Shake it off: Neo-Nazi had profile on sexual fetish site; TWP spokesman calls it a "prank"
A neo-Nazi and white nationalist with ties to the security company that works for musician Taylor Swift had a profile on a sexual fetish website.
Kevin A. Cottle, 35, of Tiverton, Rhode Island, a member of the Traditionalist Workers Party (TWP), posted as 鈥淒ark1976鈥� on the sexually explicit website FetLife.com. The site is a social media gathering and meetup spot for people with specific sexual proclivities.
On the site, 鈥淒ark1976鈥� featured nude photos of Cottle sporting nipple rings and listing himself as 鈥淐urious about bisexuality鈥� and, among his interests were 鈥淎nal Training,鈥� 鈥淏BW (big beautiful woman) Submission鈥� and 鈥淕ay Sex and Male Bisexuality鈥� along with other fetish topics.
Cottle told The Southern Poverty Law Center that the profile was set up by friends from his time in the U.S. Army.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bunch of frigging bullshit,鈥� Cottle said. 鈥淎rmy guys are notorious for that kind of thing.鈥�
Cottle鈥檚 story is similar to what Matt Parrott, a spokesman for TWP, said about the fetish website profile.
Parrott said the organization was aware of Cottle鈥檚 profile on the website and determined after an investigation that it was a prank played by a friend and a 鈥渉ostile actor.鈥�
鈥淲e took his word for us that it was just a prank,鈥� Parrott told The Southern Poverty Law Center. 鈥淎t this point, it appears to be a harassment prank.鈥�
Cottle said he served 17 years with a 鈥渕ountain warfare unit鈥� in the Army, but not the famed 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, New York, before being medically discharged in April 2016.
But, military records available through the Army Human Resources Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, tell a more detailed story.
According to the Department of Defense Manpower Data Center, Cottle served in the Army National Guard starting in 2000 with five stints of active duty of varying lengths. His last recorded active duty status was in 2010.
And, the Rhode Island National Guard does not list a mountain unit among its detachments.
The database does not say which unit Cottle served with or where he was stationed during the call-ups. A spokesman for the U.S. Army Office of Public Affairs did not immediately respond to questions about Cottle鈥檚 service.
Cottle did not return follow up phone calls seeking to clarify details about his time in the military.
Parrott said Cottle is a 鈥渞ecent member鈥� of the Traditionalist Workers Party and the organization made the decision not to dismiss Cottle from its ranks.
Cottle, who said he joined TWP in August after the deadly 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, said the pictures were sent to his wife and later hacked. The TWP investigated the profile and took no action against him, Cottle said.
Parrot said Cottle claims his wife sent the pictures to co-workers as a joke 鈥渙r something.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 not fully convinced of his story, but am giving him the benefit of the doubt,鈥� Parrott said.
The Traditionalist Workers Party is decidedly anti-gay, even including a promise to forcibly convert homosexuals and others.
Cottle has also undergone national criminal background checks in 2009 and 2015 at the behest of APG Security, a New Jersey-based company, said Amy Kempe, a spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Attorney General鈥檚 Office.
