Former LOS Member Peroutka Denounces President Michael Hill
Speaking at a recent session of Maryland鈥檚 Anne Arundel County Council, former League of the South (LOS) member Councilman Michael Peroutka made by the president of the Neo-Confederate LOS, Michael Hill.
Peroutka opened the meeting by referring to Hill鈥檚 recent pledge 鈥渢o be a white supremacist, a racist, an anti-Semite, a homophobe, a xenophobe, an Islamophobe and any other sort of 'phobe' that benefits my people" as "outrageous" and "inappropriate."
While Hatewatch and other publications long warned of the dangerous implications of Hill鈥檚 rhetoric and the League鈥檚 bent toward militancy, in 2014 Peroutka responded to alarm over his affiliation with the League by that 鈥渉e had dropped his association with the League of the South over the summer, although he was vague about his reasons and said he 鈥榙idn鈥檛 have any problem with the organization.鈥欌��
Whether or not Peroutka鈥檚 denunciation was sincere, his timing in seeking office was, to say the least, providential. Shortly after Peroutka distanced himself from LOS while campaigning for office, Hill鈥檚 writing and speeches took an alarming turn toward unprecedented militancy, racism and anti-Semitism.
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Peroutka鈥檚 rebuff comes just as the League is preparing for its annual conference this weekend in Wetumpka, Alabama. The conference, which at in 2012, generally consists of members sitting through hours of speeches from LOS higher-ups before lining the intersection of US Highways 231 and 14 for a protest. This year, the published schedule indicates the conference will be titled 鈥淩edeeming the Time: Preparing for the Inevitable Conflict鈥� and contains no mention of a protest, but rather indicates that Hill has finally given up on hiding his rabid desire for a violent race war.
David Duke, the notorious ex-Klansmen whose association was long seen as the kiss of death for far right groups seeking mainstream credibility, is slated as keynote speaker. Duke鈥檚 attendance comes along with speeches from long time LOS affiliates such as John Weaver, who will speak on 鈥淕un Safety and Self Defense.鈥� Weaver has offered gun training to the League and other far-right groups and has preached on slavery as a biblically ordained institution.
Duke鈥檚 appearance comes on the back of League involvement in a series of high-publicity events with other far-right groups in Pikeville, Kentucky, New Orleans, Lousiana 听Auburn, Alabama, Charlottesville, Virginia, and Gainesville, Florida.
Hill has boasted that the League has attended these events under the guise of its 鈥淪outhern Defense Force,鈥� a paramilitary wing of the LOS established this year to put combat the 鈥�leftist menace to our historic Christian civilization.'听
Hill recently signed the League onto a far-right alliance known as the 鈥淣ationalist Front,鈥� composed of various American and European far-right groups such as the Swedish Sveriges Nationella F枚rbund, National Socialist Movement (NSM), Texas Rebel Knights, Racial Nationalist Party of America, SS Action Group, Pacific Coast Knights of the KKK, Scottish National Socialist Party, White Nationalist Front (Canada), the Traditionalist Workers Party (TWP), White Lives Matter, Blood & Honour Social Club, and American Vanguard.
While the League formerly eschewed any relationship with Klansmen such as Duke, his presence at the League鈥檚 conference, the League鈥檚 entry into the NF, as well as rumors that Hill is now admitting Klansmen into LOS as dual-members, show that Hill鈥檚 past statements were听either disingenuous, hypocritical, or downright lies.
Regarding Peroutka鈥檚 denunciation, Hill issued a statement today to the League鈥檚 Facebook page decrying his former comrade:
鈥淵'all will have to be tough-minded and thick-skinned to be a member of The League. Here is one of our former prominent members who just didn't measure up . . . Now, he is denouncing me in order to curry favor with the left and the c---servatives.听So, if you cannot take the heat, be warned: The League may be a place that's much too hot for you.鈥�
