Hide Article Text (OCR)
6 DAILY TROJAN Friday. January 7, 197?Frjrfoy. January 7, 1972 DAILY TROJANform-attired storm troopers enter quietly, three wearing guns They position themselves, ominously against the back and side walls It is in this strange silence that the footsteps of Lt Joe Tominasi are heard as he descends from the stairs As he pauses in the doorway he l-ioks tall i he's 6 feet 2 inches* and chunky ihe weighs 220) and unmistakably young despite his wispy mustache and stern expression the's only 21 . Those seated, including me. stand as he walks briskly to the podium A tape recorder blares the Badenweiler march This was the first time I had seen Tommasi However. I had come to know him through the Nazis' white power phone message. which he records in a machine-gun voice 4 it can be heard by dialing 443-9455) This week s message had been typically vitriolic:The sick swine who run America are drooling at the pro-spocts of millions of white kids being bussed to schools where they will come in con tact with a bunch of retarded black baboons who will gang up on them swipe their lunch money and get some of them pregnant Stripped of all its fancy sweet-talk. integration means one thing—slow death for the white race Tommasi begins the meeting by rattling off the pledges that constitute the martyr ceremonyIn May of 1945 the greatest man ever to set foot on this earth saw the destruction of the greatest civilization ever to be conceived With Uic tragic end of our fuehrer. Adolf Hit ler. our people lost the only real leader it ever had To you. Adoll Hiller we pledge our livesA roomful ot right arms starkly extend into the famous Nazi salute as members thunder in unison “Ileal Hiller!’The pledges continue as the drama mounts Other martyrs' include Rockwell and var ious lesser-knowns Then, abruptly the ceremony ends Kveryoru* sits down the lights are turned on With the flip uf Ihe lighl switch the tense mood switches incredibly. to one of relaxation Joe Tommasi Nazi ihctonc champ is about to become Joe Tommasi \.i/i fllitcnckci tUa mm revealed audience is one of teenage males voting and middle aged men some with tbeir wives and small children let s face it ihe swastika attracts two kinds dedicatedpeople and nuts laughter The dedicated people we cultivate, the huts we get rid of.Some FBI agent came in the other day dressed in a 1940 hat. raincoat, and said he had a Thompson machine gun in his violin case He wanted to sell it for $20 Boy. the FBI must think we're dumb! laughterThen Tommasi reads a newspaper account of a Nazi rally held in San Diego at which he spoke i anything whiten about them is read at the meetings) The story read Tommasi then took the microphone and said ‘Six million Jews— so W li.itUproarious laughter. applause.The capper of the evening was the film premiere of the Nazis Nov 6 demonstration in downtown Iajs Angeles, screened with the powerful musical soundtrack from Hitler s famous propaganda film.Triumph of the Will.Instead of posing with their finest Nordic expressions, however. some members mugged for the camera, to the delight'7ho swastika attracts two kinds—dedicated people and nuts.of the audience.The white building doesn't look nearly as imposing in the daytime Rather, the sun reveals iLs old age and dumpiness Inside, the accommodations are auslcrc Sofas m the living room i Tommasi and a handful of Nazis live there) are stained and tom The bunk room, with its six unmade bed» is a pigsty In a few minutes Tommasi arrives, dressed in faded army jacket, blue Jeans and boots He lias been to the post office, and a stack of letters piotrudes from his breast pnrkct As an Kl Monte High School junior Tommasi on Ins own reorganized the Southern Calif-ortua Nazis in IWiH Today. Tomrnasi estimates that local membership In its three categories official party supporters (people who sign a pledge and pay $2' storm troopers (members who allend demonstrations- iixt regular party member s number t low t«. 4ult;) i Obserx a i ion indicateshowever that hard-core membership hovers around 20-25) Tommasi is a rliche-bustcr Although he has been well-schooled in delivering the hate line. (“If I had a Joe Tommasi in every major city the revolution would be half on’ Koehl exclaimed.» as a person he remains likeable, almost shy He flashes a ready grin thal borders on the mischievous and reminds one of how young he is It was in these depressed-looking quarters thal Tommasi sal down and rattled off in typical 21-year-old slang what it will be like when the Nazis take over“First, were gonna nationalize a lot of institutions We're gonna totally replace the value of money A lot of work programs will he instituted We're gonna eliminate any influence Jews and blacks have on our existenceTommasi sees the Nazis as being the most likely means of bringing about a white America. He has disgust for radical right-wing groups like the John Birch Society (The only reason they hate Commies is because if the Commies take over they will lose their money • and the Ku Klux Klan (They're on a medieval-reli-gious-war-type trip •Tommasi said he has nurtured a group of hard-core, dedi oated men to wave the Nazi flag in the revolution that is sure” to hit America in the next two decades Just who are these people’’ Tommasi vaid the average member is between 18 and 20 years old. doesn t (or didn't' like school and doesn't have much moneyInvestigation indicates, further. lhat many members are either unemployed or employed in menial capacities and are in (atuated with (he swastika John laiu lti an unemployed dropout (rom Glendale s Hoover High School, is one of the swastika lanciers I like to see the shock on people s faces when they see Ihe swastika on my arm I like to agitate poo pl»- I also use the swastika to bring light lo the white people Allltough one member said nigger halers don t last in the organization since the Nazis don l exist to solve just one problem Richard La Flame 33. has1-aFUrm- a balding pari ly disabled .trim veteran who lives in San Bernardino blames the loss of his wife and little girl on a black who replaced him on his job a lew Christ mines back and lelt him un able lo support them There i no mistaking ilieBy RICH WISEMAN Managing EditorThe National Socialist White People s Party, like most parties founded and centered around one man. was expected lo die the same August day in 1967 an assassin's bullet felled its colorful leader George Lincoln Rockwell, in a Virginia shopping center It almost did Splits occurred throughout the nation, including El Monte, where the headquarters was shut down for a year Contro versy centered around Rock well's successor. Matt Koehl. supposedly a good organizer but less dynamic than Rockwell But Koehl. who talked by telephone from the national headquarters in Arlington. Va.. bellowed that the party has surged in popularity recently, thanks to the deterioration of racial and economic situations-although membership statistics remain classified information A main (actor in its growth, he added, was the work of the rejuvenated, first-rate El Monte headquarters It’s Saturday night Peck Road near Valley Boulevard in El Monte is brightly lit by thc parade of neon signs A- few blocks up (4375 Peck Rd . the two-story white wood-frame house with painted-on swastikas is lit up. too As some of its neighbors snack at Sambo's or shop at Sears, the Nazis of Southern California prepare to salute Adolf Hitler at their weekly public meeting I'm apprehensive as I unhook the gate to the chain-link fence which guards the silent headquarters I ring the noisy buzzer. and. in a moment, the door pockmarked with number-four birdshot (somebody doesn't like them'jerks open A man with a similarly pockmarked. bulldog face stands in full Nazi attire—khaki long-slceve shirt, swastika armband black tie, black trousers and black boots Strapped to his waist is a Spanish 9-mrn Astra pistolHere for the meeting? Come on in he says. I am led through their tiny cigarettesmelling bookstore into the darkened meeting room.Here in this cold, eerie room. 20 forms silently sit in cold steel folding chairs Only two candles burn, one on either side of the Nazi-flag-draped podium A giant American flag is tacked on the left half of the wall behind a giant Nazi flaR at the right.In a moment a half-dozen uni-ROOM A Non povtc « lotked above o member % wardrobe ack in o corner o* the headquarter v bunk roomseething hale in his voice when he says slowly. If they made it legal I d walk down the strec* and 'hoot every black that movedDonald Kwei/er. 2.1. an un employed army veteran who lives ai ihe headquarters, has hung around the Nazis ofl and on for elghl years, although he's never bothered to apply for party membershipHe doesn t know what he wants to do with his life, although he figures he could gel a ha I lasted Job if he completes the two years in college he needs for a degree ' I guess most of us are In the party for tome sense of excitement. he said “Everybody likes lo think he can do something dangerous and get away with itWilliam Domask. 20. a Marine who stays at the headquarters on weekend passes from Camp Pendleton, is one of those excite-mcnt-scokers He said he really used to get it on with the SDScrx in high school, in Houston. Tex I never did get my ass kicked cause I was Ihe first guy in school to gel Mace (legal in Texas i. he drawled El Monte-born Dan Stewart. 31. is probably Tornmasi's right hand man—he prepares the meet mg room each week and transports many of the members to demonstrations in his VW bus Stewart is the only Nazi living in the headquarters who has a job He works the night shift in a factory, packing 600 cartons of glass bottles an hour We re really a peaceful people. he said. It s only when our race is threatened thal we want to fight.By far the most intriguing Nazi, however, is Tommasi himself. In his 21 years he has succeeded in fascinating or perplexing his parents, school officials. friends and enemies alike by his complete devotion to the Nazi cause Why would u person like Tommasi i He was really a personable. friendly, regular guv.'* one neighborhood friend recalled. turn to a philosophy that embraces hate A look into his past doesn t produce many clues.Tommasi's Nazi interest budded in eighth grade while he was attending Parkview Junior High in Kl Monte He said the interest was sell afflicted that it evolved from his study of the Third Reich Although I have no way of proving It I think I was born a National Socialist. he said It’s hard lo believe a person just out of the blue would adopt these beliefs Yet I knew (rom the start that the National Socialist movement was something that was all encompass mg something by which you could guide your life When his parents described by Tommasi as middle class and conservative, bul not radically so—found out about his interest they became enraged, he saidWhile he was a sophomore in high school they even temporarily moved to nearby Walnut to keep Tominasi away from the hcadquarteis which had Just then opened The next year his mother threw all his Nazi records in the trash alter he had been at rested for carry ing a concealed weapon at u party convention in Arizona Tommasi didn l experience as much statu* from classmates ai though one girl who knew ol him said ‘Everybody thoughthe was nuts ’Tommasi said hr wax seldom confronted because students were afraid to be around him But another person who knew him remembered dillercntly Joe and another guy were standing around Taxtee Freeze one day after school when some guy got out of a car and started slapping him around Joe did nothing to defend himself Probably because of the wary treatment Tommasi received he regarded the high school scene as a drag ' He didn't Join any clubs or go out for any sports ■ although he did play first trumpet in the band)But he wasn’t a troublemaker Raymond Cole, his counselor, said He was a good strong student friendly, low key He was smart enough to tend to his own business But in the classroom Tommasi was anything but detached He pounced on opportunities to argue the merits of the Nazis in f ront of people Joe used to fascinate me said Jose Villasenor, a neighborhood friend of Tommasi's. There would be times in class when he d get up and lecture us nonstop No one could ever beat him in an argument He sure knew what he was talking about If they made it legal I'd shoot every black that moved.Tommasi's presence was felt. The administration vetoed the Student Council's idea of running editorials over the PA system because it feared he would demand equal time One fellow student remembered him wearing a Wehrmarht helmet to his German class on occasion, adding “He was a real card.But Tommasi wasn’t happy as he seemed One of his major disappointments was his failure to find a girl friend He was always lonely, he needed someone to talk to. said Jay lenc Liggett, 19. whom Tommasi will marry in April Tommasi met Jaylenc a year ago this month when she was working for a now-defunct underground paper thal was. at the lime preparing a profile on the Nazis. She moved in with him that month When people hear the word 'Nazi' they think criminal Bui Joes a very sensitive, warm, understanding, intelligent person I respected him from the first because he stood up for what he believed in.Today Tommasi. as heart and soul of the organization works seven days a week keeping it running His only acknowledged sources of income are dues of party members i seldom paid on lime i and income’ from selling the Nazi newspaper. White Power, on Hollywood Boule vard.One of my main concerns is staying alive, he said with a grin Although he meant it in the sense ol getting enough to eat. he freely admitted he lias received many threats on his life I don t think aboui niv safetv too much because I know a lot of our enemies and they are cowards, he said The majority of Tommasi acquaintances, even those whoMSPIAYING THI TROOPSin downtown I OS AngelesTommasi (left) suiveys his Mo*mlroope»i at their Nov 6 demonstration DT photo* by Lars Apanolhad talked on and on about him had no explanation why he would involve himself with the NazisJoe was ihe nicest guy you'd ever want lo meet, said Cal-bcrt Rush. Tommasi's high school band director It's kind of Itkp a case ol Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeThere is nothing perplexing about the relationship between Tommasi and company and El Monte- it has been predictably strainedThe community was pissed when we reopened (May. 19*70' Tommasi said, grinning We called a press conference and nobody camePeople don't like them. Just like people don't like rattlesnakes. Leroy A Scott, mayor, said tartly, in summing up the feelings of interviewed city officials.'After they moved in we agreed with the press not to give them the notoriety they were so avidly after We hoped that just like an unwatercd flower they would dry up and blow awayIts gotten to the point where we have lo do something illegal to get publicity. said Tommasi The icy silent treatment the Nazis receive from the community pales in comparison to the colorful opposition it faces from the radical Jewish Defense League, located on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles We re not paranoid enough to think (hat 20 sick Nazis in El Monte arc a threat. Jan Okin. JDL western states coordinator. said laughingly In fact, they're good for us. Whenever there's a dull moment we can always relieve our pent-up frustrations on them Okin said the Nazis are still smarting from their June 19 demonstration outside an Embassy Auditorium convention of the arch-conservative States Rights Party, at which lime several Nazis were beaten up by the JDL Not long afterwards a firecracker exploded outside of the JDL headquarters during a meeting A few minutes later Tommasi called and chortled We've fired the first shot.' Okinsaid They re too much 'Then— and nowBy the time Joe Tommasi entered high school (righli he was a Nazi disciple. Today, at 21. hr leads Ihe Southern California Nazi escapades, such as ihe ill-fated Monrovia demonstration I below ), at which he and II other Nazis were arrested.The Nazis like El Monte. Tommasi said, because of its location and the fact that it is a proletariat community — so rn’ich. in fact, that they plan to buy the house (which they've been leasing) this month with a $2,000 down payment.So city officials seem destined to accept the city's tarnished image Bul the real people who will be hurt are the Nazis' immediate neighbors Shoot, you know damn well I can't sell my property withthem here. one middle-aged man complained.What are the Nazis like in action? One recent Saturday I had the opportunity to observe their demonstration in racially-disturbed Monrovia In his white power message that week Tommasi had dwelled on the recent shooting of a while by a black and had said Monrovia whites have had their fill of integration Now the niggers have guns(Continued on poge 8i
Newspaper Details
Los Angeles Southern California University Daily Trojan
Los Angeles, California, US
Fri, Jan 07, 1972
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Alex K.
NA, 20 May 2025
Other Publications Near Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles Southern California Daily Trojan
Los Angeles Pi Delt Razzberry
Los Angeles Daily Trojan
Los Angeles Daily Southern Californian
Los Angeles Herald
