Citizens scare anti-LGBTQ+ neo-Nazi leader & his “training camp” out of town

After anti-LGBTQ+ neo-Nazi leader Christopher Pohlhaus purchased a 10.6-acre property in Springfield, Maine with the hopes of turning it into a Nazi training ground, local residents found out about his plan and made him feel very unwelcome. He eventually sold the property, blaming “militant leftists” for the unwanted attention he earned.

Pohlhaus is founder of the fascist group “Blood Tribe,” a group that protested an Ohio drag brunch last May. His group chanted the words “Blood,” “Under the Aryan Sun,” and “No transgenders on our streets,” while throwing Nazi salutes. He also led a similar protest against a drag queen story hour in Akron, Ohio in mid-March.

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But she wasn’t going down without one more scandal.

He purchased the property in Maine and had sought help to clear the land to set up cabins and a training ground for physical fitness drills and weapons training in preparation for a violent race war, The Bangor Daily News reported. However, his plan caught the attention of the local press and government officials, including Aroostook County Sheriff Shawn Gillen, who questioned whether the campers would have illegal firearms or out-of-state warrants, something Gillen said is common in anti-government extremist camps, according to The County.

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“They have a tendency to draw that type of crowd,” Gillen said. “People may be running from another state and say, ‘hey, I’m going to end up in Maine and nobody will know I’m here.’” 

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said his office had been in close contact with the U.S. attorney and law enforcement agencies around the state to monitor Pohlhaus’s activity. Maine Sen. Joe Baldacci (D) also said, “Paramilitary training is against the law, and he’s professed violence, or is at least supportive of violence, and that raises enormous concerns. People in Bangor are overwhelmingly appalled by their existence to advocate Nazi propaganda, and it’s just very disgusting.”

A local Planet Fitness gym also banned Pohlhaus because of “multiple member complaints” about his visible tattoos, one of which was a large swastika.

Pohlhaus reportedly sold the property on Tuesday. In a Telegram post to his followers, Pohlhaus said, “We made the decision to sell the 10 acres that was in my name up here. With the militant leftist doxing the location, it was basically too dangerous to fulfill its purpose to be a safe space for families to make the transition up here. People were coming up there all the time, snooping and getting very brazen, even driving down into the clearing.”

Pohlhaus held a September hate protest in which he and masked followers waved swastika flags, saluted Hitler, and shouted “White power” and “Jews will not replace us.”

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