=http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/mayor-everybody-s-wound-up-over-plans-for-white-supremacist/article_76da4e36-0ab3-11e3-bc53-0019bb2963f4.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827023626/http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/mayor-everybody-s-wound-up-over-plans-for-white-supremacist/article_76da4e36-0ab3-11e3-bc53-0019bb2963f4.html |archive-date=August 27, 2013 |access-date=September 8, 2015 |work=The Bismarck Tribune}} Several other prominent white supremacists, including April Gaede and her husband, also own land in Leith.{{cite web |last=Eng |first=James |date=August 23, 2013 |title=White supremacist taking over North Dakota town? |url=http://news.msn.com/us/white-supremacist-taking-over-north-dakota-town |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061220/http://news.msn.com/us/white-supremacist-taking-over-north-dakota-town |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |access-date=17 April 2024 |website=MSN News}} He has transferred ownership of two plots to fellow white supremacists Alex Linder and Tom Metzger. Another white supremacist, Jeff Schoep, visited Leith in late September 2013 in order to support Cobb, and he brought several fellow members of the National Socialist Movement with him.{{cite web |date=September 7, 2013 |title=Leader of supremacist group plans visit to Leith |url=http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/article/id/71844/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130909014632/http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/article/id/71844/ |archive-date=September 9, 2013 |work=The Dickinson Press}}

Several former members of Anti-Racist Action formed a peaceful, grassroots movement called UnityND and began organizing a demonstration of their own in Leith, that would protest against both Cobb and Schoep. Several hundred people attended the protests against Cobb and his allies, including hundreds of members of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.{{cite web |author=Nowatzki |first=Mike |date=September 12, 2013 |title=Protest planned for white supremacist's visit to Leith, N.D. |url=http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/195025/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920213233/http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/195025/ |archive-date=20 September 2013 |access-date=24 July 2017 |website=The Jamestown Sun |agency=Forum News Service}} As a reaction to Cobb's planned takeover of Leith, some have even advocated disbanding Leith and dissolving it into Grant County proper. Cobb stated that he will pursue to file a restraining order against the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.{{cite web |last=Samad |first=Hibah |date=October 7, 2013 |title=UND Symposium Addresses 'Cobbsville' |url=http://www.kvrr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22715&Itemid=57 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016110510/http://www.kvrr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22715&Itemid=57 |archive-date=October 16, 2013 |access-date=17 April 2024 |website=KVRR}}

=Legal issues=

In September 2013, Custer Health Environmental Services in Mandan, North Dakota, which provides safety and sanitation inspections for five counties, including Grant County, had issued 12 citations that month to 10 individuals, including Cobb. Citing Cobb's failure to install a running water and sewage system in his properties within the 30-day deadline, the health unit announced that it would seek a court order to condemn his properties, unless he cooperated and released a plan detailing future water and sewage installation. Afterwards, Cobb announced that he had no intention of cooperating with the health unit and planned to fight the eviction notice.{{cite news |last=Jerke |first=T.J. |date=September 24, 2013 |title=Health unit says it is willing to work with Cobb, planning to go to court |url=http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/article/id/72312/#sthash.qLEVdjLU.dpuf |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131008211641/http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/article/id/72312/ |archive-date=October 8, 2013 |access-date=October 8, 2013 |work=The Dickinson Press |agency=Forum News Service}}

==Arrest and release on probation==

In November 2013, Cobb and Kynan Dutton were arrested by two Grant county deputies and held in the Mercer County jail. Dutton was already out on bond for a previous drunk and disorderly conduct charge. Cobb was upset, claiming his property was vandalized by the town's residents; two videos from their subsequent 'patrol' were posted on YouTube. They were booked on suspicion of terrorizing.{{cite news |author=Carter |first=Nina |date=16 November 2013 |title=Craig Cobb in Custody |url=http://www.kqcd.com/story/23989487/craig-cobb-in-custody |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705015420/http://www.kqcd.com/story/23989487/craig-cobb-in-custody |archive-date=5 July 2014 |access-date=24 July 2017 |work=KQCD-TV}} Ultimately, the two were charged with six counts of "terrorizing". However, the district attorney dropped the second of seven original counts after one man, acting as a reporter in some capacity, later claimed that he "did not feel threatened". According to the Leith website developer, Cobb and the other man arrested held the guns high and then lowered them, but did not speak and did not point the guns directly at the men.{{cite news |date=16 November 2013 |title=White supremacists arrested in Leith, N.D., on suspicion of terrorizing |url=http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/278363/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205231154/https://secure.forumcomm.com/?publisher_ID=40&article_id=278363&CFID=730980774&CFTOKEN=71262230 |archive-date=5 December 2013 |access-date=24 July 2017 |work=Grand Forks Herald}} The two men subsequently appeared in court for a bond hearing, and the court decided that both should be held without bail.{{cite news|url=http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/cobb-remains-in-jail-on-no-bond/article_e914cdae-5078-11e3-8e08-0019bb2963f4.html|title=Cobb remains in jail on no bond|author=Lauren Donovan|publisher= Bismarck Tribune|date=Nov 18, 2013|access-date=24 July 2017}} He refused food while in prison, but said that his refusal was not a hunger strike; rather, he was practising mahasamādhi and that he believed he would leave his physical body for another "plane of existence" at Yuletide. He also said he considers himself a martyr. As a result of his hunger strike, Cobb was sent to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation.{{cite news |author=Nicholson |first=Blake |date=November 25, 2013 |title=White supremacist refusing food in ND jail |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/White-supremacist-refusing-food-in-ND-jail-5010280.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202222633/http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/White-supremacist-refusing-food-in-ND-jail-5010280.php |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |work=The San Francisco Chronicle}} Together with his follower Kynan Dutton, the two men were scheduled for a preliminary hearing on seven felony accounts of terrorism to be held on January 13, 2014.{{cite news |date=12 December 2013 |title=White supremacist returned to jail in North Dakota |url=http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/latest/white-supremacist-returned-to-jail-in-north-dakota/article_c11cdb7a-6778-5dda-88ad-09f675cd67a1.html |access-date=18 December 2013 |newspaper=Rapid City Journal}}

His bail was set at $1 million.{{cite news |author=Kaufman |first=Scott |date=30 December 2012 |title=North Dakota white supremacist Craig Cobb's bail on terrorizing charges set at $1 million |url=http://www.rawstory.com/2013/12/north-dakota-white-supremacist-craig-cobbs-bail-on-terrorizing-charges-set-at-1-million/ |access-date=3 March 2014 |work=Raw Story}}

In February 2014, he sold his house in Leith and one other plot of land to a man from neighboring Carson, and in March he deeded his remaining lots back to Leith. Of the lots he originally purchased, three remained owned by Alex Linder, Tom Metzger, and Jeff Schoep. The lot owned by Linder was seized for nonpayment of property taxes, and Jeff Schoep later renounced his racist viewpoints.{{cite web |last=Nowatzki |first=Mike |date=4 March 2014 |title=Cobb gives property back to Leith; white separatist Metzger says he won't do the same |url=http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/content/cobb-gives-property-back-leith-white-separatist-metzger-says-he-wont-do-same-1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217191848/http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/content/cobb-gives-property-back-leith-white-separatist-metzger-says-he-wont-do-same-1 |archive-date=17 February 2015 |access-date=2 July 2014 |work=The Dickinson Press}}

After a plea agreement, Cobb was released on April 29, 2014, on four years' probation and time served. He was fitted with an ankle monitor and banned from returning to Leith. Cobb expressed interest in purchasing lots in Regan, North Dakota, and Crosby, North Dakota,{{cite web |date=October 10, 2013 |title=Craig Cobb wants to purchase land in Regan, North Dakota |url=http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/88253/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131013121727/http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/88253/ |archive-date=October 13, 2013 |access-date=17 April 2024 |website=WDAY-TV}}{{cite web |date=October 12, 2013 |title=White supremacist family moves to Leith |url=http://www.bakkentoday.com/event/article/id/72897/publisher_ID/6/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518070122/http://www.bakkentoday.com/event/article/id/72897/publisher_ID/6/ |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |access-date=October 13, 2013 |website=Bakken Today}} and said he would leave Leith if his charges will be dropped.{{cite web |last=Terry |first=Don |date=27 November 2013 |title=Craig Cobb: Will Leave North Dakota if Charges Dropped |url=http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/11/27/craig-cobb-will-leave-north-dakota-if-charges-dropped |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928235547/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2013/11/27/craig-cobb-will-leave-north-dakota-if-charges-dropped |archive-date=September 28, 2015 |access-date=3 March 2014 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center}}

Leith's Mayor Ryan Schock and Councilman Lee Cook, who was one of Cobb's victims, had expressed concerns for the town's safety because Cobb some of the property was still owned by white supremacists. Cobb himself had earlier announced his "retirement from white nationalism" and has said that he will seek permission to transfer his probation to Missouri where he will look after his mother.{{cite news|last=Nicholson|first=Blake|title=White supremacist gets probation in North Dakota|url=http://www.lowellsun.com/police/ci_25660064/white-supremacist-gets-probation-north-dakota|access-date=12 May 2014|newspaper=Lowell Sun|date=2014-04-29|agency=Associated Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512214933/http://www.lowellsun.com/police/ci_25660064/white-supremacist-gets-probation-north-dakota|archive-date=12 May 2014|url-status=dead}}

==Subsequent activities==

In 2015, Cobb attempted to purchase $69,000 worth of property in Antler, North Dakota, in an attempt to take over the town and rename it after Donald Trump, whom Cobb says he admires.{{cite web |last=Glass-Moore |first=Adrian |date=August 14, 2015 |title=White supremacist wants to take over, rename town after Donald Trump |url=http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/region/3817566-white-supremacist-wants-take-over-rename-town-after-donald-trump |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928172104/http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/region/3817566-white-supremacist-wants-take-over-rename-town-after-donald-trump |archive-date=September 28, 2015 |access-date=October 9, 2015 |work=Grand Forks Herald}}{{cite web |date=7 October 2015 |title=Report: White Supremacist Wants To Rename Tiny North Dakota City After Donald Trump |url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/10/07/donald-trump-white-supremacist-town/ |access-date=4 July 2016 |website=CBS New York}}

In 2015, Cobb purchased three foreclosed properties, two in Red Cloud, Nebraska and one in Inavale, Nebraska. He stated that these purchases were part of another plan to establish an all-white community.{{cite web |last=Kokesh |first=Jessica |date=2 October 2015 |title=White supremacist buys properties in south-central Nebraska |url=http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/white-supremacist-buys-properties-in-south-central-nebraska/article_8b8e70dd-43d3-56e3-8412-45bc7f466720.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827103918/https://omaha.com/news/nebraska/white-supremacist-buys-properties-in-south-central-nebraska/article_8b8e70dd-43d3-56e3-8412-45bc7f466720.html |archive-date=27 August 2022 |access-date=6 October 2015 |work=Omaha World-Herald}} A local court blocked the sale after nearby town residents were able to pay the back taxes for the properties.{{cite news|url=http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article44261871.html |title=Towns thwart neo-Nazi's efforts to create all-white enclaves |date=November 11, 2015 |access-date=December 17, 2015 |work=The Kansas City Star |first=Judy L. |last=Thomas |archive-date=December 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219204508/http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article44261871.html |url-status=live }}

In 2017, Cobb purchased a church in Nome, North Dakota. He wanted to transform it into a chapel for the Creativity movement, and wished to name it after Donald Trump. The church was destroyed in an arson attack the same day that a local newspaper ran a story covering Cobb's plans.{{cite web | url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/03/29/craig-cobb-plans-rebuild-north-dakota-church-time-named-after-trump | title=Craig Cobb Plans to Rebuild North Dakota Church, This Time Named After Trump | date=29 March 2017 }}

Online activities

Cobb posts under his own name on the Stormfront website and under the pseudonym "Chain" on Podblanc, which references the abolition of the National Origins Formula in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. While his internet activities center upon "tireless propaganda"{{cite web |last=Kärmas |first=Mihkel |date=2 November 2006 |title=Neegrivihkaja rajab Rapla metsatallu keskust |trans-title=A negro hater establishes a Rapla farm forestry center |url=https://ekspress.delfi.ee/artikkel/69021453/neegrivihkaja-rajab-rapla-metsatallu-keskust |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415223726/http://195.250.160.49/viewdoc/4F9ACF372178233CC2257219003D7C51 |archive-date=15 April 2008 |access-date=March 31, 2010 |website=Eesti Ekspress |language=Estonian}} for Podblanc he is also active in discussion boards.

After the arrest of Matt Hale in 2003 for soliciting the murder of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow, Cobb posted the judge's home address, family photographs and a map to her house. Lefkow's husband and mother were subsequently murdered, albeit by somebody not affiliated with Cobb or white supremacy. In reply to a reporter's question "What were you feeling when the double murder happened?" Cobb stated "What was I feeling? Emotions are not yet illegal. I was just fine with it. I think it was well done."

= Video recordings and disruptions =

Cobb's video recordings fall into two types of productions. The first consists of unedited presentations of antisemitic canards commentary and discussion featuring close-up shots of himself, often presented as part of his "Deprogram" series on YouTube and Podblanc. The second consists of street interviews gathered at events where Cobb presents himself as a journalist for Vanguard News Network, asks a series of provocative questions laced with racial slurs, typically sparking outrage from targeted individuals.{{cite web |date= |title=Behind the Gunfire: Alleged Murderer Inspired by Podblanc Hate Site |url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=1065 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602120821/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=1065 |archive-date=2 June 2009 |access-date=28 March 2010 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center}}

Documented incidents include a rally in Kingston, New York in 2005 and a 50 Cent concert in Tallinn in 2008.{{cite web |last=Nichols |first=Nicole |date=7 December 2005 |title=Chain of Fools |url=http://niksnest.blogspot.com/2005/12/chain-of-fools.html |access-date=March 31, 2010 |website=Citizens Against Hate |via=www.blogspot.com}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=April 2024}}{{cite news |last=Kärmas |first=Mihkel |date=8 April 2008 |title=Американский неонацист занимался пропагандой на концерте 50 Cent в Таллинне |trans-title=American neo-Nazi propaganda engaged in at 50 Cent concert in Tallinn |url=http://rus.postimees.ee/080408/glavnaja/estonija/32619.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304235433/http://rus.postimees.ee/080408/glavnaja/estonija/32619.php |archive-date=4 March 2009 |access-date=28 March 2010 |work=Postimees.ru |language=ru}} One such disruption occurred in October 2005 at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as civil rights leader Rosa Parks was lying in state. Cobb confronted visitors, referred to Parks as a "shitskin communist", and stated that he was there to celebrate her death.