Paul Craig Cobb, a well-known white supremacist, has plans to convert the small town of Leith, N.D. into a place where "white culture" would be celebrated and minorities unwelcome, CNN reports, and fellow residents are shocked and saddened by his efforts.
"I don't understand why all the different other people don't say 'whitey' is pretty darn nice and clever," Cobb told CNN. "There are many organizations [in] which whites have to support other cultures... Where is the organization of people from around the world that says let's keep these white people?...They're pretty darn good, all in all. We hate that which threatens what we love. And we're being genocided in our own country. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you be bitter about it?"
Cobb added that he wants his power to extend beyond Leith, though he did not specify to CNN how he would accomplish this. In Canada, Cobb is wanted by the government, charged with hate speech written on a blog.
"He believes whites should be separate from other races," said Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks hate groups. "He's also an anti-semite, a raging anti-semite... And he's a member of the creativity religion, which is a religion that literally worships the Aryan man instead of God."
Leith has a tiny population of 24 people, its cheap and beautiful land part of the reason that Cobb chose it as a potential place to create a white nationalist community. Fellow white supremacists have come into the town to show support for Cobb's potential gain of political control over the area that is 70 miles southwest of Bismarck and a part of Grand County, North Dakota's third largest county.
Jeff Schoep, commander of the National Socialist Movement, the third largest neo-Nazi organization in the U.S., wrote an open letter to the town's mayor, Ryan Shcock, announcing the group's presence Sunday and today. He and other white nationalists online have praised Cobb's efforts to "revitalize the community," calling critics of his efforts "laughable." Some supporters have even referred to Leith's dream town as a "Pioneer Little Europe."
"We have every intention of legally assuming control of the local government," Schoep said in a statement, according to the New York Daily News.
However, their efforts will not be met without protest from their opponents.
"We are planning a true grassroots peaceful protest to demonstrate that we are united in a stance against hatred, violence and prejudice," UnityND, an anti-racism group organizing the protest, wrote on its website. "Join us as we take to main street rural America to fight against racism."
Cobb's quest to turn Leith into a "white" town began two years ago when he purchased 12 plots of land for $500 each, where he hopes like-minded white nationalists will take up residence in Leith as he did.
As for the current residents of Leith, they're unhappy about this latest development and plan to counter Cobb's efforts.
Mayor Ryan Schock, who has lived in the town his whole life, told CNN the existence of white nationalist groups is "very shocking," while Miller Ferrie, a seven-year resident, says she is saddened by their presence in Leith.
"If they were coming to hold a rally for Christ we would be thrilled, but what they stand for is the opposite of what we believe," Ferrie said to CNN.
As for the town's one black resident, Bobby Harper, he feels threatened by the presence of white nationalists in the community. His wife, Sherill Harper, told CNN that she has received messages from hate groups asking for her to leave her husband and join the movement.
"It made me afraid," she said. "If [Cobb's] goal is to just have only white people here, where do my husband and I go?"
However, Bobby Harper has no plans to leave, regardless of Cobb's ambitions. As for the sheriff of Grand County, Steven Bay, he told CNN on Saturday that he would be keeping a close eye on the ralliers.
"I'm a firm believer that everyone has a right to believe what they want, just not the ability to force the issue on someone else," said Bay. "Both sides say they plan on having their demonstrations. They have both indicated to me that they will be peaceful demonstrations. They may be a little loud, but peaceful."
Officials have stated they would make efforts to legally dissolve the town to prevent it from becoming overrun by white supremacists, though they hope it will not come to that, CNN reports.
Click here to see photos of Paul Craig Cobb, the 61-year-old man who plans to turn the small town of Leith, N.D. into a haven for white supremacists, as well as pictures of the town itself.
