Telegram Messages Reveal New Details About Neo-Nazi Group Feuerkrieg Division
The messages also indicate a US service member arrested in September was a member of the Feuerkrieg Division.
On September 21, 2019, the FBI arrested Jarrett William Smith, a US service member who allegedly plotted to bomb a major news network and expressed interest in joining Azov Battalion, a far-right paramilitary group in Ukraine.
As VICE News reported, 24-year-old Smith was charged with one count of distributing information related to explosives and weapons of mass destruction.
According to the criminal complaint, Smith used the moniker Anti-Kosmik 2182 on Telegram, where he unknowingly gave an undercover agent “very specific” instructions for the construction of an explosive device.
But what the complaint does not mention is Smith’s membership in the Feuerkrieg Division (FKD), an international neo-Nazi organization modeled after the larger, more prominent Atomwaffen Division.
Thanks to the excellent work of antifascists, I have in my possession a backup of messages sent in Slovak’s War Room, an extreme-right Telegram chat group that was frequented by FKD members, including Smith and FKD’s leader. (If you would like a backup of Slovak’s War Room, please message me on Twitter.)
The messages illustrate the panic that gripped the chat group after news of Smith’s arrest became public, as well as further our understanding of the Feuerkrieg Division, its members, and the group’s (often misunderstood) relationship with Atomwaffen.
Anti-Kosmik and FKD
In Slovak’s War Room, Smith AKA Anti-Kosmik 2182 once referred to himself as an FKD member. And on another occasion, he was identified as a member by the organization’s leader, a young Estonian fascist known as Commander.
On September 15, in response to a user mocking the (apparently small) size of FKD’s membership, Commander wrote: “We have a lot more than you think, buddy.”
Anti-Kosmik chipped in, writing: “We do have more than 3 people you numbskull. How many we actually have is of course OPSEC, but we’ll let you guess.”
A screenshot of the above exchange was posted by the antifascist Twitter account WANaziWatch on September 23, the day the public learned of Smith’s arrest (below on the left). On the right side of that image is a screenshot of those same messages, but from the Telegram backup I obtained.
The next day, September 16, Commander called Anti-Kosmik a member of FKD. (OPSEC, you may have noticed already, is not FKD’s strong suit.)
After Telegram user Slovakbro — an admin of Slovak’s War Room— called attention to the presence of FKD members in the chat group, Anti-Kosmik mentioned Commander’s Telegram handle, @CommanderFKD.
The group’s leader then replied to him: “You’re FKD too lol.”
FKD’s Relationship with the Atomwaffen Division
You may have noticed Bobby Bowie’s concern in the above screenshot: “I’m still not sure on whether FKD is just a part of AWD or a separate group.”
“Separate,” Anti-Kosmik replied before he was singled out by Commander.
Smith’s right. FKD is not a cell of Atomwaffen, nor is it an affiliate. Like I’ve written before, FKD is its own group.
Nevertheless, many have described FKD as an AWD “splinter” or “branch.” In fact, in the detention order of Conor Climo — a Nevada FKD member arrested by federal agents in August— Magistrate Judge Nancy Koppe reportedly wrote that Climo “is a member of the Feuerkrieg Division of Atomwaffen,” an organization that, to my knowledge, does not exist.
Commander has noted this discrepancy in the media.
“I dunno why but the journos and AntiFa like to think that we are AW’s Baltic cell when we are a separate group and international,” he lamented on September 16.
A minute later, Slovakbro advised: “Don’t correct your enemy’s bad intel. Send out false traces as much as possible.”
“Yes, they are underestimating us,” Commander assumed.
Slovak’s War Room isn’t the only place FKD has expressed disappointment with how its relationship with Atomwaffen is perceived.
On August 15, a week after Conor Climo’s arrest, the group’s Telegram channel laughed at how a Las Vegas news reporter described FKD as a “splinter of the Atomwaffen Division.”
On September 18, FKD reacted negatively to a journalist’s tweet naming the group a “spin-off” of Atomwaffen.
“Believe it or not the fact is that we aren’t a splinter of AW or a ‘tentacle’ of AW,” the group said on Telegram.
Commander Panics After Anti-Kosmik’s Arrest
Anxiety gripped Slovak’s War Room after news of Jarrett William Smith’s arrest became public. Commander was the first one to alert the chat group of the development on September 23. And he did so quite paranoically.
Commander: EVERYONE CUT CONTACTS WITH Anti-Kosmik HE GOT ARRESTED. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-arrests-army-soldier-allegedly-discussed-plans-bomb/story?id=65802902
Meat Gorlock: OH FUCKING SHIT ARE YOU SERIOUS?! How the fuck did this tard get leaked[?]
Commander: Yeah
Meat Gorlock: [quoting the news article] “On Aug. 19, 2019, Smith allegedly spoke with an FBI informant in an online chat group and discussed a plan for an attack inside the U.S., his search for more “radicals” like himself, and the possibility of killing members of the group Antifa”
FUCKING FIND WHO HE WAS TALKING TO
Except Late For Supper: Oh fuck THAT’S WHO THAT WAS?!?!
Meat Gorlock: YES
Except Late For Supper: Sketchy facefag was really sketchy…
Later that day, Commander acted surprised that Anti-Kosmik used his face as his profile picture on Telegram.
Indeed, on August 31, Anti-Kosmik admitted that his face was his profile picture: “No matter. My face is already known by the feds. They’ve never been able to make a case on me.”
Less than a month later, the “feds” arrested him.
But apparently Commander didn’t know that about Anti-Kosmik’s profile picture.
“Yeah I thought it was someone else idk,” he wrote.
Commander then lashed out (and misunderstood) another user who suggested the Telegram group review their chat logs to find out who Smith had talked to.
“Do you think I’m blind?” said Commander, who did not see Anti-Kosmik’s earlier message about his profile picture. “I fucking saw that shit already.”
A few minutes later, a user named Derrick Vay noted how Anti-Kosmik “always” talked about operations security or “opsec.”
“Yeah it’s pretty ironic,” Commander replied. Remember, this is the same person who publicly pointed out that Smith was a member of FKD.
Smith’s arrest is the latest setback for the Feuerkrieg Division, which is currently attempting to expand in the United States. As previously mentioned, another FKD member — Conor Climo — was arrested in Nevada in August for plotting an attack on an LGBT bar, an office of the Anti-Defamation League, and a synagogue. Nonetheless, Climo has been indicted on a federal firearm charge and faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if he’s convicted.
And in September, police in the United Kingdom apprehended a 16-year-old “comrade” of the group “on suspicion of the commission, preparation, and instigation of acts of terrorism.” FKD reacted vitriolically by threatening a specific police officer whom they claim was responsible for the arrest.
It’s still unclear how much of an impact these recent arrests have made on FKD’s recruitment efforts, but I cannot imagine it’s doing the group any good. Everyone is noticing the shortcomings of this group, such as its lax opsec and the abovementioned arrests.
Here’s to many more to come.
