Racist Skinheads Today

Racist Skinheads Today

 

“We must secure the existence of our race and a future for white children.”

Excerpt from their website: This Nation of HATE started in 1987 as a group of young skinheads got together and decided to form a group; they just needed a name. Many ideas were tossed around; finally Confederate Hammer Skins was the chosen name. After all they were from the south, so they used the Confederate Battle Flag with the marching Hammers form Pink Floyd’s movie The WALL.

Apparently, it was a wise decision on their part. Little did anyone know it would flourish into what is today the largest skinhead group on the globe. With that, the very first Hammerskin chapter was born. Sean and Liz Tarrant, Jon Jordan, Michael Lawrence, Christopher Greer and Daniel Wood became the founding members. CHS (as they were known) intended to set the standard amongst skinheads in the U.S. Hammerskins wanted to show people that there were the best and that they would promote the 14 words.  

 The Hammerskin Nation is a leaderless group of men and women who have adopted the White Power Skinhead lifestyle. We are blue collar workers, white collar professionals, college students, entrepreneurs, fathers and mothers. The Hammerskin brotherhood is way of achieving goals which we have all set for ourselves. These goals are many but can be summed up with one phrase consisting of 14 words.

 "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White Children."

 

There are extreme indicators showing Arizona is being infested and invaded by Skinheads. Not just any skinheads but the most volatile and unpredictable skinheads. Members who are radical in action and loosely organized making them more dangerous than other white supremacy groups including the infamous Aryan Brotherhood. Typically speaking, they all get along inside prisons but their alliance is limited to the roles they agree upon on every individual yard they are housed on.

Skinhead groups are enforcers. They serve a role that is clearly understood and visible by all those who see them on the yard doing their regimented mandatory exercise on those days scheduled and nobody dares missing one of these workouts in fear of the retribution warranted by their own rules to be beatdown for their derelict of duty to the group.

Most skinheads come and go and do not make any permanent impressions on the cultural dynamics of any main yard. They basically fall into the category of short lived disruptive groups and often melt down and regroup under the banner of another group as they liquidate one and join the other as the dynamics demand they join their race against the others.

The only long lived group so far to survive on the streets and inside prisons are the Hammerskin Nation skinheads. This is the most organized and most violent group of all skinheads and not a fly by night gang to mess with as their roots are deep and international making them a force to reckon with no matter where you are in a prison. Of all the “crews” that exist under the skinhead banner, they are the survivors of this game.

Hammerskin Nation membership ranges from the East Coast to the West Coast. Their presence is felt as far south as Florida up to the Midwest and Pennsylvania stretching their power along a string of cities and states until you reach the Southern California beaches. There are fluid dynamics in play with these groups related to the Hammerskin Nation. For example, active racist skinheads have been coming and going to Phoenix Arizona to show their presence in high profile and visibility.

Frequenting northern Arizona as well as the Central parts, these factions are divided between many smaller skinhead groups. Examples of such groups include the SS Guardians, Phoenix Bootboys and others.  There are many smaller groups but essentially, all of them are considered street gangs and insignificant except in their local regions.

Neo-Nazi ideologies thrive actively amongst them experiencing overlapping memberships as they work individually and not always collectively. In fact, Arizona has been identified as a thriving skinhead national attraction that threatens both law enforcement and communities.

The west coast migration between LA County and Maricopa County is active down Interstates 8, 10 and 40. There are signs of rapidly forming and quickly dissolving skinhead groups spread out between LA and Phoenix and one that appears to be a main player in SoCal is a skinhead group called PEN1 or Public Enemy Number One. This group appears to be one of the larger and more solvent street gangs more so than the others.

There are significant crossovers to the Aryan Brotherhood who have a heavy presence in the prison systems. As a result, they are often engaged in the criminal activities associated with such gangs, especially the dealing of drugs such as methamphetamine. In some other areas of the country, there are racist skinheads with ties to outlaw motorcycle gangs. Racist skinhead groups are susceptible to significant local variations and rules making them hard to identify regarding code and other “business” transactions related to criminal activities and drug dealing.

What makes it difficult for law enforcement to identify allegiance or loyalty to various groups or organizations is the fact that these skinheads may be found as members in any white supremacist groups but regardless of which group they join, they are always neo-Nazi oriented groups.

A significant part of skinhead culture is their dress and appearance. Racist skinheads typically shave their heads (much less common among female skinheads), tattoo themselves heavily, and often wear skinhead-related garb such as workboots and suspenders.

What is important is the exception to this rule. There are some racist skinheads and white supremacist who urge their membership to avoid detection and blend in with others in public to avoid being tagged or identified as a gang member.

For example, in a well-received speech before almost 150 white supremacists including Outlaw Hammerskins, Northern Hammerskins, Hoosier-State Skins, Klansmen, and Creativity Church members at a White Unity festival in Osceola, Indiana, in August 2003, influential white supremacist Tom Metzger presented a practical plan for "revolutionary action."

This plan called for "lone wolf" tactics, silent operations, blending with the community (regrowing hair, covering/removing tattoos), and the acquisition of professional jobs, identification of informants, and a commitment to action. Metzger stressed the importance of maintaining a stoic attitude symbolized by the "Five Words" ("I have nothing to say") if one is caught in illegal acts.

As a result of efforts like these, not every racist skinhead fits the stereotypical profile. Hence this makes it harder for law enforcement to identify membership and ideology sharing concepts as there are various “business styles” out there related to their criminality and priorities in the communities.