Nightline Profiles Young White Nationalist Activist Matthew Heimbach
On Thursday, ABC鈥檚 ran a revealing profile of , founder of the White Student Union at Towson University in Maryland and a rising star on the white nationalist scene. Nightline tagged along with Heimbach as he tried to recruit college students to his cause and sought allies in unexpected quarters.
Heimbach is positioning himself to be the next David Duke 鈥� with Duke鈥檚 blessing. When asked by Nightline if he sees a young version of himself in Heimbach, Duke responded immodestly: 鈥淚f you combine honesty, sincerity with intelligence, I think he has the potential to be quite an effective leader for these ideas.鈥�
Hatewatch has Heimbach鈥檚 radicalization and embrace of Klansmen and neo-Nazis. It鈥檚 no surprise then that he told Nightline that the races must divide up the United States into racially pure enclaves. In his vision, there would be trade among the enclaves and visas would be required for cross-border visits.
Heimbach told Nightline鈥檚 Byron Pitts that racial separation could happen without violence, but he is prepared for whatever comes. 鈥淕od willing it won鈥檛, but some things are worth fighting for,鈥� he said.
While Heimbach鈥檚 recruitment efforts appeared to yield few results, he did find an ally of sorts. Speaking with Reverend Mmoja Ajabu, a radical black nationalist, Heimbach suggested they could hang 鈥渁 couple bankers鈥� to strike a blow against their common foe. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e finding common ground,鈥� responded Ajabu.
Heimbach later told Pitts that he鈥檇 rather work with black nationalists than white traitors. He 鈥渟ees only one place for them.鈥� 鈥淎nd that is?鈥� inquired Pitts. 鈥淚n a ditch.鈥�
