The Hammerskin Nation: Update
Posted: July 29, 2002
The official Hammerskin Nation Web site disappeared from the Internet nearly a year ago, and white supremacist Tom Metzger has claimed that "there is no more official Hammerskin Nation." Attendance was down at the annual Hammerfest in October 2001, and on November 21, 2001, a Riverside, California, jury convicted Western Hammerskins Travis Miskam and Jesse Douglas on assault, hate crime and gang-related charges in connection with their 1999 attack on Randy Bowen. At the same time, the Hammerskin splinter group known as the Outlaw Hammerskins has grown in stature. Many Outlaw members attended the 2002 Nordic Fest hosted by the Imperial Klans of America, and the group will provide security for the upcoming White Pride Festival hosted by the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in August.
The original Hammerskin Nation also remains active:
- Eastern Hammerskins participated in the large racist rally in York, Pennsylvania, on January 12, 2002, alongside National Alliance and World Church of the Creator members. One Eastern Hammerskin was arrested at the rally for driving his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters.
- Hammerskins from North Carolina attended a Klan rally in Newport, Tennessee, on January 19, 2002. The Confederate Hammerskins held a concert on March 16, 2002, in Jacksonville, Florida, featuring Aggressive Force and other bands.
- The Northern Hammerskins held a concert on April 20, 2002, in Detroit, Michigan featuring the Bully Boys, among other groups.
- On May 11, 2002, Hammerskins participated in a National Alliance rally at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., and other Hammerskins attended a World Church of the Creator rally that day in Peoria, Illinois.
- In Colorado, Heritage Press sponsored the Rocky Mountain Heritage Festival on July 13, 2002. Hammerskin bands such as Intimidation One and H8Machine performed.
- Eastern Hammerskins are sponsoring a second and larger white power concert with National Alliance on August 24, 2002, in the Washington, D.C., area.
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