All language subtitles for Fringe.Nation.S01E03.Americas.New.Nazis.1080p.HDTV.x264-CRiMSON

♪♪

-it's clear that the far right
extremist global movement today

looks like what al-qaeda
looked like in the early '90s.

Time and again, what we've seen
is that if america does not act,

people will die.

-That skull mask
you're wearing --

what's its significance?

-They see themselves
as sort of an insurgent army.

They almost identify more
with al-qaeda

than they do with the klan.

-Left unchecked, these guys
are gonna keep recruiting,

they're gonna keep training,

and they're gonna
keep planning

and carrying out
violent attacks.

-You put anger and alienation
together,

you've got a walking time bomb.

-You know, when they're done
coming for jewish people

and gay people and black people.
What's next?

Are you safe?

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-you just kind of open
it up for me.

I just want to look at it
and make sure it's straight.

Might want a damp rag.

You know, little spot showing up
on the side.

Double check that.

-Bill collins is the mayor
of rome, georgia,

population 36,000.

He was born and raised here.

Instead of city hall,
he prefers to work out of

the auto body shop
that he's owned for years.

-Not a whole lot.
How you doing this morning, sir?

Oh, you lucky rascal.
Are you off today?

-Rome is a town with connections
to the ku klux klan.

Yet collins made history
in 2019

by becoming the town's
first black mayor.

-It's been quite a ride
and quite an experience.

I never thought when I live
two blocks from here

in a two-bedroom house

with about nine of us
staying here,

that I would ever become mayor.

Not at all.

You have a great deal of new
faces coming to the forefront,

all nationalities blending
together in this city of rome,

saying, "black lives matter."

-what about the state
of white supremacy in rome

and in its surrounding counties?

What's it like right now?

-It's behind the scene.

So we don't get a chance
to see that much of it.

-Have you ever had
any experiences

growing up with the klan?

Was this something
that you were aware of?

-I have. I mean, I have actually
walked in a convenience store

where about three hooded klans
was there,

and I purchased
what I was purchasing

just like normal
with them standing right there.

-Were you all that surprised

that there was
another generation

of young, angry
white supremacists

around -- around rome?

-Not at all.

-For mayor collins,
georgia's legacy

of organized hate groups
entered a new era.

In February 2020,
a shadowy terrorist cell

operating out of rome's
floyd county emerged.

It was called the base.

-The base originally
described themselves

as a network
of white supremacists

with the idea of getting
training to various members.

They would allow members
of other groups to join

as long as they kind of had
this core commitment

to violent, extreme nazism.

This is entirely about
weapons training.

It's about unit tactics.

It's about
people getting together

and using firearms in the woods
to clear buildings.

They're showing what their group
is capable of

and how they hope
to attract others.

-And why do they burn
the american flag?

-They're burning
the american flag really to show

that they're against
the government.

This is about trying to
get people to rise up

against the government.

This is trying to get
the left and the right

to fight one another.

They wanted to show
that they meant business.

-The group is led by new jersey
native rinaldo nazzaro,

a pentagon contractor that,
for a time,

was said to work with
u.S. Special forces.

The base practiced
accelerationism,

the idea that generating chaos
through terrorism

could provoke the downfall
of the u.S. Government

incite a race war,

and establish
a white ethno-state.

The aim to catalyze
the tenets of nazism

with their modern blend
of combat tactics

and online organizing.

-I knew that the base was active
in georgia for months,

but we didn't know
exactly where.

Turns out a cell
was using property

down this road here
for paramilitary-style training.

So this was their jump
from the online world

into the real world,

is meeting
on this property down here.

-Chris joyner, a long-time
local investigative reporter

with "the atlanta
journal-constitution,"

has covered the klan for years

and most recently turned
his attention to the base.

It's pretty crazy
in this sort of serene,

peaceful country environment,
just over that tree line...

-Mm-hmm.
-...There was a neo-nazi

terrorist group training.

-Yeah, I mean, but, you know,
people are spread out here.

There are a lot of hunters,
you know,

people who have
a lot of firearms

for their personal enjoyment.

So hearing gunfire wouldn't
necessarily concern people.

I mean, they might hear it,
you know,

during deer season anyway.

It's easy to have something
like this in an area

where you're this remote.

-Right. If you're gonna do
a paramilitary training camp,

this isn't the worst place
to do it.

-No, it's not.

-This area definitely has
a legacy of white supremacy.

How does the base
fit into that?

-Well, there was certainly
a lot of klan involvement

that goes all the way back
into the '30s

that was prominent in
north georgia up in the hills.

It's extremely white,

and it's long had a history
of being impoverished.

A lot of that breeds
sort of extremist sentiment

and still does today.

The base was sort of
a natural fit for folks

who were looking to turn
their white nationalist,

white supremacist sentiment
into action,

which, of course,
is what the base was all about.

-So something like the klan,
they burn crosses and they --

-right.
Their idea of terrorizing

is much different, right?

You see this a lot
with accelerationist groups.

They almost identify more
with al-qaeda

than they do with the klan.

You know, they see themselves
much more

as sort of an insurgent army

than a political force,
for instance.

The base wants to be
an insurgency,

wants to be an outsider
and violent group.

-In georgia, the fbi says these
three men allegedly had plans

to overthrow the government
while planning an attack

on members of the left-wing
group antifa.

-Why do you think a young,
white kid in nearby silver creek

would join a neo-nazi
terrorist group like the base

and then carry out paramilitary
training near your city?

-I can't really answer that,

'cause we have seen some acts
across this great country

that we find ourselves living in
that make you scratch your head

and wonder how, and why would
this happen in my community?

This is one of those times.

-The base furnished
a long list of enemies

from across
the political spectrum.

And in January of 2020,
georgia cell members were poised

for a planned assassination
of an anti-fascist activist.

This is the first time
he's speaking about it on camera

and has chosen
to conceal his identity.

-The morning three gentlemen
knocked on my door

and showed me a badge
before I opened it,

and I -- you know, I took
kind of a defensive position,

crossed my arms,

because fbi agents have shown up

to other activists' house
to harass them.

But he said, "this is what's
called a victim notification.

We just arrested three men
who were planning to murder

you and your spouse."

-an undercover fbi agent
infiltrated the group,

gaining the trust
of the georgia cell

and logging its inner workings,

including
the assassination plot.

The base had developed
a web of cells

across the country,
in maryland, michigan,

california, minnesota,
among others,

all training for the race war.

Why did the base target you?

-I've been told that they picked
me put me off of a dox list

of georgia anti-fascists,

just because I was closest.

-What were you thinking?

-It was a wide range
of thoughts, like,

how did I miss a group --
a whole group -- in my backyard?

Who else was in danger
because of that?

I raced through
my memories so much,

trying to see if I could
see them somewhere,

if I literally missed them in --
in my real day-to-day life.

All I could do was
stare out my front window

and really memorize every single
car that went by my house.

You're not a man for planning
to bust someone's door down

and murder
whoever is behind the door.

I was both thankful and mad
that the fbi had to protect me.

-What kind of justice
do you want to see done

to those three individuals
in the base?

-I want them to be as alone
as they wanted themselves to be

for the rest of their lives.

They think they're so special
that other people need to die,

that other -- other other races
need to serve theirs.

We need more people
to wake the...Up

and shut these racists down.

It's well out of control,

and it's not something
that anybody --

anybody can ignore anymore.

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♪♪

-one.
[ gunshots ]

-modern hate group
the base breathed new life

into long-standing
fascist principles,

and for organizations
like theirs,

maintaining a strong ideology
often requires a role model.

♪♪

tell me, who is james mason?

-[ chuckles ]

I guess I'm a guy
that's just out of step.

[ laughs ]

but when you consider all those
who are in step,

I'm proud of it.

-James mason is the author
of "siege,"

and insurgency manual
he wrote in the early '80s.

"siege" is thought to be
the ideological influence

of modern-day neo-nazi groups
like the base.

Mason, a former
kmart security guard,

quit school at age 14
to join the american nazi party

run by founder
george lincoln rockwell.

When you were 14,

what initially drew you
to the nazi party?

-Alienation...

And anger.

You know, everything coming down
the pike just made me sick.

Then in -- we got into the '60s.
And I got old enough to realize

something's going on here.

Something's gone wrong
in this country.

We're under attack.

Our society, our culture,
our people were under attack.

And I don't mean
the cold war either.

I mean at home.

The danger's always been here,
nowhere but here.

-"siege" preaches
mass murder and war.

-I don't think so.
-You don't think so?

-I don't think so.
-I mean, how would you see it?

-I just -- just
the unvarnished truth is all.

I don't tell anybody to go out
and do anything

that I wouldn't do myself.

Like nathan hale said,

"I regret I have only one life
to give for my country,"

so you better make it count.

-The base wasn't the only group

taking its violent cues
from "siege."

mason's writings became
the founding doctrine

of one organization
in particular --

atomwaffen division.

German for "atomic weapons,"
the atomwaffen division,

or awd, was made up
of angry, young, white men.

They created paramilitary
training called hate camps

and used them to make slick
isis-like propaganda videos.

At its height,
atomwaffen was an 80-man crew

and has been linked
to five deaths,

plans to bomb a nuclear facility
and synagogues.

James mason would become
its chief ideological influence.

-The atomwaffen division started
in 2015,

originally came from a website
called iron March,

which was an online web forum
for fascists, neo-nazis,

and white supremacists
of various types.

You have a core group of people

who are going to
commit violent acts

to sort of bring about
a second civil war

or bring about some sort of
insurgency

and to create chaos,
to create what they hope for

would be the downfall
of the government,

the downfall of society.

-And the base -- are they
similar to atomwaffen division?

-Very similar,
but you could call them

a little bit more grown up
in some ways.

When the base came along,

they decided that they were
going to focus more on action

and sort of less
on propaganda videos.

The base was a lot more
secretive

about their activities.

-What is your role,

or what was your role
within atomwaffen division?

-I didn't have a role.

-And were you ever involved
with the atomwaffen division?

-Well, I met a lot of them.

They -- they did open up
that website

for my stuff specifically.

And I did address their
gathering in vegas last year.

But as far as going out on
any night rides rides, hell no.

-Do you feel like you inspired
the creation

of violent nazi terror groups

like the base
and atomwaffen division?

-No, no.

No, no, these things
were gonna happen

with or without me,

but I believe I've been able
to give them some insight.

-But "siege" was this critical
text in the formation

of atomwaffen division.

-Mm-hmm, yeah.

-I mean, this is the basis
for the entire group.

-That's okay.

I simply put my thoughts
down on paper

and got them out there.

As for activities, I don't know,
and I don't want to know.

-Jews will not replace us!

Jews will not replace us!

-After charlottesville,

mainstream news
and law-enforcement agencies

outed the identities
of protesters

who openly walked with torches.

The exposure reinforced
to groups like atomwaffen

that it was better
to stay in the shadows

and plan your race war

without showing up
on the 6:00 news.

-Charlottesville,
for a group like atomwaffen,

shows that they're right,
that it's not about

getting thousands
or tens of thousands of people,

that what you need
is a core group of people

who are going to try
and create chaos

and move that along.

These aren't people
who are just interested

in spreading propaganda.

They are people
who are committed

to committing violent acts.

These groups
might have been small,

but they're trying to seek out

the most radical
of an already radical scene.

-I spoke to a man who was
an atomwaffen cell leader,

who agreed to meet with me
if his identity was protected

in order to openly discuss
his experiences.

At 17, he says
he joined the group

after becoming enamored with
the world of national socialism,

or, in other words, nazism.

What was your role in awd?

What -- what kind of
responsibilities

did that entail?

And you have --
you have firearms of your own?

Like, a lot?

Semi-automatic?

And would you say
that's the same

for most of the members in awd?

And how were you drawn into this
ideology, when you were 17?

Where did that come from?

Are you proud of what
atomwaffen division achieved?

And why?

That skull mask
you're wearing --

what's its significance?

So it's -- it's literally
to -- to show that

you're willing to die
for this cause.

♪♪

-thank you, everyone,
for coming to class today.

Um...We have a lot of work
to do,

so let's get started.

-Blaze was really unique.

-Today we've got nacho cheese,
rice krispies, tortilla chips,

and daiya cheese.

Three, two...

Unh-unh, unh-unh. Mm!

-He was unique in the fact
that his right and left brain

seemed to really be
very high-powered.

He was super artistic
and creative,

and he was also really good
at math and chemistry.

I mean, he had a real mind
for seeing patterns,

and chemistry was his thing.

I mean, he told me
organic chemistry would be easy

because it was just memorizing
patterns of molecules.

He was brilliant, kind,
and caring,

and he was a great friend
to people.

He was a good person.

He was a really,
really good person.

-This is the last place that
blaze bernstein was seen.

Today throughout the day,
crews met here and headed out

looking for any sign
of the teen.

There's still no trace
of the 19-year-old

who hasn't been seen
since Tuesday.

-He was found approximately
a mile from our home

in a park that's adjacent

to the elementary school
that he went to.

And the reason that
they found him

is because it had rained
the night before,

and it had displaced the soil

that had been
put on top of his body.

-Blaze bernstein,
a gay jewish teenager,

was stabbed to death
more than 20 times.

Samuel woodward,

a former classmate
and member of atomwaffen,

has been charged with his murder
and a hate crime.

He's pleaded not guilty
to both charges

and has been denied bail.

He's currently awaiting trial
in california.

Had you ever heard of
something called

the atomwaffen division
before this?

-Before this? No.

I wish I had.
I wish I knew.

I don't know if it would have
changed anything that we did,

because I never thought
that we could be the subject

of a -- of a crime like this.

I just never thought that

somebody would target
one of my children.

-So, what about a family
like the bernstein family,

that their child,
blaze bernstein --

he's a young, jewish --

he was a young, jewish gay man
in california?

He was stabbed repeatedly

by a follower of
atomwaffen division.

-Yep. Sam woodward.
-Sam woodward.

-I met sam woodward.

He came out here
with a friend of his

soon after we linked up
with atomwaffen division.

And, uh, I served him several
nice dinners, some good drinks.

We had a lot of laughs.

And he struck me as being a --
a stand-up kind of guy.

But I promise you, if he had run
any of this past me at the time,

I'd have said,
"for god's sake, don't do it!"

there's a good man
who threw himself away,

threw himself away.

That incident didn't do us
a bit of good.

It did us harm
if it did anything,

because the masses
of people out there --

you want them to be able to
at some level identify

with what you've just done
rather than be turned off by it.

-What would you say
to the bernstein family, though,

that has to deal with the fact
that their child is -- is gone?

-I don't know what I would say.
It's probably unfortunate.

But blaze bernstein --
well, being a jew,

I suppose that's one thing,

but as far as
I would be concerned,

if he was any child of my own,
I would say,

"well, he died the minute
he came out as being gay."

-I wrote this to my son in 2004
at the beginning of first grade.

It was not a letter
that I gave to him.

I kept it for him,
like in a scrapbook.

I said,
"you say such hilarious things

and some things that are
just downright profound.

If there ever was a child

that could think
outside of the box,

it is definitely you.

You asked me today what will
happen to us when the sun dies."

-gideon, you --
had you ever read that?

-I don't remember
ever reading it,

but, you know,
when she read that sentence,

"you asked me today what will
happen to us when the sun dies,"

was he talking about the sun,
as in that in the sky,

or was he talking about
what happens to us

when your son dies?

-Yeah, well...

-What would you say to people
who think, you know,

atomwaffen division --
it's only 40 or 50 guys?

-You know, atomwaffen --

if it's only 40 or 50 people
in the united states,

and if we're all okay
with that,

well, are you also okay
with the rise above movement

and the brotherhood
and the aryan nation?

And --
and if that's okay with you,

if that's okay with society,

well, you know,
just don't be surprised.

Don't be surprised
when we have mass shootings

and when your kid goes missing
in the middle of the night

'cause it's okay with you
if there's only

40 or 50 of them running around.

-Should americans care more
about these types of groups?

-Absolutely, because, you know,

when they're done coming for
jewish people and gay people

and -- and black people
and immigrants,

and then what's next?

Are you safe?

-We have certainly seen the rise

of a global neo-nazi,
white nationalist movement

that is deserving
of our attention.

Many people, experts, have said
that this looks like

what al-qaeda looked like
in the '80s and the '90s.

Let's not find ourselves
asleep at the wheel

as we did in the run-up to 9/11.

-Congressman max rose,
a veteran of the afghan war,

is at the forefront of seeking
a foreign terrorist designation

for groups like
atomwaffen division

and the base.

When you see something
like atomwaffen division,

how do you feel about them?

-Scares the shit out of me.

I -- I wouldn't be focusing
on this as much as I am

were they not so scary

and were they not given
the ability

to completely operate
under the radar,

to completely operate
in the shadows.

-An fto, or foreign terrorist
organization, designation

is how the government classifies
organizations like al-qaeda.

With an fto applied to a group
like atomwaffen,

members could be banned
from travel

or have assets frozen,

while they
or anyone assisting the group

or providing material support
or resources

could be prosecuted
as terrorists and conspirators.

-They're clearly mimicking
the cell models

that isis and al-qaeda
and other jihadist groups

have improved and perfected
over the last 30 years.

You could execute a small-arms
attack in 10 different cities,

all at the same time.

You could execute a coordinated
explosives and small-arms attack

against health-care facilities
during a pandemic.

You could attack
law-enforcement officials

during a time of unprecedented
racial and societal strife.

And just like
the jihadist threat,

the far right movements,
these terrorists,

are seeking
to radicalize people online,

recruit them online,

and then migrate them
to the encrypted apps.

-Do you think other politicians
see it the same way,

as a global terrorist movement?

-They're starting to.

Look, we don't have to
reinvent the wheel here, right?

We have the designations.
We have the mechanisms.

We've largely,
if not perfected this,

really professionalized
this effort

over the last 20 years

in terms of our fight
against jihadist terrorism.

-What the fto designation does

is it truly provides
entities like the cia,

like the fbi,
with the opportunity

to pursue the threat
no matter where it is,

'cause this is a global threat
akin to this jihadist threat.

We -- we're trying to act like
it's not

every single step of the way
we're doing this,

but it doesn't change
the reality.

It's classic government, right?

Ignore, ignore, ignore

until the problem hits us.

♪♪

-so I'm about to meet
arieana love.

She's the ex-girlfriend
of a guy named ryan birchfield,

who's a former member
of the base

who went to ukraine
to fight with

a neo-nazi far-right militia
in the war in donbass.

When did you first meet ryan?

-We actually met online
on facebook

through some mutual friends.

That was September of 2018
when we first started dating,

but we had been talking
that summer.

He was planning on going to

the marines' version
of basic training

in February of 2019,

and then he decided
not to follow through

with the army stuff.

-Where was the switch?
Did he to tell you why --

why he didn't follow through?

-He was the kind of person

who would want to be deployed
all the time,

always seeing
front-line-type stuff,

and he felt like
the u.S. Military

couldn't offer that to him.

-Did he ever show any signs
of preparing to go fight

for a far-right militia
in ukraine?

-No, he had mentioned
visiting ukraine before

but hadn't really said that
there was a particular reason.

-And he never told you
why he went?

-He basically just told me that
he was going into a war zone,

and that was it.
-You didn't know exactly

what he was doing
or where he was going?

-No, I knew a little bit
based on

some articles from journalists
that were published

in the past few months
before that.

But that was it.

If I had known all of this
was gonna come out of it,

I would have never,
ever dated him.

-While the fbi
can neither confirm or deny

an investigation
into birchfield's actions,

rome's circuit assistant
district attorney emily johnson

said in open court
that birchfield fought

for an ultranationalist group
in ukraine,

something he now denies.

But the base's interest
in ukraine doesn't end

with birchfield.

Vice has obtained
an exclusive audio conversation

with the base founder,
rinaldo nazzaro,

strategizing about
training in ukraine.

This is the first time
this recording

has ever been made public.

Mollie saltskog
is an intelligence analyst

at the soufan center,
a world-renowned private firm

with connections
to the fbi and cia

that tracks
international terrorism.

Why ukraine?
Why is it so important?

-Ukraine represents the only
chance for white supremacists

to go and gain
actual combat experience.

It's their conflict
on the front lines of europe.

There's no substitute
for the tacit knowledge transfer

of gaining actual
combat experience

and being part
of paramilitary training,

and not to mention the street
cred that these guys get

from actively participating
in conflict.

They went there.
They were on the front lines.

At least 35 americans
have gone over there

since the start of the conflict.

-So what do these guys do
when they come back?

Atomwaffen members who've gone
to ukraine and come back --

they've definitely intended
to plan violent attacks

and threatened
to plan violent attacks.

Luckily, they've been caught
by the law enforcement.

But in other cases, like
the swedish guys who went over

and trained with
the russian imperial movement,

they came back home,
and within a couple months

they had bombed
asylum shelters in sweden.

-What have you heard in terms of
washington, d.C., talk

around why they haven't
designated

something like
atomwaffen division

as a foreign terrorist
organization?

-I think there's real concern

that a large part of
the membership of atomwaffen

is made up of u.S. Nationals.

And that might have been true.

Atomwaffen started
in the united states

and was founded by americans.

But as our recent research
has shown,

it is a transnational movement
that has affiliates

uk, europe,
all the way to australia.

And atomwaffen has also
successfully created a brand

that is almost equally
identifiable to neo-nazis

the way isis is identifiable
to a salafi jihadist.

So all of a sudden,

america's become
an exporter of this ideology.

Left unchecked, these guys
are gonna keep recruiting,

they're gonna keep training,

and they're gonna keep planning

and carrying out
violent attacks.

-By early 2020,
there were obvious signs

the fbi was taking atomwaffen
and the base very seriously.

Director christopher wray
testified to congress

that white-nationalist terrorism

was a real threat
to national security.

-We elevated
to the top-level priority

racially motivated
violent extremism

so it's on the same footing

in terms of
our national-threat branding

as isis and homegrown
violent extremism.

-Rumors circulated
that the state department

was designating atomwaffen
as a terrorist organization.

In a sweeping crackdown,
five members of awd

were arrested for crimes
ranging from swatting

to death threats.

With the fbi closing in,

mason suddenly made
an announcement.

Were you ever afraid
of getting arrested

for your connections
to atomwaffen division?

-It looked pretty bad in March

with this damned...

Who's that jew on staten island
that had that bill proposal, uh,

to make us out to be
foreign terrorists?

-Congressman max rose?
-Yes.

I was a little worried
about that.

And I thought that, uh,
the only thing to do --

the only thing to do --

was announce the disbanding
of the organization.

-Was this disbandment designed
at avoiding that from happening?

-Oh, hell yes.

Hell yes.

-When atomwaffen,
quote, unquote, "disbanded"...

-Yeah.
-...What did you make of that?

-I thought it was not true.

Uh, I think that they wanted
to avoid sanctions

from the state department.

It's a classic al-qaeda move.

They deliberately don't name
an affiliate,

and al-qaeda name,

to avoid the brunt of the u.S.
Counterterrorism apparatus.

And atomwaffen did the same.

-They disbanded and then
reappeared under a new name.

-They disbanded,
reappeared under a new name.

Atomwaffen leadership --

james mason is their
spiritual leader, figurehead,

and they're back to recruiting.

-Not long before atomwaffen
members scattered and regrouped,

the fbi also cornered
other factions of the base.

In addition to the georgia cell,

they arrested three members
of the maryland cell,

one that had plans to
derail trains, murder police,

and shoot up
a second amendment rally.

All told, eight members
of the base were arrested

and are awaiting trial,

a crushing blow
to the entire organization.

Yet both atomwaffen and the base
were able to avoid

the foreign terrorist
organization designation.

So the fbi undertook a pretty
striking crackdown

of the base and atomwaffen.

Do you think
they went far enough?

-No, it's not enough,
because you're still applying

a law-enforcement mindset
to a terrorist problem.

The fbi up until recently,

homeland security
up until recently,

was unwilling to position this
as the top threat that it is.

Now, we've seen
over the last couple of months

that that has changed.

But our intelligence holes
are still shocking

because we have not authorized
the intelligence community

to actually do what it is
supposed to do.

-Despite the many fbi arrests,

the "siege"-inspired
accelerationist terror movement

carries on.

The former atomwaffen leader
we spoke to says

the group has reinvented itself.

And while it's unclear
how big or influential

the group actually is,

they call themselves
the national socialist order.

Awd -- they were disbanded.

The base -- the fbi raided them.

Is the nso trying to fill
the void they left behind?

I mean, what's the difference
between the atomwaffen division

and
the national socialist order?

So what is
the national socialist order?

And when you say
taking advantage,

what does that mean?

You know, right now
there's a lot of social unrest.

There's a pandemic.
There's rampant unemployment.

And you're choosing to refound
and create this group now.

Is it designed
at this political moment?

Tell me about the numbers.
How do you recruit?

Do they find you,
or do you find them?

What's the
national socialist order's

relationship with james mason?

♪♪

-despite being haunted
by an assassination plot,

this activist seems
more motivated than ever

to make
his political statements.

For him, the symbolism
of a burning flag

is one way to steal power
from a hate group.

-People who like
this piece of fabric

really...Like it.
[ chuckles ]

it just means the world to them

when they have one up
at their house

or on their driveway
or whatever,

flying off the back
of their pickup truck.

-Do you think the people that
fly those confederate flags,

like, truly understand
the gravity of what it means?

Do you think it's just
to promote the confederacy,

or is it something else?

-There are folks who think,

"this is because I'm southern,"
full-stop,

but that is such an enormous
lack of empathy.

A lot of them, like,
have that language loaded up,

"the heritage not hate,"

the, "well, we come from
southern stock,"

all -- all this bullshit.

They all know it's like,
"well, it's because

we're white
and we're special, too."

this was on a flag pole...

-Kkk, confederacy,
and then the base --

do you consider them kind of
in the same --

in the same group?

-Kkk -- I know they still exist
in this area,

but they don't seem to be
actively trying to do anything.

The base -- people like this --
this neo-nazi stuff

is, like, organizing
and being accelerationists

and trying to get things
stirring

to where more violence
can happen.

-Then do you see it as, like,
the next generation of klan?

-Yeah, they're not gonna turn
to the kkk.

They're gonna turn toward
the base, league of the south,

atomwaffen, whatever new name
they come up with.

♪♪

-when it come to violence
and hatred

and things of that nature,

we have a zero tolerance for it
around here,

and you won't find it
in the wide open

as far as being discussed
in any manner in this county.

Systemic racism --
the things that

are sort of blind and hidden

and have came about
over the time.

You got to do your part

as a citizen
to respect your fellow man

and to treat him
like you like to be treated.

-For the future,
what do you see?

Are you concerned that this is
gonna turn more violent?

-There's certainly
the potential.

There are certainly individuals
who are part of these groups.

There are other groups
that are looking

to kind of take on this mantle

and that are looking to exploit
the situation,

and especially leading
into the election.

Currently, the pandemic,
mass unemployment,

protests against racial
injustice in this country --

I mean, these are opportunities
for these groups to exploit

and either try and recruit
or try and push the situation

towards something
that they think benefits them.

-What do you say to people
who would say

not to worry about the base
or the atomwaffen division?

-Oh, I'd say that it's,
you know --

it's really an old complaint.

And they said it about the klan,

and they're saying it now
about the base.

I mean, I wouldn't want to
lead readers to believe

that there is an army
of base members out there.

What I do want them
to understand is

a small, violent group
dug into our own community,

plotting against other people
in our community

is a significant problem,
and it deserves coverage.

It deserves serious coverage.

♪♪

-in jewish tradition,
when you visit a grave site,

it's traditional to just leave,
like, a little pebble or stone,

that's, like, just a plain rock
to show that you've been there,

to show that
you've paid respect.

When blaze was killed
and everybody knew

that it was at this park,

they had a big
candlelight vigil,

and so people started
leaving rocks

around all of the trees here.

And then they started
painting them

and creating, like,
all these beautiful rocks.

And it all evolved from that
to the city of lake forest

offering to put
a memorial together for us.

So, you know, you're able to
turn something so horrific

into at least having
some semblance of beauty

to be able to come to
pay your respects and just to

try to give you
some perspective.

-This one's from japan.

-Limerick, pennsylvania.

Chattanooga, tennessee.

New york city.

Somewhere around here,

he was buried
in a shallow grave.

So to be this close
and be able to be composed

and, like, come here
and look at this

and think about,
how many rocks are here?

How many rocks
do you think are here?

-Thousands.
-500, 1,000? Okay.

-Just rocks, you know?

It's just something
really simple

that can become meaningful.

If anything good
can come from this,

I will make sure that it does.

It happened
because we let it happen.

We became desensitized
to violence and hate,

and that has to stop.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪