Sagebrush - Coverstory
November 14, 2001

Reformed Nazi Speaks Out Against Racism

Leyden Learned Terror and Recruiting Tactics from U.S. Military

By Abbi Holtom

TJ Leyden used to spend his free time cruising around his hometown of Fontana, Calif, beating people, slam dancing at punk rock concerts and passing out racial literature to school children. Now he's traded in his combat boots, heavy fists and Nazi tattoos for a microphone and the chance to educate about America's white supremacist movement.

The students of the University of Nevada got a chance to hear this reformed Nazi speak out against the evils of racism, bigotry and hate on Thursday at the JTSU. In a two-hour presentation, Leyden recounted a story that he was not proud of, but which he hoped would encourage students to do something to create a better world.

"I'm not proud having to tell you this and I will use words which will offend everyone of you," Leyden said.

Laced with humor, tinged with satire and packed with hard hitting facts, figures and events Leyden's presentation brought people to their feet and told the story of one man's struggle and triumph over hate.

Joining the gang

When Leyden was 15-years-old, his middle-class, all American family split up. After his parents divorced, Leyden turned to the punkrock scene and began running with the largest skinhead neo-Nazi gang in the world, Hammerskin Nation. The angry music and violent lyrics of the punk rock scene encouraged hate and violence and soon Leyden found himself becoming deeply involved with the gang.

"If we didn't like the music at a show, we would go around and just beat up people for fun," Leyden said.

The explosion of "Oi," a type of British punk rock based on prejudice and hate, fueled the skinhead's passion for violence ~ and encouraged Leyden to "beat the hell out of people who were different," he said.

After moving to Redlands, Calif., a place that Leyden described as one of the whitest towns in America, he became more violent and got arrested several times for misdemeanor charges, but he managed to keep his record clean of any felonies by intimidating the witnesses and their families. Leyden knew, however, that if they have enough time, the cops could put anyone in state prison.

The military

It was time to move on. After reviewing , his options he decided that the best place to learn terror tactics and recruit new members was the U.S. military. At 21 years old, Leyden joined the Marine Corps. This job, gave him the opportunity to spread his propaganda far and wide.

''In the Marines you can belong to hate groups as long as you're passive members," Leyden said.

With the SS bolts tattooed on his neck (a badge of honor for some Marines ), the words "skinhead" tattooed down his arms and numerous other Nazi tattoos allover his body, Leyden believes he was far from passive.
Leyden would play loud racist music in the barracks and walk around with a tank top on so people could see his tattoos, he said.

He began passing out racist literature such as "The Turner Diaries," which is about overthrowing the government and eliminating all non-whites, and "Hunter," a book about a professor who hunts and kills interracial couples. He recruited at least four other Marines.

"At the same time I was passing out literature, Timothy McVeigh was passing out the same literature in the Army," Leyden said.

Leyden met many of his new recruits at the Enlisted Men's Club, a bar where Marines hung out when they were off duty.

"The E Club was the best place to recruit," Leyden said. "On one side of the bar was rock 'n' roll and on the other side was reggae and soul. Fights would break out and soon the whole bar would be joining in."

Leyden believes the military "'don't ask, don't tell" policy extends beyond just the gay and bi-sexual community.

"The 'don't ask, don't tell," rule is for everyone," Leyden said. "You can be a racist in the military, but if we don't ask, you don't tell."

Eventually Leyden was "less than honorably discharged" from the Marines for alcohol-related instances, and he returned home to devote himself full-time to Hammerskin Nation.

Recruiting

After Leyden was discharged from the military he met his wife, Nicole, and they were married 15 days later. It was then that Leyden became heavily involved in the recruiting of new members. Leyden and his friends would put racist literature into the lockers of kids at schools hoping to start fights.

By putting comics and literature into the lockers of Asians, blacks and Hispanics it created animosity between the races and fights broke out. The skinheads would then step in and save the white kids from getting beat-up. Leyden did this to create a bond with future recruits.
SPEAKING OUT: Ex-Neo Nazi, T.J. Leyden,
talks about his former lifestyle as a White Supremist
at the Jot Travis Student auditorium Thursday night.

"When we went in and saved the white kid he knew two things," Leyden said. "Number one was then he was scared and number two it was that we saved him."

The recruiters used the "tear them down and rebuild them" method, one of the tac1ics 1- that Leyden learned in the military.

"We used to belittle them then use positive reinforcement to build them back up," Leyden said. "This military is really great at doing this...
Leyden went after everyone with his recruiting methods.

"You wanted to get the kids on student council," Leyden said.

The white supremacists are far more than just a few dumb rednecks in pickup trucks, Leyden said. They have an extensive network of radio stations, Internet chat rooms, a record label, Resistance Records and Resistance Magazine. Leyden used these tools for recruitment.

By putting pretty Aryan Nation girls on the cover of their magazine, the group used the "sex sells" message to recruit members. With their own record label, the skinheads were able to use music to influence new members.

"Music is the most powerful recruiting tool in the world," Leyden said. "People adopt music into their lifestyles. Music can kill and music can drive a kid to kill."

Change of heart

By now Leyden had two kids and he and his wife were heavily involved in the movement. They moved to the whiter town of St. George, Utah, and finally to Hailey, Id. so that they wouldn't have to be around non- whites.

One night Leyden was watching a show on TV when his 3-year-old son came into the room and scolded him for watching a show "with niggers on it." It was then that he realized what his kids were becoming.

For the first time in my life I was 100 percent afraid," Leyden said. "I was most afraid of myself and realized that the worst thing in the world my boys could be was myself."

After tossing and turning over his new- found feelings, Leyden finally called his mom and begged for her forgiveness. He also begged Nicole to get out of the racist movement. She wouldn't leave, so he kid- napped his kids and took off.

His mom said that he should contact the Simon Wiesenthal Center about his experiences in the white supremacist movement. At first he thought she was crazy, but after a few weeks he drove a truck down to the center with 15 years worth of paperwork in it. For two and half weeks he spoke with organizations and they later asked him if he would consider talking about the white power movement. Since that day over three years ago, Leyden has pulled 24 kids out of his former lifestyle, spoken with President Bush and former President Clinton and talked to more than 650,000 people about the white power movement and his experiences in it.

Leyden admits he still has racist thoughts. "There's no such thing a 12-step Racist Anonymous program," Leyden said. "Talking like this is my AA."

Leyden ended his talk by asking people to be proactive about stopping hate and to remember that if you fight hate with hate you have let them win.

"Throw a pebble in a mind of child and create a positive ripple," Leyden said. We need to create a world of better individuals."

Leyden can be reached at formerskinhead@aol.com.