Originally posted on www.indybay.org

Saturday, July 30, 2005

CONNECT THE DOTS FROM VICTORVILLE TO LAGUNA BEACH: PART II

Photos reveal bizarre relationship between SOS members, Neo-Nazi Skinheads, and White Supremacists.

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

LAGUNA BEACH, CA -- When three men allegedly tried to assault Naui Huitzilopochtli, a counterdemonstrator at the Saturday, July 16, 2005 rally against the day laborer center in Laguna Beach, California, they probably didn't realize the political earthquake they were about to set into motion.

For many months now, rumors had been floating around the internet among progressive activists that there was some kind of a bizarre relationship beginning to emerge between Save Our State (SOS) members, Neo-Nazi Skinheads, and White Supremacists.

Cryptic postings on the Stormfront White Nationalist Community website, a nationwide bulletin board run by an ex-Ku Klux Klan leader, hinted that something was up. Thread after thread of messages suggested that racists of all stripes across Southern California were trying to hook up with SOS.

The chatter would sometimes involve heated discussions about the best ways to promote hate. "Advocate," "Dixieland_Delight," "Baldy," "Konkwista88," and many other anonymous posters, would talk incessantly about the need to go to SOS rallies and do outreach for their cause.

Some of these same nicknames even began popping up on the SOS website. "Advocate," who until earlier this month had posted close to 218 messages to that site since December 2004, also had several online discussions with members of that group, including some of its top leaders.

Despite the enormous amount of message traffic being generated by these persons unknown on the Stormfront and SOS websites, progressive activists just couldn't figure out exactly what was going on. It was like spending your time trying to find shadows in the dark.

But what happened in Laguna Beach on July 16th has changed everything. The very moment those three men set foot off the sidewalk, they opened themselves up to an intense amount of scrutiny. The cameras began clicking, reporters started scribbling, and policemen began investigating.

During the past two weeks, this writer himself has undertaken his own exhaustive investigation into the persons who allegedly tried to assault Naui at the demo. I've interviewed witnesses, communicated with anonymous whistleblowers via email, and have printed out and read hundreds of messages posted on both the Stormfront and SOS websites.

In addition to this, I have carefully scrutinized about two hundred digital photos that were taken by amateur photographers of protests that SOS or its members either organized or participated in places like Victorville, Baldwin Park, Santa Clarita, and Laguna Beach.

And what have I learned so far, you may ask?

Here is the summary of what I've discovered:

1. Of the three men who allegedly tried to assault Naui at the anti-day laborer center rally in Laguna Beach on July 16th, two are known to be avowed white supremacists. Strong evidence suggests they post under the psuedonyms, "Baldy" (whose real name is Robert Floyd) and "Konkwista88," on the Stormfront website. They appear in photographs in all of the protests I mention above, of which three were organized or initiated by SOS and its members.

2. Frank Jorge, the other man who allegedly tried to assault Naui, is a leader within SOS and a Minuteman. In two photos that were taken by two different photographers at the anti-monument rally in Baldwin Park on June 25th, Jorge is shown standing in close proximity to either one or the other white supremacist I make reference to in the previous paragraph.

3. "Advocate," an older white male who appears to be in his late 50s, appears to be a mentor for a group of about a dozen young neo-Nazi skinheads and white supremacists in the Southern California area who have been brought together through the Stormfront website. Prior to July 16th, this groups appears to have been using SOS as a vehicle to promote white supremacist views.

4. "Advocate," "Baldy," "Konkwista88," and his girlfriend, "Dixieland_Delight," appear all together in a photograph that was taken at an anti-Home Depot protest in Santa Clarita, California on July 10, 2005 that was organized by members of the National Vanguard, neo-Nazi skinheads, and other white supremacists. Some of the persons in the photograph are reputed to be Ku Klux Klansmen.

5. "Advocate" has had a close association with SOS, and has been involved with that group at least since December 2004. He posted close to 218 messages on their website (some of them extremely racist) before being banned earlier this month by a moderator, allegedly for making threatening statements.

6. "Advocate" has had direct and open public communications with top SOS leaders, including Joe Turner (aka, "SaveOurState") and Don Silva. (aka, "OldPreach") In one thread "Advocate" initiated, he engaged in a dialogue with Turner, Silva, and others about the need for creating better quality signs to get the group's message across to the general public. Although SOS didn't pay for the blue banner, "DEPORT ILLEGAL ALIENS," that we see in photos of the Santa Clarita and Laguna Beach protests, evidence exists suggesting that Turner was the inspiration for it.

7. Despite repeated statements by top SOS leaders that white supremacists aren't welcome within their organization, messages posted on their own website authored by Silva, Turner, and other members of that group tend to make a complete mockery of these assertions.

For example, after some SOS members expressed alarm over all the National Vanguard members, neo-Nazi skinheads, and white supremacists that attended the last anti-monument rally held in Baldwin Park, California, Silva wrote in a June 25th message he posted online:

Like is stated on the www.saveourstate.org
web site, we reject ALL reacist/sep [sic]
orgs and their various disgusting
doctrines. I am not white, and so they
reject me from joining their ranks, even
if I [were] to express an interest. That
SICKENS me....

But before he completed this sentence, Silva then immediately contradicted himself:

I do not think I would mind it if they
wanted to join our side on this cause if
they just kept there lame racism to
themselves and just went out there as
American.

In other words, Silva is saying he doesn't have a problem with members of the National Vanguard, neo-Nazi skinheads, and other white supremacists attending SOS rallies as long as they keep their "reich shirts" and hate literature at home.

And Turner, the Executive Director of SOS, apparently feels the same way. In a June 5th posting, he remarked:

You have the white supremacists who come on
this board spouting their shit. If they
joined us at a rally and simply stuck to
the issue [of "illegal immigration"],
none of us would even know they were
supremacists, etc.

This lacksidasical attitude appears to be the prevailing sentiment among many members of SOS. When the topic of white supremacists came up in another message on their website, "Prometheus," a man who claims to have been an organizer of the anti-Home Depot protest in Victorville, California on June 11th responded:

I [simply] don't have a problem with
any WN [White Nationalist] or SF [Stormfront]
people as long as they leave their hatred
and hate literature behind. Besides if
we can't get beyond that then we can have
numbers that is what the cause needs,
body count.

Another poster, "Kathy58," gave a similar reply to a different thread:

National Vanguad [sic], National Alliance,
and all those asinine white supremacist
organizations are nasty, with nasty goals
and nasty objectives. They are, however,
boots on the ground and if you want to
show numbers, they are allies.

In another message, "Bearflagrepublic2005," a person who says he attended both the Victorville and Baldwin Park protests, had nothing but praise for the neo-Nazi skinheads and white supremacists who appear at the rallies. Talking about an experience he had at the anti-Home Depot rally in Santa Clarita on July 10th (which was not organized by SOS), he wrote:

I'm personally thankful that street
activists showed up, because we had an
incedent [sic] where a 'mexican' (as
far as I could distinguish) threatened
the protest by getting out of his
car and reaching for something in his
trunk while verbally threatening the
four of us who were standing the
corner. It was the White Nationalists
who had their knives that came around
the corner that caused this possible
attacker to retreat to his car and
drive off. These protectors are
welcome anywhere I go to demonstrate
against illegal immigrants or any
other important issue.

8. In the same June 25th message I alluded to previously, Silva also claimed that SOS was doing everything it could possibly do to keep white supremacists from coming to protests they organize:

Sigh.... we are doing all we feel
we can to discouage [sic] them, and
when I see them there, i cringe
and start to boil becuzz [sic] they
just can not be civil about it. They
just spew out the racism.

But despite this, there is some evidence suggesting that some SOS leaders continue to maintain relationships with them. As to why has not been made perfectly clear.

On July 6, 2005, someone using the psuedonym "oldpreach" posted the following message on the Stormfront website:

I can not seem to PM [private message]
about the july 10th event. Can one of
the orgs [organizers] of the event plz
email me the details? Thnks.
sfvcc1@yahoo.com

The message can be seen at this link:

http://www.stormfront.org/archive/t-215875Mexican_Flags_over_CA_Freeway.html

Although there is always a slight possibility this may not be the same "oldpreach" that Silva usually posts under on the SOS website, it is an interesting coincidence that the person is presumably making an inquiry about the July 10th rally against Home Depot in Santa Clarita, which, curiously enough, was organized by "Baldy," "Dixieland_Delight," and another person, according to messages posted on the Stormfront website.

Even more interesting is the fact that the "sfvcc" in the above email address corresponds to the initials for the "San Fernando Valley Chess Club," a group that used to meet at the Coffee Machine, a coffee house and music venue in the City of Reseda. In fact, if you go to the website of the Coffee Machine (www.coffeemachine.us), you'll discover that back in 2004, the "San Fernando Valley Chess Club" was hosted by Silva:

http://www.coffeemachine.us/images/Chess/Pics_Chess.cfm

(If you carefully look at the row of photos on your left, and go about twelve pictures down, you'll see a clean shaven Silva standing at a table looking at a young boy and an older man playing chess.)

But even more problematic is the existence of photo that shows Silva holding up the blue banner, "DEPORT ILLEGAL ALIENS," along with "Advocate," at the Saturday, July 16th, 2005 rally against the day laborer center in Laguna Beach. In the photo, "Dixieland_Delight" poses before the camera waving an American flag. It was posted as an attachment to a message under a thread that "Baldy" (i.e., Robert Floyd) happened to have created on the Stormfront website.

Of course, I could go on. But what is most important is the collection of more than 40 photographs I've put together from public sources all over the internet; as you examine them, they'll help you flesh out this rather bizarre relationship in much greater detail.

It will help you connect the dots from Victorville to Laguna Beach, as I have already done.

-------------------------------

PHOTOS:

To examine the other photographs, please see the following links:

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/07/133831.php

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/07/133822.php

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/07/133812.php

-------------------------------

AUTHOR COMMENTS:

This article is the last in a series that started with a piece entitled, "Laguna Beach Cops Tackle White Supremacist to the Ground: Part I," that was originally posted on la.indymedia.org on the evening of Monday, July 18, 2005. If you haven't read this article yet, it is strongly advised that you do because it helps you better understand what this article is all about.

The link is as follows:

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/07/133029.php

The only thing I would change from the original article I wrote is that I've since learned the "National Alliance" I make reference too doesn't technically exist anymore; it apparently has been swallowed up by the National Vanguard.

A photograph of Don Silva and Joe Turner, leaders of Save Our State (SOS), congregating with others on the Northwest corner of the Locust Ave. and Bear Valley Ave. intersection in Victorville, California on Saturday, June 11, 2005. About ten people showed up on the SOS side to protest Home Depot. Photo originally posted on www.saveourstate.org.

A photograph of the anti-Home Depot protest organized by SOS reportedly taken by Robert Floyd, who posts under the psuedonym, "Baldy," on the Stormfront White Nationalist Community website. Floyd was across the street participating in the other anti-Home Depot protest: the one that had been organized by members of the National Vanguard, neo-Nazi skinheads, and other white supremacists. Photo originally posted on the www.stormfront.org.

A photograph of the anti-Home Depot protest organized by members of the National Vanguard, neo-Nazi skinheads, and other white supremacists in Victorville, California on Saturday, June 11, 2005. The organizers of this particular action allegedly contacted an SOS member for permission to come. According to various reports, between 15 and 20 people were in attendance, some coming from as far away as Las Vegas. Photo orginally posted on www.stormfront.org.

An enlargement of the previous photo showing a woman who posts under the psuedonym "Dixieland_Delight" on the Stormfront White Nationalist Community website. The man to her right is reputed to be "Konkwista88," another Stormfront member, and is also her boyfriend. "Konkwista88" has been identified by witnesses as being one of three men who allegedly tried to assault Naui Huitzilopochtli, a counterdemonstrator in Laguna Beach on July 16, 2005.

Another photograph of the anti-Home Depot protest organized by members of the National Vanguard, neo-Nazi skinheads, and other white supremacists. Photo originally posted on www.stormfront.org.

An enlargement of the previous photo showing Robert Floyd, the man wearing an orange shirt and hat, standing near the traffic box (just behind the other man wearing a red t-shirt). Directly across the street from him, you can clearly see Don Silva of SOS carrying an American flag. His back is to the camera. Photo orginally posted on www.stormfront.org.

A closeup photograph of Floyd and another unindentified person, standing on the Northeast side of the Locust Ave. and the Bear Valley Ave intersection in Victorville. Floyd reportedly hung out on this corner throughout the duration of both protests. Photo orginally posted on www.stormfront.org.

Another photograph of an unindentified man participating in the anti-Home Depot protest organized by members of the National Vanguard, neo-Nazi skinheads, and other white

An enlargement of the previous photo showing a closeup of the sign the unidentified man was carrying. Notice the handwritten words, "Save Our ..."? Photo originally posted on www.stormfront.org.

A photograph of a man reputed to be "Advocate" hanging out with white supremacists at the anti-Home Depot protest. "Advocate" has posted numerous messages using that pseudonym on both the Stormfront website and, until recently, the SOS website. Photo originally posted on the www.stormfront.org.