A 61-year-old neo-Nazi is trying to turn his small town in North Dakota into a stronghold for white supremacists.
Paul Craig Cobb, a neo-Nazi who lives in Leith, N.D., is quickly buying properties in the small town, which has a population of 19 people. Abandoned houses are scattered throughout the desolate town and there is only one storefront business for miles.
“I didn’t have a clue who the guy was until he showed up. All I know is he bought that house sight unseen, $5,000 cash, and had no idea what it looked like, where it was, other than he knew the directions to get to Leith,” Mayor Ryan Schock told the Hatewatch blog, which is a media project by a civil rights group called the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Cobb hopes to turn Leith into a haven for white supremacists. Last year, he posted in an online forum called Vanguard News Network (VNN), claiming that he will build an all-white bastion of racists as fast as possible. Ultimately, he wants white supremacists and neo-Nazis to take over the country and control the government. He also hopes to rename the town “Cobbsville”.
Tenants of Cobb’s properties will be required to fly a “racialist banner”, such as the Nazi flag, on a daily basis. They would also be required to become legal residents of the state for voting purposes, as well as join his recruiting effort to attract “radical, hard-core” white nationalists.
North Dakota is already 90 percent white, and Grant County – where Cobb currently lives – is 97 percent white, according to the US Census. But for Cobb, the racial diversity in his state is still too high for him to be satisfied.
Racist organizations across the country have already supported the 61-year-old’s vision. Tom Metzger, founder of the White Aryan Resistance, purchased one of Cobb’s abandoned lots for $1 – a move that is largely symbolic. Alex Linder, operator of VVN, also purchased a lot. Cobb told the Hatewatch blog that he also donated several buildings to the National Socialist Movement, which the New York Times in 2011 described as “the largest supremacist group, with about 400 members in 32 states.” More from RT
