James Mason (neo-Nazi)

Mason grew up in Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1966, when he was 14 years old, he joined the youth movement of George Lincoln Rockwell's American Nazi Party (ANP).[2] In 1968, when he was 16, Mason planned to murder the principal and other staff members at his high school. Instead, following the advice of William Luther Pierce, he quit school and began working at the American Nazi Party's headquarters in Virginia.[2] After the death of George Lincoln Rockwell in 1967, Mason aligned himself with the National Socialist White People's Party and Joseph Tommasi's National Socialist Liberation Front (NSLF).[1]

In 1970, at the age of 18, Mason became a full-fledged member of the National Socialist White People's Party (NSWPP) and returned to Chillicothe.[2]

In 1980, Mason took over writing Siege, the newsletter of the NSLF. He continued publishing until 1986. In the newsletter, Mason paid tribute to Adolf Hitler, Joseph Tommasi, Charles Manson, and Savitri Devi.[11] He also advocated random attacks and murders in order to destabilize society.[2] In 1992, the newsletters were edited and published in book form as Siege: The Collected Writings of James Mason by Michael Jenkins Moynihan. The book acquired a neo-Nazi following and is now required reading for initiates of the Atomwaffen Division.[1][2]

In 1973, Mason and fellow neo-Nazi Greg Hurles went to a car dealership in order to test drive a car. They then maced several black teenagers in the parking lot of a Dairy Queen. Mason served six months in a Cincinnati workhouse.[2]

Between 1978 and 1980, Mason worked with the National Socialist White Worker's Party and edited The Stormer, their newsletter.[2]

In the early 1980s, Mason began corresponding with Sandra Good and Lynette Fromme, two followers of Charles Manson. In 1982, along with Manson, Mason founded Universal Order, an organization that encouraged terror with notoriety, similar to that achieved by the Manson Family.[2][1][11]

In 1988 and 1991, police raided Mason's home in Ohio and seized pornographic photos of a 15-year-old girl. In 1992, he pleaded guilty to two counts of "illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material."[2] In 1993, Mason moved to Colorado.[1]

In May 1994, Mason was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Mason threatened his ex-girlfriend, who was then 16 years old, and a Latino man who she had been dating, with a firearm. Mason struck a plea bargain and was convicted of weapons charges.[12] He was in and out of prison for years, and was released in August 1999.[2]

In 2000, he published The Theocrat, a comparison of Bible passages and passages in Hitler's Mein Kampf.[2]

In November 2019, it was reported by local media that Mason was living in government-subsidized housing in Denver and eating at local soup kitchens.[13]

On March 14, 2020, Mason claimed that the Atomwaffen Division has disbanded. However, the group is believed to be on the cusp of being designated Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department, and Anti-Defamation League concluded "the move is designed to give members breathing room rather than actually end their militant activities".[14][15] According to SITE Intelligence Group Atomwaffen and its offshoots remain clandestinely active.[16][17][18] An intelligence brief distributed by federal law enforcement warned that Atomwaffen and its branches discussed weaponizing COVID-19. Nick Martin of the Southern Poverty Law Center stated that “There is a big concern right now — including from people who work in counterterrorism — that it’s an opportune time for these accelerationist groups to strike".[19]