American Front (AF) is a
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 ...
organization founded in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
by Bob Heick in 1984. It began as a loose organization modeled after the British
National Front. Heick began working with
Tom Metzger's
White Aryan Resistance (WAR) in 1988.
History
In 1985, Bob Heick began writing and distributing leaflets, mostly from a
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
anti-communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
stance, in response to the increasing
leftist
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
influence in the local
punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom ...
. Originally intended as an umbrella organization for all American
skinheads, AF had no formal structure or membership. In
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, Heick lost favor with the mostly apolitical skinheads. Media attention and constant
vandalism
Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property.
The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...
and
assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
(such as breaking the windows of the ''Bound Together''
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
bookstore and harassing interracial couples in the
Haight-Ashbury) by the group brought increased attention from the local police. In addition, Heick's progression from
patriotism
Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...
to
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
lost him many friends, and some people accused him of trying to take over the local skinhead scene. Heick then started associating with
heavy metal music
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...
fans and rural white workers. He formed the short-lived group ''United White Brethren'' in the North and South Bay Areas.
Upon his return to San Francisco in 1987, Heick found the newer generation of local skinheads to be more receptive to
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
. The AF transformed into a political organization, and its membership was no longer exclusively skinheads. On the AF telephone hotline, at the end of the telephone message, Heick asked "Do you have hate in your heart?" The AF telephone hotline often repeated a quote from the San Francisco-born author
Jack London
John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
: "I'm a worker, but first of all I'm a white worker". On May 1, 1988, AF held its first White Workers Day march on
Haight Street in San Francisco, in which 65 participants, which included a few long haired white
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
s who had spontaneously joined the march, marched unopposed. This was heralded by
Tom Metzger of
White Aryan Resistance on his telephone hotline, in the WAR newspaper, and on television. The AF tabloid ''Aryan Warrior'' was published soon after. Metzger began presenting Heick to the media as a spokesman for
white power skinheads. Heick appeared on the TV
news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or new ...
''
The Reporters'', in a segment that mainly focused on Heick and included footage of the Mayday march. AF was also featured in publications such as ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', ''
Hustler
Hustler or hustlers may also refer to:
Professions
* Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a:
** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks
** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs
** Male prostitute
** Pimp
** Business man, more general ...
'', and ''
Sassy''. By 1989, there were AF units in 14 American states.
''Aryan Woodstock''
Heick started to organize a concert of white power bands on rural land near
Napa, California, a
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
of
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
in the northern part of the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
. Heick was pushed aside by Tom Metzger, and the concert became a White Aryan Resistance event instead of an AF event. Heick and Metzger disagreed on almost every facet of the festival, including the name, ''Aryan Woodstock''. Heick disagreed with Metzger's promotion of the event on his phone hotline, because it was monitored by anti-racist activists, and would give them time to organize against the event. A WAR activist was told by three bureaucrats that no permit would be required to play live music at a private event on private land, as long as sanitation was provided for.
During the two weeks leading up to Aryan Woodstock, the event was a leading local news story.
Napa County sought an injunction to block the gathering, and Heick appeared before a judge to defend AF and WAR's right to assemble. The judge ruled that the gathering may take place, but that there could be no music. Approximately 300 people from across the United States arrived on the property before the landowner allowed the authorities to close off the entrance. This stranded many would-be attendees. Several hundred protesters were outside the property. Tension between AF and WAR increased soon after. Heick spent the next year visiting various AF units in California and across the United States before getting married and settling down in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
.
1990s
In 1990, Heick announced on the AF telephone hotline that the group would appear in San Francisco's
Union Square
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
on the first Saturday in May. The message ran for a month prior to the event. Opponents of the AF held a Mayday demonstration three days prior, on May 1. On the day of the AF event, Heick arrived with a small group of supporters and walked towards 300 debris-throwing protesters. Police moved in and encircled AF, separating the two groups. At this point, both the AF and SFPD were vastly outnumbered by counter protesters. Back-up officers began arriving on the scene and the police were able to get a patrol wagon into the park.
In October 1990, The Coalition for Human Dignity published fliers with Heick's new home address in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, and distributed
press releases announcing his arrival. Local TV news crews arrived at Heick's apartment a few days after he moved in. Heick still received regular invitations to appear on national television but many of the new offers were to appear on
trash TV shows. He has appeared on the ''
Geraldo Rivera Show
''Geraldo'' is an American daytime television tabloid talk show hosted by Geraldo Rivera that aired in syndication from September 7, 1987, to June 12, 1998. The last two seasons aired under the title ''The Geraldo Rivera Show''.
The series was ...
''. As press interest in Heick and AF waned, Heick focused on local activism. AF's 1991 May Day demonstration was held in Portland. There was a large counter protest, but no violence. In 1992, Heick and AF associates were the first out-of-state activists to arrive at the
Randy Weaver
Randall Claude Weaver (January 3, 1948 – May 11, 2022) was an American survivalist, former Iowa factory worker, and self-proclaimed white separatist. He was a central actor in the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff at his cabin near Naples, Idaho, th ...
stand-off at
Ruby Ridge
Ruby Ridge was the site of an eleven-day siege in 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho, near Naples. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) initiated action to apprehend and arrest Randy Weaver under a bench ...
. Heick blockaded a fuel truck and lambasted the driver for supporting the government.
Around this time, AF focused on demonstrations and literature distribution. The group's telephone hotline was revived in Portland and remained active until Heick left the group in 1995. In the 1990s, the
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
and
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
AF sections published ''The Voice of Revolution'' magazine, which had ties to
Combat 18 in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. AF focused on opposing
hate crime
A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...
laws, which they claimed only targeted whites. AF became known for harassing Portland city commissioner Mike Lindberg, who called the group "gay bashing skinheads" in the press. The
Albany, Oregon
Albany is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the eleventh largest city in that state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, just ...
area AF unit held regular demonstrations. AF briefly resurfaced under the leadership of James Porrazzo, who moved the group to
Harrison, Arkansas and began to promote
Third Positionism.
2000s
On March 4,
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, AF leader David Lynch was shot and killed while at his home in
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, California. His girlfriend (who was pregnant at the time of the attack) was injured but survived.
On May 5, 2012, ten members of the Florida branch of the American Front were arrested in
St. Cloud, Florida
St. Cloud is a city in northern Osceola County, Florida, United States. It is on the southern shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga in Central Florida, about southeast of Orlando. The population was 35,183 in the 2010 census, and 54,579 in the 2019 cen ...
, from the
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...
theme parks, and charged with paramilitary training, shooting into an occupied dwelling and evidence of
prejudices while committing an offense.
Marcus Faella, and an eventual total of thirteen of his American Front associates were arrested. On November 10, 2014, Faella was convicted for his part in attempting to incite a "race war" but was sentenced to only 6 months in jail. One commentator described the case against the American Front as "floundering", while the judge described the group as "the gang that couldn't shoot straight".
Marcus Faella obtained attorney
Augustus Sol Invictus to appeal the case.
References
{{Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazi organizations in the United States
Skinhead
Organizations based in San Francisco
Organizations established in 1984
1984 establishments in California
White nationalism in California