PROJECT ABOUT THE ROAD TO DERADICALIZATION.
DERADICALIZATION. >> Reporter: YOU HAVE A PRETTY
EXTRAORDINARY STORY.
EXTRAORDINARY STORY. CAN YOU TELL MAE LITTLE BIT
ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND?
>> I WAS RECRUITED AT 14 YEARS
OLD IN 1987 INTO AMERICA’S FIRST
NEO-NAZI SKINHEAD GROUP.
I SPENT EIGHT YEARS AS PART OF
THE WHEAT SUPREMACIST MOVEMENT
IN AMERICA AND ALSO WORKED
ABROAD DURING THAT TIME.
I GOT OUT, 1996, AND FOR THE
LAST 20 YEARS I’VE BEEN HELPING
PEOPLE DISENGAGE FROM EXTREMISM.
RFP
RFP >> Reporter: WHEN YOU SEE
SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED LIKE
THIS IN EL PASO THIS WEEKEND,
WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT IT?
>> I’M HORRIFIED AND NOT
SURPRISED.
SURPRISED. SOMETHING I’VE BEEN LEARNING
ABOUT FOR TWO DECADES AND BEGAN
TO BE NORMALIZED IN THE LATE
’80s AND EARLY ’90s AND DURING
THE ELECTION OF 2016, BECAME
MAINSTREAM.
MAINSTREAM. THE NOTION OF WHAT I CALL MOVES
TO SUITS HAPPENED.
WE STOPPED IN THE ’90s REALLY
OUTWARDLY SHOWING OUR ALLEGIANCE
TO THIS MOVEMENT BECAUSE WE
RECOGNIZED WE WERE TURNING AWAY
THE AVERAGE AMERICAN WHITE
RACIST FROM BEING RECRUITED.
WE STARTED TO TURN DOWN THE
RHETORIC AND DRESS DIFFERENTLY
AND ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO NOT JOIN
A GROUP BECAUSE WE WANTED THEM
TO BLEND IN.
I GOT OUT ’96, AT THAT POINT
NEVER EVEN THOUGHT THAT WHAT
HAPPENED WOULD HAPPEN, THE
ELECTION OF 2016 REALLY CEMENTED
IT.
IT. >> WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE
WHITE SUPREMACIST MOVEMENT TODAY
THAN WHEN YOU WERE FIRST
RECRUITED IN THE ’80s?
>> I THINK IT’S MORE ACCESSIBLE.
THE INTERNET WAS KIND OF THE
FIRE THAT IS NEEDED.
I WAS MARGINALIZED KID STANDING
IN AN ALLEY RECRUITED AT 14
YEARS OLD.
YEARS OLD. I FELT ABANDONED AND DIDN’T HAVE
MANY KIDS.
MANY KIDS. NOW, THOSE MILLIONS OF KIDS,
INSTEAD OF BEING FOUND IN AN
ALLEY AND PAMPHLET ARE LIVING
ONLINE IN A VIRTUAL WORLD AND
HAVE ACCESS TO THE TYPE OF
NARRATIVE.
NARRATIVE. >> PEOPLE WHO RIGHT NOW IN THIS
MOMENT BELIEVE THESE IDEAS,
THESE RACIST ANTI-IMMIGRANT,
ANTSY SEMITIC IDEAS, HOW DO YOU
GET SOMEONE OUT OF THAT FRAME OF
MIND?
MIND? HOW DO YOU DERADICALALIZE?
>> THE THINGS YOU MENTIONED ARE
EXTERNAL STIMULI THAT DON’T
AFFECT THAT PERSON VERY MUCH AT
ALL.
ALL. I WOULD LISTEN AND TRY TO
UNDERSTAND THE MOTIVATION WAS
THAT DETOURED THEM IN THAT
DIRECTION.
DIRECTION. PEOPLE AREN’T BORN TO HATE AND
SOMETHING THEY LEARN AND
TYPICALLY GRAB ONTO IT WHEN
SOMETHING IS UNCERTAIN IN THEIR
LIFE.
LIFE. IF WE CAN IDENTIFY THE HUMAN
INFRASTRUCTURE PROBLEMS IN THE
COUNTRY IN TERMS OF HEALTHCARE
AND JOBS AND SECURITY, AND
ACTUALLY FOCUS ON THIS AS A
DOMESTIC EXTREMISM AND TERRORISM
PROBLEM, I THINK WE HAVE A REAL
SHOT IT A.
>> WHAT SHOULD WE BE DOING AS A
SOCIETY AND CULTURE TO COMBAT
THIS?
THIS? WHAT SHOULD OUR LEADERSHIP BE
DOING TO COMBAT THIS?
>> FIRST OF ALL, OUR LEADERSHIP
NEEDS TO NOT BE COMPLICIT IN IT.
THEY NEED TO CALL IT FOR WHAT IT
IS.
IS. SO MANY OF THE POLICIES THAT I’M
HEARING TODAY ARE POLICIES 30
YEARS AGO, I WOULD HAVE BEEN UP
ON THE TABLE JUMPING ABOUT, I
GUARANTEE YOU, WHITE SUPREMACIST
ARE.
ARE. IN THEIR OWN WORDS THEY SUPPORT
THESE RACIST POLICIES.
AS A COUNTRY, ESTABLISH A BETTER
FOUNDATION FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE
BEING BORN TODAY, TO MAKE SURE
THEY’RE NOT WANTING FOR MENTAL
HEALTH CARE OR HEALTHCARE IN
GENERAL, THEY HAVE ACCESS TO AN
EDUCATION AND JOBS AND
OPPORTUNITIES.
OPPORTUNITIES. IN THE INTERIM, WHILE WE RAISE
CHILDREN MORE GROUNDED, I THINK
WE HAVE TO NOT BE SILENT, WE
HAVE TO BE VOCAL ABOUT WHAT
WE’RE SEEING AND STAND UP TO IT
IN NON-VIOLENT WAYS.
>> Reporter: IF THERE ARE PEOPLE
WATCHING THIS WHO HOLD THEIR
BELIEFS, ARE CURRENTLY IN WHITE
SUPREMACISTS, ALTWHITE GROUPS,
WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE TO THEM?
>> SELF-REFLECT AND UNDERSTAND
THAT THE IDEOLOGY THEY’RE BUYING
INTO IS BASED ON FRAUD,
ILLOGICAL FACTS AND LIES.
AND THAT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS,
THAT IF THEY EXPAND THEIR
HORIZONS OR OPEN A LITTLE BIT
MORE IMPACT FROM PEOPLE THAT