James Paul Wickstrom (October 7, 1942 – March 24, 2018) was an American
white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
,
far-right activist, and
Christian Identity
Christian Identity (also known as Identity Christianity) is an interpretation of Christianity which advocates the belief that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as the Anglo-Saxon, Nordic nations, or Aryan people and people of kindred blood, ...
minister. He was a founding member of the
Posse Comitatus, an
antisemitic, anti-government and anti-tax group associated with the broader
militia movement
The American militia movement is a term used by law enforcement and security analysts to refer to a number of private organizations that include paramilitary or similar elements. These groups may refer to themselves as militia, unorganized milit ...
.
He was strongly
anti-communist, and he frequently advocated the
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
of
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, non-
European Americans
European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent E ...
, "
race traitor
Race traitor is a pejorative reference to a person who is perceived as supporting attitudes or positions thought to be against the supposed interests or well-being of that person's own race. The term is the source of the name of a quarterly magaz ...
s,"
homosexuals
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
, and
drug addicts
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...
.
Biography
Wickstrom was born and raised in
Munising, Michigan
Munising ( ') is a city in Alger County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,355 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Alger County. The city is partially surrounded by Munising Township, but the two are administered auton ...
.
During the 1960s, he protested the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
on the grounds that it was being fought for "Jew bankers." For a time, he worked as a salesman for
Snap-on.
His affiliation with
Christian Identity
Christian Identity (also known as Identity Christianity) is an interpretation of Christianity which advocates the belief that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as the Anglo-Saxon, Nordic nations, or Aryan people and people of kindred blood, ...
began in the early 1970s, when he joined Mission of Jesus the Christ Church in
Humansville, Missouri
Humansville is a city in Polk County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,048. It is part of the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. Carl Long is the current mayor, sworn in on October 7, 2 ...
, which was co-founded by
William Potter Gale. After several unsuccessful political campaigns, Wickstrom became a full-time activist and minister of Christian Identity and the affiliated
Posse Comitatus movement. In 1995, he opened Information Consulting Corp, a retail store which sold survival gear, outdoor apparel and videotapes about militias.
In March 2018, it was reported by the
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white s ...
that Wickstrom had died; the report was attributed to unnamed "sources within the white supremacist movement". More details appeared in a report on Michigan-based website
Mlive.com
MLive Media Group, originally known as Booth Newspapers, or Booth Michigan, is a media group that produces newspapers in the state of Michigan. Founded by George Gough Booth with his two brothers, Booth Newspapers was sold to Advance Publications ...
, which reported that Wickstrom had been living in
Linwood, Michigan
Linwood is a small unincorporated community in the northern portion of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The community is on the boundary between Fraser Township on the north and Kawkawlin Township on the south. It is situated with M-1 ...
.
Activities
In 1980, Wickstrom ran unsuccessfully in
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
as a
Constitution Party of Wisconsin candidate for
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
, coming in third with 16,156 votes; and he was a Wisconsin representative on the
American Independent Party
The American Independent Party (AIP) is a far-right political party in the United States that was established in 1967. The AIP is best known for its nomination of former Democratic Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who carried five states in t ...
's national committee. He was the party's nominee for
Governor of Wisconsin in 1982, coming in fourth with 7,721 votes; and he remained on the national committee. During this same period, he drew national attention to the ideology of the
Posse Comitatus movement, as an outspoken defender of the rights and concerns of
Gordon Kahl
Gordon Wendell Kahl (January 8, 1920 – June 3, 1983) was an American member of the far right Posse Comitatus movement who was involved in two fatal shootouts with law enforcement officers in the United States in 1983.Tony Spilde''Changing li ...
, including an appearance on the ''
Phil Donahue Show
''The Phil Donahue Show'', also known as ''Donahue'', is an American television talk show hosted by Phil Donahue that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast on WLWD in Dayton, Ohio, and i ...
''. In 1985, after his arrest, he was no longer listed as an official of the Constitution Party of Wisconsin.
Wickstrom subsequently adopted the title of "national director of counter-insurgency" for Posse Comitatus. He was affiliated with
Aryan Nations, and visited their
Hayden, Idaho
Hayden is a city in Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. Located in the northern portion of the state, it is a suburb of nearby Coeur d'Alene and its population was 15,570 at the 2020 census.
History
The origins of the city of Hayden has ...
compound several times. In 1995, after serving a prison sentence for counterfeiting and illegal possession of a firearm, he moved back to Munising. He started a new
Christian Identity
Christian Identity (also known as Identity Christianity) is an interpretation of Christianity which advocates the belief that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as the Anglo-Saxon, Nordic nations, or Aryan people and people of kindred blood, ...
organization and operated a Posse Comitatus website with
August Kreis. The ministry later moved to
Hampton Township, and again to
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
.
Periodically, Wickstrom wrote racially-inspired articles, and he also operated as a
pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
in
Christian Identity
Christian Identity (also known as Identity Christianity) is an interpretation of Christianity which advocates the belief that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as the Anglo-Saxon, Nordic nations, or Aryan people and people of kindred blood, ...
organizations. He later hosted a daily
Internet radio
Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
show called ''Yahweh's Truth'', where he promoted Identity ideology and conducted interviews. The program was run through Covenant People’s Ministry, an Identity organization based in
Brooks, Georgia
Brooks is a town in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 524.
Geography
Brooks is located in southern Fayette County, south of Fayetteville, the county seat, southeast of Peachtree City, and ...
. The show billed him as "Dr. John Wickstrom," though he was not known to hold any
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
degrees through an accredited institution.
Ideology
Wickstrom derived his beliefs from his interpretation of the
Christian Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
. He preached what he referred to as ''Two Seedline Racial Covenant Identity'', an ideology which among other things, postulates the belief that the
Caucasian race is made in the image of
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
. Furthermore, people of Jewish descent are not considered the "
children of God", instead, they are considered the
children of Cain. Wickstrom categorically rejected the
Jewish religious doctrine which states that the Jews are "God's chosen people" by stating that members of the "white western, European" race are the actual
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
who are referred to in the Christian Bible.
Rhetoric
Wickstrom's
racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric frequently drew the attention of such activist groups as the
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white s ...
and the
Anti-Defamation League. In a 2004 interview, Wickstrom stated that Jews, including women and children, should be tied to chairs and beaten to death, and he also stated that after they are killed:
"Take these chairs and Jews after they're beaten to death, throw 'em in the wood chipper! And from the wood chipper let the remains go into a big incinerary truck, which is right behind the wood chipper, and give them the holocaust they rightly deserve!"
Criminal activities and convictions
In January 1982, Wickstrom lost an election for the chairman of the
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Fairbanks, Wisconsin
Fairbanks is a town in Shawano County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 687 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Split Rock is located in the town.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has ...
. He decided to set up his own municipality, a Posse enclave on the banks of the
Embarras River within the boundaries of Fairbanks. He put public notice of the creation of the "Constitutional Township of
Tigerton Dells" and a meeting to elect officers of the township in a local paper. The announcement described Wickstrom as an "acting clerk"; at the meeting, Wickstrom was "elected" clerk and municipal judge and fellow Posse member Donald Minniecheske was "elected" the Tigerton Dells Chairman and Assessor.
Over the next seven months, Wickstrom took applications for and issued a
liquor license
A liquor license (or liquor licence in most forms of Commonwealth English) is a governmentally issued permit to sell, manufacture, store, or otherwise use alcoholic beverages.
Canada
In Canada, liquor licences are issued by the legal authority ...
and a cigarette license, attempted to file various documents which indicated that he was a judge or a town clerk with local and state offices, and threatened to sue the
Shawano County county clerk if she did not cooperate with his demand for official printed ballots.
Since none of these activities were lawful under the relevant Wisconsin statutes, in 1983, Wickstrom was arrested for "assuming to act as
public officer". (During the trial, he announced to the court that he planned to set up similar townships in other states, and had the presiding judge served with an ersatz "
subpoena
A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
" for a "Citizens
Grand Jury", signing the document as "Judge". He was found guilty, and served over thirteen months in jail (he had received the maximum nine-month sentence on each count, to be served consecutively). (Minniecheske was sentenced to nine years in prison for possession of stolen property and other crimes.) Wickstrom's sentence was eventually commuted; as a condition of the terms of his release, he was not allowed to associate with members of the Posse or members of similar groups. He moved to
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, and was later arrested and convicted of planning to distribute $100,000 in
counterfeit U.S. currency to white supremacists who were attending the 1988 Aryan World Congress. He was paroled in 1994.
In 1990, Wickstrom was convicted of counterfeiting currency and illegally possessing firearms as a
felon
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resul ...
. Prosecutors alleged that the counterfeiting was part of a scheme to finance the activities of
far-right paramilitary groups and militias.
He was sentenced to 38 months in jail.
References
External links
James Wickstrom's official website "Yahweh's Truth"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wickstrom, James
1942 births
2018 deaths
20th-century far-right politicians in the United States
American anti-communists
American Independent Party politicians
American neo-Nazis
American radio personalities
Christian Identity
Michigan Constitutionalists
People from Bay County, Michigan
People from Munising, Michigan
People from Shawano County, Wisconsin
People from Tigerton, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Constitutionalists
American tax resisters
American conspiracy theorists
American Holocaust deniers
American political activists
American political candidates
Activists from Missouri
Activists from Michigan
Activists from Wisconsin