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James Nolan Mason
Jamesmason.png
Born (1952-07-25) July 25, 1952 (age 69)
Chillicothe, Ohio, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OrganizationAtomwaffen Division
Universal Order
Political partyAmerican Nazi Party (1966–70~)
National Socialist Liberation Front (1970s)

James Nolan Mason (born July 25, 1952)[1] is an American neo-Nazi.[2] Mason is an ideologue for the Atomwaffen Division, a paramilitary neo-Nazi terrorist organization, which some consider to be a part of the alt-right. The Atomwaffen Division was responsible for 8 homicides in 2017–2019.[3][2][4][5]

Early life

Mason grew up in Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1966, when he was 14 years old, he joined the youth movement of George Lincoln Rockwell's American Nazi Party (ANP).[3] In 1968, when he was 16, Mason planned to murder the principal and other staff members at his high school. Instead, following the advice of William Luther Pierce, he quit school and began working at the American Nazi Party's headquarters in Virginia.[3] After the assassination of George Lincoln Rockwell in 1967, Mason aligned himself with the National Socialist White People's Party and Joseph Tommasi's National Socialist Liberation Front (NSLF).[1] In 1970, at the age of 18, Mason became a full-fledged member of the National Socialist White People's Party (NSWPP) and returned to Chillicothe.[3]

In the early 1980s, Mason began corresponding with Sandra Good and Lynette Fromme, two followers of Charles Manson. In 1982, along with Manson, Mason founded Universal Order, an organization that encouraged terror with notoriety, similar to that achieved by the Manson Family.[1][3][6]

Criminal charges and convictions

In 1973, Mason and fellow neo-Nazi Greg Hurles deployed tear gas against several black teenagers in the parking lot of a Dairy Queen. Mason was convicted of assault,[3] and sentenced to six months in a Cincinnati workhouse.[3] In 1988 and 1991, police raided Mason's home in Ohio and seized pornographic photos of a 15-year-old girl. In 1992, he pled guilty to two counts of "illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material",[3] for which he was sentenced to a $500 fine and a suspended sentence.[7] In May 1994, Mason was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Mason threatened his ex-girlfriend, who was then 16 years old, and a Latino man who she had been dating, with a firearm. Mason struck a plea bargain and was convicted of weapons charges,[7] for which he was sentenced to three years of incarceration before being released in August 1999.[3]

On June 25, 2021, Mason was sanctioned by the Canadian Government on its list of terror-related entities.[8]

Atomwaffen Division

Main article: Atomwaffen Division

Mason's writings in the Siege newsletter, which have been compiled into a book, have been credited with forming a large part of the Atomwaffen Division's ideological foundation.[9]

On March 14, 2020, Mason claimed that the Atomwaffen Division has disbanded. However, the group is believed to be on the cusp of being designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department, and the Anti-Defamation League concluded "the move is designed to give members breathing room rather than actually end their militant activities".[10][11] According to SITE Intelligence Group Atomwaffen and its offshoots remain clandestinely active.[12][13][14]

Mason has also been known to receive foreign admirers in his Denver home, including members of the Nordic Resistance Movement, a proscribed Finnish terrorist organization, and affiliated neo-Nazi music collective "Bolt of Ukko".[15]

Political views

Mason believes that Nazis cannot take power as long as the existing U.S. government remains in place, and has advocated murder and violence to create chaos and anarchy, thereby destabilizing the government.[3] Mason considers the terrorists Timothy McVeigh and James Fields Jr. to be "heroes" and promulgates anti-Semititic conspiracy theories.[3] He expressed that the election of Donald Trump has given him hope, commenting that "in order to Make America Great Again, you have to make it white again".[16]

Writing

Mason's writings are considered influential among radical right-wing and neo-Nazi movements.[9]

Between 1978 and 1980, he worked with the National Socialist White Worker's Party and edited The Stormer, their newsletter.[3]

In 1980, Mason took over writing Siege, the newsletter of the NSLF. He continued publishing until 1986. In the newsletter, Mason paid tribute to Adolf Hitler, Joseph Tommasi, Charles Manson, and Savitri Devi.[6] He also advocated random attacks and murders in order to destabilize society.[3] In 1992, the newsletters were edited and published in book form as Siege: The Collected Writings of James Mason by Michael Jenkins Moynihan. The book acquired a neo-Nazi following and is now required reading for initiates of the Atomwaffen Division.[1][3]

In 2000, he published The Theocrat, a comparison of Bible passages and passages in Hitler's Mein Kampf.[3]

Designation as a terrorist

On June 25, 2021, it was announced that James Mason had been added to the entities designated as terrorist by Canada. Mason is only the second individual to be specifically added to the list.[17][18][19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Papers of James N. Mason". University of Kansas. Archived from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  2. ^ a b O'Brien, Luke; Mathias, Christopher (November 21, 2017). "The Maniac Neo-Nazis Keeping Charles Manson's Race War Alive". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on September 17, 2019. Even within the alt-right — a loose association of white supremacists and fascists — the Atomwaffen Division is considered extreme.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "James Mason". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on June 17, 2019.
  4. ^ Poulter, James (March 12, 2018). "The Obscure Neo-Nazi Forum Linked to a Wave of Terror". Vice. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019.
  5. ^ Thompson, A.C.; Winston, Ali; Hanrahan, Jake (January 26, 2018). "California Murder Suspect Said to Have Trained With Extremist Hate Group". ProPublica. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2002). "American Neo-Nazism". Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity. New York University Press. pp. 19. ISBN 978-0814731246. LCCN 2001004429.
  7. ^ a b Predergast, Alan (September 20, 1995). "Double exposure: Underage girls, a Nazi with a camera, and partying cops—what's wrong with this picture?". Westword. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019.
  8. ^ Public Safety Canada. "Currently listed entities". Government of Canada. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Schecter, Anna; Schapiro, Rich (November 26, 2019). "Influential neo-Nazi eats at soup kitchens, lives in government housing". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 30, 2019.
  10. ^ "Audio Recording Claims Neo-Nazi Terror Group Is Disbanding - VICE". www.vice.com. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  11. ^ McCormick-Cavanagh, Conor (March 17, 2020). "James Mason Announces Neo-Nazi Militant Group Is Disbanding". Westword. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  12. ^ "Atomwaffen Division branch establishes Official Telegram Channel". SITE Intelligence Group. March 21, 2019.
  13. ^ "Atomwaffen Division Splinter Group Releases Its Manifesto, Seeks Recruitment". SITE Intelligence Group. March 21, 2019.
  14. ^ "As Atomwaffen Division Disbands, European Branch Announces It Will "Remain Active"". SITE Intelligence Group. March 21, 2019.
  15. ^ "Uusnatsiryhmä Ukonvasama järjestää natsitapahtuman Aurassa viikonloppuna". Varisverkosto. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  16. ^ Zurawik, David (November 16, 2018). "Frontline offers chilling portrait of rising neo-Nazi movement in U.S." The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019.
  17. ^ Public Safety Canada. "Currently listed entities". Government of Canada. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  18. ^ Reynolds, Christopher (June 25, 2021). "Two more extreme right-wing groups join Proud Boys on Canada's terror list". CTV News. Retrieved June 25, 2021. A 69-year-old white supremacist named James Mason, who senior intelligence officials describe as a lifelong neo-Nazi whose writings laid an ideological foundation for multiple terrorist groups, has also been placed on the proscriptive list.
  19. ^ Boutillier, Alex (June 25, 2021). "Public safety minister acknowledges threat of white supremacist infiltration to Canada's police forces". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 25, 2021. The FBI report says the new generation of extremists has been influenced by “Siege,” a publication by American neo-Nazi James Mason that advocates for lone-wolf attacks against U.S. government targets to bring about societal collapse and a race war. On Friday, Blair announced that Mason — along with a neo-Nazi organization, a far-right militia group, and an Islamic State affiliate — would be added to Canada’s list of prohibited terrorist entities.
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