Neo-Nazi group takes message to turnpike

Orlando Sentinal ^ | 1-5-04 | Rich McKay

[SJackson]

The same violent neo-Nazi club that inspired the Oklahoma City bomber is advertising for new members on a billboard in Orlando's back yard.

On Florida's Turnpike, just over the Lake County line in Sumter County, there's a plain billboard with a black background and big block letters in the style of the "Got Milk?" ads.

It reads in part "WHO RULE$ AMERIKA?" Then it gives a Web address.

That goes to the home page of the National Alliance, a group founded in the early 1970s as a spinoff of the American Nazi Party. (Spelling America with a K is a nod to German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.)

The Anti-Defamation League and other watchdog groups call the National Alliance the most violent and dangerous homegrown terrorist group in the United States.

"These people are gutter-level bigots with aspirations to take over America in the name of white people," said Art Teitelbaum, the Southern-area director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Shaun Walker, the chief operations officer for the National Alliance, said the club authorized the sign and its purpose is "to raise public awareness of the political reality we live in today."

"I'm a white American, and we'd like to return the reins of control to white people," he said.

Walker denies law enforcement's claims that the group is violent, but he does say that its goal is to promote the interests of white people above all other races, promote the belief of white people's "genetic superiority" and keep the races separate.

Walker said most Americans are duped by a "Jewish"-controlled media. The National Alliance's Web site is full of anti-Semitic statements and others that advocate the superiority of the "Aryan" race.

During these days of heightened national terror alerts, watchdog groups warn that America shouldn't ignore its own homegrown terrorists.

After all, the founder of the group, the late William Pierce, is the author of The Turner Diaries, which is considered the inspiration for Timothy McVeigh's 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 149 adults and 19 children. The book describes a bombing of a federal building with a fertilizer-and-petroleum bomb, the same explosive McVeigh used.

"While 9-11 represented an example of international terrorism at its most shocking and dangerous, there are similarities with this group," Teitelbaum said.

"They are willing to commit murder in the name of an ideology, though separate ideologies," he said. "The National Alliance is the most dangerous domestic extremist group, and we dare not ignore them."

The last time the NA made a significant appearance in the area was 1997, when there was a bungled attempt to plant pipe bombs near theme parks to distract police from planned bank robberies, said Agent Ray Velboom of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Todd Vanbiber, then 28 and a member of the white-supremacist group, was injured when one of 15 bombs he was building went off by accident in a shed. Documents police found with the man showed he was a leader in the National Alliance, Velboom said, although the group disavowed a connection.

Other acts national law-enforcement officials and the Anti-Defamation League attribute to the NA include the slaying of a talk-show host in Colorado in the early 1980s.

Velboom and Sumter County sheriff's Capt. Gary Brannen said there are no indications that the NA has an active presence in the area.

The billboard near the Okahumpka rest stop appeared in August.

Sumter officials and the Florida Department of Transportation, which regulates signs on the turnpike, say they're powerless to do anything.

Advertising for a club, even a controversial and unpopular one, is not against any law. And there is nothing offensive on the billboard itself, said Robbie Rogers, Sumter County's director of planning.

"We don't have anything in place that can deal with this," she said, adding that there have been numerous complaints.

The DOT can only regulate such things as location, lighting and placement of the signs, DOT spokesman Steve Homan said.

[dagar]

Pathetic morons.

[TheBigB]

Buncha two-bit slimy scumbags.

[Support Free Republic]

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg		Freepers/Avg		Monthlies
33	Utah	180.00	5	36.00	86	2.09	60.00	3

Thanks for donating to Free Republic!

Move your locale up the leaderboard!

[theDentist]

The Anti-Defamation League and other watchdog groups call the National Alliance the most violent and dangerous homegrown terrorist group in the United States.

And yet they can't do anywhere near the damage as the ACLU can.

[Maceman]

The Anti-Defamation League and other watchdog groups call the National Alliance the most violent and dangerous homegrown terrorist group in the United States.

I thought it was well documented that ALF/ELF (Animal Liberation Front/Earth Liberation Front) is the most violent non-Islamic terrorist group in the US.

[Belisaurius]

let me guess, the website they put on their billboard links to "DeanForAmerica.com". :)

[Belisaurius]

"I hate Illinois Nazis".....anybody else know what movie that line is from?

[Angelus Errare]

Depends on what you're measuring violence by - ALF/ELF has done the most damage and carried out the most attacks, but the NA and their fellow travelers have actually killed people in the past.

[dmz]

gotta be the Blues Brothers

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[Catspaw]

Mr. Sullivan is all charm in this update:

Jewish group urges billboard reaction

By Rich McKay | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted January 7, 2004

A Jewish organization that fights anti-Semitism with unconventional methods such as inundating its target with telephone calls has launched a campaign against a small Central Florida billboard company that put up a sign for a neo-Nazi group.

The Jewish Defense Organization, based in New York City, wants people to call and write an Alachua County businessman and complain about a billboard he put up in Sumter County near the Lake County line.

And they don't want anyone to do business with the man, Jerry Sullivan of Micanopy or his company, Sunshine Outdoor of Florida.

The group has posted Sullivan's telephone number and address on its Web site and has the information recorded on its telephone greeting.

"We're calling it operation Nazi-Kicker and we want to shut this guy down," said Elan Segal, JDO spokesman.

The billboard is on Florida's Turnpike, just north of Okahumpka, and it says in big block letters: "WHO RULE$ AMERIKA?" Then it gives the Web address that links people to the National Alliance. Law enforcement and watchdog groups consider the NA to be a violent neo-Nazi group.

Sullivan told the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday that he's aware of the campaign and his reaction is: "Screw 'em, all right? Just screw 'em."

He declined to comment further. Sullivan previously told the Sentinel that he is not a member of the NA and he does not support neo-Nazis, but he does support the free speech rights of his customers.

Rich McKay can be reached at rmckay@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5470.

[SJackson]

"Screw 'em, all right? Just screw 'em."
Jerry Sullivan, Sunshine Outdoor

Works for me

HELP JDO SHUT DOWN NEO-NAZI HIGHWAY BILLBOARD!

The highway billboard is rented to the neo-Nazi pigs of the National Alliance by the person listed below. The JDO declares a total boycott against Sunshine Outdoor and Jerry Sullivan. No one should trade, buy or hire anything connected to Jerry Sullivan. Jews and non-Jews from across the country should call Sullivan and give him a very strong message that he should take down the Nazi billboard immediately. Do not make threats, be polite and call only once. Call 352-384-3988 or 352-317-4247. The JDO is launching Operation Nazi-Kicker to shut down the National Alliance and other neo-Nazi groups. Call 212-252-3383 for more information.

JERRY SULLIVAN
SUNSHINE OUTDOOR INC
17035 SOUTHEAST COUNTY ROAD #234
MICANOPY, FLORIDA 32667
352-384-3988
OR 352-317-4247

[Catspaw]

I have a feeling Jerry Sullivan is going to be beyond cranky once those calls & letters coming in.

If I lived in the area, I'd be standing in front of his business with a REALLY BIG SIGN. I'm sure Sullivan wouldn't mind, him being a big believer in the 1st Amendment & all.

[rmlew]

They have a hotline at 212-978-3919.
The National Alliance is trying to co-opt conservative issues.

[The SISU kid]

"We're on a mission from God"

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

"They are willing to commit murder in the name of an ideology, though separate ideologies," he said. "The National Alliance is the most dangerous domestic extremist group, and we dare not ignore them."

Hmmmm... The exact same quote could be attributed to PETA, Earth First, Earth Liberation Front, and other so-called environmentalist groups. I wonder if they are lumped in with the Nazis?

[SJackson]

In terms of tactics, some members ELF and EarthFirst would fit.

[VRW Conspirator]

Pathetic morons

All seven of them!

[wtc911]

Oh yeah, aren't they the guys who did OKC to protest fur coats?