National Alliance (United States)

The National Alliance was a white supremacist, neo-Nazi political organization founded by William Luther Pierce in 1974 and based in Mill Point, West Virginia. It was formed out of a split in the National Youth Alliance, an organization run by Pierce, a former member of the American Nazi Party, and Willis Carto. The National Alliance had several business ventures, including the record label Resistance Records, a book publisher, and several periodicals. It was the largest and most significant neo-Nazi group of its time.

Membership in 2002 was estimated at 2,500 with an annual income of $1 million. Membership declined after Pierce's death in 2002. After a split in its ranks in 2005 and several power struggles, it became largely defunct; however, some members still claim the name.

History

National Alliance members protesting outside the Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C. in 2001, alleging Israeli complicity in the 9/11 attacks

The National Alliance was established by William Luther Pierce in 1974, renamed and restructured from another organization called the National Youth Alliance.Template:Sfn Pierce was a former member of the American Nazi Party, and a long time associate of its leader George Lincoln Rockwell.Template:Sfn After Rockwell was assassinated in 1967, his successor Matt Koehl became embroiled in a power struggle with Pierce, which resulted in Pierce leaving in 1970.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Pierce then created Youth for Wallace, an organization supporting the bid for the presidency of George Wallace, the former Governor of Alabama. Alongside Willis Carto, Youth for Wallace became the recruiting organization for their National Youth Alliance. Carto and Pierce had a falling out and the group split; Pierce's side kept the National Youth Alliance name, while Carto's became Youth Action.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Pierce renamed and restructured it in 1974.Template:Sfn The group was white supremacist<ref name="ADL">Template:Cite webTemplate:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and neo-Nazi in orentation.<ref name="ADL" />

In 1978, claiming the National Alliance was an educational organization, Pierce applied for (and was denied) tax exemption by the Internal Revenue Service. Pierce appealed, but an appellate court upheld the IRS decision.<ref name="ADL-Bio3">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1985, Pierce moved his operations from Arlington County, Virginia, to a Template:Convert location in Mill Point, West Virginia, which he paid for with $95,000 in cash. At this location, he founded the Cosmotheist Community Church.<ref name="ADL-Bio3" /> In 1986, the church applied again, this time successfully, for federal, state, and local tax exemptions. It lost its state tax exemption for all but 60 acres, which had to be exclusively used for religious purposes.<ref name="ADL-History">Template:Cite news</ref> William Pierce was arrested in 1995 on charges of assaulting a female staff member on the grounds of the Mill Point headquarters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Order was an offshoot of the National Alliance and modeled themselves after a similar group depicted in The Turner Diaries. Timothy McVeigh was in possession of a copy of The Turner Diaries at the time of his arrest following the Oklahoma City Bombing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> McVeigh bought copies of the book (published by the National Alliance), sold them at gun shows, and otherwise distributed them.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1997, two National Alliance members were charged with committing bank robberies in Florida and Connecticut.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> One of them admitted to channeling funds from the robberies to the National Alliance. He was charged with attempting to detonate a series of pipe bombs in order to divert attention from a future robbery.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The National Alliance was the largest and most significant neo-Nazi group of the time, and the most significant group to come out of the various schisms associated with the American Nazi Party.Template:Sfn

After Pierce's death

National Alliance member with a Nazi flag at a rally in Washington, D.C., August 2002

A series of power struggles began almost immediately after Pierce's death, with high-ranking members either resigning or being fired. A boycott of the National Alliance's Resistance Records label resulted in a steep drop-off in generated funds.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Membership declined after Pierce's death, and after a split in its ranks in 2005, became largely defunct.<ref name="ADL" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In April 2005, prominent Alliance member Kevin Alfred Strom, then editor of National Vanguard magazine, issued a declaration calling for Gliebe to step down;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Alliance's executive committee and most of its unit coordinators supported the action. Gliebe refused, claiming that the Alliance operated under the "Leadership Principle" and stating that he would not yield to any coup. Strom formed a new group called National Vanguard.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In January 2008, Strom pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in exchange for the other charges to be dropped.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="DailyProgress2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> He was sentenced to 23 months in prison on April 23, 2008.<ref name="DailyProgress2" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0" /> Strom told the court before being sentenced that he was "not a pedophile" and was "in fact the precise opposite of what has been characterized in this case",<ref name="DailyProgress2" /> saying he had been "unwillingly" possessing 10 images of child pornography and that those came from an online forum he had visited which had been "flooded with spam", which included "sleazy, tragic" pictures of children that he deleted. The judge of the case responded: "Mr. Strom, you pled guilty to charges that now you're saying you're innocent. I prefer people plead not guilty than put it on me."<ref name=":1" />

Shortly after the attempted coup by Strom, Gliebe resigned as chairman of the Alliance and briefly appointed Shaun Walker as his successor. However, following Walker's arrest in June 2006, Gliebe again assumed leadership of the organization.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By that year, paid membership for the Alliance had declined to fewer than 800 and the paid staff was down to only ten people.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Will Williams offshoot

In 2014, Will Williams became head of an organization which calls itself the National Alliance (NA).<ref>The Kansas City Star (subscription required)</ref> However, a rival faction disputes the claim that this group is maintaining continuity with the original Alliance which was founded by Pierce.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015, an accountant was hired to audit the NA's books by Williams. According to a lawsuit which was filed by a former Baltimore attorney against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), there was a confrontation between the accountant and Williams. The lawsuit further claims that after the accountant left the NA headquarters he released documents that he had scanned to the SPLC.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2015, Williams was arrested and charged with battery after he allegedly hit and strangled a female employee on the grounds of the Mill Point compound.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was convicted, briefly incarcerated, and placed on probation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Williams was banned from the NA compound in West Virginia pursuant to a court order stemming from his 2015 arrest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Williams claims that the National Alliance "(is) back. We are definitely back".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also said in a letter to a newspaper sent from Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee (allegedly the NA's headquarters) that "(The National Alliance does) not appreciate being called 'haters' or being associated with some 'hate movement'."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Business

The organization held a radio/internet show named "American Dissident Voices", and the organization also published a National Alliance Bulletin.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref> They distributed the National Vanguard periodical and maintained a website.Template:Sfn Its publication Attack! was started by Pierce to increase membership in the National Youth Alliance in 1968. He published and edited the publication.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It was later retitled National Vanguard.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> National Vanguard Books, Inc. was the book publishing firm of the National Alliance.<ref name=":2" />

The organization ran a white power record label which was called Resistance Records.<ref name=":2" /> In 2002, it released the video game Ethnic Cleansing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As of 2025, Cosmotheist Books is also associated with the organization. The company sells Pierce's books.<ref name="Shapiro2025">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Cosmotheist Church

The spiritual aspect of the National Alliance's ideology is espoused by the Cosmotheist Community Church.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

See also

• Fascism in the United States
• Spokane bombing attempt
• Algiz
• List of white nationalist organizations
• Nationalist Front
• Neo-Nazi groups of the United States

References

Works cited

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