Exposed/News

VA Capitol Police Shows Affinity with White Nationalist Groups

Posted on by Antifa Seven Hills

2/5/2019

Robert Allen Goward aka Rob Stamm, Officer with Virginia Capitol Police

  • Lives in Disputanta, Virginia in Wildwood Farms
  • Work phone: 804-786-2568
  • Work email: [email protected]

Rob Stamm, formerly known as Robert Allen Goward, is a police officer with the Virginia Capitol Police. Capitol Police is the police force responsible for the Virginia capitol grounds in downtown Richmond, Virginia — in the area of the Governor’s Mansion and General Assembly. Rob Stamm has been among the cops policing the numerous, near-daily protests demanding that Governor Ralph Northam resign. He was present at the capitol at least during protests on February 4th and 5th. 

As detailed in this document, Officer Rob Stamm has explicit, overt ties to a white nationalist pagan organization, and an affinity for imagery, tattoos and Facebook pages associated with nazis and white supremacists.

Tattoos

Stamm was first observed by antifascists because he had a large bandaid covering his neck during a protest on capitol grounds. Looking back into his photo history, it appears Stamm has changed his neck tattoo over time. 

In early 2012, his neck tattoo closely resembled the “wolfsangel,” a common symbol of the nazi party, and used in the U.S. by Aryan Nations organizations. Stamm’s original wolfsangel tattoo had a red-white-black color pattern — a common white power and white nationalist color scheme, known to be used most by the Hammerskins and also the colors of the nazi flag.

As of late 2012 — around the same time he became a corrections officer in Virginia — Stamm appears to have gotten his wolfsangel tattoo covered up with a new, more generic design: an anchor. Further, Stamm appears to be in the habit of covering even his new anchor tattoo when appearing in public events or being photographed as a Virginia Capitol police officer.

The wolfsangel isn’t the only white-supremacist associated tattoo. Stamm also sports tattoos such as the “Helm of Terror”/“Helm of Awe” rune — a Nordic, neo-Volkïsh rune that is an  “emblem for identifying the followers of Asatru” — and a large blue Iron Cross. While these tattoo designs do not necessarily connote nazism or white supremacy in every use, in combination with his other ties, Stamm’s affinity for these symbols seems to go beyond aesthetics or heritage.

Stamm also has a significant portion of his arm “blacked out”, though the previous imprints of covered-up tattoos remain partially visible.

What other tattoos is Rob Stamm covering up?

White supremacist imagery & interests

Stamm has an affinity for imagery which has been appropriated by white supremacists, often associated with nazi Germany, police violence and vikings. Stamm frequently posts pictures from inside his workout room, where he displays a variety of flags. 

German nationalist flag –Josef Wirmer’s “Resistance Flag.” This flag is a combination of the Weimar republic and Reich flags, and its design references the Iron Cross. In recent years, the “Resistance Flag” has appeared in anti-immigration rallies & nationalist movements, and been co-opted/adopted by the far-right. 

Thin Blue Line “Punisher” flag. The Marvel comic character “Punisher” is frequently portrayed with the thin blue line — which represents the “blue lives matter” cop ideology that has proliferated as a response to the widespread protest against police murder and racist brutality. The Punisher is a popular image among cops as it represents the police enacting violent revenge against any lawbreaker. The thin blue line flag was carried by white supremacists in Charlottesville during the Unite the Right Rally in August 2017. 

Raven banner, is also known as the flag of viking king Ragnar Lothbrook, which was popularized by the TV show “Vikings.” It was recently adopted by white supremacists.

On his Facebook page, Stamm reveals his other interests besides working out. Stamm’s favorite books listed on Facebook include “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany,” a popular WWII history that details nazism, along with confederate histories. He also likes Facebook pages such as “This is Europa”, MARIE LE PEN (the far-right French nationalist,) “Stop Farm Attacks & Murders in South Africa,” “We Support Officer Darren Wilson,” “Support Officer Darren Wilson,” “Supporting Police in the Baltimore Riots,” and a number of Odinist and neo-Volkish pages, namely “Asatru Folk Assembly” (as well as a now-defunct “Asatru Folk Assembly” page that has been deleted by Facebook due to hate speech.) 

Connections to Asatru Folk Assembly

Stamm is friends with a number of people who claim to be associated with the group Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA). He also follows AFA on Instagram. On January 1, 2019, Stamm added a profile photo of himself with theAsatru Folk Assembly logo overlaid on it, aligning himself explicitly with the movement. He shared another on January 10. 

Asatru Folk Assembly is described by the SPLC as the country’s “largest neo-Volkïsh hate group.” Many people who interact with Stamm’s Facebook page are also identify themselves as part of the AFA group, or like the AFA Facebook page. Many of them share South African “white genocide” propaganda posts. 

The founder of AFA, Stephen McNallen, runs in the same circles as Richard Spencer, Augustus Invictus, and supports the white supremacist and neo-confederate movements. Stamm’s Facebook friend, Matt Flavel, who also has a profile picture branded with the AFA logo, has participated in the nazi/white-supremacist podcast “Red Ice.”

Locally in Richmond, Asatru Folk Assembly has a potent history. In 2015, three white supremacists in Chesterfield, VA were plotting to bomb Black churches and synagogues. These men identified as members of Asatru and claimed to beseeking to start a race war. Further local connections include Sarah Bolstad, a neo-Nazi who was present at the A12 rally in Charlottesville organized by the white nationalist alt-right and who testified in defense of the murderer James Alex Fields. Bolstad has also worn the hammer ofmjolnir, and claimed to be an adherent to the Asatru religion, with both the symbol and the following of Asatru being replicated by many neo-nazis specifically focused on European identitarianism– specifically, Germanic and Norse, the “aryan” nations. 

Cop honors

Stamm was honored by Virginia Capitol Police in 2015 with an “Award of Excellence” and recognized on their Twitter page for participating in an FBI training program. The FBI claims credit for foiling the efforts of the Asatru-associated white supremacists’ bomb plot. Meanwhile, they were training members of the same hate group to work for and with them. Further evidence that the state and law enforcement can provide no solutions to white supremacy, racist and anti-semitic violence — in fact, law enforcement fosters and rewards those who share ideology with these would-be murderers. Law enforcement are themselves the murderous white supremacists. 

Concerned? Chief of Virginia Capitol Police Anthony Pike can be reached at 804-786-5035 or [email protected]

,
Antifa Seven Hills