Neo-Nazi ‘American Identity Movement’ Disbands
Harper’s Ferry, WV – The neo-nazi group called the American Identity Movement, a rebrand of the alt-right organization Identity Evropa, has disbanded, according to a statement released online today by its leader.
Identity Evropa was mostly known for its role in organizing the deadly August 2017 Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville; Identity Evropa and its leaders are named as defendants in an ongoing federal civil lawsuit filed over fascist violence that took place at the event.
In March of 2019, Unicorn Riot leaked over a year of internal communications obtained from inside Identity Evropa. Leaked Discord and Slack chat logs published along with our analysis provided journalists and the public crucial insight into the once-private planning discussions between members of the white supremacist group.
The Identity Evropa chat leaks led to members of the hate group getting exposed as active-duty soldiers in the US military, law enforcement officers, school teachers, and GOP campaign volunteers.
Shortly after Unicorn Riot leaked the trove of Identity Evropa records, its leader, Patrick Casey announced that Identity Evropa had dissolved and that a new, supposedly separate organization called the American Identity Movement was forming. However, Unicorn Riot investigations proved that the American Identity Movement was using Identity Evropa’s digital infrastructure, and automatically copied over IE’s membership roster into its own rolls. Like Identity Evropa, the American Identity Movement only accepted white, non-Jewish applicants as members.
Identity Evropa/American Identity Movement leader Patrick Casey announced that his group was “disbanded” in a statement posted online on November 2, 2020, the night before the USA’s contested election. True to his style, Casey attempted to deliver the announcement in a proud tone, hinting that the group may go underground and that its dissolution was merely a “strategic reorientation.”
