Operation Red Dog was the code name of an April 27, 1981
military filibustering plot by
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
and
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
citizens, largely affiliated with
white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...
and
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
groups, to overthrow the government of
Dominica
Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...
, where they planned to restore former
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Patrick John
Patrick Roland John (7 January 1938 – 6 July 2021) was the first Prime Minister of Dominica as well as its last Premier. He led Dominica to independence from the United Kingdom. He was leader of the Waterfront and Allied Workers' Union and may ...
to power. The chief figures included American Klansman Mike Perdue, German-Canadian
neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
Wolfgang Droege
Wolfgang Walter Droege (or Dröge) (25 September 1949 – 13 April 2005) was a German-born Canadian white supremacist, neo-Nazi and founding leader of the Heritage Front.
Biography
Early life
Droege was born in Forchheim, Germany. His parents ...
, American white supremacist
Don Black and
Barbadian weapons smuggler Sydney Burnett-Alleyne.
After the plot was thwarted by US federal agents in
, the news media dubbed it "Bayou of Pigs", after the failed 1961
Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fina ...
.
The leader Mike Perdue and six other men pleaded guilty to violation of the
Neutrality Act; two others were found guilty by a jury.
The men received three-year prison sentences. Among those Perdue implicated were former Texas Governor
John Connally
John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917June 15, 1993) was an American politician. He served as the 39th governor of Texas and as the 61st United States secretary of the Treasury. He began his career as a Democrat and later became a Republican ...
, prominent white supremacist
David Duke
David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, far-right politician, convicted felon, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. From 1989 to 1992, he was a member ...
, and Congressman
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well ...
, who he claimed knew about the plot.
Mission
On April 27, 1981, Droege and eight other men, including Canadian
James Alexander McQuirter James Alexander McQuirter (born and also known as James Tavian Alexander) is a former Grand Wizard of the Canadian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. In 1981, he was charged, along with Wolfgang Droege and other white supremacists, with plotting to overt ...
and American
Don Black, who later founded the white nationalist website
Stormfront, were arrested by federal agents in New Orleans as they prepared to board a boat with
automatic weapon
An automatic firearm is an auto-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firearm is capable of harvesting the excess energy released from a previous discharge ...
s,
shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...
s,
rifle
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
s,
handgun
A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...
s,
dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...
,
ammunition
Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
, and a black and white
Nazi flag
The flag of Nazi Germany, officially the flag of the German Reich, featured a red background with a black swastika on a white disc. This flag came into use initially as the banner of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) after its foundation. Following the app ...
.
The plan was to charter a boat to Dominica and rendezvous via rubber boats with Patrick John and his makeshift army. The genesis of the idea came from long-time Klan member Perdue, who was introduced in 1979 to Droege. That summer, Perdue outlined his plan to overthrow the government of
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
and set up several lucrative businesses. After their meeting, it was established that Droege would locate funds and resources. Croatian-Canadian
Don Andrews
Donald Clarke Andrews (born April 20, 1942 as Vilim Zlomislić) is a Canadian white supremacist. He is also the leader of the unregistered neo-Nazi Nationalist Party of Canada and a perennial candidate for mayor of Toronto, Ontario.
Early yea ...
was initially involved, but after Perdue changed the target island to Dominica, Andrews withdrew. Klansmen Arnie Polli and Roger Dermee were paid US$3,000 to visit Dominica and make a preliminary reconnaissance. German-Canadian neo-Nazi
Martin K. Weiche was allegedly a financial backer of the plot along with James White of Houston and L. E. Matthews of Jackson, Mississippi.
In February 1981, the captain and crew backed out. Perdue then approached a local boat captain and
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, 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 Vie ...
veteran,
Michael S. Howell. Perdue said that the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
needed his boat for a covert operation. Howell then contacted the US
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...
(ATF). On April 25, John was arrested in Dominica. When Perdue learned of the arrest and that their plans were no longer secret, he insisted that the mission should continue. On April 27, the group, including three ATF agents, met at the predetermined location, loaded the van and proceeded to the marina. Local police were waiting for them at the marina.
In 1984, during an interview by Barbados's daily ''Nation Newspaper'', Sydney Burnett-Alleyne, one of the leaders of the plot, was asked if the group had planned to overthrow the government of
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
and install John as prime minister there as well. He responded:
A book about the plot, ''Bayou of Pigs'', by Canadian journalist Stewart Bell, was published in August 2008.
[''Bayou of Pigs: The True Story of an Audacious Plot to Turn a Tropical Island into a Criminal Paradise'', by Stewart Bell, John Wiley & Sons, 2008.]
See also
*
Abaco Independence Movement
The Abaco Independence Movement (AIM) was a Bahamian political party formed shortly after the Bahamas became independent in August 1973. Its stated aim was self-determination for the Abaco islands within a federal Bahamas. In October 1973, ...
*
Frederick Newton
Frederick Newton (1951 – 8 August 1986) was the head of the Dominica Defence Force (DDF) from its independence in 1978 to 1981. He was executed in 1986 for organising an attempted coup d'état in 1981 that resulted in the death of a police offi ...
*
Knights of the Golden Circle
The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society founded in 1854 by American George W. L. Bickley, the objective of which was to create a new country, known as the Golden Circle ( es, Círculo Dorado), where slavery would be legal. T ...
*
Republic of Minerva
The Republic of Minerva was a micronation consisting of the Minerva Reefs. It was one of the few modern attempts at creating a sovereign micronation on the reclaimed land of an artificial island in 1972. The architect was Las Vegas, Nevada, Las V ...
*
Ku Klux Klan in Canada
The Ku Klux Klan is an organization that expanded operations into Canada, based on the second Ku Klux Klan established in the United States in 1915. It operated as a fraternity, with chapters established in parts of Canada throughout the 1920s a ...
*''
The Nine Nations of North America
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
* {{cite web , first=Casey , last=Gane-McCalla , title=Ron Paul Was Implicated In Failed White Supremacist Island Invasion , url=http://newsone.com/nation/casey-gane-mccalla/ron-paul-was-implicated-in-attempted-white-supremacist-island-invasion/, publisher=newsone , date=2012-01-20, access-date=2012-01-23
*Cups Up: How I Organized a Klavern, Plotted a Coup, Survived Prison, Graduated College, Fought Polluters, and Started a Business (Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography): Malvaney, George T.: 9781496816795: Amazon.com: Books.
External links
Related photos and documents of Michael S. Howell*
ttps://archive.today/20110514004313/http://www.stewartbell.net/Text/1219177434856-9316/pC/1219088635057-9221/ Photos and documents on Stewart Bell's Website
Attempted coups d'état
Red Dog
Conflicts in 1981
Dominica–United States relations
1981 in Barbados
1981 in Dominica
1980s in Grenada
Ku Klux Klan
Canada–Dominica relations