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Content warning: This article contains graphic language.
Friend,
It takes a lot to surprise Jeff Tischauser.
A research analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project who works to expose the growing normalization of far-right extremism in the United States, Tischauser is used to hardening himself against the activities of the purveyors of hate he tracks.
But when known neo-Nazi Christopher Pohlhaus took his penchant for online harassment live, the cruelty particularly stood out for Tischauser.
The pivot point came in March, when Pohlhaus marshaled members of the violent “Blood Tribe” he founded to hound children and families attending a drag brunch fundraiser for the LGBTQ+ community in small-town Ohio, screaming obscenities and pursuing a call to “give them PTSD.”
“I realized this guy is actually more for real than I thought he was. He’s not just an online podcaster. He’s getting people out into the streets. He is seemingly driven to provoke his perceived political enemies. And that includes children … apparently,” Tischauser said. “Not a lot of things shock me anymore, but they still can turn my stomach. When I heard that, it made me want to find where this guy is so that he can at least be stopped or at least kind of track his activities a little bit more closely.”
With determination typical of the research analysts who work for the Intelligence Project to bring extremists out of the shadows, Tischauser trained his investigative skills on Pohlhaus.
In July, the Intelligence Project published an exposé in its Hatewatch blog showing that Pohlhaus had purchased 10.6 acres deep in the pine forests of northern Maine. The purpose was to build an armed white supremacist training ground for the group he calls “Blut Stamm” – German for “Blood Tribe.” Unnoticed by many people in the community, Pohlhaus had been clearing land he bought in March 2022 and was traveling the country to recruit followers to broaden his network of extremist connections. Soliciting cryptocurrency donations on Telegram, an encrypted messaging board often used by white supremacists, he was using the money to build and stock the enclave, where he flew a giant Nazi flag.
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In solidarity,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
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