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Exposing Racism and Bigotry Among the Mormons Extremism Research Account Send tips anonymously to: exposedeznat at riseup dot net

Sep 21, 2021, 36 tweets

Lets get to know the founder of #DezNat.

Meet Logan Starr Smith aka JPBellum, 40, of Pocatello, ID via Fair Oaks, CA. Logan is a homophobic, misogynistic, antisemitic bigot who has offered "bounties" to get people expelled from @BYU

@Ch_JesusChrist

Content Warning: This thread contains queerphobic, misogynistic, and antisemitic statements, and other objectionable language. We feel it is important to show examples of this person’s hateful ideology in his own words, rather than merely describing or characterizing it.

Learn more about Deseret Nationalism / DezNat by reading our Guide

This will be a long thread, so we will have to break it up before we get to the Action Items.

We have published our research on Logan Smith aka JPBellum in a detailed article on our blog here: exposedeznat.noblogs.org/deznat-founder…

Content Warning

But first LOL:

archive.ph/qBgzT

Logan Smith is an og member of the DezNat Discord server and states that he was first drawn to Deseret Nationalism after hearing about it from Mormon white nationalist & Identity Evropa member, Ayla Stewart.

Read more about Ayla here: panicinthediscord.noblogs.org/post/2019/03/1… @panic__discord

Logan says that he was first drawn to the alt-right & then to the "Deseret-right."

For Logan, the ultimate outcome of Deseret Nationalism or DezNat is the "return of the sovereign state of Deseret under church government."

The earliest known use of the #DezNat hashtag was by Logan Smith aka JPBellum, on 6 Aug 2018.

Logan Smith aka JPBellum claims he created #DezNat

archive.ph/j2sbX

Logan asserts DezNat are just "faithful, unapologetic followers of the church, prophets, policies, and doctrines" & "sometimes [they] use spicy memes to defend the faith." This is the primary way DezNat avoids criticism from those who oppose the movement.

npr.org/2021/04/26/990…

CW: references to racism

In effect, DezNat is able to use the excuse of "defending the faith" as a cover of plausible deniability for racist, bigoted, and otherwise hateful rhetoric.

Logan Smith believes "theocracy is inevitable" in the U.S.

He is a Mormon ethnonationalist.

Logan says he isn't being serious when talking about Blood Atonement, a disputed doctrine that the Mormon church has disavowed. DezNat is known to use memes of Bowie knives & blood atonement to harass ex-Mormons & progressive Mormons.

He's got plenty to say about blood atonement

Logan also effectively preys upon the fears of historical attacks on Latter-day Saints by attesting that anyone who is against Mormon nationalism, Deseret nationalism or DezNat must be anti-Mormon with an ulterior motive to destroy his religion.

Logan Smith is a virulent homophobe and queerphobe.

He has admitted to targeting a gay student to try to get them kicked out of @BYU. He's also offered cash and gift cards for evidence that would result in the expulsion of so-called apostates, as well as progressive professors.

CW: homophobia

On another occasion, he offered a $1,000 reward for evidence that would result in the expulsion of a gay student.

In April 2021, a Brigham Young University assistant teaching professor, Hank Smith, called a gay student "Korihor" in response to a tweet by Logan Smith (as JPBellum).

Korihor is a Book of Mormon anti-Christ who was trampled to death for wickedness.

Hank Smith's reply to Logan Smith's account resulted in the mass harassment of the gay BYU student as well as several females. Logan also summoned the support of the Radical Orthodoxy community to "stand and be counted" in support of Hank Smith.

CW: queerphobia

The JPBellum account was one of the main DezNat accounts that promoted the anti-LGBTQ hate rally at @BYU framing it as "lgbtq activists...protesting church teachings."

He appears to be the first DezNat account to use umbrella emojis as a queerphobic hate symbol.

CW: white supremacy

Logan Smith has used a variation of the white supremacist slogan "14 words" mingled with Latter-day Saint imagery.

When failed racist Utah senatorial candidate Samuel Parker replies, "The 19 words? Whew boy!" Logan reprimands him for confirming the reference

CW: antisemitism, holocaust denial, homophobia

Logan Smith is a well-known antisemite who pushes holocaust denial.

CW: misogyny, anti-feminism

Logan Smith has repeatedly used the "repealthe19th" hashtag, a reference to the 19th amendment of the U.S. constitution that gave women the right to vote.

CW: misogyny

Other things Logan Smith has said about women:

Identifying Logan Smith as JPBellum

Logan Starr Smith left several clues that helped us connect him to his pseudonymous DezNat account, JPBellum. He also attempted to throw off researchers by providing false information about their identity, i.e. a fake LinkedIn account.

AGE

"JPBellum" left clues about his age.

Using Mormon cultural traditions about dating we were able to narrow his age range to 39-41 years of age. Logan Starr Smith is 40 years old.

MISSION

JPBellum left lots of clues about his @Ch_JesusChrist mission. This led us to the Morristown New Jersey Mission which we were able to confirm is where Logan Smith served.

COLLEGE

The JPBellum account revealed that he went to Ricks College while @BednarDavidA was the president of the school.

He also stated he went to @byuidaho where he met his wife. This matches Logan Smith.

RELATIONSHIP/MARRIAGE

"JPBellum" gave us the timeline of his courtship and marriage, including his anniversary month which is November.

LOCATION

"JPBellum" also gave us clues to his location. We know from his tweets that he is from North California. He tweeted he was having a major life change and he's talked about moving out of CA. Logan Smith and his wife recently moved from Fair Oaks, CA to Pocatello, ID.

EMPLOYMENT

JPBellum gave several clues as to his employment background: worked for his father’s family business, farm or agriculture related. The account also knows a lot about egg and chicken production. That led us to a business in Fair Oaks, California and Logan Starr Smith.

CROSS-POSTING

After comparing images and information from both Logan Starr Smith and “JPBellum” accounts, we were able to see that he cross-posted images across platforms. One of the most damning images is a "Tie check" pic he posted to both Twitter and his personal YouTube.

Recently, Logan Smith's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts were all deleted, but not before we archived and saved the accounts.

⚠️CALLS TO ACTION⚠️

1.) According to Logan Smith's deleted LinkedIn, he is currently employed as a Virtual Service Agent at @Idaho_Central

Let them know they have an antisemtic, misogynistic, homophobic bigot who mingles white supremacy with Mormonism working for them.

2.) Logan Smith is an antisemite who mixes white supremacist and neo-Nazi symbolism with Mormonism. He has targeted students and professors at @BYU by offering “bounties” to get them kicked out.

Spread the word about Logan to his bishop using the following information:

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