Louis Beam | |
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_(cropped).jpg) FBI ten most wanted poster as fugitive #414 | |
| Born | Louis Ray Beam Jr. (1946-08-20)20 August 1946 (age 79)[1] |
| Occupation | Political activist |
| Known for | The first important proponent ofleaderless resistance within the white supremacist movement |
| Movement | White supremacism |
Louis Ray Beam Jr. (born August 20, 1946) is an Americanwhite supremacist.
After high school, he joined theUnited States Army and served as a helicopter door-gunner inVietnam.[2] He was awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross.[3] Once he returned to the United States, he became aKlansman, leading a maritime[4]LouisianaKKK element and Klan rally in Texas against government help toVietnamese immigrant fishermen.[5][6] He was also the leader of theTexas Emergency Reserve, amilitia that was disbanded by the courts in 1982 as a result of a lawsuit filed under Texas anti-militia law by theSouthern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).[7][8] The lawsuit was brought by SPLC after the militia harassed Vietnamese fishermen during the 1981 fishing season.
Beam was using Camp Puller nearHouston in 1980 to train militia, including children as young as eight years old, in armedguerrilla tactics; the camp was shut down after publicity led to protests, and parents complaining that they were not aware of the children's activities at the camp.[9] TheBoy Scouts Council of Houston rejected a charter request from the troop at Camp Puller.[10] Videotape shown during the shrimper hearing had Beam saying, "We're going to assume authority in this country."[11] He moved toIdaho afterwards and became active withAryan Nations in the early 1980s.[12]
He was arrested November 6, 1987, at home with his wife inGuadalajara,Mexico. During the arrest, Beam's wife opened fire and critically injured a Mexican police officer. He was wanted as a fugitive #414 of theFBI ten most wanted list on charges of seditious conspiracy to violently overthrow the U.S. government.[13]
In 1988, he was later acquitted ina separate case of conspiring to overthrow the government.[7] He is considered to be the first important proponent of the strategy ofleaderless resistance within the white supremacist movement.[14][15][16]
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