Tom Metzger
Tom Metzger | |
---|---|
Born | Thomas Linton Metzger April 9, 1938 Warsaw, Indiana, U.S. |
Died | November 4, 2020 Hemet, California, U.S. | (aged 82)
Known for | Head of the White Aryan Resistance Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s |
Spouse |
Kathleen Murphy
(m. 1963; died 1992) |
Children | 6 |
Thomas Linton Metzger (April 9, 1938 – November 4, 2020) was an American
Early life
Metzger was born and raised in
By 1968, Metzger had moved to
From 1971 to 1980, Metzger was the pastor of a Christian Identity church.[4]: 56
Ku Klux Klan
During the 1970s, Metzger joined the
Metzger's branch of the Klan split with Duke's organization in 1980 to form the California Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
In 1985, Metzger attended a Nation of Islam rally in San Diego, led by Louis Farrakhan.[12] During the rally, he compared America to a "rotting carcass" and praised Farrakhan for "understanding" that Jews are "living off the carcass" and called them "parasites."[13]
Views
According to Steven Atkins, author of The Encyclopedia of Right-Wing Extremism in Modern American History, Metzger's ideology "differs from other white supremacists by rejecting the basic tenets of the Christian Identity movement because he considers himself to be the champion of the Third Position. The Third Position is a form of racism that is oriented towards attracting the white working class and it is also anti-capitalist in orientation. Metzger believed that the United States should be divided into designated areas for different racial groups except Asian Americans, who should be expelled from the United States."[4] In 1988 Metzger recorded this message on his WAR Hotline:
"You have reached WAR Hotline. White Aryan Resistance. You ask: What is WAR? We are an openly white-racist movement—Skinheads, we welcome you into our ranks. The
race. When was the last time you heard a politician speaking out in favor of white people? [...] You say the government is too big; we can’t organize. Well, by God, the SS did it in Germany, and if they did it in Germany in the thirties, we can do it right here in the streets of America. We need to cleanse this nation of all nonwhite mud-races for the survival of our own people and the generations of our children.[4]"
White Aryan Resistance
In 1982 Metzger left the Klan to found a new group, the White American Political Association, a group dedicated to promoting "prowhite" candidates for office. After losing the
In 1985 Metzger attended a rally of the Nation of Islam. Despite Metzger's open racism towards blacks, he alleged the two groups had common ground based on their desire for racial separation and their hatred of Jewish people. Metzger and an NOI representative claim Metzger provided information on the alleged violent plans of the Jewish Defense League, a far-right extremist organization. Metzger donated $100 to the Nation of Islam, to which a Nation of Islam representative said, "I don't think that when you give $100 you form an alliance."[16][17]
Metzger made numerous television appearances in addition to hosting his own
Oregon civil trial
The group was eventually
Metzger's trial was held in October 1990. His decision to represent himself became the source of considerable civic derision through the legal incompetence which he displayed—never more so than when he accepted an option for a new trial judge during the initial stages of the trial in place of the interim appointed judge who he thought was Jewish; only after he had made his decision did he discover that the new judge,
At the trial, WAR national vice president Dave Mazzella testified about how the Metzgers instructed WAR members to commit violence against minorities. Tom and his son John Metzger were found civilly liable under the doctrine of vicarious liability, in which one can be liable for a tort committed by a subordinate or another person who is taking instructions. The jury returned the largest civil verdict in Oregon history at the time—$12.5 million—against Metzger and WAR.[27] The Metzgers' house was seized, and most of WAR's profits go to paying off the judgment.[28]
Post-Oregon trial
After the trial, Metzger's home was transferred to Seraw's estate for $121,500, while Metzger was allowed to keep $45,000 under California's
In May 1991, Metzger agreed to stop selling T-shirts of
From the early 1990s, Metzger advocated the
In 2003, Metzger appeared in Louis and the Nazis, a documentary made by Louis Theroux.[35][36]
Metzger moved to Warsaw, Indiana at some point in the mid-2000s. In 2004, he was the subject in an online article from a San Diego-based periodical that outlined his love of karaoke, sparse white activist action, and bemused feelings over the state of his hoped-for white revolution. On June 2, 2009, agents of the
Metzger was mandated to make payments to Seraw's family for the remainder of his life.[39] Metzger hosted an Internet radio talk show and by 2018 no longer resided in Indiana, having moved back to California.[40]
Mainstream party politics
Metzger changed political parties several times and sometimes created his own. In 1980, he won the Democratic Party nomination for the
In 1982 he sought the Democratic Party's senatorial nomination, running against then-Governor Jerry Brown and author Gore Vidal, winning only 76,000 votes (2.8% of the vote) in the primary.[citation needed]
In 2010, Metzger took out an advertisement in the Warsaw Times-Union, in order to announce his intention to challenge, as an independent, U.S. Representative Mark Souder, a Republican from Indiana's 3rd congressional district. "I'd go to Washington and get into Congress, and have a fistfight every day," Metzger told a local news station.[43] Metzger did not make it onto the ballot for the election, which was ultimately won by Republican Marlin Stutzman.
Death
He died on November 4, 2020, of Parkinson's disease.[44][45]
Electoral history
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Tom Metzger | 33,071 | 37.1 | |
Democratic | Ed Skagen | 32,679 | 36.6 | |
Democratic | Hubert Higgins | 23,462 | 26.3 | |
Total votes | 89,212 | 100.0 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Clair W. Burgener (incumbent )
|
298,815 | 86.6 | |
Democratic | Tom Metzger | 46,361 | 13.4 | |
Total votes | 345,176 | 100.0 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Republican hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Jerry Brown | 1,392,660 | 50.7 | |
Democratic | Gore Vidal | 415,366 | 15.1 | |
Democratic | Paul B. Carpenter | 415,198 | 15.1 | |
Democratic | Daniel K. Whitehurst | 167,574 | 6.1 | |
Democratic | Richard Morgan | 94,908 | 3.4 | |
Democratic | Tom Metzger | 76,502 | 2.8 | |
Democratic | Walter R. Buchanan | 55,727 | 2.0 | |
Democratic | Bob Hampton | 37,427 | 1.4 | |
Democratic | Raymond "RayJ" Caplette | 31,865 | 1.2 | |
Democratic | William F. Wertz | 30,795 | 1.1 | |
Democratic | May Chote | 30,743 | 1.1 | |
Total votes | 2,748,765 | 100.0 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} |
References
- ^ Ray, Nancy (March 6, 1992). "Wife of White Supremacist Tom Metzger Is Dead at 49". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- ^ Fleming, Lorell (March 15, 2006). "White supremacist Metzger no longer living in Fallbrook, he says". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0828320160. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59884-350-7. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- ^ New York Times. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Extremist Info: Tom Metzger". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- ^ a b Neiwert, Dave; Robinson, Sara (October 7, 2005). "Coddling Extremists". Rights. Seattle: Orcinus. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
- ^ "Anti-Immigration Groups". Intelligence Report. Montgomery, AL: Southern Poverty Law Center. May 2001. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
- ^ Berkowitz, Bill; Dobbs, Lou (July 1, 2006). "Dubious Guest List". Rome: Inter-Press Service. Archived from the original on October 4, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
- ^ "The Real David Duke," Newsweek, November 18, 1991, Pg. 24
- ^ "The Godfathers". Southern Poverty Law Center. Fall 2006. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2007.
- ^ Cummings, Judith (October 3, 1985). "Klan Figure Met with Farrakhan". The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ King, Wayne (October 12, 1985). "White Supremacists Voice Support of Farrakhan". The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ Michael and Judy Ann Newton eds. The Ku Klux Klan; an encyclopedia Garland Reference Library of the Social Science Vol.499 London and New York; Garland Publishing inc. 1991 pp.92, 387
- ^ Anti-Defamation League Danger: Extremism; the major voices and vehicles on America far right fringe New York; Anti-Defamation League 1996 pp.77-8
- ^ Cummings, Judith (3 October 1985). "Klan Figure Met with Farrakhan". The New York Times.
- OCLC 1330888409.
- ^ Race and Reason Interview with Radio Werewolf, Los Angeles, July 8, 1985
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Racist Violence". geraldo.com. 2007. Archived from the original on July 29, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
- ^ Hamby, Taylor. "Here Lies Wally George – OC Weekly".
- ^ "Guilt Admitted in Racial Killing". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 3, 1989. Retrieved November 18, 2007.
- ^ Willwerth, James (October 22, 1990). "Making War on WAR". Time. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
- ^ London, Robb (October 26, 1990). "Sending a $12.5 Million Message to a Hate Group". The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
- ^ "Lawyer makes racists pay". USA Today. October 24, 1990. p. 02.A. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
- ^ Berry, Jason (March 21, 1993). "The High Price of Hate". The New York Times. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
- ^ Denson, Bryan (December 31, 2014). "Ancer Haggerty, presiding judge in two notorious neo-Nazi cases in Portland, hangs up robes". The Oregonian. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
- ^ Goodman, Walter (May 13, 1991). "Review/Television; Behind the Hate, With Bill Moyers". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2007.
- ^ "Assets of White Supremacist Are Target of Legal Maneuver". The New York Times. Associated Press. December 25, 1990. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
- ^ a b c d "Metzger Leaves Former Home a Mess, but it's undamaged". The Oregonian. 1991-09-19. p. F3.
- ^ "Bart Used by Extremists". The Washington Times. May 13, 1993.
- ^ "Supremacist Gets 6 Months in Cross Burning". The New York Times. December 4, 1991. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
- ^ "Klan leader let out of jail to be with critically ill wife," The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec), February 22, 1992
- ^ "White Aryan leaders deported Jewish groups applaud decision," The Globe and Mail July 3, 1992
- ^ "Tom Metzger/White Aryan Resistance". Anti-Defamation League. August 24, 2007. Archived from the original on August 26, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
- ^ "Those ugly Americans". New Zealand Listener. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ Smith, Rupert (December 22, 2003). "Reich and wrong". Guardian. London. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
- ^ "ATF raids home of White Aryan Resistance founder". Wane.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009.
- ^ "White supremacist reacts to ATF raid". Wane.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009.
- ^ "Hate-crime case award will be hard to collect, experts say". The Press-Enterprise. August 24, 2007. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
- ^ Leighton, Ken (July 12, 2018). "Tom Metzger has moved to San Jacinto". San Diego Reader. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ "Clair Burgener dies at 84". North County Times. September 10, 2006. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
- ^ "Democrats Disavow Nominee From Klan" (Article abstract; payment or subscription required for full article). The New York Times. June 6, 1980.
- ^ New York Daily News Archived 2010-03-12 at the Wayback Machine, "Ex-Klu (sic) Klux Klan leader and white supremacist uses ad to run for Congress," by Michael Sheridan (March 9, 2010 – retrieved on March 10, 2010).
- Times of San Diego. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ de León, Concepción (November 12, 2020). "Tom Metzger, Notorious White Supremacist, Dies at 82". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
- ^ Our Campaigns "California District 43 – Democratic Primary Race – June 3, 1980", (retrieved on August 15, 2009).
- ^ Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1980," (retrieved on August 15th, 2009).
- ^ Our Campaigns California U.S. Senate – Democratic Primary Race – June 8, 1982," (retrieved on August 15th, 2009).
Further reading
- ISBN 0-679-40614-X(280 pages)
- Elinor Langer. A Hundred Little Hitlers: The Death of a Black Man, the Trial of a White Racist, and the Rise of the Neo-Nazi Movement in America. New York: Henry Holt, 2003. ISBN 0-8050-5098-1
External links
- White Aryan Resistance – WAR official site
- Video clip of 2014 interview with Metzger by biracial director and filmmaker Mo Asumang for her documentary The Aryan
- Tom Metzger Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine list on Southern Poverty Law Center's "40 to watch"
- Christopher Hitchens interviews John Metzger in studio (and Tom Metzger by phone) in 1991: Video Part One and Part Two and Part Three