The leader of Tennessee Active Club has been trying to build a “literal underground army” of troubled teens—and he found his footsoldiers in 2119, a neo-Nazi “youth crew” whose members just can’t seem to stop getting arrested for hate crimes.
He also found a willing conspirator to help him wage a campaign of harassment and intimidation against journalists reporting on violent neo-Nazis and their teenage accomplices.
This post was originally published on March 7, 2024 on Twitter. It has been updated to include additional details and context, new developments and a previously unknown identity.
EXPOSING A NEO-NAZI NETWORK
On February 20th, Raw Story published two articles on the teenage terror gang 2119: One was a blistering exposé on the group, the other a firsthand account from journalist Jordan Green about the escalating threats he’s faced from the group and their close allies.
In a statement to Washington Post reporter Will Sommer, 2119 claimed that their actions against Mr. Green did not constitute harassment. They also made the asinine allegation that Green’s reporting could “damage the lives and reputations of many well-respected men in their communities.”
Some individuals affiliated with 2119 defended the group’s actions, while others attempted to distance themselves. And one close ally tried to simultaneously do both.
AMERICAN ARCHIVES
One 2119-friendly Telegram channel was alluded to in the story, but not explicitly named.
That channel was American Archives* (AA).
Immediately after the articles were published, AA attempted to disassociate themself by stating they have “no official membership with 2119” while at the same time complaining that they hadn’t been explicitly acknowledged in the articles.
Fueled by a raging case of FOMO, AA created a new Telegram channel the very next day which they used specifically to circulate a rebuttal they’d written to counter what they called the “Demonization of 2119.”
Both the poorly written screed and the accompanying Telegram post described how earlier this year an associate of 2119 had ordered an “uninvited pizza” and had it delivered to Green’s home. It also included an admission that one of AA’s “Operatives” had taken a photo of Green as he answered his door. The document’s author further stated that Green “decided to combine the actions of a 2119 member trolling him via telephone to the organized effort behind Tennessee Active Club and the documentation thereof by American Archives.”
Those two examples were accompanied by photos taken on two separate occasions by AA outside of Green’s house as part of an ongoing harassment campaign against the journalist by members of 2119 and Tennessee Active Club.
AA’s attempt to debunk Green’s article and the subsequent interview he gave ended up having the opposite effect: It proved that AA works hand-in-hand with both 2119 and Tennessee Active Club.
It also proved just how pathetically desperate AA is to gain clout amongst their neo-Nazi peers.
If there’s any truth to AA’s claims that they had “no official membership” with 2119, it would hinge on a technicality—while they may or may not be an “official” member of the group, their close ties to those who are have been well-documented over time. And as recently as January of this year they’d shared a ‘thank you’ post from 2119 for a previous doxx AA had put out on the “bastard” Jordan Green.
*We declined to name American Archives and The Culper Directorate when this post was originally published. We are naming them now as both channels have since been removed from Telegram.
APPALACHIAN ARCHIVES
Before American Archives, there was Appalachian Archives (also referred to as AA). The name change came after the original AA channel and multiple backups had been banned from Telegram.
Appalachian Archives is the channel Green declined to name in his article—for good reason.
AA originally billed itself as a Telegram channel offering operational security tips for neo-Nazis. But not long after it was created, the channel pivoted toward posting opposition “research” against perceived enemies: namely local activists, journalists, and politicians.
They published private personal information including addresses, phone numbers, and details about targets’ family members. The doxxes were disseminated for the sole purpose of inciting “repercussions” against their targets. Just a month before Green’s exposés were published, AA posted a doxx on the journalist, promising “it’s not over yet” and “more to come soon.”
Later that same day, photos were posted of notorious neo-Nazis Sean Kauffmann and Jarrett William Smith, Southern Sons Active Club leader David Fair, and two others outside of Green’s home.
Last year, AA posted a ‘mission statement‘ to their Telegram channel. The message, which was overlaid onto an accelerationist-style photo of a man in a skull mask with an assault rifle, was clear: They were explicitly threatening to “make it dangerous for the reporter to report freely” and to “expose those that attack our people.”
In addition to targeting Green, Appalachian Archives has also taken aim at the founder of progressive online publisher Tennessee Holler, reporters from Franklin’s Williamson Herald, and Nashville’s News Channel 5 investigative reporter Phil Williams (among others).
During last year’s Franklin, TN mayoral race, AA tried to insert themselves into the political discourse when they shared a video of a 20-minute interview between Tennessee Active Club (TAC) leader Sean Kauffmann and Gabrielle Hanson’s campaign aide Valerie Baldes.
The interview covered a variety of topics including TAC’s October 2023 “show of support” for Hanson (in which the self-described “literal nazis” swarmed a candidate forum under the guise of providing security) and the group’s January 2023 protest of a drag show in Cookeville (in which a minor teen that Kauffmann had referred to as his “young buddy” brought a swastika flag).
During the interview, Kauffmann described TAC as a “youth activist club,” saying it is “basically the Boy Scouts and Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America without being woke.” Baldes offered a prompt, “Without the–” to which Kauffmann replied, “The child grooming as well.”
To reiterate, Sean Kauffmann, who admittedly fancies himself to be Shredder (from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and has been protesting outside drag shows with his swastika flag-waving “young buddy,” claimed he does not participate in the grooming of children.
The interview also showcased an AA-produced organizational chart showing (according to Kauffmann) “a very large network” of Tenessee-based politicians and journalists.
Among them was the founder of the TN Holler, Justin Kanew, who Kauffmann hilariously asserted was the state’s “ringleader of antifa and BLM.” Kauffmann also accused Kanew of instigating riots and sending “goons” after people. The only proof he offered was the chart, and the only proof the chart offered was, well, nothing.
The organizational chart—which Baldes remarked was “comprehensive”—is nothing more than a graphic consisting of the names and headshots of six people and the names of three organizations. Tennessee state representatives Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson made up a third of the alleged antifa ring, with Kauffmann further accusing the two of facilitating the “moral corruption of society” at Kanew’s behest.
Shortly before last year’s election, printed copies of the chart started appearing in downtown Franklin, stapled to telephone poles and glued to the offices of the Williamson Herald. They were often found alongside Patriot Front propaganda and other flyers specifically targeting News Channel 5’s Phil Williams for his reporting.
When Kauffmann’s interview with Baldes didn’t get the media attention they had hoped for, Appalachian Archives issued a series of demands for Williams.
They promised “repercussions” if the demands were not met. “This is our only warning,” said one of the menacing posts. “We’ve been watching you,” another warned. A few included AA’s signature catchphrase: “Always watching, always listening, always near.”
The threats were largely ignored, Gabrielle Hanson was trounced in a landslide defeat in Franklin’s mayoral race, and AA was left whining on their online soapbox about how Williams hadn’t explicitly named them in his reporting.
AIDEN CUEVAS: THE NAZI SKATEBOARDER BETTER KNOWN AS “BOZAK”
AA is known to have a close connection with Aiden Cuevas, a 2119 member from Huntsville, AL who spent time in a youth detention center after making terroristic threats while he was in high school.
Cuevas, who uses the alias “Bozak” online, operated the Fascher Magazine Telegram channel and its associated chat, SK88TER BRIGADE. Both were used in an attempt to recruit youth into white nationalism through a shared interest in skateboarding.
Before he took his channel and chat private (after he, Aaron Alligood, Noah Houran, and other members of 2119 were identified in the Raw Story exposé), Cuevas had encouraged his subscribers to follow Appalachian Archives, even going so far as to refer to AA as his “buddy.”
2119 isn’t the only group Cuevas has been involved with. He’s also claimed membership in TAC and joined them at a July 2023 protest against the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery AL.
The blink-and-you-missed-it flash mob at the SPLC headquarters included members of Smoky Mountain Active Club, Southern Sons Active Club and the Vinland Rebels (VR). He’s also participated in several “training sessions” with TAC—including several held at Lewis Country Store.
BRANDON CREWS: THE RACIST, COMPULSIVE SHOPLIFTER KNOWN AS “DEAN”
Cuevas often appeared in group pics and video montages with his friend and sparring partner Brandon Crews, who goes by the alias “Dean.”
Crews is closely associated with 2119 and, like Cuevas, he’s also involved with Tennessee Active Club as well as an accelerationist/survivalist group called Automata (which more will be written about in the future).
Originally from Charlotte, NC, Crews relocated to Mississippi sometime after a pair of shoplifting arrests in August and November 2021. A February 2023 arrest for public drunkenness in Colbert County, AL listed the 22-year-old as living in Iuka, MS. Iuka is near the Tennessee state line and is located about 70 miles southwest of Linden, TN where Sean Kauffmann ran TAC (from his mom’s house).
‘THE ACOLYTE’: THE TROUBLED TEEN SEAN KAUFFMAN DEFINITELY ISN’T GROOMING
Earlier this year, an individual resembling Crews appeared in a 2119 Telegram post commemorating the 1862 Battle of Iuka. Photos taken around the same time show Kauffmann’s teenaged acolyte in an identical blazer and holding the same flag outside the Old Tishomingo County courthouse in downtown Iuka, MS.
While he’s now just shy of turning 18, Kauffmann’s teenage terrorist-in-training has made appearances with TAC going back as far as November 2022 when he first appeared alongside Kauffmann to protest drag shows in Chattanooga and Maryville.
A few months later, the teen (Kauffmann’s aforementioned “young buddy”) accompanied Kauffmann to protest a ‘Celebrity Drag Brunch’ in Cookeville, TN where he was seen waving a swastika flag and heard yelling, “Kill all the n****rs and the Jews!”
He and Crews were also part of the TAC contingent that provided “security” for Gabrielle Hanson during the October 2023 candidate forum.
In August 2023, Kauffmann and his acolyte traveled to Southern California where the 17-year-old participated in the ‘Frontier 2.0‘ punch and kick fest alongside members of various hate groups including active clubs, Patriot Front and the Hammerskins.
AIDAN STAMPER: THE “ANGRY FASCIST” WITH A PENCHANT FOR COMMITTING VANDALISM AND HATE CRIMES
Another 2119 teen cozy with TAC is Aidan Stamper. Stamper was only known by his Telegram alias “Angry Fascist” until his identity was revealed in June of this year.
A year and a half ago, photos of Stamper and Cuevas appeared in a 2119 Telegram post which showed Stamper wearing a distinctive jacket. The jacket, which appeared to be a black Diesel brand denim jacket with a fleece-lined collar, caught our attention for three reasons.
First, on March 17, 2023, an (at the time) unknown individual wearing an identical jacket showed up in Lexington, KY with Kauffmann and other members of Tennessee Active Club in support of a University of Kentucky student who was charged with assault in a racist attack on a fellow student.
Second, it’s very similar to the jacket worn by Ian Ziering in Sharknado 6.
Third, just two days after the Lexington, KY protest, multiple homes in Nashville’s Sylvan Park neighborhood were vandalized with swastikas and hate messages. Ring camera footage of the incident showed at least two suspects in masks—and one of them was wearing a familiar jacket. Although the Ring camera footage is blurry and the colors are distorted, the details of the jacket that were visible in the video matched photos of “Angry Fascist” from 2119 propaganda, the protest in Lexington, and his Telegram profile.
Stamper was arrested and charged for the crimes on May 26 of this year.
Two weeks after the Nashville graffiti incident, on April 2, 2023, Stamper turned up at a “joint training session” held in the private gym above Lewis Country Store with TAC, Vinland Rebels and members of the National Justice Party (NJP). In a Telegram chat that evening, recently identified NJP stooge Carson Kilgrey thanked Kauffmann for inviting him to the punch and kick sesh. Stamper later chimed in asking about Kilgrey to which Kauffmann responded, “He was there with us today lolz.”
That same weekend, Nashville experienced a rash of hate across the city: First with an NJP demonstration at the state capitol, and later with antisemitic laser projections on the AT&T building by Goyim Defense League trolls Sienna Kitchen and Matthew Curnutte. But something much more sinister also happened the night of April 1st: Unknown assailants had fired multiple rounds at the home of Tennessee Holler founder Justin Kanew.
Thankfully, no one was hurt in the incident, but so far no arrests have been made.
It’s unknown if the shooting is directly linked to Tennessee Active Club or Appalachian Archives, but the incident underscores the dangers faced by journalists and news outlets. The use of fear, intimidation, threats, and the carrying out of actual violence to achieve political ends and silence critics is terrorism.
WE’RE WATCHING. WE’RE LISTENING. THE TIME IS GETTING NEAR.
Since this strange saga started with the Ninja Turtles, it feels only fitting to end it with pizza—and there was one detail from Green’s reporting on the “uninvited pizza” incident from January that caught our eye.
As Green answered the door, someone parked down the street with a telephoto lens snapped a photo of him. The picture was later posted on Appalachian Archives.
Just over a year earlier, a man wearing a fur trapper hat and skull mask—and armed with a telephoto lens—was spotted alongside Sean Kauffmann and members of Patriot Front in Chattanooga, TN.
More information about AA will be provided soon. In the meantime, we have a message for our Appalachian “buddy” who we know is watching:
We’re watching too.
So listen up.
We’re about to shine some more light on you in the very near future.