City Council candidate is linked to extremist posts. Adams says: 'I strongly disavow it'

A Larimer County elected official has raised concerns about a Fort Collins City Council candidate's past social media activity, which ties him to a white nationalist group and includes a post that states Black people have lower intelligence.

The candidate, Alexander Adams, said Friday he disavows the views, which he shared when he was a college undergraduate around four years ago.

On Wednesday, Kristin Stephens, a Larimer County commissioner and Democrat, shared posts on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, that linked to posts by and about Adams. He is running for Fort Collins City Council District 6 against incumbent Emily Francis. Stephens has publicly endorsed Francis and contributed to her campaign.

"Just learned some disturbing things about Emily Francis’ Council opponent," Stephens posted. "Adams has been part of a white nationalist group the Groypers, advocates for permitless carries for firearms and against red flag laws, and has written a blog that implies that Black people have lower IQs."

After learning about the allegations, the Coloradoan contacted Adams, verified that the accounts had once belonged to him and found more social media activity that indicates he was active in far-right groups that promote racist, sexist and anti-LGBTQIA viewpoints.

All of these Twitter, Telegram and YouTube accounts have been deleted, along with their content and a podcast he appeared on. Adams confirmed to the Coloradoan that he shut down the accounts, saying he was embarrassed and didn't want others to fall into the cult of personality that he had fallen into.

An internet search shows that in January 2020, Adams appeared on a Liberty Conservative Podcast to talk about his involvement with the "Groyper phenomenon that he helped to launch last year."

"Groypers are a loose network of alt right figures who are vocal supporters of white supremacist and 'America First' podcaster Nick Fuentes," the Anti-Defamation League says on its website.

"Groypers regularly confront mainstream conservative organizations like Turning Point USA (TPUSA) for failing to promote a truly 'America First' agenda and for not being adequately 'pro white,' ” the Anti-Defamation League says.

Fuentes has denied that he is a white supremacist and emphasizes his Christian values and opposition to immigration (undocumented and legal), globalism, gay and transgender rights, and feminism. But he has praised Adolf Hitler, questioned whether the Holocaust happened and called for a “holy war” against Jews.

As for Adams' involvement with the Groyper War phenomenon, he said he didn't purposely launch it: At the time, Charlie Kirk of far-right Turning Point USA was taking his Culture Wars Tour to university campuses, including Colorado State University. "I decided to go to the event to taunt him or whatever, and other people saw it and started copying it," he said. He eventually created a YouTube channel for Groypers.

Other internet searches late this week found:

In a forum on The Sietch in 2019, which describes itself as "a science fiction & fantasy fandom & AltHist forum," a user recommended Adams' Nuclear University YouTube Channel, saying:

"The guy doing this is a part of the 'Groyper Wars.' In case you couldn't tell, this channel is a pastiche on PragerU, a conservative YouTube channel that has short videos about certain political and philosophical topics. However, while PragerU is entirely mainstream, K. Alexander Adams and his group are focused on 'spreading moral, Catholic, America First, and Paleoconservative ideas.' "

Then in April 2020, Adams posted a series of tweets about brain size, intelligence and race in response to a Zoom debate with Fuentes. While he deleted his @KAlexanderAdams Twitter account, this particular thread remains archived on TWText.com, which "unrolls" long tweet threads so they can be more easily read. Essentially, the post claims Black people aren't as intelligent as white people.

As late as April 2020, Adams' Telegram account, @KAlexanderAdams, was recommended by other accounts that directed users to other far-right individuals and groups, like American Identity Movement.

Adams: 'I strongly disavow it. Racism is a sin'

Adams said he "got sucked into" the "personality cult" while navigating his faith and being exposed to the ideas through gaming on Discord and on Twitter.

He said he had converted back to Catholicism in 2017 after years of atheism. "Fuentes was a young Catholic. I was a young Catholic," he said.

On Friday, he said: "I've been unassociated with these circles for years now, and I strongly disavow it. There’s a reason why I don’t have it up anymore." That reason is he doesn't want people following the same path, he said.

"If you repudiate these ideas, and you think they're dangerous, which I do," you don’t want it to remain posted, he said. "If you had an embarrassing moment online, you’d want people to not see it."

Getting out of these personality cults is a long process, he said — "the internet is full of a lot of weird stuff — there’s both right- and left-wing iterations of these groups." And in the same way reconnecting with the church got him into the ideologies, it was further understanding of the church's teachings that got him out of it, he said.

"Racism is a sin," he said, and this group hasn't internalized some of the teachings "about the intrinsic value of people no matter their race."

"Building walls doesn’t work; it’s spirit draining, it hurts other people," he said.

Adams said he started disengaging with these extremist groups in 2020, and even in 2019, he said, an article he wrote shows he was urging the GOP to move left on things like labor unions and the minimum wage.

"By the time I decided to run in early 2023, I’d been out of it for well over a year," he said. "Two to three years might not seem like a long time. I just turned 26 on Wednesday, so that’s a big chunk of my life."

He decided to run for City Council out of a desire for public service and to move forward the conversation on the topics he cares about.

When he joined the race, he was facing two opponents, Francis and Michele Haefele, who is a member of the Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Commission. At that time, he thought: "There’s no way I’m gonna win this thing."

Then Haefele dropped out.

"I actually considered dropping out for a while, too, because I don’t want the election to be about what I said when I was an undergrad," he said. "I guess it did eventually come out."

"This is something that I've tried to work past," including through the sacrament of confession, "that is hopefully forgiven," he said. "I feel like I’ve had a personal redemption."

In Friday's interview, Adams said that while running for council this year, he confided in a few people about his past. The Coloradoan confirmed with at least one person, council member Susan Gutowsky, that Adams had told his story to her several weeks ago.

"When I first met him, he shared his story about how he had gotten involved in things that were very, very negative and he was able to realize this was not the direction he wanted his life to go and took himself out of that world," she said, noting that he told her he wanted to live a life of service and believed he could offer a valuable perspective.

Gutowsky said the reason she believed in Adams' turnaround was because as a teacher for 34 years, she had seen so many students turn their lives around to become productive members of society.

"I've always believed in second chances," she said.

"I haven’t done any endorsements, but I support his right to run as a candidate unfettered by negative statements," Gutowsky said.

"Rarely do we have an opportunity to have someone who's in the public arena who can speak to this very, very scary thing, where (they) get caught up in this ultra-conservative world and come out of it and can share that lived experience," Gutowsky said. "And help other young people not to enter that world."

Why Stephens went public with the information

Stephens said she didn't find the information about Adams on her own, but that a person not involved with either campaign shared it with her recently.

She said the far-right extremism was concerning enough that she felt that she had to say something, particularly about Adams' Twitter thread. "To me, that’s eugenics and that’s disturbing."

She said those extreme right-wing viewpoints don't line up with how he was presenting himself, which she said could even be perceived by some as progressive or Democratic. (Adams was a registered Republican in 2022, according to public records.)

On this issues in this race: A voter guide for City Council District 6 and Francis, Adams

On Adams' disavowal of his past views, Stephens said: "I’m glad to hear that, and I think it clears up some of the concerns that I have." But she said it would be good to know what he would say about his feelings and stances on some of the statements he made in the past, particularly on race.

"It would be good for him to go on the record, not just to disavow it."

Stephens also said she wishes Adams would have been forthcoming about it. "Instead of hiding it, that could have been a compelling story in and of itself."

Adams' views on gun policies were also cited

In her posts, Stephens also cited research papers Adams has written advocating for concealed carrying of firearms without a permit and advocating against red flag laws.

Adams told the Coloradoan that as a public policy analyst, he does research for the Firearms Research Center for the University of Wyoming College of Law. He said he has done nothing to conceal his work on this subject.

"This is public knowledge, it’s on my page," he said.

In July 2021, he wrote an opinion for Complete Colorado Page 2 in support of allowing permitless concealed carry. That article is no longer viewable, but the Coloradoan was able to view an archived version of it, which cited affordability, privacy and rights as reasons for support.

"That view is based on research I've done. I support gun laws that work, and I oppose gun laws that don’t work," he said. As an example, he said he supports universal background checks because he hasn't seen research that says they don't work.

But: "It seems as though restrictions on public carry by law-abiding citizens just doesn't have an impact on crime," he said.

If new evidence were to show the contrary to be true, he said he would change his views.

"I don’t have a concealed permit. I don’t carry a gun myself," he told the Coloradoan.

On extreme risk protection order laws — also known as red flag laws — Adams said the academic paper he wrote proposes ways to make those laws more effective, rather than simply opposing them.

As for his politics in general, he said they've changed dramatically: "I used to be far right, and one of the reasons why the essays are there (on my website) is to show where I stand now."

The essays don't touch on how his viewpoints have changed but include topics like "responsible development," "protecting our environment" and "addressing homelessness."

However, a statement that has been on his website since at least mid-September says: "As a young man, my politics have evolved over time as I have gained education, matured, and engaged in self-reflection."

When the Coloradoan interviewed Adams in late September, prior to Stephens' post, he said when people ask him if he's conservative or liberal, he wants to answer: "Am I allowed to say neither?"

He said he leans conservative on fiscal issues but does take a more progressive view on minimum wage and inclusionary zoning.

"Fundamentally, what has caused my views to evolve is, as I got a master's in public policy and as I continued to read academic research ... the fact is most issues have a lot of nuance," he said. "The more I've read, the more people I've talked to, the more hands I've shaken, the more life experience I've had, the more people I meet, the more nuanced, I guess, my views become.

Is it a smear or transparency?

Adams said he knows Stephens is just trying to get the candidate she wants elected, but he views it as a "smear thing."

Gutowsky said she's become worried about negative campaigning and believes it has gotten worse over the years, with people "posting malicious information on social media on behalf of other candidates to derail their opponents."

"It’s almost predictable that these bits and pieces of information are going to surface right as ballots are going to drop," she said.

Gutowsky, in a comment on Stephens' Facebook post, characterized her as a "designated bomb thrower" for Francis, who she said should fight her own battles. She said constituents "expect so much more dignity from their County Commissioner."

But Stephens said: "It wasn’t about tanking someone’s campaign."

Voters can make a decision one way or another, but they should know who they’re voting for, and candidates should answer for those things, she said.

"I don’t do this lightly."

She contends sitting on the information would have been irresponsible: "If a person has extreme views and they're going to some lengths to hide these views, that should be part of the conversations."

The Coloradoan's complete voter guide: What to know about Fort Collins, PSD races and statewide issues

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include additional context from Gutowsky and to correct the time frame for when Adams confided in her. It has also been updated to state that Adams triggered what is known as the Groyper War.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins City Council candidate Alexander Adams accused of extremism