National Alliance (United States)

The National Alliance was a white supremacist[2][3][4][5] and neo-Nazi[2] political organization founded by William Luther Pierce in 1974 and based in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Membership in 2002 was estimated at 2,500 with an annual income of $1 million.[6] Membership declined after Pierce's death in 2002 and after a split in its ranks in 2005 the group was barely functioning.[2]

National Alliance
LeaderWill Williams[1]
FounderDr. William Luther Pierce
Founded1974
Dissolved2013
HeadquartersHillsboro, West Virginia
Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee
IdeologyNeo-Nazism
Fascism
White nationalism
White supremacy
Holocaust denial
Antisemitism
Antifeminism
Homophobia
Anti-communism
Anti-immigration
Anti-Zionism
Xenophobia
Political positionFar-right
ColoursBlack, white, red
Website
natall.com
Part of a series on
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Antisemitism on the Internet
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Category

History
Flag variants[7] of the National Alliance
Original flag of the 1970s with Algiz rune
Newer variant: Algiz rune with oak wreath

The National Alliance was reorganized from an earlier group called the National Youth Alliance (NYA), which in turn was formed out of the remains of the youth wing of Governor George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign. The NYA broke into factions as a result of infighting, and William Luther Pierce, a former physics associate-professor and author of the white supremacist novels The Turner Diaries and Hunter, gained control of the largest remnant and relaunched it as the National Alliance in 1974.[8] Following Pierce's death from cancer in 2002, the Alliance's board of directors appointed Erich Gliebe to succeed him as chairman of the organization.[9] A series of power struggles began almost immediately, with high-ranking members either resigning or being fired. A boycott of the National Alliance's Resistance Records label resulted in a steep drop-off in generated funds. [10]

In April 2005, prominent Alliance member Kevin Alfred Strom, then editor of National Vanguard magazine, issued a declaration calling for Gliebe to step down;[11] the Alliance's executive committee and most of its unit coordinators supported the action. Gliebe refused, claiming that the Alliance operated under the "Leadership Principle" and stating that he would not yield to any coup. Strom formed a new group called National Vanguard.[12] In January 2008, Strom pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in exchange for the other charges to be dropped.[13][14][15] He was sentenced to 23 months in prison on 23 April 2008.[14][16][15] Strom told the court before being sentenced that he was "not a pedophile" and was "in fact the precise opposite of what has been characterized in this case,"[14] saying he had been "unwillingly" possessing 10 images of child pornography and that those came from an online forum he had visited which had been "flooded with spam," which included "sleazy, tragic" pictures of children that he deleted. The judge of the case responded: "Mr. Strom, you pled guilty to charges that now you're saying you're innocent. I prefer people plead not guilty than put it on me."[16]

Shortly after the attempted coup by Strom, Gliebe resigned as chairman of the Alliance and briefly appointed Shaun Walker as his successor. However, following Walker's arrest in June 2006, Gliebe again assumed leadership of the organization.[17][18] By that year, paid membership for the Alliance had declined to fewer than 800 and the paid staff was down to only ten people.[19] By 2012, the Alliance reportedly consisted of fewer than 100 members, with no paid staff other than Gliebe.[20][21] The following year, it was revealed that the Alliance's property in Mill Point, West Virginia had been put up for sale. The end of the National Alliance as a "membership organization" was confirmed by Gliebe in September 2013.[22] Thomas Mair, later to be convicted of murdering the British Labour Party politician Jo Cox, was connected to the National Alliance.[23]

Will Williams offshoot

In 2014, Will Williams became head of an organization calling itself the National Alliance (NA). However a rival faction disputes whether this group maintains continuity with the original Alliance founded by Pierce.[24] The Williams led NA has since been embroiled in several legal issues.

In 2015, an accountant was hired by Williams to audit the NA’s books. According to a lawsuit filed by a former Baltimore attorney against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) there was a confrontation between the accountant and Williams. The lawsuit further claims that after the accountant left the NA headquarters he released documents that he had scanned to the SPLC.[25] Williams has called the accountant an “SPLC informant”.[26]

In December 2015, Williams was arrested and charged with battery after allegedly hitting and strangling a female employee on the grounds of the Mill Point compound.[27] He was convicted, briefly incarcerated, and placed on probation. He appealed the sentence and the appellate court affirmed the conviction.[28]

Williams was banned from the NA compound in West Virginia pursuant to a court order stemming from his 2015 arrest.[29] Williams claims that the National Alliance “(is) back. We are definitely back”.[30] He also said in a letter to a newspaper sent from Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee (allegedly the NA's headquarters) that "(The National Alliance does) not appreciate being called “haters” or being associated with some “hate movement”.[31]

Williams has compared himself to Louis Farrakhan and said that "The SPLC needs us and (the National Alliance) kind of need them."[32]

Business

Before the death of Pierce, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation called the National Alliance the best-financed and best-organized white nationalist organization of its kind in the United States. Membership in 2002 was estimated at 2,500 with an annual income of $1 million.[6]

In 2004, Harry Robert McCorkill of New Brunswick, Canada, attempted to will his entire estate (valued at almost $250,000) to the National Alliance upon his death. However, in 2014, the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick invalidated the will on the grounds that the National Alliance was a criminal organization made for the purpose of spreading hate speech and inciting violence against non-whites.[33]

Resistance Records

In the past, the organization ran a white power record label called Resistance Records. It released the video game Ethnic Cleansing in 2002, which received criticism from the Anti-Defamation League. As of early 2019, its website is offline.

American Dissident Voices

The organization also once had a radio program, American Dissident Voices, which was heard on shortwave, AM and FM stations, and streaming audio on the Internet. At one point in the mid-1990s there were 22 radio stations, AM and FM, which carried the program. The original host was Kevin Alfred Strom, who continued until early 1997 when Pierce took it over full-time. Upon the death of Pierce in July 2002 it again was hosted until April 16, 2005 by Strom. Walker then became the voice for American Dissident Voices until his arrest in June 2006. At that time, Gliebe became the voice of the radio program. Broadcasts continued until 2012, when the frequency became erratic. At some time in 2013, Gliebe ceased broadcasting altogether, but programming was resumed by Kevin Alfred Strom in December of that year.

See also

References
  1. "Triumph of the Will: Will Williams and the National Alliance". Southern Poverty Law Center. December 17, 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
  2. "National Alliance For Law Enforcement". Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved 2017-08-31.Hilliard, Robert L.; Michael C. Keith (1999). Waves of Rancor: Tuning into the Radical Right. M. E. Sharpe. p. 165. ISBN 978-0765601315.
  3. Quarles, Chester A. (1999). The Ku Klux Klan and Related American Racialist and Antisemitic Organizations: A History and Analysis. McFarland. p. 146. ISBN 978-0786406470.
  4. Richie, Warren (December 20, 2011). "Failed Martin Luther King Day parade bomber gets 32-year sentence". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  5. "Bomb suspect tied to supremacist group". Boston Globe. March 10, 2011. Archived from the original on 9 September 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  6. "William Pierce: A Political History". Southern Poverty Law Center. Winter 1999. Archived from the original on 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  7. More detailed description of the flag variants
  8. "Beyond A Dead Man's Deeds: The National Alliance After William Pierce" (PDF). Newcomm.org. Chicago: CNC: Center for New Community. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  9. "Death of a Führer". Southern Poverty Law Center. Fall 2002. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  10. Nyden, Paul (2012-07-22). "Report calls Hillsboro-based National Alliance irrelevant". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  11. "A Time for Leadership". www.nationalvanguard.org. 2005-04-22. Archived from the original on 13 November 2005. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  12. "White Supremacist Busted on Child-Porn Charge". ABC News. January 4, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  13. "Strom pleads guilty to child porn". C-VILLE Weekly. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  14. Tasha, Kates (2008-04-21). "White nationalist sentenced in child porn case". Charlottesville Daily Progress. Archived from the original on 2009-04-25. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  15. "Strom Sentenced". nbc29. 21 April 2008.
  16. Provence, Lisa (21 April 2008). ""I am not a pedophile": Strom gets 23 months". The Hook - Charlottesville's weekly newspaper, news magazine. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  17. "White-separatists get prison time for "hate crimes"". The Salt Lake Tribune. August 14, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  18. "Neo-Nazi National Alliance leader indicted in civil rights conspiracy". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 9, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  19. "Neo-Nazi National Alliance Experiences Troubled Times". Southern Poverty Law Center. December 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  20. Terry, Don (31 January 2013). "Struggling National Alliance Takes Another Hit as Key Member Quits". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  21. "Natallnews.net". Archived from the original on 2013-09-12. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  22. Potok, Mark (25 September 2013). "In a Near-Final Collapse, the Neo-Nazi National Alliance Ends Membership". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  23. "Hatewatch: Alleged killer of British MP was a longtime supporter of the neo-Nazi National Alliance". Southern Poverty Law Centre. June 16, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  24. "Triumph of the Will: Will Williams and the National Alliance". Southern Poverty Law Center. December 17, 2014. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  25. Kunzelman, Michael (2019-11-14). "Judge tosses lawsuit over article tying Baltimore lawyer to neo-Nazis". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  26. "Lawsuit Claims Southern Poverty Law Center Abetted Theft & Spread Lies to Destroy Lawyer for Thought Crime". BCN1. Black Christian News Network. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  27. "National Alliance chairman arrested at Mill Point". Pocahontas Times. Local stories. 2015-12-23. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  28. State of West Virginia vs William White Williams (State of West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals 2020) ("For the forgoing reasons, we affirm the circuit courts’s order").Text
  29. Beck, Erin (2015-12-22). "Chairman of hate group arrested twice in Pocahontas County". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  30. Hosenbell, Alex; Simon, Evan; Levine, Mike (2020-10-06). "'My life as a hater': The dire warning from a white power leader's son". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  31. Williams, William White (2018-01-28). "National Alliance responds to Sullivan's column". The Gazette. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  32. O’Neill, Tyler (2019-01-03). "White Nationalist Says His Relationship with SPLC Is 'Symbiotic'". PJ Media. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  33. "McCorkill v. Streed, Executor of the Estate of Harry Robert McCorkill (aka McCorkell), Deceased, 2014 NBQB 148 (CanLII)". www.canlii.org.

Citizens' Council FBI files obtained through the FOIA and hosted at the Internet Archive

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