What is the deal with Freedom 14? This pesky little group of Nazi skinheads apparently believes it is going to establish Southern California as an all-white enclave simply by passing out leaflets in notoriously white enclaves of Orange County. For one thing, they really seem to like the beach. First they passed out leaflets at the pier in San Clemente, then the one in Huntington Beach. And this past weekend, they visited the upper-class, overwhelmingly white city of Newport Beach to spread their message of lily-white love.
After the Weekly blogged about plans by local anarchists to counter-demonstrate at an upcoming action in Surf City, the group pulled a funny stunt. When the anarchists arrived, the skinheads put bandannas over their faces and pulled out “anti-white” signs saying things like “Go back to Europe.” According to one of the Freedom 14 protesters shown in a video clip on the racist website Stormfront.org, the crowd cheered the anarchists when they called the Freedom14 members wearing bandannas racists. In his view, that proved that anti-white rhetoric is racist and therefore the anarchists they were imitating are racists, but it seems more likely that the crowd was agreeing with the anarchists that the Freedom14 racists are the real racists.
In any event, that spectacle seems to have worn out Freedom14's welcome in Surf City. Last weekend, they paraded their silly asses down to Newport Beach where they passed out “several hundred tri-fold brochures” again. “98 people out of 100 were very grateful to receive both an informational packet and the encouragement of seeing one of their own stand up for what's right.”
In a chat room on Stormfront, members of Freedom14 and their fans generally celebrated what they felt was a wonderful good time, although there was some carping about not having any “sympthay [sic] for filthy rich White homeowners” and “snobs that never do much of anything for working class Whites.” However, they expressed hope that leafleting actions would help even these lucky white people to recognize “racial realities” and speak out “against Mud invaders.”
Elsewhere on Stormfront, one commenter addressed the negative attention Freedom14 has garnered in recent weeks: “To all our guests, hello Sharon and Naui Huittzlopochtll, Nick Schou
of the Orange County Weekly, the ADL. This rally is for you. These are
antis who try to stifle our Freedom 14 rallies by slandering us in
blogs,on you tube, the ADL site, etc. They lie about us, our purpose,
our goals. All of us in Freedom 14 are law abiding, caring citizens.
You are not going to stifle us with your b***s*** rhetoric and
propaganda, so step off.”
As that comment suggests, Freedom14 likes to pretend that its not really a Nazi or skinhead group, but simply a bunch of patriots who happen to be white and happen to think that's wonderful. For example, their website states that the group's name comes from a meeting of 14 people. “The name Freedom 14 is the product of a meeting in which 14 nationalists
came together to form a group dedicated to inspiring our people,” the website states. “When
it came time to identify the group's ultimate goal, Freedom was the
unanimous response.”
But 14 has a much deeper significance to Nazis and skinheads, which is obvious to anyone who knows anything about these knuckleheads. It stands for the so-called 14 words:
“We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”
The words are equivalent to the pledge of allegiance for white racists and were inspired by Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. Which brings me back to Freedom14 and the question of what is up with these people? The only thing more pathetic and odious on this planet than Nazis are Nazis who don't even have the self-respect to admit that's what they are.
Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).