At first glance, five killings in three states since last May appeared to be unrelated, isolated cases.
But a common thread is emerging. Three young men have been charged, and all appear to have links to the same white supremacist group: the Atomwaffen Division.
Atomwaffen is German for "atomic weapons," and the group is extreme. It celebrates Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson, its online images are filled with swastikas, and it promotes violence.
Florida Killings: Radical Islam And The Far Right, Under One Roof
National Security
Florida Killings: Radical Islam And The Far Right, Under One Roof
One of the group's videos shows young men, wearing scarves over their faces and camouflage, firing rifles during military-style training. The video begins with group members shouting in unison, "Race War Now," and concludes with the tag line, "Join Your Local Nazis."
"Atomwaffen no doubt takes some of the white supremacist rhetoric to another level. The views that they articulate are white supremacists on steroids," said Joanna Mendelson, who follows extremist groups for the Anti-Defamation League in Los Angeles.
Group members hide their identities and may not even know one another beyond their online pseudonyms, although some have gathered for weapons training.
According to various estimates by monitoring groups, Atomwaffen is believed to have fewer than 100 members scattered across the country, with Florida and Texas considered key areas.
In Orange County, Calif., prosecutors say 20-year-old Sam Woodward fatally stabbed 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein on Jan. 2.
They had attended high school together and apparently went to a park on the night of the killing. Bernstein was Jewish and openly gay. He was back home for winter break from the University of Pennsylvania.
According to the news outlet ProPublica, Woodward was an Atomwaffen member who attended one of its training camps. Group members are supporting him on social media.
Atomwaffen was also one of the many white supremacist groups that gathered last year in Charlottesville, Va., for a rally that turned violent.
"I've been doing this work for 17 years, and not to be hyperbolic in any way, but we've never been as busy as we are today," said Mendelson of the ADL. "The white supremacists are much more emboldened."
They're no longer on the fringes, she said. Now they want to be mainstream.
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