Justice Department Charges Five With Links to White Supremacist Group

On Feb. 26, federal prosecutors charged five individuals with links to Atomwaffen, a violent white supremacist group, for a pattern of harassment and intimidation. Prosecutors in the Western District of Washington charged four individuals in connection with a campaign to mail journalists threatening posters. One of those chraged described the operation as intending to "send a clear message that we [] have leverage over [the targetted jounralists]...The goal, of course, is to erode the media/states air of legitimacy by showing people that they have names and addresses, and hopefully embolden others to act as well." Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Viriginia charged John Cameron Denton in connection with a scheme to allegedly orchestrate various swatting attacks against a variety of targets, including Old Dominion University and an unnamed cabinet member. An afidavit submitted by an FBI special agent alleges that Denton used to be a leader of the Atomwaffen chapter in Texas. The New York Times describes the charges as "part of a broader recent crackdown by federal law enforcement on violent white supremacists in the United States." The criminal complaint in the Western District of Washington and the affidavit in the Eastern District of Virginia case can both be found below.