193-557: The Aryan Brotherhood ( AB or The Brand ) is a neo-Nazi prison gang and an organized crime syndicate that is based in the United States and has an estimated 15,000–20,000 members both inside and outside prisons. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has characterized it as "the nation's oldest major white supremacist prison gang and a national crime syndicate" while the Anti-Defamation League calls it
386-489: A Berlin –Moscow alliance against the supposedly "decadent" Atlanticist forces; a dream which had been thematic since the days of Remer. Zündel visited Russia and met with ex-KGB general Aleksandr Stergilov and other Russian National Unity members. Despite these initial aspirations, international neo-Nazism and its close affiliates in ultra-nationalism would be split over the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995, as part of
579-473: A Strasserite "nationalist and socialist" policy, which dissolved in 1962 due to lack of support. Other Third Reich associated groups were the HIAG and Stille Hilfe dedicated to advancing the interests of Waffen-SS veterans and rehabilitating them into the new democratic society. However, they did not claim to be attempting to restore Nazism, instead functioning as lobbying organizations for their members before
772-462: A blood and soil variation of environmentalism, which has themes in common with deep ecology , the organic movement and animal protectionism . This tendency, sometimes called " ecofascism ", was represented in the original German Nazism by Richard Walther Darré who was the Reichsminister of Food from 1933 until 1942. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany , the political ideology of
965-474: A boss , an underboss , capos , and soldiers —all only of full-blooded Italian origin—while associates could come from any background. All inducted members of the Mafia are called "made" men . This signifies that they are untouchable in the criminal underworld and any harm brought to them will be met with retaliation. With the exception of associates, all mobsters within the Mafia are "made" official members of
1158-630: A capo in the Colombo family, had been recruited by the FBI to help find the bodies of three civil rights workers who had been murdered in Mississippi in 1964 by the Ku Klux Klan. She said that she had been with Scarpa in Mississippi at the time and had witnessed him being given a gun, and later a cash payment, by FBI agents. She testified that Scarpa had threatened a Klansman by placing a gun in
1351-434: A code of silence that forbade its members from cooperating with the police ( Omertà ). Failure to follow any of these rules was punishable by death. The rise of power that the Mafia acquired during prohibition would continue long after alcohol was made legal again. Criminal empires which had expanded on bootleg money would find other avenues to continue making large sums of money. When alcohol ceased to be prohibited in 1933,
1544-404: A made man in the mob were closed, and were not reopened until 1976. Local and state law enforcement became suspicious when numerous expensive cars bearing license plates from around the country arrived in what was described as "the sleepy hamlet of Apalachin". After setting up roadblocks, the police raided the meeting, causing many of the participants to flee into the woods and area surrounding
1737-602: A " Fourth Reich ". Holocaust denial is common in neo-Nazi circles. Neo-Nazis regularly display Nazi symbols and express admiration for Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders. In some European and Latin American countries, laws prohibit the expression of pro-Nazi, racist, antisemitic, or homophobic views. Nazi-related symbols are banned in many European countries (especially Germany ) in an effort to curtail neo-Nazism. The term neo-Nazism describes any post- World War II militant, social or political movements seeking to revive
1930-701: A "...radicalization threat", committing acts of violence inside prison, and then in the larger communities after release. Johnson named the Aryan Brotherhood, Aryan Brotherhood of Texas , and the Aryan Circle as examples of white supremacist prison-based gangs which are radicalization threats. In an investigation in California prisons which ended in 1989, the FBI characterized the Brotherhood as
2123-511: A "...violent, white supremacist group", and a 2008 DHS intelligence conference in Newport, Rhode Island divided violent domestic extremism into three types, and concluded that white supremacist groups like Aryan Brotherhood remained a threat and a cause for concern. Estimates of Aryan Brotherhood membership vary from 15,000 to 20,000 members in and out of prison. The Aryan Brotherhood has members inside federal and state prisons, and outside on
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#17327662463502316-539: A New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so. ( Philadelphia crime family boss Ralph Natale had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges, though Natale was mostly a "front" boss while the real boss of the Philadelphia Mafia used Natale as a diversion for authorities.) In the 21st century, the Mafia has continued to be involved in
2509-767: A brief intelligence "brown scare". Later leaders of American white nationalism came to politics through the ANP, including a teenage David Duke and William Luther Pierce of the National Alliance , although they soon distanced themselves from explicit self-identification with neo-Nazism. In 1961, the World Union of National Socialists was founded by Rockwell and Colin Jordan of the British National Socialist Movement , adopting
2702-458: A broad spectrum of illegal activities. These include murder, extortion, corruption of public officials, gambling, infiltration of legitimate businesses, labor racketeering, loan sharking, tax fraud schemes and stock manipulation schemes. Although the Mafia used to be nationwide, today most of its activities are confined to the Northeast and Chicago. While other criminal organizations such as
2895-604: A clearly sympathetic view of Hitler and the publisher Ernst Zündel was deeply tied to international neo-Nazism), however, the main interest of Holocaust denial to neo-Nazis was their hope that it would help them rehabilitate their political ideology in the eyes of the general public. Did Six Million Really Die? (1974) by Richard Verrall and The Hoax of the Twentieth Century (1976) by Arthur Butz are popular examples of Holocaust denial material. Key developments in international neo-Nazism during this time include
3088-607: A consequence, some members of the nascent movement of German neo-Nazism joined the Deutsche Reichspartei of which Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the most prominent figure. Younger members founded the Wiking-Jugend modelled after the Hitler Youth . The Deutsche Reichspartei stood for elections from 1953 until 1961 fetching around 1% of the vote each time. Rudel befriended French-born Savitri Devi , who
3281-435: A crime family. The three highest positions make up the administration. Below the administration, there are factions each headed by a caporegime (captain), who leads a crew of soldiers and associates. They report to the administration and can be seen as equivalent to managers in a business. When a boss makes a decision, he rarely issues orders directly to workers who would carry it out but instead passes instructions down through
3474-578: A homemade bomb large enough to make "a car explode". The leading suspect, B.T., was organizing the trafficking of weapons and was developing international links, in particular with the Dutch far-right movement De Nationale Alliantie . The neo-Nazi white nationalist organization Bosanski Pokret Nacionalnog Ponosa ( Bosnian Movement of National Pride ) was founded in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 2009. Its model
3667-533: A late World War II general known for his antisemitic and pro-Nazi stance. From 2003 to 2019, the annual event was hosted by Bulgarian National Union. Neo-Nazis in Croatia base their ideology on the writings of Ante Pavelić and the Ustaše , a fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The Ustaše regime committed a genocide against Serbs , Jews and Roma . At the end of World War II , many Ustaše members fled to
3860-447: A man in prison who he feared mob boss, and fellow prisoner, Vito Genovese had ordered to kill him. Valachi and Genovese were both serving sentences for heroin trafficking . On June 22, 1962, using a pipe left near some construction work, Valachi bludgeoned an inmate to death who he had mistaken for Joseph DiPalermo, a Mafia member who he believed had been contracted to kill him. After time with FBI handlers, Valachi came forward with
4053-627: A meeting and arrested major figures from around the country in Apalachin, New York . The event (dubbed the " Apalachin Meeting ") forced the FBI to recognize organized crime as a serious problem in the United States and changed the way law enforcement investigated it. In 1963, Joe Valachi became the first Mafia member to turn state's evidence , and provided detailed information of its inner workings and secrets. More importantly, he revealed
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#17327662463504246-413: A murder is punishable by death. Jewish mobster and Mafia associate Dutch Schultz was reportedly killed by his Italian peers out of fear that he would carry out a plan to kill New York City prosecutor Thomas Dewey and thus bring unprecedented police attention to the Mafia. However, the Mafia has carried out hits on law enforcement, especially in its earlier history. New York police officer Joe Petrosino
4439-525: A neo-Spenglerian author, had written Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics (1949) dedicated to "the hero of the twentieth century" (namely, Adolf Hitler) and founded the European Liberation Front . He was interested more in the destiny of Europe; to this end, he advocated a National Bolshevik -esque red-brown alliance against American culture and influenced 1960s figures such as SS-veteran Jean-François Thiriart . Yockey
4632-641: A new paganism . In the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) a former member of SA , Wilhelm Adam , founded the National Democratic Party of Germany . It reached out to those attracted by the Nazi Party before 1945 and provide them with a political outlet, so that they would not be tempted to support the far-right again or turn to the anti-communist Western Allies. Joseph Stalin wanted to use them to create
4825-670: A new pro-Soviet and anti-Western strain in German politics. According to top Soviet diplomat Vladimir Semyonov, Stalin even suggested that they could be allowed to continue publishing their own newspaper, Völkischer Beobachter . While in Austria, former SS member Wilhelm Lang founded an esoteric group known as the Vienna Lodge ; he popularised Nazism and occultism such as the Black Sun and ideas of Third Reich survival colonies below
5018-633: A paramilitary wing; Combat 18 , which intersected with football hooligan firms such as the Chelsea Headhunters . The neo-Nazi skinhead movement spread to the United States, with groups such as the Hammerskins . It was popularised from 1986 onwards by Tom Metzger of the White Aryan Resistance . Since then it has spread across the world. Films such as Romper Stomper (1992) and American History X (1998) would fix
5211-685: A popular Croatian singer, was attended by 60,000 people, some of them wearing Ustaše uniforms. Some gave Ustaše salutes and shouted the Ustaše slogan " Za dom spremni " ("For the homeland – ready!"). This event prompted the Simon Wiesenthal Center to publicly issue a protest to the Croatian president. Cases of displaying Ustashe memorabilia have been recorded at the Bleiburg commemoration held annually in Austria. The government of
5404-610: A profit. The SPLC, which monitors hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States, has designated the Aryan Brotherhood as "...the nation's oldest major white supremacist prison gang and a national crime syndicate", and the "...largest and deadliest prison gang in the United States". Daryl Johnson, leader of the Domestic Terrorist Analysis Team whose job it is to monitor the activity of right-wing militias and other domestic terrorist groups, said that white supremacist organizations in prisons are
5597-497: A public perception that neo-Nazism and skinheads were synonymous. New developments also emerged on the esoteric level, as former Chilean diplomat Miguel Serrano built on the works of Carl Jung , Otto Rahn , Wilhelm Landig , Julius Evola and Savitri Devi to bind together and develop already existing theories. Serrano had been a member of the National Socialist Movement of Chile in the 1930s and from
5790-711: A red flag incorporating the Swastika under the banner of Russia for Russians . These forces came together in a last gasp effort to save the Supreme Soviet of Russia against Boris Yeltsin during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis . As well as events in Russia, in newly independent ex-Soviet states, annual commemorations for SS volunteers now took place; particularly in Latvia , Estonia and Ukraine . The Russian developments excited German neo-Nazism who dreamed of
5983-643: A significant and powerful presence in other Midwestern metropolitan areas such as Kansas City , Detroit , Milwaukee , Cleveland , and St. Louis . Outside of these areas, the Mafia is also very active in Florida , Phoenix , Las Vegas , and Los Angeles . Mafia families have previously existed to a greater extent and continue to exist to a lesser extent in Northeastern Pennsylvania , Dallas , Denver , New Orleans , Rochester , San Francisco , San Jose , Seattle , and Tampa . While some of
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6176-434: A story of Genovese giving him a kiss on the cheek, which he took as a " kiss of death ". A $ 100,000 bounty for Valachi's death had been placed by Genovese. Soon after, Valachi decided to cooperate with the U.S. Justice Department . In October 1963, Valachi testified before Arkansas Senator John L. McClellan 's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate Committee on Government Operations , known as
6369-456: A tunnel after a rehearsal. Ilin subsequently accused Estonian police of indifference after filing the incident. When a dark-skinned French student was attacked in Tartu , the head of an association of foreign students claimed that the attack was characteristic of a wave of neo-Nazi violence. An Estonian police official, however, stated that there were only a few cases involving foreign students over
6562-477: A wave of anti-immigration populism and concerns over British national decline. Televised exposes on This Week in 1974 and World in Action in 1978, showed their neo-Nazi pedigree and damaged their electoral chances. In 1967, Rockwell was killed by a disgruntled former member. Matthias Koehl took control of the ANP, and strongly influenced by Savitri Devi, gradually transformed it into an esoteric group known as
6755-465: A way to escape the poor lifestyle, some Italian immigrants chose to join the American Mafia. The Mafia took advantage of prohibition and began selling illegal alcohol. The profits from bootlegging far exceeded the traditional crimes of protection, extortion, gambling, and prostitution. Prohibition allowed Mafia families to make fortunes. As prohibition continued, victorious factions went on to dominate organized crime in their respective cities, setting up
6948-577: A woman, the feminine-form adjective mafiusa means "beautiful" or "attractive". In North America, the Italian-American Mafia may be colloquially referred to as simply "The Mafia" or "The Mob"; however, without context, these two terms may cause confusion as "The Mafia" may also refer to the Sicilian Mafia specifically or Italian organized crime in general, while "The Mob" can refer to other similar organized crime groups (such as
7141-662: Is Bosnian nationalism because it secures national prosperity and social justice..." The group is led by a person nicknamed Sauberzwig, after the commander of the 13th SS Handschar. The group's strongest area of operations is in the Tuzla area of Bosnia. The primary neo-Nazi political party to receive attention in post-WWII Bulgaria is the Bulgarian National Union – New Democracy . On 13 February of every year since 2003, Bulgarian neo-Nazis and like-minded far-right nationalists gather at Sofia to honor Hristo Lukov ,
7334-545: Is a National Socialist movement in Armenia . It was founded in 2021 and supports Aryanism , Antisemitism, and White supremacy. A Belgian neo-Nazi organization, Bloed, Bodem, Eer en Trouw (Blood, Soil, Honour and Loyalty), was created in 2004 after splitting from the international network ( Blood and Honour ). The group rose to public prominence in September 2006, after 17 members (including 11 soldiers) were arrested under
7527-522: Is considered a particular form of far-right politics and right-wing extremism. Neo-Nazi writers have posited a spiritual, esoteric doctrine of race , which moves beyond the primarily Darwinian -inspired materialist scientific racism popular mainly in the Anglosphere during the 20th century. Figures influential in the development of neo-Nazi racism, such as Miguel Serrano and Julius Evola (writers who are described by critics of Nazism such as
7720-460: Is generally hierarchical, headed by a twelve-man council which is topped by a three-man commission. The Aryan Brotherhood uses various terms, symbols, and images in order to identify itself, including shamrocks , swastikas , and other symbols. In order to join the Aryan Brotherhood, new members may swear a blood oath or take a pledge; acceptance into the Aryan Brotherhood is aided by a prospect's willingness to kill another inmate . Most prisons in
7913-662: Is the Waffen-SS Handschar Division , which was composed of Bosniak volunteers. It proclaimed its main enemies to be "Jews, Roma , Serbian Chetniks , the Croatian separatists , Josip Broz Tito , Communists , homosexuals and blacks ". Its ideology is a mixture of Bosnian nationalism , National Socialism and white nationalism . It says "Ideologies that are not welcome in Bosnia are: Zionism, Islamism, communism, capitalism. The only ideology good for us
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8106-643: The Cotswold Declaration . French socialite Françoise Dior was involved romantically with Jordan and his deputy John Tyndall and a friend of Savitri Devi, who also attended the meeting. The National Socialist Movement wore quasi-SA uniforms, was involved in streets conflicts with the Jewish 62 Group . In the 1970s, Tyndall's earlier involvement with neo-Nazism would come back to haunt the National Front , which he led, as they attempted to ride
8299-605: The Black Guerrilla Family . In the early 1970s, the Aryan Brotherhood had a connection with Charles Manson and the Manson Family . Several members of the Manson Family were in prison at the time, and they attempted to join forces. However, the relationship did not last long as the Aryan Brotherhood took offense at the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate . The Aryan Brotherhood grew quickly in
8492-732: The Czech Republic strictly punishes neo-Nazism ( Czech : Neonacismus ). According to a report by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic , neo-Nazis committed more than 211 crimes in 2013. The Czech Republic has various neo-Nazi groups. One of them is the group Wotan Jugend, based in Germany. The National Socialist Movement of Denmark was formed in 1991, and was formally a neo nazi party, that would actively promote
8685-611: The Five Families : the Gambino , Lucchese , Genovese , Bonanno , and Colombo families. The Italian-American Mafia has long dominated organized crime in the United States. Each crime family has its own territory and operates independently, while nationwide coordination is overseen by the Commission , which consists of the bosses of each of the strongest families. Though the majority of the Mafia's activities are contained to
8878-768: The Five Points Gang , founded by Paul Kelly , were very powerful in the Little Italy of the Lower East Side. Kelly recruited some street hoodlums who later became some of the most famous crime bosses of the century - such as Johnny Torrio , Al Capone , Lucky Luciano and Frankie Yale . They were often in conflict with the Jewish Eastmans of the same area. There was also an influential Mafia family in East Harlem. The Neapolitan Camorra
9071-575: The Greek Volunteer Guard ). Indeed, the revival of National Bolshevism was able to steal some of the thunder from overt Russian neo-Nazism, as ultra-nationalism was wedded with veneration of Joseph Stalin in place of Adolf Hitler, while still also flirting with Nazi aesthetics. Outside Germany, in other countries which were involved with the Axis powers and had their own native ultra-nationalist movements, which sometimes collaborated with
9264-549: The Hells Angels . The gangs were also involved in a power struggle in the East Bay , which led to the killing of Hells Angels vice-president Michael O'Farrell on June 6, 1989. In 1992, the gang established ties with American Mafia crime, via boss John Gotti , who was sentenced to prison and contacted the Aryan Brotherhood for protection while he was in prison. Gotti also organized a business partnership which operated on
9457-462: The Irish Mob ) or organized crime in general. The first published account of what became the Mafia in the United States dates to the spring of 1869. The New Orleans Times reported that the city's Second District had become overrun by "well-known and notorious Sicilian murderers, counterfeiters and burglars, who, in the last month, have formed a sort of general co-partnership or stock company for
9650-600: The Lucchese crime family participated in a point shaving scandal involving the Boston College basketball team . Rick Kuhn, Henry Hill , and others associated with the Lucchese crime family, manipulated the results of the games during the 1978–1979 basketball season. Through bribing and intimidating several members of the team, they ensured their bets on the point spread of each game would go in their favor. One of
9843-534: The National Crime Syndicate and brought in an era of peace and prosperity for the American Mafia. By mid-century, there were 26 official Commission-sanctioned Mafia crime families, each based in a different city (except for the Five Families which were all based in New York). Each family operated independently from the others and generally had exclusive territory it controlled. As opposed to
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#173276624635010036-412: The National Renaissance Party , including James H. Madole , H. Keith Thompson and Eustace Mullins ( protégé of Ezra Pound ) and the Liberty Lobby of Willis Carto . Rockwell, an American conservative, was first politicised in the anti-communism and anti- racial integration movements before becoming anti-Jewish. In response to his opponents calling him a "Nazi", he theatrically appropriated
10229-579: The National Socialist Movement of Denmark of Povl Riis-Knudsen and various German and Austrian figures who felt that the "National Democratic" parties were too bourgeois and insufficiently Nazi in orientation. This included Michael Kühnen , Christian Worch , Bela Ewald Althans and Gottfried Küssel of the 1977-founded ANS/NS which called for the establishment of a Germanic Fourth Reich . Some ANS/NS members were imprisoned for planning paramilitary attacks on NATO bases in Germany and planning to liberate Rudolf Hess from Spandau Prison . The organisation
10422-521: The New Order . In Franco's Spain , certain SS refugees most notably Otto Skorzeny , Léon Degrelle and the son of Klaus Barbie became associated with CEDADE ( Círculo Español de Amigos de Europa ), an organisation which disseminated Third Reich apologetics out of Barcelona . They intersected with neo-Nazi advocates from Mark Fredriksen in France to Salvador Borrego in Mexico. In the post-fascist Italian Social Movement splinter groups such as Ordine Nuovo and Avanguardia Nazionale , involved in
10615-426: The North Side Gang , another Irish American outfit. In New York City, by the end of the 1920s, two factions of organized crime had emerged to fight for control of the criminal underworld — one led by Joe Masseria and the other by Salvatore Maranzano . This caused the Castellammarese War , which led to Masseria's murder in 1931. Maranzano then divided New York City into five families . Maranzano,
10808-485: The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act . On July 1, 1985, the original nine men, with the addition of two more New York Mafia leaders, pleaded not guilty to a second set of racketeering charges as part of the trial. Prosecutors aimed to strike at all the crime families at once using their involvement in the Commission. On December 2, 1985, Gambino family underboss Neil Dellacroce died of cancer. Gambino boss and de facto commission head Paul Castellano
11001-413: The Rizzuto crime family and Cotroni crime family , and the Luppino crime family and Papalia crime family , respectively. U.S. Naval Intelligence entered into an agreement with Lucky Luciano to gain his assistance in keeping the New York waterfront free from saboteurs after the destruction of the SS Normandie . This spectacular disaster convinced both sides to talk seriously about protecting
11194-487: The Russian Mafia , Chinese Triads , Mexican drug cartels and others have all grabbed a share of criminal activities, the Mafia continues to be the dominant criminal organization in these regions, partly due to its strict hierarchical structure. Law enforcement is concerned with the possible resurgence of the Mafia as it regroups from the turmoil of the 1990s, although FBI and local law enforcement agencies now focus more on homeland security and less on organized crime since
11387-431: The September 11 attacks . To avoid FBI attention and prosecution, the modern Mafia also outsources much of its work to other criminal groups, such as motorcycle gangs. The American Mafia operates on a strict hierarchical structure. While similar to its Sicilian origins, the American Mafia's modern organizational structure was created by Salvatore Maranzano in 1931. He created the Five Families , each of which would have
11580-412: The Southern Poverty Law Center as influential within what it presents as parts of "the bizarre fringes of National Socialism, past and present"), claim that the Hyperborean ancestors of the Aryans were in the distant past, far higher beings than their current state, having suffered from "involution" due to mixing with the "Telluric" peoples; supposed creations of the Demiurge . Within this theory, if
11773-484: The Teamsters ' pension fund, a union they effectively controlled, and used legitimate front men to build casinos. When money came into the counting room , hired men skimmed cash before it was recorded, then delivered it to their respective bosses. This money went unrecorded, but the amount is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Operating in the shadows, the Mafia faced little opposition from law enforcement. Local law enforcement agencies did not have
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#173276624635011966-455: The Valachi hearings , stating that the Italian-American Mafia actually existed, the first time a member had acknowledged its existence in public. Valachi's testimony was the first major violation of omertà , breaking his blood oath . He was the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly, and is credited with popularization of the term cosa nostra . Although Valachi's disclosures never led directly to
12159-457: The Western novels of Louis L'Amour , source of the organization's self-proclaimed "the Brand" moniker. Therefore, they perpetuated an admiration for the outlaw gunslingers of the American West. Members also have a fondness for medieval Vikings and the pirates of the Golden Age . Criminal activities inside prison walls include male prostitution , gambling, extortion, and drug trafficking, primarily involving methamphetamine. Outside prison,
12352-417: The World Jewish Congress on the international stage. Waldheim's record was defended by Bruno Kreisky , an Austrian Jew who served as Chancellor of Austria. The legacy of the affair lingers on, as Victor Ostrovsky has claimed the Mossad doctored the file of Waldheim to implicate him in war crimes. Some critics have sought to draw a connection between Nazism and modern right-wing populism in Europe, but
12545-532: The breakup of Yugoslavia . The split would largely be along ethnic and sectarian lines. The Germans and the French would largely back the Western Catholic Croats (Lauck's NSDAP/AO explicitly called for volunteers , which Kühnen's Free German Workers' Party answered and the French formed the "Groupe Jacques Doriot "), while the Russians and the Greeks would back the Orthodox Serbs (including Russians from Barkashov's Russian National Unity, Eduard Limonov 's National Bolshevik Front and Golden Dawn members joined
12738-411: The chain of command . This way, the higher levels of the organization are insulated from law enforcement attention if the lower level members who actually commit the crime should be captured or investigated, providing plausible deniability . There are occasionally other positions in the family leadership. Frequently, ruling panels have been set up when a boss goes to jail to divide the responsibility of
12931-399: The collapse of the Soviet Union during the early 1990s, neo-Nazism began to spread its ideas in the East, as hostility to the triumphant liberal order was high and revanchism a widespread feeling. In Russia, during the chaos of the early 1990s, an amorphous mixture of KGB hardliners, Orthodox neo-Tsarist nostalgics (i.e., Pamyat ) and explicit neo-Nazis found themselves strewn together in
13124-415: The " Years of Lead " considered Nazism a reference. Franco Freda created a " Nazi-Maoism " synthesis. In Germany itself, the various Third Reich nostalgic movements coalesced around the National Democratic Party of Germany in 1964 and in Austria the National Democratic Party in 1967 as the primary sympathisers of the NSDAP past, although more publicly cautious than earlier groups. Holocaust denial ,
13317-420: The "Aryans" are to return to the Golden Age of the distant past, they need to awaken the memory of the blood. An extraterrestrial origin of the Hyperboreans is often claimed. These theories draw influence from Gnosticism and Tantrism , building on the work of the Ahnenerbe . Within this racist theory, Jews are held up as the antithesis of nobility, purity and beauty. Neo-Nazism generally aligns itself with
13510-447: The "Kefauver Hearings"), televised nationwide, captured the attention of the American people and forced the FBI to recognize the existence of organized crime. In 1953, the FBI initiated the "Top Hoodlum Program". The purpose of the program was to have agents collect information on the mobsters in their territories and report it regularly to Washington to maintain a centralized collection of intelligence on racketeers. The Apalachin meeting
13703-581: The "oldest and most notorious racist prison gang in the United States". According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Aryan Brotherhood makes up an extremely low percentage of the entire US prison population, but it is responsible for a disproportionately large number of prison murders. The gang has focused on the economic activities which organized crime entities typically engage in, particularly drug trafficking , extortion , inmate prostitution , and murder-for-hire . The organization of its whites-only membership varies from prison to prison but it
13896-549: The 19 indictees not eligible for the death penalty had pleaded guilty. The first of a series of trials involving four high level members ended in convictions in July 2006. On June 23, 2005, after a 20-month investigation, a federal strike force raided six houses in northeastern Ohio which belonged to members of the "Order of the Blood", a criminal organization which is controlled by the Aryan Brotherhood. 34 Aryan Brotherhood members or associates were arrested and warrants were issued for
14089-579: The 1960s were the former concentration camp personnel prosecuted by West Germany in the Belzec trial , Frankfurt Auschwitz trials , Treblinka trials , Chełmno trials , and the Sobibór trial . However, the government had passed laws prohibiting Nazis from publicly expressing their beliefs. Neo-Nazism found expression outside of Germany, including in countries who fought against the Third Reich during
14282-548: The 1980s. In the 1950s more Mafia-financed casinos were constructed, such as the Stardust , Sahara , Tropicana , Desert Inn , and Riviera . Tourism in the city greatly increased through the 1960s and strengthened the local economy. The 1960s were also when the Mafia's influence in the Las Vegas economy began to dwindle, however. The Nevada State government and Federal government had been working to weaken Mafia activity on
14475-576: The 1980s. Through the RICO law, many in the Mafia were convicted and imprisoned. When the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act) became federal law in 1970, it became a highly effective tool in prosecuting mobsters. It provides for extended criminal penalties for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. Violation of the act is punishable by up to 20 years in prison per count, up to $ 25,000 in fines, and
14668-661: The 1990s, the Aryan Brotherhood had shifted its focus away from killing for strictly racial reasons and focused on organized crime such as drug trafficking, prostitution, and sanctioned murders. They took on organized crime-level power inside much of the United States' prison system, where they eventually accumulated greater power and influence than the American Mafia . This situation was personified when, after being assaulted by an African-American inmate while incarcerated in Marion Federal Penitentiary in 1996, Gambino crime family boss John Gotti allegedly asked
14861-454: The 1990s. On January 9, 2003, Bonanno crime family boss Joseph Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Salvatore Vitale , Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano . Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge Nicholas Garaufis presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading
15054-512: The AB engages in every kind of criminal enterprise, "...including murder-for-hire, armed robbery, gun running, methamphetamine manufacturing, heroin sales, counterfeiting, and identity theft", according to the SPLC. After its formation in California prisons in the mid-1960s, the Aryan Brotherhood had spread to most California prisons by 1975. After some of its leaders were sent to federal prisons, they took
15247-485: The Arizona prison system, members are known as "kindred" and organize into "families". A "council" controls the families. Kindred may recruit other members, known as "progeny", and serve as a mentor for the new recruits. A sort of internal banking or accounting system was instituted, which allowed them to "tax" criminal activity on the streets, and collect 20% on the proceeds, money which is then laundered and controlled by
15440-490: The Aryan Brotherhood killed two correction officers at Marion. Silverstein killed an officer named Merle Clutts, stabbing him approximately 40 times. Several hours later, Fountain also killed an officer named Robert Hoffman. The tactics used were developed for a prior inmate murder; Silverstein used an improvised knife and handcuff key while being taken to the showers. He picked the lock, then attacked and killed Merle Clutts. Fountain used similar tactics to kill Robert Hoffman. By
15633-956: The Aryan Brotherhood to murder his attacker. Gotti's attacker was immediately transferred to protective custody and the planned retaliation was abandoned. In April 1993, members of the Aryan Brotherhood along with members of the Black Muslims and other gangs in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility initiated the Lucasville Prison Riot in Lucasville . The rioters took several officers hostage and killed nine inmates, then killed an officer. Their complaints included alleged abusive treatment and overcrowding, with Black Muslims also demanding an end to mandatory tuberculosis testing, which they said violated their faith. In late 2002, 29 leaders of
15826-558: The Aryan prison gang classification as "...further outside the white supremacy mainstream", and describes them as largely independent of other white supremacist groups, although the lines blurred as time went on. The report also refers to them as "more flexible" than other white supremacist groups since "...their criminal goals usually take precedence over ideology." TV documentaries Films TV series Other Neo-Nazism Final solution Parties Neo-Nazism comprises
16019-529: The Barbara estate. More than 60 underworld bosses were detained and indicted following the raid. Twenty of those who attended the meeting were charged with "Conspiring to obstruct justice by lying about the nature of the underworld meeting" and found guilty in January 1959. All were fined, up to $ 10,000 each, and given prison sentences ranging from three to five years. All the convictions were overturned on appeal
16212-783: The Black Legion. The plaque remained there for four years, until it was removed by the authorities. In 2003, Croatian penal code was amended with provisions prohibiting the public display of Nazi symbols, the propagation of Nazi ideology, historical revisionism and holocaust denial but the amendments were annulled in 2004 since they were not enacted in accordance with a constitutionally prescribed procedure. Nevertheless, since 2006 Croatian penal code explicitly prohibits any type of hate crime based on race , color , gender , sexual orientation , religion or national origin. There have been instances of hate speech in Croatia, such as
16405-528: The California prison system and eventually started a race war in 1975 with the other prison gangs such as La Nuestra Familia, and Black Guerilla Family. As a result of the race war, California prison officials segregated the gangs to different prisons in California. When the Aryan Brotherhood was isolated in the Chino prison, they were able to continue to grow and develop their leadership hierarchy. In 1981, Thomas Silverstein and Clayton Fountain were charged with
16598-590: The DeCavalcante family, was killed when he was suspected of engaging in homosexual activity. The following is a list of Mafia families that have been active in the U.S. Note that some families have members and associates working in other regions as well. The organization is not limited to these regions. The Bonanno crime family and the Buffalo crime family also had influence in several factions in Canada including
16791-518: The December 2003 anti-terrorist laws and laws against racism, antisemitism and supporters of censorship. According to Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx and Interior Minister Patrick Dewael , the suspects (11 of whom were members of the military) were preparing to launch terrorist attacks in order to "destabilize" Belgium . According to the journalist Manuel Abramowicz, of the Resistances,
16984-582: The Eighteenth Amendment, a half-million dollars in bonded whiskey was stolen from government warehouses. The profits that could be made from selling and distributing alcohol were worth the risk of punishment from the government, which had a difficult time enforcing prohibition. There were over 900,000 cases of liquor shipped to the borders of U.S. cities. Criminal gangs and politicians saw the opportunity to make fortunes and began shipping larger quantities of alcohol to U.S. cities. The majority of
17177-507: The FBI could put mobsters in the United States Federal Witness Protection Program , changing their identities and supporting them financially for life. This led to dozens of mobsters testifying and providing information during the 1990s, which led to the imprisonment of hundreds of other members. As a result, the Mafia has seen a major decline in its power and influence in organized crime since
17370-560: The FPÖ won 22 percent of the vote, as well as 33 percent of the vote in Carinthia and 22 percent in Vienna; showing that it had become a force capable of reversing the old pattern of Austrian politics. Historian Walter Laqueur writes that even though Haider welcomed former Nazis at his meetings and went out of his way to address Schutzstaffel (SS) veterans, the FPÖ is not a fascist party in
17563-777: The Freedom Party and formed the Alliance for Austria's Future , was killed in a traffic accident in October 2008. Barbara Rosenkranz , the Freedom Party's candidate in Austria's 2010 presidential election , was controversial for having made allegedly pro-Nazi statements. Rosenkranz is married to Horst Rosenkranz , a key member of a banned neo-Nazi party, who is known for publishing far-right books. Rosenkranz says she cannot detect anything "dishonourable" in her husband's activities. The Armenian-Aryan Racialist Political Movement
17756-683: The Jews were created by the Demiurge and were concerned only with coarse materialism . Serrano claimed that a new Golden Age can be attained if the Hyperboreans repurify their blood (supposedly the light of the Black Sun) and restore their " blood-memory ." As with Savitri Devi before him, Serrano's works became a key point of reference in neo-Nazism. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and
17949-591: The Klansman's mouth, forcing the Klansman to reveal the location of the bodies. Similar stories of Mafia involvement in recovering the bodies had been circulating for years, and had been previously published in the New York Daily News , but had never before been introduced in court. In several Mafia families, killing a state authority is forbidden due to the possibility of extreme police retaliation. In some rare strict cases, conspiring to commit such
18142-655: The Mafia diversified its money-making criminal activities to include (both old and new): illegal gambling operations, loan sharking , extortion , protection rackets , drug trafficking, fencing , and labor racketeering through control of labor unions. In the mid-20th century, the Mafia was reputed to have infiltrated many labor unions in the United States, most notably the Teamsters and International Longshoremen's Association . This allowed crime families to make inroads into very profitable legitimate businesses such as construction, demolition, waste management, trucking, and in
18335-588: The Mafia's existence to the law, which enabled the Federal Bureau of Investigation to begin an aggressive assault on the Mafia's National Crime Syndicate. Following Valachi's testimony, the Mafia could no longer operate completely in the shadows. The FBI put a lot more effort and resources into organized crime activities nationwide and created the Organized Crime Strike Force in various cities. While all this created more pressure on
18528-400: The Mafia, it did little, however, to curb its criminal activities. Progress was made by the beginning of the 1980s, when the FBI was able to rid Las Vegas casinos of Mafia control and made a determined effort to loosen the Mafia's stronghold on labor unions. By the late 1970s, the Mafia were involved in many industries, including betting on college sports. Several Mafia members associated with
18721-523: The National Front's Rock Against Communism project which was meant to counter the SWP 's Rock Against Racism . The most significant music group involved in this project was Skrewdriver , led by Ian Stuart Donaldson . Together with ex-BM member Nicky Crane , Donaldson founded the international Blood & Honour network in 1987. By 1992 this network, with input from Harold Covington , had developed
18914-743: The Northeastern United States and Chicago, they continue to dominate organized crime in the United States, despite the increasing numbers of other crime groups. The word mafia ( Italian: [ˈmaːfja] ) derives from the Sicilian adjective mafiusu , which, roughly translated, means "swagger" but can also be translated as "boldness" or " bravado ". In reference to a man, mafiusu ( mafioso in Italian) in 19th-century Sicily signified "fearless", "enterprising", and "proud" according to scholar Diego Gambetta . In reference to
19107-696: The SRP favoured the Soviet Union over the United States. In Austria , national independence had been restored, and the Verbotsgesetz 1947 explicitly criminalised the NSDAP and any attempt at restoration. West Germany adopted a similar law to target parties it defined as anti-constitutional; Article 21 Paragraph 2 in the Basic Law , banning the SRP in 1952 for being opposed to liberal democracy . As
19300-584: The Second World War, and sometimes adopted pan-European or "universal" characteristics, beyond the parameters of German nationalism . The two main tendencies, with differing styles and even worldviews, were the followers of the American Francis Parker Yockey , who was fundamentally anti-American and advocated for a pan-European nationalism , and those of George Lincoln Rockwell , an American conservative . Yockey,
19493-925: The Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra of Campania and the 'Ndrangheta of Calabria. The most important unit of the American Mafia is that of a " family ", as the various criminal organizations that make up the Mafia are known. Despite the name of "family" to describe the various units, they are not familial groupings. The Mafia is most active in the Northeastern United States , with the heaviest activity in New York , Philadelphia , Baltimore , New Jersey , Pittsburgh , Buffalo , and New England , in areas such as Boston , Providence , and Hartford . It also remains heavily active in Chicago and has
19686-589: The Strip . In 1969, the Nevada State Legislature passed a law that made it easier for corporations to own casinos. This brought new investors to the local economy to buy casinos from the Mafia. The U.S. Congress passed the RICO Act a year later. This law gave more authority to law enforcement to pursue the Mafia for its illegal activities. There was a sharp decline in mob involvement in Las Vegas in
19879-856: The Third Reich but were not technically German-style National Socialists, revivalist and nostalgic movements have emerged in the post-war period which, as neo-Nazism has done in Germany, seek to rehabilitate their various loosely associated ideologies. These movements include neo-fascists and post-fascists in Italy; Vichyites, Pétainists and "national Europeans" in France; Ustaše sympathisers in Croatia ; neo- Chetniks in Serbia; Iron Guard revivalists in Romania ; Hungarists and Horthyists in Hungary and others. The most significant case on an international level
20072-400: The U.S. imported an estimated $ 1.65 billion worth of heroin through pizzerias , hiding the cargo in various food products. Another one of the areas of the economy that the Mafia was most influential was Las Vegas, Nevada , beginning just after World War II with the opening of the first gambling resort, The Flamingo . Many credit the Mafia with being a big part of the city's development in
20265-833: The U.S. to extort money and resources out of big business, with recent indictments of corruption involving the New Jersey Waterfront Union, the Concrete Workers Union, and the Teamster Union . Restaurants were yet another powerful means by which the Mafia could gain economic power. A large concentration of Mafia-owned restaurants was in New York City. Not only were they the setting of many killings and important meetings, but they were also an effective means of smuggling drugs and other illegal goods. From 1985 to 1987, Sicilian Mafiosi in
20458-522: The United States used the same methods of extortion. Giuseppe Esposito was the first known Mafia member to emigrate to the United States. He and six other Sicilians fled to New York after murdering eleven wealthy landowners, the chancellor and a vice-chancellor of a Sicilian province. He was arrested in New Orleans in 1881 and extradited to Italy. From the 1890s to 1920 in New York City
20651-592: The United States were racially segregated until the 1960s. As prisons began to desegregate , many inmates organized themselves into gangs along racial lines. The Aryan Brotherhood is believed to have been formed at San Quentin State Prison , but it may have been inspired by the Bluebird Gang. They decided to strike against the African-Americans who were forming their own militant group called
20844-426: The United States' East Coast on the afternoon of February 9, 1942. While it was in the process of being converted into a troopship, the luxury ocean liner, Normandie , mysteriously burst into flames with 1,500 sailors and civilians on board. All but one escaped, but 128 were injured and by the next day the ship was a smoking hull. In his report, twelve years later, William B. Herlands, Commissioner of Investigation, made
21037-632: The United States, Italy, and Cuba are thought to have attended this meeting. Immediately after the Anastasia murder that October, and after taking control of the Luciano crime family , renamed the Genovese crime family, from Frank Costello , Vito Genovese wanted to legitimize his new power by holding a national Cosa Nostra meeting. As a result of the Apalachin meeting, the membership books to become
21230-532: The West Coast, however, connections to the gang were made across the country, reaching as far as Alabama, all tied to the Aryan Brotherhood, eventually leading to the seizure of 80 pounds of methamphetamine, 5 pounds of heroin, and more than 25 firearms. In June 2019, 16 members and associates of the Aryan Brotherhood were charged with numerous federal offenses following a multiyear investigation inside and outside of California’s prisons. Members and associates of
21423-698: The West, where they found sanctuary and continued their political and terrorist activities (which were tolerated due to Cold War hostilities). In 1999, Zagreb's Square of the Victims of Fascism was renamed Croatian Nobles Square , provoking widespread criticism of Croatia's attitude towards the Holocaust . In 2000, the Zagreb City Council again renamed the square into Square of the Victims of Fascism . Many streets in Croatia were renamed after
21616-495: The acquittal, the outraged citizens of New Orleans organized a lynch mob and proceeded to kill eleven of the nineteen defendants. Two were hanged, nine were shot, and the remaining eight escaped. On January 16, 1919, prohibition began in the United States with the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution making it illegal to manufacture, transport, or sell alcohol . Despite these bans, there
21809-504: The aesthetic elements of the NSDAP, to "own" the intended insult. In 1959, Rockwell founded the American Nazi Party and instructed his members to dress in imitation SA -style brown shirts, while flying the flag of the Third Reich. In contrast to Yockey, he was pro-American and cooperated with FBI requests, despite the party being targeted by COINTELPRO due to the mistaken belief that they were agents of Nasser's Egypt during
22002-504: The affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering. The jury found inmate Billy Sylvester, 55, guilty of murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin; and distribution of methamphetamine. The three are already serving life sentences and await punishment for
22195-550: The alcohol was imported from Canada, the Caribbean, and the American Midwest where stills manufactured illegal alcohol. In the early 1920s, fascist Benito Mussolini took control of Italy and waves of Italian immigrants fled to the United States. Sicilian Mafia members also fled to the United States, as Mussolini cracked down on Mafia activities in Italy. Most Italian immigrants resided in tenement buildings. As
22388-458: The arrests of ten more. In November 2020, more than sixty individuals that were associated with the Aryan Brotherhood were arrested in a multi-agency operation that took place in California, Montana, and Nevada. Investigators saw evidence that Aryan Brotherhood members were operating outside of prisons and noticed connections between the gang and violent crimes, firearms trafficking, and drug trafficking. The government saw these offenses occurring on
22581-508: The caravans that delivered the liquor. In the 1920s, Italian Mafia families began waging wars for absolute control over lucrative bootlegging rackets. As the violence erupted, Italians fought Irish and Jewish ethnic gangs for control of bootlegging in their respective territories. In New York City, Frankie Yale waged war with the Irish American White Hand Gang . In Chicago, Al Capone and his family massacred
22774-518: The case for the U.S. government talking to top criminals, stating "The Intelligence authorities were greatly concerned with the problems of sabotage and espionage…Suspicions were rife with respect to the leaking of information about convoy movements. The Normandie , which was being converted to war use as the Navy auxiliary Lafayette , had burned at the pier in the North River, New York City. Sabotage
22967-586: The claim that six million Jews were not deliberately and systematically exterminated as an official policy of the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler, became a more prominent feature of neo-Nazism in the 1970s. Before this time, Holocaust denial had long existed as a sentiment among neo-Nazis, but it had not yet been systematically articulated as a theory with a bibliographical canon. Few of the major theorists of Holocaust denial (who call themselves " revisionists ") can be uncontroversially classified as outright neo-Nazis (though some works such as those of David Irving forward
23160-680: The commission. The Aryan Brotherhood is affiliated with a network of smaller peckerwood gangs , such as the Nazi Lowriders and Public Enemy No. 1 , and the national hate-based organization Aryan Nations . The group also has an alliance with the Mexican Mafia ( La Eme ), as the two are mutual enemies of Black Guerrilla Family . Other rival gangs include the Black P. Stones , Bloods , Crips , D.C. Blacks , and Nuestra Familia . The Brotherhood has associated in criminal ventures with
23353-414: The country, the most powerful families continued to dominate crime in their territories, even if the new laws put more mobsters in jail and made it harder to operate. A high-profile RICO case sentenced John Gotti and Frank Locascio to life in prison in 1992, with the help of informant Sammy Gravano in exchange for immunity from prosecution for his crimes. Aside from avoiding long prison stretches,
23546-470: The death penalty. Bingham is serving a life sentence without parole. Mills, also sentenced to life without parole, died in ADX in 2018. Prosecuting the gang has been difficult, because many members are already serving life sentences with no possibility of parole , so prosecutors were seeking the death penalty for 21 of those indicted but have dropped the death penalty on all but five defendants. By September 2006,
23739-407: The early days of neo-Nazism, he had been in contact with key figures across Europe and beyond. Despite this, he was able to work as an ambassador to numerous countries until the rise of Salvador Allende . In 1984 he published his book Adolf Hitler: The Ultimate Avatar . Serrano claimed that the Aryans were extragalactic beings who founded Hyperborea and lived the heroic life of Bodhisattvas , while
23932-497: The extremists of the radical right have always had as its aim to "infiltrate the state mechanisms," including the army in the 1970s and the 1980s, through Westland New Post and the Front de la Jeunesse . A police operation, which mobilized 150 agents, searched five military barracks (in Leopoldsburg near the Dutch border, Kleine-Brogel, Peer , Brussels (Royal military school) and Zedelgem ) as well as 18 private addresses in Flanders . They found weapons, munitions, explosives and
24125-427: The family (these usually consist of three or five members). This also helps divert police attention from any one member. The family messenger and street boss were positions created by former Genovese family leader Vincent Gigante . The Mafia initiation ritual to become a " made man " in the Mafia emerged from various sources, such as Roman Catholic confraternities and Masonic Lodges in mid-19th century Sicily. At
24318-490: The family structure of each city. The bootlegging industry organized members of these gangs before they were distinguished as today's known families. The new industry required members at all different employment levels, such as bosses, lawyers, truckers, and even members to eliminate competitors through threat/force. Gangs hijacked each other's alcohol shipments, forcing rivals to pay them for "protection" to leave their operations alone, and armed guards almost invariably accompanied
24511-447: The federal and state prison systems. In its early days, the group had a one-man, one-vote system, but this broke down as a result of the group's rapid expansion, and it was replaced by the establishment of a hierarchical structure, headed by a 12-man council, and overseen by a three-member commission. The federal and state systems each had their own council and commission. Organization varies somewhat, from prison to prison. For example, in
24704-401: The first leader of the American Mafia, established the code of conduct for the organization, set up the "family" divisions and structure, and established procedures for resolving disputes. In an unprecedented move, Maranzano set himself up as boss of all bosses and required all families to pay tribute to him. This new role was received negatively, and Maranzano was murdered within six months on
24897-488: The following year. One of the most direct and significant outcomes of the Apalachin Meeting was that it helped to confirm the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy, a fact that some, including Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover , had long refused to acknowledge. Genovese crime family soldier Joe Valachi was convicted of narcotics violations in 1959 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Valachi's motivations for becoming an informer had been
25090-568: The gang made up less than 1.0% of the prison population but was responsible for between 18–25% of murders in the federal prison system . The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the Domestic Extremism Lexicon report in 2009 that defines different classifications of extremists. On the last entry of the 11-page report, it broke down the "white supremacist movement" into six categories: Neo-nazi , Ku Klux Klan , Christian Identity , racist skinhead , Nordic mysticism , and Aryan prison gangs. An analysis by Slate describes
25283-678: The gang were charged with racketeering, murder, attempted murder and drug trafficking crimes. In April 2024, a federal jury found California State Prison Sacramento inmate Ronald "Renegade" Yandell, 61, guilty of murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; five counts of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; two counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin; five counts of distribution of heroin; and one count of distribution of methamphetamine. The same jury found inmate Danny Troxell, 71, guilty of conspiracy to conduct
25476-439: The gang were simultaneously rounded up from prisons all over the country and brought to trial under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act . The intention was to bring death sentences for at least 21 of them, in a manner similar to tactics used against organized crime. The case produced 30 convictions but none of the most powerful leaders received a death sentence. Sentencing occurred in March 2006 for three of
25669-477: The gas station before government officials could make him pay what he owed. Franzese was caught in 1985. Labor racketeering helped the Mafia control many industries from a macroeconomic scale. This tactic helped them grow in power and influence in many cities with big labor unions such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit and many others. Many members of the Mafia were enlisted in unions and even became union executives. The Mafia has controlled unions all over
25862-461: The government and the two main political parties (the conservative CDU/CSU and the Nazis' one-time archenemies, the Social Democratic Party ) Many bureaucrats who served under the Third Reich continued to serve in German administration after the war. According to the Simon Wiesenthal Center , many of the more than 90,000 Nazi war criminals recorded in German files were serving in positions of prominence under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer . Not until
26055-445: The ideology of Nazism in whole or in part. The term 'neo-Nazism' can also refer to the ideology of these movements, which may borrow elements from Nazi doctrine, including ultranationalism , anti-communism , racism, ableism , xenophobia , homophobia , antisemitism , up to initiating the Fourth Reich . Holocaust denial is a common feature, as is the incorporation of Nazi symbols and admiration of Adolf Hitler . Neo-Nazism
26248-409: The initiation ceremony, the inductee would have his finger pricked with a needle by the officiating member; a few drops of blood are spilled on a card bearing the likeness of a saint; the card is set on fire; finally, while the card is passed rapidly from hand to hand to avoid burns, the novice takes an oath of loyalty to the Mafia family. The oath of loyalty to the Mafia Family is called the Omerta. This
26441-498: The late 19th century and early 20th century, following waves of Italian immigration especially from Sicily and other regions of Southern Italy . Campanian , Calabrian and other Italian criminal groups in the United States, as well as independent Italian-American criminals, eventually merged with Sicilian Mafiosi to create the modern pan-Italian Mafia in North America. Today, the Italian-American Mafia cooperates in various criminal activities with Italian organized crime groups, such as
26634-412: The mid-20th century, as millions of dollars in capital flowing into new casino resorts laid the foundation for further economic growth. This capital did not come from one Mafia family alone, but many throughout the country seeking to gain even more power and wealth. Large profits from casinos, run as legitimate businesses, would help to finance many of the illegal activities of the Mafia from the 1950s into
26827-453: The most lucrative gains for the Mafia was through gas-tax fraud. They created schemes to keep the money that they owed in taxes after the sale of millions of dollars' worth of wholesale petroleum. This allowed them to sell more gasoline at even lower prices. Michael Franzese , also known as the Yuppie Don, ran and organized a gas scandal and stole over $ 290 million in gasoline taxes by evading the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and shutting down
27020-410: The most powerful leaders of the gang, including Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham, who were indicted for numerous crimes, including murder, conspiracy, drug trafficking, and racketeering and for ordering killings and beatings from their cells. Bingham and Mills were convicted of murder and sent back to United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility Prison (ADX) in Florence, Colorado, escaping
27213-402: The most recent verdicts. The initial motivation for the formation of the group in San Quentin in 1964 was self-protection against an existing black prison gang. The SPLC has said that, although they clearly have a white supremacist ideology, the major motivation is money, and they have occasionally set aside racist views, such as by allying themselves with Latin American gangs, in order to make
27406-412: The murder of a black inmate named Robert Chappelle in the United States Penitentiary, Marion , control unit. It was believed that Silverstein and Fountain strangled Chappelle in his cell. Silverstein and Fountain later killed Raymond Smith, a friend of Robert Chappelle. The two men stabbed Smith 67 times. Silverstein then started to plan killing a correctional officer. On October 22, 1983, gang members from
27599-475: The nazi ideology in Denmark. The party did not gain any political influence, and were regarded as a failed political project by neo nazi expert Frede Farmand. Long time party leader Johnni Hansen was replaced by Esben Rohde Kristensen in 2010, which resulted in a large amount of party members leaving the party. While the party never has been formally dissolved, there has been very little activity from its core member since 2010. Former neo nazi Daniel Carlsen formed
27792-409: The new reality and had no interest in constructing a "neo-Nazism". However, during the 1949 West German elections a number of Nazi advocates such as Fritz Rössler had infiltrated the national conservative Deutsche Rechtspartei , which had five members elected. Rössler and others left to found the more radical Socialist Reich Party (SRP) under Otto Ernst Remer . At the onset of the Cold War ,
27985-416: The older generation of " Mustache Petes " such as Maranzano and Masseria, who usually worked only with fellow Italians, the "Young Turks" led by Luciano were more open to working with other groups, most notably the Jewish-American criminal syndicates to achieve greater profits. The Mafia thrived by following a strict set of rules that originated in Sicily that called for an organized hierarchical structure and
28178-584: The opportunity to start organizing inside the federal prison system. This ended with the creation of two separate, but related organizations, the California Aryan Brotherhood, and the federal prison Aryan Brotherhood. As a former top leader said, "They're like two related but different crime families. They each have their [ruling] commission… but they're allies." By the late 1970s, these gangs had fewer than 100 members, but their membership grew rapidly as they absorbed other racist and skinhead groups, and today these gangs are estimated to have over 20,000 members in both
28371-501: The orders of Charles "Lucky" Luciano . Luciano was a former Masseria underling who had switched sides to Maranzano and orchestrated the killing of Masseria. As an alternative to the previous despotic Mafia practice of naming a single Mafia boss as capo di tutti capi , or "boss of all bosses", Luciano created The Commission in 1931, where the bosses of the most powerful families would have equal say and vote on important matters and solve disputes between families. This group ruled over
28564-464: The organization, and spoken or written mottos and oaths to secure them. New members were branded with a tattoo , following the procedure in a prison novel popular among inmates. The image was either a green shamrock (also called, "the rock"), the letters AB , or the number 666 . "The brand" meant the inmate belonged to Aryan Brotherhood. Like most prison gangs, Aryan Brotherhood members mark themselves with distinctive tattoos. Designs commonly include
28757-508: The original Mafia or Cosa Nostra , the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia groups from Sicily operating in the United States. The Mafia in the United States emerged in impoverished Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New York's East Harlem (or " Italian Harlem "), the Lower East Side , and Brooklyn ; also emerging in other areas of the Northeastern United States and several other major metropolitan areas (such as Chicago and New Orleans ) during
28950-496: The outside between his group and the Brotherhood and as a result of this business partnership, the group's power greatly expanded on the streets. The Aryan Brotherhood's communication and control has become so tight and efficient that they have been able to organize and direct major criminal enterprises on the outside, even from solitary confinement , much to the frustration of federal and state authorities. The Aryan Brotherhood uses various symbols and images to identify members, and
29143-551: The phrase is unknown . Omertà is a key oath or code of silence in the Mafia that places importance on silence in the face of questioning by authorities or outsiders; non-cooperation with authorities, the government, or outsiders. Traditionally, to become a made man, or full member of the Mafia, the inductee was required to be a male of full Sicilian descent, later extended to males of full Italian descent, and later further extended to males of half-Italian descent through their father's lineage. According to Salvatore Vitale , it
29336-462: The plunder and disturbance of the city." Emigration from southern Italy to the Americas was primarily to Brazil and Argentina , and New Orleans had a heavy volume of port traffic to and from both locales. Mafia groups in the United States first became influential in the New York metropolitan area , gradually progressing from small neighborhood operations in poor Italian ghettos to citywide and eventually national organizations. "The Black Hand"
29529-406: The polar ice caps. With the onset of the Cold War , the allied forces had lost interest in prosecuting anyone as part of the denazification. In the mid-1950s this new political environment allowed Otto Strasser , an NS activist on the left of the NSDAP, who had founded the Black Front to return from exile. In 1956, Strasser founded the German Social Union as a Black Front successor, promoting
29722-624: The post- World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology . Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy ), to attack racial and ethnic minorities (often antisemitism and Islamophobia ), and in some cases to create a fascist state . Neo-Nazism is a global phenomenon, with organized representation in many countries and international networks. It borrows elements from Nazi doctrine, including antisemitism, ultranationalism , racism , xenophobia , ableism , homophobia , anti-communism , and creating
29915-504: The previous two years. In November 2006, the Estonian government passed a law banning the display of Nazi symbols . The 2008 United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur's Report noted that community representatives and non-governmental organizations devoted to human rights had pointed out that neo-Nazi groups were active in Estonia—particularly in Tartu—and had perpetrated acts of violence against non-European minorities. The neo-Nazi terrorist organization Feuerkrieg Division
30108-416: The prominent Ustaše figure Mile Budak , which provoked outrage amongst the Serbian minority. Since 2002, there has been a reversal of this development, and streets with the name of Mile Budak or other persons connected with the Ustaše movement are few or non-existent. A plaque in Slunj with the inscription "Croatian Knight Jure Francetić " was erected to commemorate Francetić, the notorious Ustaše leader of
30301-545: The prosecution of any Mafia leaders, he provided many details of the history of the Mafia , operations and rituals, aided in the solution of several unsolved murders, and named many members and the major crime families. The trial exposed American organized crime to the world through Valachi's televised testimony. As part of the Mafia Commission Trial , on February 25, 1985, nine New York Mafia leaders were indicted for narcotics trafficking, loansharking, gambling, labor racketeering and extortion against construction companies under
30494-431: The prosecution. He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to the prospect of prosecutors seeking the death penalty for the Sciascia murder, that case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering. After deliberating for five days, the jury found Massino guilty of all 11 counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he
30687-442: The radicalisation of the Vlaamse Militanten Orde under former Hitler Youth member Bert Eriksson . They began hosting an annual conference; the "Iron Pilgrimage"; at Diksmuide , which drew kindred ideologues from across Europe and beyond. As well as this, the NSDAP/AO under Gary Lauck arose in the United States in 1972 and challenged the international influence of the Rockwellite WUNS. Lauck's organisation drew support from
30880-506: The regional crime families in these areas may no longer exist to the same extent as before, descendants have continued to engage in criminal operations, while consolidation has occurred in other areas, with rackets being controlled by more powerful crime families from nearby cities. At the Mafia's peak, there were at least 26 cities around the United States with Cosa Nostra families, with many more offshoots and associates in other cities. There are five main New York City Mafia families, known as
31073-548: The resources or knowledge to effectively combat organized crime committed by a secret society they were unaware existed. Many people within police forces and courts were simply bribed, while witness intimidation was also common. In 1951, a U.S. Senate committee called the Kefauver Hearings determined that a "sinister criminal organization" known as the Mafia operated in the nation. Many suspected mobsters were subpoenaed for questioning, but few testified and none gave any meaningful information. In 1957, New York State Police uncovered
31266-414: The ruling party, Nazism, was in complete disarray. The final leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) was Martin Bormann . He died on 2 May 1945 during the Battle of Berlin , but the Soviet Union did not reveal his death to the rest of the world, and his ultimate fate remained a mystery for many years. Conspiracy theories emerged about Hitler himself , that he had secretly survived
31459-435: The same camp. They were united by opposition to the influence of the United States, against the liberalising legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev 's perestroika and on the Jewish question , Soviet Zionology merged with a more explicit anti-Jewish sentiment. The most significant organisation representing this was Russian National Unity under the leadership of Alexander Barkashov , where black-uniform clad Russians marched with
31652-414: The separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organized crime groups in Italy , or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries. These organizations are often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔːza ˈnɔstra, ˈkɔːsa -] , "Our Thing" or "This Thing of Ours") and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra ( LCN ). The organization's name is derived from
31845-400: The small national party Party of the Danes in 2011, which officially rejected nazism, but were none the less categorized as such by professor in politics Peter Nedergaard. It was dissolved in 2017 after its founder Daniel Stockholm announced retirement from politics. In 2006, Roman Ilin, a Jewish theatre director from St. Petersburg , Russia, was attacked by neo-Nazis when returning from
32038-426: The stolen merchandise. Meyer Lansky made inroads into the casino industry in Cuba during the 1930s while the Mafia was already involved in exporting Cuban sugar and rum. When his friend Fulgencio Batista became president of Cuba in 1952, several Mafia bosses were able to make legitimate investments in legalized casinos. One estimate of the number of casinos mobsters owned was no less than 19. However, when Batista
32231-594: The streets. All members are white, and are either in prison or have been in prison. Joining is difficult. New members are on probation for a year, must swear a blood oath for life, and must commit a violent act to join the Brotherhood, such as killing a rival inmate, assaulting an officer or murdering an African American or Hispanic prisoner. Members are inculcated with various reading materials smuggled into prisons published by Aryan Nations , Militia of Montana , and other groups, as well as Mein Kampf , The Art of War , and Machiavelli 's The Prince . Early members liked
32424-450: The subject of some debate: Valachi claimed to be testifying as a public service and to expose a powerful criminal organization that he had blamed for ruining his life, but it is also possible he was hoping for government protection as part of a plea bargain in which he was sentenced to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty for a murder, which he had committed in 1962 while in prison for his narcotics violation. Valachi murdered
32617-410: The traditional sense, since it has not made anti-communism an important issue, and it does not advocate the overthrow of the democratic order or the use of violence. In his view, the FPÖ is "not quite fascist", although it is part of a tradition, similar to that of 19th-century Viennese mayor Karl Lueger , which involves nationalism , xenophobic populism, and authoritarianism. Haider, who in 2005 left
32810-423: The two are not widely regarded as interchangeable by most academics. In Austria, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) served as a shelter for ex-Nazis almost from its inception. In 1980, scandals undermined Austria's two main parties and the economy stagnated. Jörg Haider became leader of the FPÖ and offered partial justification for Nazism , calling its employment policy effective. In the 1994 Austrian election ,
33003-409: The use of the phrase Srbe na vrbe! ("[Hang] Serbs on the willow trees!"). In 2004, an Orthodox church was spray-painted with pro-Ustaše graffiti. During some protests in Croatia, supporters of Ante Gotovina and other at the time suspected war criminals (all acquitted in 2012) have carried nationalist symbols and pictures of Pavelić. On 17 May 2007, a concert in Zagreb by Thompson ,
33196-546: The violator must forfeit all properties attained while violating the RICO Act. The RICO Act has proven to be a very powerful weapon because it attacks the entire corrupt entity instead of individuals who can easily be replaced with other organized crime members. Between 1981 and 1992, 23 bosses from around the country were convicted under the law while between 1981 and 1988, 13 underbosses and 43 captains were convicted. Over 1,000 crime family figures were convicted by 1990. While this significantly crippled many Mafia families around
33389-438: The war and fled to South America or elsewhere. The Allied Control Council officially dissolved the NSDAP on 10 October 1945, marking the end of "Old" Nazism. A process of denazification began, and the Nuremberg trials took place, where many major leaders and ideologues were condemned to death by October 1946, others committed suicide. In both the East and West, surviving ex-party members and military veterans assimilated to
33582-476: The waterfront and garment industry. In addition they could raid the unions' health and pension funds, extort businesses with threats of a workers' strike and participate in bid rigging . In New York City, most construction projects could not be performed without the Five Families ' approval. In the port and loading dock industries, the Mafia bribed union members to tip them off to valuable items being brought in. Mobsters would then steal these products and fence
33775-416: The words "Aryan Brotherhood", "AB", " 666 ", Nazi symbolism such as SS , sig runes , and swastikas , as well as shamrocks and Celtic iconography . Other means of identification of group membership were the "blood in, blood out" motto symbolizing life-long membership with no exit other than death, and "the pledge", an eight-line oath that each new member had to swear. According to the FBI, as of 1992,
33968-429: Was a historic summit of the American Mafia held at the home of mobster Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara , at 625 McFall Road in Apalachin, New York , on November 14, 1957. Allegedly, the meeting was held to discuss various topics including loansharking, narcotics trafficking, and gambling, along with dividing the illegal operations controlled by the recently murdered Albert Anastasia . An estimated 100 Mafiosi from
34161-410: Was a name given to an extortion method used in Italian neighborhoods at the turn of the 20th century. It has been sometimes mistaken for the Mafia itself, which it is not. The Black Hand was a criminal society, but there were many small Black Hand gangs. Black Hand extortion was often (wrongly) viewed as the activity of a single organization, because Black Hand criminals in Italian communities throughout
34354-445: Was a proponent of Esoteric Nazism . In the 1950s she wrote a number of books, such as Pilgrimage (1958), which concerns prominent Third Reich sites, and The Lightning and the Sun (1958), in which she claims that Adolf Hitler was an avatar of the God Vishnu . She was not alone in this reorientation of Nazism towards its Thulean -roots; the Artgemeinschaft , founded by former SS member Wilhelm Kusserow, attempted to promote
34547-410: Was also fond of Arab nationalism , in particular Gamal Abdel Nasser , and saw Fidel Castro 's Cuban Revolution as a positive, visiting officials there. Yockey's views impressed Otto Ernst Remer and the radical traditionalist philosopher Julius Evola . He was constantly hounded by the FBI and was eventually arrested in 1960, before committing suicide. Domestically, Yockey's biggest sympathisers were
34740-405: Was confirmed in 1986 by the pentito Tommaso Buscetta . A hit, or murder, of a made man must be approved by the leadership of his family, or retaliatory hits would be made, possibly inciting a war. In a state of war, families would "go to the mattresses," which means to prepare for a war or be prepared in a war-like stance. It was mainly derived from the film The Godfather , as the origin of
34933-409: Was decided during a Commission meeting in 2000 to restore the rule requiring both parents to be of Italian descent. It is also common for a Mafia member to have a mistress . Traditionally, made members were also not allowed to have mustaches—part of the Mustache Pete custom. Homosexuality is reportedly incompatible with the American Mafia code of conduct. In 1992, John D'Amato , acting boss of
35126-444: Was expected to receive a sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $ 10 million forfeiture of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict. Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate. He did so in hopes of sparing his life; he
35319-409: Was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder, as one of John Ashcroft 's final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino. Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since Lepke Buchalter was executed in 1944. Massino was the first sitting boss of
35512-495: Was found and operates in the country, with some members of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia having been linked to the Feuerkrieg Division. Italian-American Mafia The American Mafia , commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia , the Mafia , or the Mob , is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to these US-based organizations, as well as
35705-416: Was later murdered on December 16, 1985. In the early 1980s, the Bonanno family were kicked off the Commission due to the Donnie Brasco infiltration, and although Rastelli was one of the men initially indicted, this removal from the Commission actually allowed Rastelli to be removed from the Commission Trial as he was later indicted on separate labor racketeering charges. Having previously lost their seat on
35898-404: Was murdered execution-style. It is still unclear whether Italian immigrants actually killed him, or whether it was a frame-up by nativists against the reviled underclass immigrants. Hundreds of Sicilians were arrested on mostly baseless charges, and nineteen were eventually indicted for the murder. An acquittal followed, with rumors of bribed and intimidated witnesses. On March 14, 1891 , after
36091-400: Was officially banned in 1983 by the Minister of the Interior. During the late 1970s, a British subculture came to be associated with neo-Nazism; the skinheads . Portraying an ultra-masculine, crude and aggressive image, with working-class references, some of the skinheads joined the British Movement under Michael McLaughlin (successor of Colin Jordan ), while others became associated with
36284-508: Was overthrown following the Cuban Revolution , his successor Fidel Castro banned U.S. investment in the country, putting an end to the Mafia's presence in Cuba. Las Vegas was seen as an "open city" where any family can work. Once Nevada legalized gambling, mobsters were quick to take advantage and the casino industry became very popular in Las Vegas. Since the 1940s, Mafia families from New York, Cleveland, Kansas City, Milwaukee and Chicago had interests in Las Vegas casinos. They got loans from
36477-440: Was shot by Sicilian mobsters while on duty in Sicily. A statue of him was later erected across the street from a Lucchese hangout. In 1951, a U.S. Senate special committee , chaired by Democratic Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver , determined that a "sinister criminal organization" known as the Mafia operated around the United States. The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce (known as
36670-421: Was still a very high demand for it from the public. This created an atmosphere that tolerated crime as a means to provide liquor to the public, even among the police and city politicians. While not explicitly related to Mafia involvement, the murder rate during the Prohibition era rose over 40% — from 6.8 per 100,000 individuals to 9.7 — and within the first three months succeeding
36863-573: Was suspected." In August 1960, Colonel Sheffield Edwards, director of the Office of Security of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), proposed the assassination of Cuban head of state Fidel Castro by Mafia assassins. Between August 1960 and April 1961, the CIA, with the help of the Mafia, pursued a series of plots to poison or shoot Castro. Those allegedly involved included Sam Giancana , Carlos Marcello , Santo Trafficante Jr. , and John Roselli . In 2007, Linda Schiro testified in an unrelated court case that her late boyfriend, Gregory Scarpa ,
37056-470: Was the election of Kurt Waldheim to the Presidency of Austria in 1986. It came to light that Waldheim had been a member of the National Socialist German Students' League , the SA and served as an intelligence officer during the Second World War. Following this he served as an Austrian diplomat and was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 until 1981. After revelations of Waldheim's past were made by an Austrian journalist, Waldheim clashed with
37249-445: Was very active in Brooklyn. In Chicago, the 19th Ward was an Italian neighborhood that became known as the "Bloody Nineteenth" due to the frequent violence in the ward, mostly as a result of Mafia activity, feuds , and vendettas. New Orleans was possibly the site of the first Mafia incident in the United States that received both national and international attention. On October 15, 1890, New Orleans Police Superintendent David Hennessy
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