Leader of neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division pleads guilty to threatening antisemitism activists and journalists

The leader of a neo-Nazi group that made terror threats against American Jewish journalists and antisemitism activists has pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and hate crimes.

Cameron Shea, 25, from Redmond in the State of Washington is allegedly the leader of the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division (German for “Atomic weapon”). According to the American Department of Justice, he and three co-defendants were charged with conspiring to identify journalists and antisemitism advocates in order to threaten them.

After the group made posters featuring Nazi symbols and threats, Mr Shea allegedly ordered the members to put them up at the homes of journalists in cities around the US, including Tampa, Seattle and Phoenix. Mr Shea allegedly also posted some himself, including one to a member of the ADL that read: “Our patience has its limits…you have been visited by your local Nazis”.

Atomwaffen Division has been linked to several killings, including the shooting of two men in Tampa, Florida in 2017, and a student in California in 2018.

Two of Mr Shea’s co-defendants pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charges and were sentenced in December. The fourth, Kaleb Cole pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

The US Attorney’s Office says that Mr Shea faces a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. More than a dozen people linked to Atomwaffen Division and an off-shoot, Feuerkrieg (meaning “firepower”), have been charged with federal crimes since the groups were formed in 2016.

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