Tom Metzger | |
|---|---|
 Metzger in 1980 | |
| Born | Thomas Linton Metzger (1938-04-09)April 9, 1938 Warsaw, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | November 4, 2020(2020-11-04) (aged 82) Hemet, California, U.S. |
| Known for | Head of theWhite Aryan Resistance Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
Thomas Linton Metzger (April 9, 1938 – November 4, 2020) was an Americanwhite supremacist,neo-Nazi leader andKlansman.[1][2][3][4] He foundedWhite Aryan Resistance (WAR), a neo-Nazi organization, in 1983. He was aGrand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Metzger voiced strongopposition to immigration to the United States, and was an advocate of theThird Position. He was incarcerated inLos Angeles County, California, andToronto, Ontario, and was the subject of severallawsuits and government inquiries. He, his son, and WAR were found liable for a total of $12.5 million in damages as a result of the murder ofMulugeta Seraw, 28, an Ethiopian student, by skinheads inPortland, Oregon, affiliated with WAR.[4]
Metzger was born and raised inIndiana.[5] He served in theU.S. Army from 1961 until 1964 when he moved toSouthern California to work in the electronics industry.[5] For a short time, he was a member of theright-wing group theJohn Birch Society, and attendedanti-communist luncheon meetings sponsored by theDouglas Aircraft Corporation.[5] However, he eventually left the group when it rejected hisantisemitic views.
By 1968, Metzger had moved toFallbrook, California, and he supported independentGeorge C. Wallace for president.[5] Metzger stopped paying taxes in the 1970s, and by 1972 his tax protest over theVietnam War had destroyed his thriving television business but introduced him to othertax protesters who, he said, were "atheist racists,Christian Identity racists,Nazis, all kinds of people."[5]
From 1971 to 1980, Metzger was the pastor of a Christian Identity church.[4]: 56 He later became disillusioned with Christian Identity and became an atheist.[6]
During the 1970s, Metzger joined theKnights of the Ku Klux Klan, which was led byDavid Duke, and he eventually became theGrand Dragon of the State of California.[7] Metzger's Klan organization also had a security force which was involved in confrontations withcommunists and anti-Klan protesters.[8][9]
Metzger's branch of the Klan split from Duke's organization in 1980 to form the California Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.[10] Also in 1979, he tookGreg Withrow of theWhite Student Union "under his wing", which later became the Aryan Youth Movement (AYM), for youth associated withWhite Aryan Resistance.[11]
In 1985, Metzger attended aNation of Islam rally inSan Diego, led byLouis Farrakhan.[12] During the rally, he compared America to a "rotting carcass" and praised Farrakhan for "understanding" thatJews are "living off the carcass" and called them "parasites."[13]
According toStephen Atkins, author ofThe Encyclopedia of Right-Wing Extremism in Modern American History, Metzger's ideology "differs from other white supremacists by rejecting the basic tenets of theChristian Identity movement because he considers himself to be the champion of theThird Position. The Third Position is a form of racism that is oriented towards attracting the white working class and it is alsoanti-capitalist in orientation. Metzger believed thatthe United States should be divided into designated areas for different racial groups exceptAsian Americans, who should beexpelled 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. Thefederal government is the number one enemy of ourrace. When was the last time you heard apolitician speaking out in favor ofwhite people? [...] You say the government is too big; we can’t organize. Well, by God, theSS did it inGermany, 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]"
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 the1982 California Senate Democratic primary, Metzger abandoned the electoral route and reorganized WAPA as White American Resistance in 1983 and then reorganized it as White Aryan Resistance, to reflect a more "revolutionary" stance.[14][15] In this period, Metzger became influenced byJames Mason's newsletterSiege. WhileSiege would several decades later have substantial influence when collected into book form, Metzger was one of the very few people to have read it in its original periodical form; he wrote that it had had a strong influence on him.[16]
In 1985 Metzger attended a rally of the Nation of Islam. Despite Metzger's openracism towards blacks, he alleged the two groups had common ground based on their desire forracial separation and their hatred of Jewish people. Metzger and an NOI representative claim Metzger provided information on the alleged violent plans of theJewish 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."[17][18]
Metzger made numerous television appearances in addition to hosting his owncable TVpublic-access television show,Race and Reason. In one of his first cable episodes, Metzger invited thegothic rock bandRadio Werewolf onto the show, during which a confused Metzger was given an honorary membership in the band.[19] In November 1988, his son John appeared on an episode of theGeraldo show in whicha brawl broke out andGeraldo Rivera's nose was broken.[20] Metzger also appeared onWally George'sHot Seat show withIrv Rubin, the chairman of theJewish Defense League, in what was a very contentious debate. The debate ended when Rubin threw water in the face of Metzger. Security intervened and theAnaheim police were called.[21]Art Bell interviewed Metzger on his overnight call-in radio show, and mentioned his Filipino wife, asking: "'I am married to a brown-skinned Asian woman. What does that make me?' To which Metzger replied, 'A traitor to your race.'"[22]
The group was eventually bankrupted as the result of a civil lawsuit centered on its involvement in the 1988 murder ofMulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian man who had moved to the United States to attend college. In 1988,white power skinheads affiliated with WAR were convicted of killing Seraw and sent to prison. Kenneth Mieske said he and the two others killed Seraw "because of his race."[23] Metzger declared that they did a "civic duty" by killing Seraw.[24]Morris Dees and theSouthern Poverty Law Center filed a civil suit against him, arguing that WAR influenced Seraw's killers by encouraging their group East Side White Pride to commit violence.[25][26]
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,Ancer L. Haggerty, wasAfrican American.[27][28]
At the trial, WAR national vice president Dave Mazzella testified about how the Metzgers instructed WAR members to commitviolence against minorities. Tom and his son John Metzger were found civilly liable under the doctrine ofvicarious liability, in which one can be liable for atort 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.[29] The Metzgers' house was seized, and most of WAR's profits go to paying off the judgment.[30]
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'sHomestead Act.[31] The Southern Poverty Law Center and theAnti-Defamation League came up with the $45,000 needed to pay Metzger for the home.[31] Metzger was warned that any damages left in the house would result in a lawsuit, and while he left it in "a mess" with cracked windows, there was no serious damage.[31] As a result of the sale of his home, he was forced to move into an apartment.[31]
In May 1991, Metzger agreed to stop selling T-shirts ofBart Simpson in aNazi uniform with the words "Pure Nazi Dude" and "Total Nazi Dude".[32] In 1991, he was convicted ofburning a cross in 1983, and sentenced to six months in prison and 300 hours ofcommunity service by working with minorities. Also convicted were Stanley Witek, the leader of a small local Neo-Nazi party, and Brad Kelly.[33] Metzger was released from prison after 45 days so he could be with his critically ill wife.[7][34] In 1992, Metzger and his son John violated a court order not to leave the country and enteredCanada to speak to theHeritage Front. Soon afterwards, he was arrested for violating Canadian immigration laws by entering the country to "promoteracial hatred".[35] With his son John, Metzger was jailed for five days for breaking Canadian immigration laws as he had done so "to promote race hatred".[7]
From the early 1990s, Metzger advocated the"lone wolf" method of action.[36] Metzger and white supremacist activistAlex Curtis, an acolyte of Metzger, are commonly credited with coining the term of "lone wolf terrorism", which they both advocated.[36][37][38] At the time, extremist right-wing groups were being heavily infiltrated by outsiders, hampering their activities. Any groups that suggested violent action were regularly the target oflawsuits forvicarious liability in the event that any occurred for inciting the violent acts.[39] Metzger later appeared in support of Curtis in court.[40]
In 2003, Metzger appeared inLouis and the Nazis, a documentary made byLouis Theroux.[41][42]
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 theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raided Metzger's home. No arrests were made and no information was released on what was found inside his house. Metzger was allowed to leave the premises during the search and stated that address books,compact discs, tapes and computers were seized in the raid.[43][44] This was connected with two arrested brothers accused of a mail bomb attack injuring a diversity director in Arizona.[7]
Metzger was mandated to make payments to Seraw's family for the remainder of his life.[45] Metzger hosted an Internet radio talk show and by 2018 no longer resided in Indiana, having moved back to California.[46]
Metzger changed political parties several times and sometimes created his own. In 1980, he won the Democratic Party nomination for theU.S. House of Representatives with over 40,000 votes in aSan Diego–area district.[47] This led to the Democratic Party to disavow his candidacy, and take the unusual step of endorsing his opponent, RepublicanClair Burgener.[48] Metzger lost by over 200,000 votes in November 1980 to Burgener in a heavily Republican district.
In1982 he sought the Democratic Party'ssenatorial nomination, running against then-GovernorJerry Brown and authorGore Vidal, winning only 76,000 votes (2.8% of the vote) in the primary.[citation needed]
In 2010, Metzger took out an advertisement in theWarsaw Times-Union, in order to announce his intention to challenge, as an independent, U.S. RepresentativeMark Souder, a Republican fromIndiana'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.[49] Metzger did not make it onto the ballot for the election, which was ultimately won by RepublicanMarlin Stutzman.
He died on November 4, 2020, ofParkinson's disease.[50][51]
| 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 | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| International | |
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| Artists | |
| People | |
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