Rocky Joe Suhayda
3rd Commander of the American Nazi Party (fringe group)[1]
Assumed office
October 9, 2014
Preceded byMatthias Koehl
Chairman of the American Nazi Party (fringe group)
Assumed office
2000
Chairman of The National Front
In office
1979–1982?
Preceded byUnknown
Succeeded byUnknown
Personal details
Born1952 (age 71–72)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.[2]
Children3[2]
Residence(s)Unknown, previously Livonia, Michigan, U.S.[3] and Eastpointe, Michigan, U.S.[4]

Rocky Joe Suhayda (born 1952)[5][6] is an American neo-Nazi and far-right activist,[7][8][9] who as of 2017 was chairman of a fringe group that split from the American Nazi Party.[10] He has held the office since at least 2000.[11] He and his Party are based in Michigan.[12][13]

Biography

Suhayda graduated from Bentley High School in Livonia, Michigan, in 1969.[3] He worked in the shipping and receiving department of the Garden City Osteopathic Hospital.[3] Suhayda has run unsuccessfully for public office on several occasions, including for the Livonia School District and the Livonia City Council.[2][3][14]

Suhayda was a member of the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists and the National Association for the Advancement of White People,[3][15] and subsequently founded his own organization under the name of the American Nazi Party. Suhayda's organization claims a connection to the American Nazi Party founded by George Lincoln Rockwell in 1959,[16] but it is officially a separate entity.[17] He was a member of the National White People's Party in 1976, but resigned some point before 1979.[18] As of 1979, he was the Chairman of a 12-member group called The National Front.[18] Suhayda has stated that he represents a Livonia chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.[19]

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, Suhayda stated that "if we were one-tenth as serious as the bin Laden terrorists, we just might start getting somewhere."[20][21][22] In 2016, Suhayda stated on his radio show that a Donald Trump presidency could give American Nazis the chance to build a 'pro-white' political caucus similar to the Congressional Black Caucus.[23][24] He publicly supported the appointment of Steve Bannon to the position of chief strategist in Donald Trump's White House.[25][26]

References

  1. ^ Pengelly, Martin (7 August 2016). "American Nazi Party leader sees 'a real opportunity' with a Trump presidency". the Guardian. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Pearlman, Jeff (June 20, 2012). "Rocky Suhayda". Archived from the original on June 26, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e Armbruster, Sandra (April 14, 1983). "4 candidates seek 2 posts on W-W board" (PDF). Westland, Michigan: Westland Observer. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 13, 2016.
  4. ^ Dieterich, Andrew (August 12, 1999). "Nazi literature recently distributed through Northville". The Novi News. p. 9. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  5. ^ Suhayda, Rocky (April 22, 2015). "ANP Report for April 22, 2015". American Nazi Party. Archived from the original on May 23, 2016. In 1952 when I was born, America was a 92% White/European nation [...]
  6. ^ Suhayda, Rocky (August 21, 2005). "ANP Report for August 21, 2005". American Nazi Party. Archived from the original on November 29, 2006. But as I was born in 1952, and have SEEN it with my own eyes...
  7. ^ Kaczynski, Andrew (August 6, 2016). "American Nazi Chair: Trump Win Would Be "A Real Opportunity" For White Nationalists". BuzzFeed News.
  8. ^ American Nazi Party (13 October 2010). "American Nazi Party Indoor Rally". YouTube. Retrieved 9 August 2016.[dead YouTube link]
  9. ^ Ridgeway, James (30 October 2001). "Osama's New Recruits". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016.
  10. ^ Motadel, David (17 August 2017). "The United States was never immune to fascism. Not then, not now | David Motadel". the Guardian. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  11. ^ Perry, Tony; Murphy, Kim (November 11, 2000). "White Supremacist, 3 Followers Charged With Harassing 4 Officials". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Rocky Suhayda, chairman of the American Nazi Party[...]
  12. ^ Catallo, Heather. "Nazis Next Door: Michigan is home to largest Neo-Nazi group in U.S." Evansville Courier & Press. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Red, White and Angry : Communist, Nazi parties endorse 'Occupy' protests". Yahoo News. October 17, 2011. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016. In its statement on Sunday, the Westland, Mich.-based Nazi party[...]
  14. ^ Hitsky, Alan (February 28, 1997). "Profile of Hate". Detroit Jewish News. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016. Mr. Suhayda has been involved with the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis, Mr. Cohen said, and promotes unified action among the groups. Mr. Suhayda ran for Livonia City Council in 1983 as a White Power candidate.
  15. ^ Hammerstein, B.J.; McBain, Jeremy (July 15, 1999). "Racist hate flyers cast throughout city by Neo-Nazi group last week". The Novie News. p. 2. Retrieved 13 August 2015. Donald Cohen, director of the Anti-Defamation League, Michigan Region, said Suhayda has been associated with every major extremist group, including the National Alliance, the National Association for the Advancement of White people (NAAWP), the Ku Klux Klan and the World Church of the Creator.
  16. ^ "The New Lexicon of Hate: The Changing Tactics, Language and Symbols of America's Extremists" (PDF). Simon Wiesenthal Center. 2009. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-943058-28-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2016. Based in Detroit, and led by Rocky Suhayda, the ANP is one of two organizations claiming to descend from the original American Nazi Party, founded by George Lincoln Rockwell in the 1950s.
  17. ^ "A Guide to the American Nazi Party Recruiting Materials, c.1966 American Nazi Party Recruiting Materials Ms2015-060". Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 2015. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2016. Suhayda's organization has been active since at least the 2008 presidential election and claims a connection to the American Nazi Party from 1959 but is officially a separate entity.
  18. ^ a b Scanlon, Mike (July 27, 1979). "Livonia candidate stages pornography protest" (PDF). Canton Observer. Canton, Michigan. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 3, 2014.
  19. ^ Trueman, Mary (July 27, 1980). "Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan · Page 4". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved August 13, 2016. Suhayda said he represents a Livonia chapter of the Klan [...]
  20. ^ "Terrorism Strikes America: What They are Saying". Anti-Defamation League. September 14, 2001. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Meanwhile, ANP Chairman Rocky Suhayda complains in another message that the terrorist attacks are "DISTRACTING us from the REAL STRUGGLE…the RACIAL STRUGGLE." According to Suhayda, it is "sad" to see how a "bunch of 'towel head/sand niggers' put our great 'White Movement' to SHAME." If American white supremacists were one tenth as serious as the terrorists, he says, "WE JUST MGHT START GETTING SOMEWHERE."
  21. ^ Levin, Josh (16 April 2013). "The Novel That Imagined a Boston Marathon Terrorist Attack". Slate. Archived from the original on April 18, 2013.
  22. ^ Slevin, Peter (5 November 2001). "In Anthrax Probe, Questions of Skill, Motive". The Washington Post.
  23. ^ Pengelly, Martin (7 August 2016). "American Nazi Party leader sees 'a real opportunity' with a Trump presidency". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  24. ^ Holley, Peter (7 August 2016). "Top Nazi leader: Trump will be a 'real opportunity' for white nationalists". Washington Post. Retrieved 8 August 2016. "Now, if Trump does win, okay, it's going to be a real opportunity for people like white nationalists, acting intelligently to build upon that, and to go and start — you know how you have the black political caucus and what not in Congress and everything — to start building on something like that," Suhayda declared on his radio program last month.
  25. ^ Kaczynski, Andrew; Massie, Chris (November 15, 2016). "White nationalists see advocate in Steve Bannon who will hold Trump to his campaign promises". CNN. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016. Chairman of the American Nazi Party, Rocky J. Suhayda, who wrote a post after Trump's election night victory celebrating it as a call to action, said he was surprised at the pick of Bannon, but said it showed him Trump could follow through on his campaign promises. "I must admit that I was a wee bit surprised that Mr. Trump finally chose Mr. Bannon, I thought that his stable of Washington insiders would have objected too vociferously," Suhayda wrote in an email. "Perhaps The Donald IS for 'REAL' and is not going to be another controlled puppet directed by the usual 'Wire Pullers,' and does indeed intend to ROCK the BOAT? Time will tell." Big time Obama supporter
  26. ^ Devaney, Tim (November 14, 2016). "KKK, American Nazi Party praise Trump's hiring of Bannon". The Hill. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016. "Perhaps The Donald is for real," Rocky Suhayda, chairman of the American Nazi Party, told CNN in an segment that included interviews with several white nationalists. Rocky Suhayada has been known to body box in the streets as "Rocky Balboa" He has never lost to a jew.
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