James Wickstrom
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James P. Wickstrom (born 1942 in Munising, Michigan) is a far right radio talk-show host and Christian Identity minister, who resides in Rhodes, Michigan. He is known for his strong opinions on racial issues, globalization, and Jews. He is also known to be intensely anti-communist.
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[edit] History
Periodically, Wickstrom has written racially-inspired articles, and has operated as a pastor in Christian Identity organizations. In 1980, Wickstrom ran unsuccessfully in Wisconsin as a Constitution Party of Wisconsin candidate for United States Senator, coming in third with 16,156 votes; and was a Wisconsin representative to the American Independent Party's national committee.[1] He was the party's nominee for Governor of Wisconsin in 1982, coming in fourth with 7,721 votes; and remained on the national committee.[2] During this same period, he attracted national attention to the Posse's ideology, as an outspoken defender of the rights and concerns of Gordon Kahl, including an appearance on the Phil Donahue Show in which he soft-peddled the racist and antisemitic ideology of the Posse, portraying them as Midwestern populists.[3] (As of December 1984, after his arrest, he was no longer an official of the Constitution Party of Wisconsin.[4])
[edit] Criminal actions and convictions
In January 1982, Wickstrom lost (badly) when he sought election as chairman of the township of Fairbanks, Wisconsin. He decided to set up his own municipality, a Posse enclave on the banks of the Embarras River within the boundaries of Fairbanks. He put public notice of the creation of the "Constitutional Township of Tigerton Dells" and a meeting to elect officers of the township in a local paper. The announcement described Wickstrom as "acting clerk"; at the meeting, Wickstrom was "elected" Clerk and Municipal Judge and fellow Posse member Donald Minniecheske was "elected" the Tigerton Dells Chairman and Assessor.
Over the next seven months, Wickstrom took applications for and issued a liquor license and a cigarette license, attempted to file various documents indicating he was a judge or town clerk with local and state offices, and threatened to sue the Shawano County county clerk if she did not cooperate with his demand for official printed ballots.
Since none of this was lawful under the relevant Wisconsin statutes, in 1983 Wickstrom was arrested for "assuming to act as [a] public officer". (During the trial, he announced to the court that he planned to set up similar townships in other states, and had the presiding judge served with an ersatz "subpoena" for a "Citizens Grand Jury", signing the document as "Judge". When Wickstrom defended himself as a “sovereign citizen” who was not obligated to obey the laws of the federal, state, and local government, prosecutor Douglas Haag riposted: “[T]he question is whether or not a man with even marginal intelligence who can read and write the English language believes that he can put a fence around his back yard, set up a separate government, and call himself a public official.… [I]f [Wickstrom] has a sincere belief that he is a public officer within the laws of the state of Wisconsin, I’m the Easter Bunny.” ) He was found guilty, and served over thirteen months in jail (he'd received the maximum nine-month sentence on each count, to be served consecutively).[5] (Minniecheske was sentence to nine years for possession of stolen property and other crimes.) Wickstrom's sentence was eventually commuted; as part of the terms he was not to associate with the Posse or similar groups. He moved to Pennsylvania, and was later arrested and convicted of a plan to distribute $100,000 in counterfeit U.S. currency to white supremacists attending the 1988 Aryan World Congress. [6][7] He was paroled in 1994.[8]
[edit] Ideology
Wickstrom derives his beliefs from his interpretation of the Christian Bible. He preaches what he refers to as Two Seedline Racial Covenant Identity, an ideology which among other things, postulates that the Caucasian race is the only race made in the image of God, and thus is the only racial group possessing a soul. Furthermore, people of Jewish descent are not considered the "children of God", but rather the children of Satan. Wickstrom categorically rejects the Jewish religious doctrine which states that Jews are "God's chosen people", stating that in fact members of the "white western, European" race are the actual Israelites referred to in the Christian Bible. According to Wickstrom, any person with any trace of Jewish ancestry is automatically condemned to eternal damnation.
[edit] Current activity
Wickstrom hosts a weekly internet radio talk show, Yahweh's Truth on the Turner Radio Network. During the show, Wickstrom often has a limited number of guest speakers, where the topic is predominantly his perception of a communist, Zionist mandate operating in the United States whose goal is to destroy the Aryan nations, or nations where Caucasians are the ethnic majority. According to Wickstrom, this goal is to be seen out through authoritarian and corrupt financial practices, multiculturalism, media infiltration, race-mixing and globalization. As well, he invites his listeners to call in to speak their views on world issues, which are typically similar to Wickstrom's. Wickstrom is known to be affiliated with neo-Nazi groups such as the American group widely known as Aryan Nations. He frequently has guests on his radio talk show from this and other affiliated groups.
[edit] Rhetoric
Wickstrom's frequent and intensely violent rhetoric has drawn the attention of such activist groups as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. Wickstrom frequently indicates his desire for the Jewish people to endure a second Holocaust, and for the assassination of certain members of the United States Government, particularly those he views to be in collaboration with those who seek to enable a communist takeover of the United States.
[edit] References
- ^ Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. The state of Wisconsin 1981-1982 blue book Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, distributed by Document Sales, 1981-1982; pp. 823, 887, 908
- ^ Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. The state of Wisconsin 1983-1984 blue book Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, distributed by Document Sales, 1983-1984; pp. 686, 821
- ^ Buchanan, Susy. "Return of the Pastor" Intelligence Report, Winter 2004, Issue Number: 116; Southern Poverty Law Center
- ^ Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 blue book Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, distributed by Document Sales, 1985-1986; p. 836
- ^ 798 F.2d 268 James P. WICKSTROM, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Walter SCHARDT, Respondent-Appellee; No. 85-3224, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. Submitted July 8, 1986; Decided Aug. 19, 1986
- ^ Smith, Brent L. Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams; Binghamton: SUNY Press, 1994; p. 60
- ^ Buchanan, Susy. "Return of the Pastor" Intelligence Report, Winter 2004, Issue Number: 116; Southern Poverty Law Center
- ^ Roddy, Dennis B. "Aryan Nations moving to state" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 29, 2002
[edit] External links
- James Wickstrom's official website, "Yahweh's Truth"
- SPLC Article on James Wickstrom
