Soldiers of Aryan Culture

The Soldiers of Aryan Culture operate both inside and outside prison walls and are classified as a security threat group. SAC "officers" outside of prison stay in contact with those inside correctional facilities and communicate orders by phone.

Prospective members are required to complete a six to 12-month period of missions. These orders typically call for attacks on other inmates. Once the mission is complete and the member is approved, they receive a SAC ”patch” (tattoo) of the group's insignia: a swastika interwoven with an Iron Cross – sometimes accompanied by the initials "SAC". There also exist special patches for certain deeds, such as the SS bolts.[11]

The gang is organized by a paramilitary-esqe ranking structure consisting of generals, captains, lieutenants, sergeants and soldiers. The more criminal activity that a member engages in, the more likely they'll advance to a higher rank. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, SAC members rose through the ranks by committing violence against Hispanic and black inmates chosen at random.

Unlike most other white supremacist prison gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood and the Nazi Lowriders, the SAC are strongly anti-Semitic.[9][12] While many politically-oriented white supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Movement carry such ideologies, it is very unusual for white power prison gangs to hold these views – at least in high regard. The Aryan Brotherhood, for instance, has a high-ranking lieutenant who is part Jewish, even openly sporting a Star of David tattoo.[13] For the Soldiers of Aryan Culture, however, hatred towards Jews is rather common.

The SAC code of conduct requires its members to attack known sex offenders and informants. Additionally, members are forbidden from cooperating with law enforcement and engaging in miscegenation, unless the gang leadership approves of it.[14]

The SAC engage in a number of different illicit actions, most notably drug production, extortion and violence. Throughout the group's history, there have also been instances of death threats, arms trafficking, courthouse violence[15] and other crimes, including orchestrated assaults on prison guards.[16]

SAC first gained significant notoriety in 2002 when members of the group, along with members of the Silent Aryan Warriors (another white supremacist prison gang), allegedly planned to attack Jewish athletes at the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City by using pipe bombs.

On August 11, 2002, Scott Biswell, a leader of the SAC, engaged in an armed confrontation with law enforcement members that resulted in his death.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Biswell following an incident in West Valley City, Utah, where he reportedly threatened two women and an infant child with a firearm over a traffic dispute.[17] Biswell, who was out on parole, fled with his girlfriend Kortni Grimm – also wanted for child endangerment in a separate incident – to the Amenity Inn motel in Provo, Utah.[18]

Executing the warrant, five members of the Provo police SWAT approached his motel room and forcibly entered the premises. Upon entry, Biswell was seen in bed with Grimm aiming a handgun at the SWAT unit. Biswell was gunned down instantly, and Grimm – believed to be unarmed – was wounded, later dying after being taken to the hospital.[18][19]

Twelve SAC leaders were indicted in 2003 following a law enforcement investigation. The indictment resulted in as long as 20-year sentences in federal prison. Additional lower-ranking members were tried and received prison sentences ranging from three to 15 and 1/2 years.[20][21]

While being escorted by prison guards at USP Beaumont in 2007, SAC members Mark Isaac "Snuff" Snarr and Edgar Balthazar Garcia were able to free themselves from their restraints and subsequently stabbed the prison guards escorting them with makeshift knives. Using the keys they took off the guards, the two then unlocked the cell door of inmate Gabriel Rhone and proceeded to stab him a total of 50 times. In the process, Snarr and Garcia were quickly detained by prison personnel wielding chemical agents. While the two guards survived the attack, Rhone did not.[22]

Investigators believed that Rhone was murdered because of his apparent escalating bizarre and violent behavior. Attorneys for Snarr and Garcia claimed that he had repeatedly threatened to kill their clients. Rhone had been serving a life sentence for a 1997 armed robbery in Washington, D.C.[23]

Snarr and Garcia were indicted in 2009 and charged with first-degree murder. In 2010, both assailants were sentenced to death as punishment for the incident. As of 2020, they are both on death row at USP Terre Haute, awaiting execution.

On March 3, 2016, SAC members Christopher Cramer and Ricky Fackrell fatally stabbed inmate Leo Johns at USP Beaumont. Johns, who was also a members of the SAC, had allegedly made a remark that had offended a fellow member of the gang, which is thought to be why the attack took place. According to court documents, the killing had been planned for a total 3 months in advance.[24][25]

Cramer and Fackrell were convicted of first-degree murder and subsequently sentenced to death by a federal jury in Beaumont. Both are currently awaiting execution at USP Terre Haute.

In October 2020, 21 members of the SAC, Silent Aryan Warriors, and Noble Elect Thugs were charged in Utah with distribution of drugs – including heroin and 1.65 pounds (0.75 kg) of methamphetamine – and firearms following a joint local-federal investigation that began in June 2019.[26][27]