James Wickstrom

James Paul Wickstrom (October 7, 1942 – March 24, 2018) was an American radio talk show host, Christian minister, white supremacist and antisemite who lived in Linwood, Michigan.[1] He was known for his many strong right-wing opinions; he was intensely anti-communist and denounced those whom he perceived to be communists, such as Barack Obama (and Nelson Mandela, whose death he rejoiced over in 2013, describing him as a "vile black terrorist"). He frequently advocated the mass murder of Jews, non-European Americans, homosexuals, drug addicts, and race traitors, in accordance with the beliefs of the Christian Identity movement.[2] He was a founding member of the racist, anti-semitic, anti-government Posse Comitatus movement.[3][4]

Biography

Wickstrom was born in Munising, Michigan.[5]

Periodically, Wickstrom wrote racially inspired articles, and he also operated as a pastor in Christian Identity organizations. In 1980, Wickstrom ran unsuccessfully in Wisconsin as a Constitution Party of Wisconsin candidate for United States Senator, coming in third with 16,156 votes; and he was a Wisconsin representative on the American Independent Party's national committee.[6] He was the party's nominee for Governor of Wisconsin in 1982, coming in fourth with 7,721 votes; and he remained on the national committee.[7] During this same period, he drew national attention to the ideology of the Posse Comitatus movement, as an outspoken defender of the rights and concerns of Gordon Kahl, including an appearance on the Phil Donahue Show. In 1985, after his arrest, he was no longer listed as an official of the Constitution Party of Wisconsin.[8]

Reported death

In March 2018, it was reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center that Wickstrom had died; the report was attributed to unnamed "sources within the white supremacist movement".[9] More details appeared in a report on Michigan-based website MLive.com (which reported that Wickstrom had been living in Linwood, Michigan)[10] and in a broadcast eulogy for Wickstrom published on YouTube on March 25 and stating that he had died "yesterday" (i.e., March 24).[11]

Criminal actions and convictions

In January 1982, Wickstrom lost when he sought election as chairman of the town of Fairbanks, Wisconsin.[12] He decided to set up his own municipality, a Posse enclave on the banks of the Embarras River within the boundaries of Fairbanks. He put public notice of the creation of the "Constitutional Township of Tigerton Dells" and a meeting to elect officers of the township in a local paper. The announcement described Wickstrom as "acting clerk"; at the meeting, Wickstrom was "elected" clerk and municipal judge and fellow Posse member Donald Minniecheske was "elected" the Tigerton Dells Chairman and Assessor.

Over the next seven months, Wickstrom took applications for and issued a liquor license and a cigarette license, attempted to file various documents indicating that he was a judge or a town clerk with local and state offices, and threatened to sue the Shawano County county clerk if she did not cooperate with his demand for official printed ballots.

Since none of this was lawful under the relevant Wisconsin statutes, in 1983 Wickstrom was arrested for "assuming to act as [a] public officer". (During the trial, he announced to the court that he planned to set up similar townships in other states, and had the presiding judge served with an ersatz "subpoena" for a "Citizens Grand Jury", signing the document as "Judge". He was found guilty, and served over thirteen months in jail (he had received the maximum nine-month sentence on each count, to be served consecutively).[13] (Minniecheske was sentenced to nine years in prison for possession of stolen property and other crimes.) Wickstrom's sentence was eventually commuted; as a condition of the terms of his release he was not allowed to associate with the Posse or similar groups. He moved to Pennsylvania, and was later arrested and convicted of a plan to distribute $100,000 in counterfeit U.S. currency to white supremacists attending the 1988 Aryan World Congress.[14][15] He was paroled in 1994.[16]

In 1990, Wickstrom was convicted of counterfeiting currency and possessing firearms illegally as a felon. He was sentenced to 38 months in jail.[3][4]

Ideology
Main article: Christian Identity

Wickstrom derived his beliefs from his interpretation of the Christian Bible. He preached what he referred to as Two Seedline Racial Covenant Identity, an ideology which among other things, postulates the belief that the Caucasian race is made in the image of God. Furthermore, people of Jewish descent are not considered the "children of God", but rather the children of Cain. Wickstrom categorically rejected the Jewish religious doctrine which states that Jews are "God's chosen people", stating that in fact members of the "white western, European" race are the actual Israelites referred to in the Christian Bible.

Rhetoric

Wickstrom's frequent racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric drew the attention of such activist groups as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. In a 2004 interview Wickstrom said that Jews, including women and children, should be tied to chairs and beaten to death, and that after they were killed:

"Take these chairs and Jews after they're beaten to death, throw 'em in the wood chipper! And from the wood chipper let the remains go into a big incinerary truck, which is right behind the wood chipper, and give them the holocaust they rightly deserve!"[17]

References
  1. "James Wickstrom, infamous white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer, dies at 75". mlive. 2018-03-28. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  2. "THE VILE BLACK COMMUNIST DOG MANDELA IS DEAD!". Dr. James P. Wickstrom. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  3. "James Wickstrom". SPLCenter.org. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  4. "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.Google.com. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  5. "Munising, Michigan". City-Data.com. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  6. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. The state of Wisconsin 1981-1982 blue book Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, distributed by Document Sales, 1981-1982; pp. 823, 887, 908
  7. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. The state of Wisconsin 1983-1984 blue book Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, distributed by Document Sales, 1983-1984; pp. 686, 821
  8. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 blue book Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, distributed by Document Sales, 1985-1986; p. 836
  9. Sommerstein, Adam. "JAMES PAUL WICKSTROM, POSSE COMITATUS LEADER, DIES AT 75" March 26, 2018
  10. Waterman, Cole. "James Wickstrom, infamous white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer, dies at 75" mlive.com
  11. Yahweh's Truth #6 – Pastor J. Visser does Dr. James P. Wickstrom' eulogy and final dedication
  12. "Leader of Posse denies Klan Link", Milwaukee Sentinel, April 3, 1981, part 2, page 3
  13. 798 F.2d 268 James P. WICKSTROM, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Walter SCHARDT, Respondent-Appellee; No. 85-3224, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. Submitted July 8, 1986; Decided August 19, 1986
  14. Smith, Brent L. Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams; Binghamton: SUNY Press, 1994; p. 60
  15. Buchanan, Susy. "Return of the Pastor" Intelligence Report, Winter 2004, Issue Number: 116; Southern Poverty Law Center
  16. Roddy, Dennis B. "Aryan Nations moving to state" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 29, 2002
  17. "James Wickstrom Faces Attacks, Continues to Preach Christian Identity Doctrine". Southern Poverty Law Center. 21 Dec 2004. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.