Another informational thread! This one is about nazi organizing in PDX in the 80s, the murderers of Seraw, East Side White Pride, its connection to White Aryan Resistance, and the scum that was Tom Metzger. CW for nazism, white supremacy, murder. This will be a long one. 1/
In 1988, when Mulugeta Seraw was murdered, PDX was all but forced to come to terms with its racist history (that is, for white folks. Black folks were already well aware of Portland's love for and denial of racism. Most of us know that Oregon was originally founded to be 2/
"whites only." Its original charter in 1859 explicitly excluded Black people from existing in the state. That was later overturned, but did not do much to curb the racism here. by the 1920s, the KKK was very active in Portland. 3/
This is important to know because the white and racist history of Portland made it an ideal place for the "Northwest Imperative," a plan named by white supremacists with the intent of creating a white utopia in the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. 4/
Depending who you ask, they might include northern California and Wyoming as well. Here's more about Portland's racist history: 5/

theguardian.com/us-news/2017/m…
The Northwest Imperative was a concept dreamed up by Tom Metzger. He was once a grand dragon of the KKK in California, and founder of White Aryan Resistance. He recruited vulnerable youths to be a part of his white supremacist gang, and encouraged them to carry out "lone wolf" 6/
hate crimes as individuals. Tom Metzger's son, John, was the leader of the Aryan Youth Movement, the youth sect of the WAR. in 1986, WAR sent the VP of the Aryan Youth Movement to Portland to organize East Side White Pride. 7/
Kyle Brewster, Ken Mieske, and Steve Strasser -- Mulugeta Seraw's murderers -- ended up a part of the racist street gang. All three were convicted of the murder in 1989 and sentenced to various lengths. Tom Metzger was also placed on trial due to rumors that the three had 8/
carried out the murder at his direction in a civil suit filed by the SPLC. What followed was a war between anti-racist skinhead punks, and the racist skinhead youth recruited by the white supremacists. Strasser was released from prison in 1999, and reportedly quit the white 9/
supremacist movement while locked up, and all but disappeared completely ( Please note that it's common for white supremacists to find community among other white supremacists in jails and prisons. Strasser is an outlier.). Ken Mieske died in prison in 2011. Tom Metzger lost 10/
everything except his racism in the civil suit. Kyle Brewster completed his sentence in 2002, but was re-incarcerated in 2008. He now walks free and has been seen very recently at various white supremacist rallies in Portland. 11/


Thanks for hanging in there for this one! Our next event on 4/14 will be at Davinci Middle School at 6:30pm, and will be discussing the murder of Mulugeta Seraw.

14/14

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