Volksfront

Volksfront (from the Dutch/German for "people's front") was founded by Randal Lee Krager and Richard Arden while incarcerated in an Oregon state prison in 1994. Formed from the remnants of several fractured Portland skinhead gangs in 1994, including East Side White Pride, whose members were convicted of the murder of Ethiopian Immigrant Mulegeta Seraw.{{cite web|url=http://archive.adl.org/racist_skinheads/states/oregon.html|title=Oregon|website=archive.adl.org|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325113052/http://archive.adl.org/racist_skinheads/states/oregon.html |archive-date=25 March 2014 |url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last1=Simi|first1=Pete|title=American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement's Hidden Spaces of Hate|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QCuaQSZkGkQC&q=Randal+Lee+Krager+and+Richard+Arden&pg=PA16|date=16 January 2010|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.|isbn=9781442202108|access-date=1 December 2010}}[http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/volksfront/leadership.html?LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=3&item=volksfront Volksfront Leadership]. Anti-Defamation League archive site 2009-07-20 Krager was serving two years for a 1992 assault on an African-American man who was left paralyzed and a conviction of first-degree intimidation for threatening to murder an anti-fascist activist, Pan Nesbitt. A grand jury declined to indict him for charges involving hate crimes, but the judge doubled the length of his sentence due to Krager having a swastika tattoo. Krager did not agree with the sentence as he claimed that the judge denied him the right to bring in evidence. Krager contended the victim was attempting a sexual assault, although no charges were brought against the victim.[https://books.google.com/books?id=DiBIZcx1nPcC&dq=randal+lee+krager+jacob+johnson&pg=PA76 Hate Crimes: Causes, Controls, and Controversies] published by googlebooks[https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920430/1489291/skinhead-indicted-in-portland-beating Skinhead Indicted In Portland Beating] published by Times Staff: Times News Services After being paroled in 1996, Krager's recruiting efforts made Volksfront a potent force along the West Coast.{{cite web|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-596-the_flickering_torch_of_racism.html|title= The Flickering torch of Racism|date= 12 December 2001|publisher= Philip Dawdy|access-date= 26 March 2015}} According to Krager's parole officer, Krager distributed Nazi leaflets and frequently met with white supremacist associates. Krager told reporter Philip Dawdy of the Willamette Week that America was becoming too brown, diluting its "European-American culture," and that all minorities in the Northwest "will be repatriated."

File:Volksfront Flag.svg rune on Volksfront flag]]

A number of Volksfront's members were linked with the Hammerskins, a white supremacist group formed in Texas, and Blood & Honour, a group founded in the United Kingdom in 1987. One of Volksfront's stated goals was to create an all-white private community. Volksfront held several events, including weekend-long concerts with speeches, two or three times a year. The group also held organizational gatherings and memorial parties in remembrance of white nationalists who had been murdered or imprisoned around the world.[http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/volksfront/recent_activities.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=3&item=volksfront Recent Activities Volksfront Extremism in America 2005] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912064018/http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/volksfront/recent_activities.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=3&item=volksfront |date=2009-09-12 }}. ADL VF Recent Activities 2009-07-20 An annual Volksfront event called Althing was held south of St. Louis, Missouri at the group's Samuel Weaver Memorial Hall, which was named after the son of Randy Weaver, who was killed by federal agents in 1992. Althing is a reference to the ancient parliamentary system of Scandinavia.[http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=998 SPLC Volksfront Althing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018161039/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=998 |date=2009-10-18 }}. SPLC VF Althing 2009-07-20

In late 2001, Volksfront requested to join the Coalition Against Hate Crimes (CAHC), an organization based in Oregon which had been started by the American Jewish Committee.{{cite web|last=Beirich|first=Heidi|title=Kurtis Monschke and Other Racists Commit Violent Killing|url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2004/summer/two-faces-of-volksfront?page=0,2#.UYrNSrXbN8E|access-date=2004-06-06}} In an anonymous email, an alleged Volksfront member wrote "I think we would represent a currently unrepresented segment of our society on the issue of hate crimes and would therefore be a big asset." A CAHC representative stated "They weren't trying to join us because they believed what we believed. That was not their purpose." In the end, Volksfront was not invited to join CAHC. The Southern Poverty Law Center commented on the non-acceptance by stating that Volksfront was "working to turn the Pacific Northwest into an all-white Aryan homeland—an end it says it will reach by deporting people of color."

In June 2004, Kurtis Monschke, 20, an alleged probationary member for Volksfront, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the murder of Randall Mark Townsend, 42, in Tacoma, Washington, on March 23, 2003.{{cite web|publisher=Anti-Defamation League|url=http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/volksfront/volksfront_report.pdf|title=Volksfront Report|year=2007|access-date=2012-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720082148/http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/volksfront/volksfront_report.pdf|archive-date=2012-07-20|url-status=dead}} Volksfront denies that Mr. Monschke was a member of the organization. Prosecutors alleged that Monschke, who has the Volksfront emblem tattooed on his chest adjacent to a swastika, instigated the attack in an effort to establish himself with higher-ranking members of Volksfront. During the trial, the defense admitted that Monschke was a member of Volksfront but asserted that the organization was nonviolent. Volksfront immediately condemned the attack and urged those involved be prosecuted.{{cite web|url=http://www.courts.wa.gov/content/Briefs/A02/383659%20petitioners%20opening.pdf|title=In Re PRPO Kurtis Monshcke|access-date=10 August 2012|work=Court of Appeals of the State of Washington}}

In April 2007, Jacob Albert Laskey, alleged to be Volksfront's Prisoner Affairs Coordinator in Eugene, Oregon, was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for his role in a "racially-motivated attack" on the Temple Beth Israel.{{cite web|title=Oregon White Supremacist Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Attack on Synagogue|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2007/April/07_crt_219.html|publisher=US Department of Justice|access-date=10 August 2012}} According to the FBI, Laskey is a "self-avowed white supremacist who admitted that he sought to commit acts of violence and destruction against Jews, African-Americans, and members of other ethnic and racial groups." A few months later in November 2007, Laskey's brother, Gabriel Laskey, was sentenced to six months' incarceration for his role in the attack.FBI - OREGON WHITE SUPREMACIST SENTENCED FOR ATTACK ON SYNAGOGUE; U.S. Department of Justice Press Release; November 14, 2007 [http://portland.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2007/supremacistattack111407.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224141930/http://portland.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2007/supremacistattack111407.htm|date=2007-12-24}}

Volksfront was alleged to have been involved in, or had knowledge of, the shooting of Luke Querner, an anti-racist activist in Portland. No charges have been brought.{{cite web|url=http://kersplebedeb.com/posts/antifa-activist-shot-in-portland/|title=Antifa Activist Shot in Portland|website=Kersplebedeb.com|date=2 April 2010 |access-date=12 December 2017}}

In August 2012, after Wade Michael Page committed the Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting, it became known that his girlfriend, Misty Cook, had been associated with Volksfront.{{cite web|url=https://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2012/08/misty-cook-wi-gunmans-ex-arrested-on-gun-charge.html|title=Misty Cook, WI Gunman's Ex, Arrested on Gun Charge|website=Blogs.findlaw.com|date=9 August 2012 |access-date=12 December 2017}} A few days later, the group announced via its website that Volkfront was disbanding, citing concerns over law enforcement investigations into their members. The website ceased operations shortly thereafter, along with a blog and Facebook page.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Volksfront was a virulently racist, rebellious, anti-authoritarian and anti-semitic group that had become the most active neo-Nazi group on the west coast of the United States, and which maintained close alliances with many other hate groups.

• List of white nationalist organizations

Informational notes

{{reflist|group=n}}

Citations

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120717095251/http://www.volksfrontinternational.com/ Official Volksfront website] (Defunct)

Category:Antisemitism in Oregon

Category:Neo-Nazi organizations in the United States

Category:Organizations established in 1994

Category:Organizations disestablished in 2012

Category:White-supremacist organized crime groups in the United States

Category:White nationalism in Oregon