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The charges, announced Wednesday in Virginia and Washington state, are part of a broader recent crackdown by federal law enforcement on violent white supremacists in the United States. Authorities said the individuals were associated with the Atomwaffen Division, a small but violent paramilitary neo-Nazi group.
In the Virginia case, prosecutors accused John Cameron Denton, 26, whom they described as a former Atomwaffen leader, of harassment through a tactic known as “swatting” — calling police and falsely describing an imminent threat at a specific location, causing authorities to respond in force.
In one instance, prosecutors said Denton targeted an investigative journalist at ProPublica because he was angry the news organization had named him in its reporting on Atomwaffen.
In other cases in 2018 and 2019, prosecutors said, Denton and others placed swatting calls that targeted Old Dominion University, Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, and an unnamed Cabinet official. Last month, prosecutors said, Denton met with an undercover FBI agent and described his efforts.
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“Denton said that if he was ‘raided’ for swatting ProPublica then it would be good for Atomwaffen Division because the swatting would be seen as a top-tier crime,” Jonathan Myles Lund, an FBI agent, wrote in an affidavit.
Authorities said Denton operated with others, including two foreign nationals who live outside the United States, and another man, John William Kirby Kelley, who was arrested earlier and accused of playing a role in the swatting incidents.
In Seattle on Wednesday, prosecutors unsealed a conspiracy charge against Kaleb James Cole, 24, a leader of Atomwaffen’s chapter in Washington, accusing him of sending threatening mail and cyberstalking. The others charged were Cameron Brandon Shea, 24, of Redmond, Washington; Taylor Ashley Parker-Dipeppe, 20, of Spring Hill, Florida; and Johnny Roman Garza, 20, of Queen Creek, Arizona.
Authorities said the quartet devised an operation called Erste Saule, or “first pillar” in German, which Shea described as an effort to target “journalists houses and media buildings to send a clear message.”
The goal, Shea said, was to “erode the media/states air of legitimacy by showing people that they have names and addresses, and hopefully embolden others to act.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times .