‘Extremists’ from neo-Nazi group arrested in WA, targeted journalists, feds say

Summer Lin
·2 min read

Five “extremists” from the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen were arrested on Wednesday and four are accused of targeting journalists and activists, according to the Department of Justice.

Cameron Brandon Shea, 24, of Redmond, Washington; Kaleb Cole, 24, of Montgomery, Texas; Taylor Ashley Parker-Dipeppe, 20, of Spring Hill, Florida; and Johnny Roman Garza, 20, of Queen Creek, Arizona, have been arrested in Seattle and charged with “a conspiracy to threaten and intimidate journalists and activists,” according to a press release.

They allegedly focused on Jewish people and journalists of color, according to the criminal complaint. Cole and Shea allegedly created posters with Nazi symbols, Molotov cocktails, people in masks with guns and “threatening language,” the complaint said.

Feds said the posters were mailed to a journalist who reported on the group and two people connected to the Anti-Defamation League, according to the complaint. Posters were also delivered to a journalist in Phoenix and a Tampa, Florida, journalist was targeted, but it was delivered to the wrong address.

The alleged former leader of Atomwaffen was arrested on Wednesday in Virginia.

John Cameron Denton, 26, of Montgomery, Texas, and his co-conspirators are accused of making “swatting” calls, referring to “a harassment tactic that involves deceiving dispatchers into believing that a person or persons are in imminent danger of death or bodily harm and causing the dispatchers to send police and emergency services to an unwitting third party’s address,” according to a Justice Department press release.

Denton allegedly participated in three swatting calls involving a Virginia Cabinet official, Old Dominion University and Alfred Street Baptist Church, according to court documents.

Feds said Denton allegedly told an undercover officer that he made swatting calls with a voice changer to the offices of ProPublica, according to the release.

He’s charged with “conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, interstate threats to injure,” according to the release.