In “Documenting Hate: New American Nazis,” ProPublica reporter A.C. Thompson follows a trail of members of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division to different American cities.
In Houston, Thompson finds the group’s Texas leader, John Cameron Denton, nicknamed “Rape,” at a black metal festival called “Destroying Texas” just north of Jersey Village.
“I find ‘Rape’ drinking outside,” Thompson narrates, “along with two other Atomwaffen members I recognize from my reporting.”
Denton does not agree to an interview, however.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Atomwaffen became active in 2016 and its members are training for a future race war. Some of them have been linked to violent crimes, including murder.
So how big is the white supremacist scene in Houston? It’s hard to say but the ADL tracks extremist incidents in the United States, and Houston has comparable numbers of white supremacist and anti-Semitic incidents as some similar-sized cities.
Among states, from 2002 to 2018, Texas has had the most such incidents – 151, including 27 white extremist murders.