![]() Rural Appalachia, which includes Ulysses's Potter County, has a wary attitude to outside forces - especially the state - that is often cited as a reason that anti-government militia groups and white extremists have prospered here. "It's as significant as many areas in the South usually associated with white supremacy." It's got a rich history and the right conditions to thrive," said Heidi Beirich of the SPLC. "This area is well known for white supremacy. Pennsylvania has 36 racial hate groups, more than Alabama, Arkansas or Kansas, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. ![]() In 2015, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison on a child-molestation conviction. Kreis made Ulysses the national headquarters of the Aryan Nations group and organized events such as the Aryan World Congress. Ulysses' most famous resident may have been August Kreis III, 63, a neo-Nazi from New Jersey who moved to town in the 1990s and left about 10 years ago. When Trump says something that aligns with us - close the borders, build the wall, look after your own - that's good: We've been saying this for 25 years, but he has made it mainstream." Something's off about Trump with the Jews. "You won't necessarily see MAGA hats at an NSM meeting. "Personally, I don't know about Trump," he said. Burnside does not see Trump as a leader of the NSM cause but as a politician who amplified long-standing white-nationalist views at the right time. The younger Burnside said he joined NSM four years ago but has long harbored anti-Semitic views and is a practicing Odinist - the pagan religion Odinism is popular among some neo-Nazis. Burnside said his beloved grandfather drank himself to death because of the war's impact on him. " There's more collaboration."īurnside, who declined to say how many local residents were involved in his group, was born in Ulysses and raised there by a grandfather who he said was a Nazi sympathizer who fought in the U.S. "We have meetings every 30 days," he said. It has a presence in many states, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, and the NSM was among the groups taking part in the violent August 2017 rally in defense of Confederate statues in Charlottesville. "I can tell you with certainty that since November 2016, activity has doubled, whether it's feet on the street or money orders or people helping out," said Daniel Burnside, 43, a woodcarver who owns the Nazi-themed home and directs the state chapter of the National Socialist Movement, a far-right group that was founded in Detroit in the mid-1970s. Potter County is staunchly Republican and has voted Democratic once since 1888 Trump received 80 percent of the vote, tying with Herbert Hoover for the highest percentage won. ![]() One organizer would not say when the groups had last met, simply commenting: "It's just a good time." ![]() Two weeks later, the area's two neo-Nazi groups, the National Socialist Movement and Aryan Strike Force, held a "white unity meeting" in Ulysses to discuss their response to Trump and plan joint action. Local police said the group had not openly recruited in years. ![]()
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