Jake Hanrahan Profile picture
Journalist and filmmaker. Anti-censorship. Outside. Popular Front / Away Days / Gargoyle

Jan 21, 2018, 95 tweets

THREAD showing evidence I've come across that suggests the recent murder of a young Jewish man in California was committed by a neo-Nazi, possibly as a politically motivated killing. (Sat on this for a week waiting on editors but now bits of the info are already out, so fuck it).

On January 2nd a 19-year-old Jewish man went missing in southern California. He turned up dead on Jan 9th, buried in a shallow grave in Borrego Park (wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…). A former class-mate was arrested on suspicion of the murder on Jan 12th.

The deceased is Blaze Bernstein and the suspected killer--now charged with the murder--is Sam Woodward, 20. (Referred to here on out as Blaze and Sam). See the next tweet for the LA Times story.

Police were first considering that it may have been a hate crime as Blaze was gay. Sam told police that Blaze tried to kiss him whilst he was at Borrego Park with him (they were former class-mates hanging out). Blaze was then stabbed more than 20 times. beta.latimes.com/local/lanow/la…

Sam, the suspected killer, was actually a self-proclaimed Nazi & once allegedly to be part of Atomwaffen Division (AWD), according to three people who knew him that I've spoken to (pics later in the thread).

AWD is a small American neo-Nazi group that follows the teachings of a Nazi named James Mason (who started his teachings on the advice of Charles Manson).

Whilst AWD are seen often as a bit of an edgelord group of Nazi LARPers, they have actually been connected to several acts of violence, including murder. splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017…

Being linked to violence is something they seem to revel in, as is shown here in one of their videos. bitchute.com/video/n5jFIB0L…

They say they're non-violent yet their whole aesthetic & message is one of militancy. These photos for example don't exactly depict peaceful people. Note: AWD logo is the Atomic sign in the middle of the flag. On social media they often use the nuclear emoji to show allegiance.

To get more of an idea of what they're about (it's mad), check out the AWD website: atomwaffendivision.org

And James Mason's Nazi work: scrofadivision.eu/product/james-…

It was alluded to in reports already that Sam was far right on some level (losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/01/12/new…), but it's only just come out that he was a white supremacist. It was bigger than that though. Sam was once a member of AWD and a self described Nazi, as mentioned.

A few people (who wish to remain anonymous) who knew Sam, recently told me that he was a long time neo-Nazi. One of them showed me a message from Sam where he says, referring to himself, "being an American NS"--NS being National Socialist.

The pic in PT was sent from Sam's Snapchat. I've confirmed with two different people that this was Sam's Snapchat. Pics here show Sam sending pics of himself from the Snapchat account. Note "44" being half of "88" ("Heil Hitler"). Also a pic of Sam in jail for reference.

Whilst a member of AWD, the people who knew Sam's said he went to a training camp in Arizona in the summer in 2017. The pic here is a photo Sam allegedly sent on Snapchat whilst there. Also, here's a video of one of AWD's "hate camps": pewtube.com/user/GeneralFr…

Here's another image Sam sent of himself from his Snapchat. See that it's his face, his name on the Snapchat. Reverse search doesn't show this image anywhere else. I believe the Snapchat account to be legit.

Sam's associates sent me links to what they say were his old @Kik messenger accounts. One has a picture of James Mason (the Nazi referred to above in this thread) as the avatar and also the AWD nuclear sign.

This is allegedly Sam's other Kik. The handle is "This_Time_The_World" which is the title of a book by George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi Party. archive.org/details/ThisTi…

Sam's associates told me that he left / was kicked out of AWD because he said they were just posers. I cannot confirm this. Sam then allegedly joined another group via IronMarch.org, the now defunct Nazi & white supremacist website which was a hub for fascists.

Sam allegedly met a guy in real life from Iron March, who I'm told convinced him to drop out of college & take a job as a metal worker. Whoever this guy is (I don't have enough info) he is believed by Sam's associates to have radicalised him further.

On Snapchat Sam sent a screenshot from Iron March which was the last message from the Iron March owner before the site was taken down (black box is to protect identity of the source). Sam sent this a month before the murder. It's this image: 78.media.tumblr.com/db9344cea984c0…

Here is a suggested reading list from an account on an app called iFunny that I've been told was Sams. Not my captions.

Looking at the above, it suggests that Sam Woodward is likely a Nazi. Whilst it's not proof of motive in the killing of Blaze Bernstein, I dare say it's worth looking at considering Blaze was a gay Jewish man. /end

Coincidentally, Atomwaffen Division release another propaganda video yesterday, showing them arms training / shooting into the darkness.

Note: Journalists stop combing this thread for info for your articles without crediting or citing me as a source.

I'm working on an investigation into the alleged neo-Nazi murderer Sam Woodward & his membership to Atomwaffen Division for @ProPublica, with @awinston & @ACInvestigates. Here's our first piece: propublica.org/article/califo…

Another photo of Sam doing the Nazi salute next two other Atomwaffen Division members.

To give you an idea of what Atomwaffen are into, if it wasn't already clear, here is their most recent propaganda video (sharing this for journalistic purposes only of course).

Atomwaffen are now openly glamourising Nick Giampa, one of their alleged members who shot his girlfriend's parents to death when they found out about his neo-Nazism.

Atomwaffen Exposed: Here's the second part of our (me, @awinston, @ACInvestigates) investigation into Atomwaffen, for @ProPublica. We got hold of their private chat logs & some of their real identities. “Now we're really rolling”. Have a read & pass it on. propublica.org/article/atomwa…

A short video about some of the internal chats Atomwaffen had on their Discord server. We got hold of 250,000 of their messages to each other.

Atomwaffen has as many as 20 cells (that vary in size) all across America. They've active cells in Texas, Virginia, Washington, Nevada, and elsewhere.

In our reporting we’ve discovered Atomwaffen members have spoken about using explosives to cripple public water systems and destroy parts of the electrical power grid in the US.

This is the current leader of Atomwaffen Division. He goes by the alias "Rape". His real name is John Cameron Denton. He's 24, grew up in Montgomery, #Texas, and currently lives nearby in Conroe. In the chats he preaches hate, violence, and far-right occult doctrine.

The last Atomwaffen training camp, or "Hate Camp" as they call it, was held in Death Valley. They chose this area as they see the late Charles Manson as one of their figurative leaders. Manson & "The Family" hid out in Death Valley after their killings (video by @lhwaldron).

Here's the head of the Atomwaffen #LasVegas cell. He goes by the alias "Komissar". His real name is Michael Lloyd Hubsky. He claims to have a classified map of the US power grid & discussed blowing up natural gas lines, saying “you put a home-made thermite grenade on those.”

Here's the brother of the leader of Atomwaffen. Also a member. He goes by the alias "Nazgul". His real name is Grayson Patrick Denton & he lives in Texas. In the chats he says "Hitler and Stalin did nothing wrong". More than 26million people were killed under the two combined.

Just in case you were under any illusion as to how extreme Atomwaffen's views are, here's some propaganda from their official site (shared for informative purposes only, of course).

Under the the leadership of Denton, the group has also taken a turn toward far-right occultism & left-hand path satanic Nazism. Denton, Kaleb Cole, and others have admitted to following the teachings of the Order of Nine Angles (O9A), which has caused friction within AWD.

O9A is strange satanic-fascist umbrella for anyone who follows their brutal ideology. It began in England in the 70s & is believed to have been a brain child of former neo-Nazi turned former jihadist, David Myatt (which he denies). …gardingdavidmyatt.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/a-mode…

This photo is allegedly from Denton/Rape's Instagram account. Here you can see SIEGE, the Atomwaffen ideological handbook, and to the right an O9A patch (the pic on the right for comparison). I've also seen a photo of Kaleb Cole with an O9A patch on his jacket.

SIEGE is so extreme in it's nature that at one point the author, James Mason, defends the Manson Family murder of Sharon Tate's unborn child, saying "it was, after all, a Jew". If you want to properly understand the AWD indoctrination it's a horrible but vital read.

To further understand Atomwaffen's ideological underpinning, that is the teachings of SIEGE, read this "Atomwaffen and the SIEGE parallax: how one neo-Nazi’s life’s work is fueling a younger generation": splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018…

Here's another one of the leaders of Atomwaffen's #Texas cell. He goes by the alias "Wehrwolf". His real name is Sean Michael Fernandez. In the chat he hoped that Atomwaffen's association to the Bernstein murder would incite "copycat crimes".

Here, in a message from Sam Woodward’s Kik account, he confirms he was
involved with Atomwaffen murderer Devon Arthurs (theguardian.com/us-news/2017/m…). Woodward then goes on to endorse ISIS, saying:

“What ISIS wants > Neolib multicultural hell-world”

The first formation of ideas that spawned Atomwaffen didn't start on Iron March as many cite, but actually on a Tinychat server dedicated to Third Position politics (splcenter.org/fighting-hate/…) >

In this old screen shot you can even see Brandon Russell, the founder of Atomwaffen Division, on the far right on the top row, using the name "Odin". Odin is also his Atomwaffen alias. He's now in prison after getting caught with homemade explosives. nytimes.com/2018/01/10/us/…

By the way, if you’ve got any useful info on Atomwaffen Division, get in touch. My DMs are open or email me: jpjhanrahan@gmail.com

Julian Assange is chatting shit (surprise) about our recent Atomwaffen investigation because we haven’t released all the chat logs yet. Unlike him, we like to protect our sources. Much more is coming, don’t worry.

Looks like System Resistance Network, the new iteration of the banned UK neo-Nazi group National Action, has severed ties with Atomwaffen having previously been casting themselves as their UK wing. It’s due to the satanic direct Atomwaffen went in. pewtube.com/user/SRNETWORK…

Atomwaffen has had a large internal split due to the main leaders being outed as satanists who support O9A (see thread). Many of the original members have left and formed a new community, starting fashcast.org to continue spreading their Nazism.

Some good work here by @eugeneantifa exposing another Atomwaffen member. They found the identity of Matthew James Carroll of the Washington cell. Carroll has been very active online, saying "I pray I have his conviction" referring to Timothy McVeigh. eugeneantifa.noblogs.org/post/2018/03/0…

Also, @RoseCityAntifa exposed another Atomwaffen member who did arms training with Khim / Kaleb Cole (see thread) & others in Washington State. rosecityantifa.org/articles/wade-…

(Note: I am not associated with nor necessarily even a supporter of either of these groups—I actually find most US Antifa to be self serving & ineffective—but good work is good work.)

I was on @War_College speaking about our investigation into the militant US neo-Nazi "Atomwaffen Division". Also spoke about their links to the occult. Have a listen. soundcloud.com/war_college/in…

FAO other journos: It you’re going to comb this thread for story ideas related to Atomwaffen, at least attribute me correctly in your piece.

Note: US Antifa groups trying to pressure us for the chat logs need to relax. We're taking our time to make sure everything is correct & sources aren't burned. More is coming in the Atomwaffen investigation, but be aware that acting like little brats will not work for you.

Seems that Atomwaffen's hardcore ideological platform "SIEGE Culture" (@siegeculture_) is really sticking with the O9A/satanic direction. Here they've retweeted an edit (by their graphic designer) that shows David Myatt, the alleged founder of O9A (see thread).

Saying that, maybe they're just fucking about. They've also posted up several edits that praise the @YouTube shooter Nasim Aghdam (with cuneiform around the top of this one no less).

They've been playing dress-up again too, having even gotten a real version of the scales + swastika image from the SIEGE Culture logo made. They've also got SIEGE armbands (this one is based on Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists logo).

Here's another one. The Atomwaffen graphic designer recently made an edit of an image from a satanic group Rape/Denton (see thread) is linked to. Liber 333 is the ideological handbook of Tempel ov Blood, a bizarre nihilist-satanic group that follows O9A: bloodtempel.wordpress.com/tag/liber-333/

Today, on Hitler’s birthday, what’s left of Atomwaffen Division has put their propaganda site back online after weeks of it being defunct. Their official site is back up too. They’ve ignored their top members being exposed by our investigation & have doubled down on the Satanism.

Atomwaffen posted this photo of James Mason dressed as some kind of Nazi priest whilst hanging out with people much younger than him. Bare in mind in 1994 Mason was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Fucked up.

The insinuation above, with the quote, is that Atomwaffen / James Mason are fine with the Satanism. They're showing that Mason was down with the edgiest crowds before all this (see thread). After all, Mason was close to Sandy & Squeaky from Charles Manson's "The Family" cult.

Here’s the 3rd part of our (@acinvestigates, @awinston, and me) Atomwaffen Division investigation, where we reveal some of their members are in the US military—that’s militant neo-Nazis who burn the American flag on camera training in the US armed forces. propublica.org/article/atomwa…

We also show how Vasillios Pistolis (alias VasilliostheGreek), one of Atomwaffen’s members who’s a US Marine, was bragging about “cracking skulls” at the clashes in #Charlottesville. We prove he wasn’t bluffing.

This piece is a collaboration between @ProPublica and @FrontlinePBS by the way. Fancy fancy.

Here’s Atomwaffen member & US Marine Vasillios Pistolis smashing someone over the head with a flag pole at #Charlottesville. He later bragged about the blood on the flag to other Atomwaffen members saying “not my blood”. Also pictured: Vasillios in his Marine Corps dress uniform.

Watch our video to see how we proved it's Vassilios attacking the protesters at #Charlottesville. Full version:

We found at least three others Atomwaffen members who were currently training or had trained in the US armed forces. One was even training civilian Atomwaffen members using techniques he'd learned in the army. (See next tweet).

Joshua Beckett (alias NatVet), who served in the US Army for four years, trained Atomwaffen members in how to use firearms. Beckett, 26, worked as a combat engineer while in the army. Combat engineers are the army’s demolitions experts. Atomwaffen want to blow things up.

Also, here’s a selection of quotes from another Atomwaffen member in the military that I picked out of the Atomwaffen chat logs we obtained (see thread) that didn’t make the editor’s cut. His alias is Vass (not the same person as VasiliostheGreek). He says he's a combat medic.

Here Vass is talking about not hiding his Nazi beliefs well enough whilst in basic training (AIT).

Vass, who says he's a US Army combat medic, says that he and the other Atomwaffen members are “Charles Manson’s retribution”. This isn’t shitposting either—Atomwaffen have made their love for Charles Manson clear for a long time.

(I've been tracking Atomwaffen Division for over a year, but ultimately all this investigation work started with this: .
Do read the whole thread to get all the info.)

For the best context, here's the whole thread unrolled. threadreaderapp.com/thread/9552081…

Here's what Vasillios said about Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman killed by a white supremacist at the #Charlottesville clashes. Again, this guy is a US Marine and member of militant neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, who're connected to the murders of five people.

“In Atomwaffen chats, Beckett ... said he was building assault rifles and would happily construct weapons for his fellow members. “Give me the parts and the receiver and I’ll get it all together for you,” Beckett wrote in August 2017.” pbs.org/wgbh/frontline…

This is Tyler / Euology (his aliases), one of the few Atomwaffen members to visit Brandon Russell, their founder & leader, in prison. Russell is serving five years after police found explosives material & radioactive isotopes in his basement. (See thread).

Tyler lives in #NewJersey and runs / works at a mechanic garage. He’s one of the Atomwaffen true believers and has been to visit Russell in prison at least once, sometimes relaying messages back to other Atomwaffen affiliates.

I’ve seen internal messages and texts from Tyler that confirms all this. I’ve also checked with a former Atomwaffen member to see if the picture is him and they confirmed it. In the chat logs he was commenting on how big Brandon Russell had gotten in prison.

Due to the reporting by @awinston, @ACInvestigates, and me today about the violent Atomwaffen member who’s a US Marine (see thread), the Marine Corps has launched an official investigation into his conduct. More: taskandpurpose.com/marine-corps-o…

My US Marine source (in the article) just confirmed again to me that the 2nd Marine Logistics Group and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) have launched investigations into Vasillios based off of our reporting. One nil.

In these images you’ll see the same man. Vasillios Pistolis, US Marine and militant neo-Nazi member of Atomwaffen who fought at the #Charlottesville clashes. On the left in his combat fatigues. On the right, street fighting as a Nazi.

Here’s Vasillios (on the right) at a rally in Tennessee last year with an Atomwaffen flag. The flag on the left is of the Traditionalist Workers Party, another new American fascist party that also promotes SIEGE.

Hard times.

The scumbags at @Facebook are censoring the important video @lhwaldron put together about a violent Nazi in the Marine Corps for our Atomwaffen investigation because of "foul language". Silicon Valley is a total hell.

After more than a year tracking Atomwaffen Division and eventually exposing them with @awinston & @ACInvestigates, I’ve decided I’m done. We exposed their leadership, showed their members committed murders, and got an investigation launched by the US Marines. I’m worn out.

I’ll keep an eye on Atomwaffen still and will hopefully be involved in the @Frontlinepbs doc about them, but I think it’s good to leave it on a high. I have other projects that need time. It’s been great working with Ali & AC. Not sure how they put up with me.

Member of Congress @keithellison read our latest article on Atomwaffen and wrote to US Secretary of Defense Mad Dog Mattis, asking for an investigation. Pretty cool.

Just found this image from when I first ever started tracking Atomwaffen Division. This was their Twitter photo in 2015 / 2016. One of these two is likely Brandon Russell, the imprisoned founder of the group.

Remember that US Marine we exposed as being a violent member of Nazi group Atomwaffen (see thread)? Turns out @DEdwardBeck reported him to @USMC last October. They seemingly didn’t do anything. See this thread:

#Atomwaffen update: In their first video release since January their imprisoned leader Brandon Russell speaks. He reaffirms his role as leader, seems fully on board with the Manson stuff, & exposes members they now consider traitors. (Sharing for reporting purposes only).

I heard this release was coming but didn’t expect to see footage from their Death Valley Hate Camp. Quite interesting as many of the members in that have since left Atomwaffen. They also use old unreleased footage from their Concrete Washington escapades.

A cell of the Atomwaffen Division has started up in #Germany. Their first video is a statement saying they’re at the start of “the last long fight”. For any Germans not aware of what a threat these lot could be, see the thread—they’re militant esoteric Nazis.

By the way, the footage of the marching in Germany is not Atomwaffen. Pointed about by @shell_blog, that was some fascist group called “The Immortals” from 2012. Atomwaffen Germany is likely very small. The Immortals:

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