Overview

Christopher Alan Pohlhaus is an American neo-Nazi and the leader of Blood Tribe, also known by its German name, “Blut Stamm.”Esther Schrader, “Splc, Local Journalist Expose, Derail Plan For Neo-Nazi Enclave In Maine,” Southern Poverty Law Center, January 5, 2024, https://www.splcenter.org/news/2024/01/05/neo-nazi-enclave-maine-plan. The group endorses white supremacist beliefs and has held neo-Nazi and anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations and rallies throughout the United States since 2021.“Blood Tribe,” Anti-Defamation League, August 28, 2023, https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/blood-tribe.

A former U.S. Marine, Pohlhaus worked as a tattoo artist prior to founding Blood Tribe (BT). According to the Anti-Defamation League, Pohlhaus’s ideological beliefs are inspired by the Hitler-worshipping ideology of Esoteric Hitlerism and Wotanism, an Aryan-centric Norse-Pagan religious variation.“Odinism/Asatru,” European Center for Populism Studies, accessed February 13, 2024, https://www.populismstudies.org/Vocabulary/odinism-asatru/; “Blood Tribe,” Anti-Defamation League, August 28, 2023, https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/blood-tribe. While living in San Antonio, Texas, in 2020, Pohlhaus gained a following when he sold white supremacist propaganda and equipment online. In addition to selling neo-Nazi paraphernalia, Pohlhaus also posted video-podcasts instructing his followers on fitness regimens and to make “a last stand, a righteous war” against those who “call for the destruction of their birthright and posterity.”Charlie Jones, “Neo-Nazis complain that their hometown is no longer a safe space,” Mirror, November 1, 2023, https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/neo-nazis-complain-hometown-no-171027.

Initially, Pohlhaus kept his discriminatory beliefs and inflammatory comments confined to the online space. However, he has since developed a wide-ranging network of white supremacist groups throughout the United States, including the neo-Nazi Nationalist Social Club (NSC-131), the Goyim Defense League, White Lives Matter, the Patriot Front, and the SheildWall Network.Esther Schrader, “SPLC Local Journalist Expose, Derail Plan For Neo-Nazi Enclave In Maine,” Southern Poverty Law Center, January 5, 2024, https://www.splcenter.org/news/2024/01/05/neo-nazi-enclave-maine-plan; “Blood Tribe,” Anti-Defamation League, Anti-Defamation League, August 28, 2023, https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/blood-tribe; Jeff Tischauser, “Neo-Nazi Ex-Marine Buys Up Land in Rural Maine for ‘Blood Tribe,’” Southern Poverty Law Center, July 27, 2023, https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2023/07/27/neo-nazi-ex-marine-buys-land-rural-maine-blood-tribe.

As the following grew, Pohlhaus began calling his supporters the “Blood Tribe.” In 2021, Pohlhaus formalized this network by establishing the BT as a membership-based organization.“Christopher Pohlhaus,” Anti-Defamation League, accessed February 13, 2024, https://www.adl.org/glossary/christopher-pohlhaus. In May 2022, Pohlhaus left Texas and, along with convicted felon Fred Boyd Ramey, bought a rural 10-acre property in Springfield, Maine, where they intended to launch a paramilitary training camp and establish residences for BT members and their families. To fund the operations and construction of the camp, Pohlhaus solicited cryptocurrency donations on Telegram. He also set up a crowdfund campaign on the Christian fundraising site GiveSendGo, ultimately raising $6,708.Charlie Jones, “Neo-Nazis complain that their hometown is no longer a safe space,” Mirror, November 1, 2023, https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/neo-nazis-complain-hometown-no-171027.

In constructing the future BT training space and residences, Pohlhaus launched a recruitment campaign on Telegram where he urged his followers to join in clearing land on the property and building cabins. The recruitment efforts were seemingly successful, as photographs posted to Telegram in 2023 revealed Pohlhaus and his recruits sleeping in tents on overnight trips at the property.Jeff Tischauser, “Neo-Nazi Ex-Marine Buys Up Land in Rural Maine for ‘Blood Tribe,’” Southern Poverty Law Center, July 27, 2023, https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2023/07/27/neo-nazi-ex-marine-buys-land-rural-maine-blood-tribe.

Between February and May 2023, Pohlhaus reportedly visited white supremacists all over the United States, including in major cities such as New York, Chicago, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. Other areas Pohlhaus reportedly visited included West Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah. While in Arkansas, media sources reported that Pohlhaus spoke to members of the ShieldWall Network (SWN), a white nationalist group founded by longtime white supremacist Billy Roper that seeks to create a white supremacist ethnostate in the Ozarks of Arkansas.Jeff Tischauser, “Neo-Nazi Ex-Marine Buys Up Land in Rural Maine for ‘Blood Tribe,’” Southern Poverty Law Center, July 27, 2023, https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2023/07/27/neo-nazi-ex-marine-buys-land-rural-maine-blood-tribe; “Shield Wall Network (SWN),” Anti-Defamation League, September 17, 2018, https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/shield-wall-network-swn.

In March 2023, Pohlhaus led the BT in their first public anti-LGBTQ+ protest as they demonstrated against a drag queen story hour in Wadsworth, Ohio.Christopher Wiggins, “Neo-Nazis Chanting ‘Sieg Heil’ Target Drag Queen Story Event,” Advocate, March 13, 2023, https://www.advocate.com/news/ohio-nazi-drag-story-hour#toggle-gdpr. Clad in matching red sweaters, the group waved flags and banners featuring swastikas and statements such as “There will be blood.” The group received considerable attention following the protest, and soon after BT chapters emerged across the United States and Canada.Charlie Jones, “Neo-Nazis complain that their hometown is no longer a safe space,” Mirror, November 1, 2023, https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/neo-nazis-complain-hometown-no-171027.

The group held at least six more demonstrations between April and November of 2023. On April 29, 2023, Pohlhaus led BT members—some of whom were visibly armed—in Columbus, Ohio, to protest an adult drag show. At the event, the group brandished banners featuring their signature threat of “There Will Be Blood.”Max Filby, “Nazis protest at Land-Grant drag brunch: Here's what you need to know now,” Columbus Dispatch, May 1, 2023, https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2023/05/01/heres-what-we-know-about-the-nazis-protesting-a-columbus-drag-brunch/70169948007/; “Blood Tribe,” Anti-Defamation League, August 28, 2023, https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/blood-tribe. They continued their anti-LGBTQ+ activities on June 17, when more than a dozen people affiliated with BT protested a LGBTQ+ Pride event in Hudson, Wisconsin. BT demonstrated alongside the hate networks Goyim Defense League and White Lives Matter. The demonstration was led by Christopher Wood, a mayoral candidate from Wausau, Wisconsin. The protests featured incendiary chants and banners such as “Pedophiles get the rope,” “Groom dogs not our Kids,” and “Access to white people is not a human right.”“Blood Tribe,” Anti-Defamation League, August 28, 2023, https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/blood-tribe.

A month later, on July 15, 2023 BT members organized in Toledo, Ohio, to protest Love Fest, Toledo’s annual LGBTQ+ event. Led by Pohlhaus, the tiki torch-carrying, swastika-clad group was outfitted in their signature red outfits while performing Sieg Heil salutes. That night, the protesters also demonstrated outside the Toledo Jewish Community Campus, which has two synagogues and a Jewish Community Center.“Neo-Nazis harass attendees at Equality Toledo's Love Fest celebration,” WTOL 11, July 17, 2023, https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/neo-nazis-harass-attendees-equality-toledo-love-fest-celebration/512-3df9c50c-3c0d-4133-b032-dc13f804190c; “Blood Tribe,” Anti-Defamation League, August 28, 2023, https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/blood-tribe.

Armed protests continued, and on July 29, 2023, BT members—two of whom were armed—protested a Pride in the Park event in Watertown, Wisconsin. Members performed Sieg Heil salutes, carried banners that said “Stand with us or stand with pedophiles,” and chanted “No pedos in our streets,” “There will be blood, blood, blood,” “Us or the pedophiles,” and “Pedophiles get the rope.”Anna Commander, “Armed Nazi Group Protests Pride Event Featuring Drag Show,” Newsweek, July 29, 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/armed-nazi-group-protests-pride-event-featuring-drag-show-1816186. BT continued to work alongside the Goyim Defense League. On September 3, both groups waved swastika flags around the greater Orlando, Florida, area. Their members also saluted Hitler and shouted “White power” and “Jews will not replace us.”Julianne McShane, “Neo-Nazi groups spew hate outside Disney World and near Orlando, officials say,” NBC News, September 3, 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/neo-nazi-groups-spew-hate-disney-world-orlando-officials-say-rcna103186. Their neo-Nazi activities continued through the end of the year. On November 18, 2023, approximately 20 BT members marched through the University of Wisconsin-Madison and toward the state Capitol before heading to James Madison Park for a neo-Nazi rally. The group carried Nazi flags throughout their demonstration.Noa Feigenbaum, “Neo-Nazi group march in Wisconsin with swastika flags,” Jerusalem Post, November 19, 2023, https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-774028.

In August 2023, news of Pohlhaus’s residential and training center plans caught the attention of several Maine lawmakers. Democratic state Senator Joe Baldacci, along with other lawmakers, set out to strengthen Maine’s militia laws as well as outlaw paramilitary training encampments.Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli, “Neo-Nazi sells Springfield property,” Bangor Daily News, October 31, 2023, https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/10/31/news/penobscot/neo-nazi-sells-springfield-property-joam40zk0w/; Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli, “Neo-Nazi sells Maine property to Massachusetts man,” CBS 13 WGME, October 31, 2023, https://wgme.com/news/local/neo-nazi-sells-maine-property-neo-nazi-blood-tribe-christopher-pohlhaus-penobscot-county-springfield-convicted-felon-fred-boyd-ramey-moores-road-massachusetts; Ariana St. Pierre, “Neo-Nazi says Maine bill to ban paramilitary training camps will do little to impede his plan,” Fox 23 Maine, August 24, 2023, https://fox23maine.com/news/local/neo-nazi-says-maine-bill-to-ban-paramilitary-training-camps-will-do-little-to-impede-his-plan-christopher-pohlhaus-springfield-white-supremacists-blood-tribe. As of February 7, 2024, a bill to prohibit paramilitary training camps in Maine remained stalled in the legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.Kevin Miller, “Legislative committee splits on bill to prohibit paramilitary training,” Maine Public, February 7, 2024, https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2024-02-07/legislative-committee-splits-on-bill-to-prohibit-paramilitary-training.

The legislative efforts had an impact on Pohlhaus’s plans; he sold the would-be training base and residences in October 2023.Esther Schrader, “SPLC, Local Journalist Expose, Derail Plan For Neo-Nazi Enclave In Maine,” Southern Poverty Law Center, January 5, 2024, https://www.splcenter.org/news/2024/01/05/neo-nazi-enclave-maine-plan. In a statement released on Telegram, Pohlhaus claimed the “militant left” created an unwelcoming environment to set up a camp in the area. Pohlhaus further stated that “[militant leftists are] doxing the location, it was too dangerous for families to make the transition up here. People were coming up there all the time, snooping and getting very brazen, even driving down into the clearing.”Charlie Jones, “Neo-Nazis complain that their hometown is no longer a safe space,” Mirror, November 1, 2023, https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/neo-nazis-complain-hometown-no-171027.