National Guard dismisses two men after investigating their membership of a religious group linked to white supremacists
- Brandon Trent East and Dalton Woodward were both sent separation notices
- Group of liberal activists claimed they were leaders of the Norse pagan group
- The military has struggled in recent years to root out white supremacists
Two men have been kicked out of the Army National Guard after liberal activists claim to have uncovered ties to a white supremacist group.
Brandon Trent East and Dalton Woodward have both been sent separation notices from their positions in the Alabama National Guard and Georgia National Guard respectively.
It comes after a group of liberal activists, called the Atlanta Antifacists, prompted an investigation by publishing a report earlier this year that claimed the pair were leaders of the Norse pagan group Ravensblood Kindred.
Brandon Trent East (left) and Dalton Woodward (right) have both been sent separation notices from their positions in the Army National Guard after liberal activists uncovered ties to the white supremacist group called the Ravensblood Kindred
The group is part of the Asatru Folk Assembly which researchers say endorses white supremacy.
East, who worked as a jailer for the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office as well as being a non-active duty member of the 167th Alabama Infantry Regiment, has confirmed he has now left the National Guard, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC).
East (pictured) is now the third Georgian law enforcement officer to lose his job in the past year over suspected ties to extremist groups
He had been working in Breman jail, about 45 miles west of Atlanta, since January.
The County Sheriff Eddie Mixon had initially defended East and said he would take no further action after the allegations first came to light.
But now East claims that he was forced to submit his resignation as a jailer or be fired after he was ‘doxed’ by the Atlanta Antifacists anonymous collective.
He is now the third Georgian law enforcement officer to lose his job in the past year over suspected ties to extremist groups.
East continues to deny that he is a white supremacist.
Speaking again to the AJC, he said: ‘They call me things like a Nazi or a white supremacist.
‘I’m neither of those. I’m just a guy who is proud of my heritage.’
He has 45 days to officially contest the findings.
The report was originally published when Woodward, who is also a high school friend of East, was on active duty during a sixth-month stint in Afghanistan with the Georgia National Guard.
He returned from deployment in June and the investigation into his connections with white supremacy concluded in October which saw him dismissed.
A spokeswoman for the defense force said that Woodward is no longer a member but declined to comment on the terms of his separation.
A spokeswoman for the Georgia National Guard said Woodward (pictured) is no longer a member
Woodward did not respond to a previous request for comment.
The military has struggled in recent years to root out members of white supremacist organizations or sympathizers with white power causes.
East and Woodward were both photographed leaving a 2017 speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer at Auburn University, Alabama.
East held a sign that read: ‘The existence of our people is not negotiable.’
And Woodward’s read: ‘We have a right to exist.’
Both echoed the so-called ’14 words’ motto popular among white supremacists who say non-white groups are displacing white people.
East previously said: ‘I just went there because at the time I heard he was talking about the recent removal of Confederate monuments.
‘That’s something I wanted to hear. And it turned into a something a little worse obviously.’
He said that he has now minimized his contact on social media with neo-Nazis and white supremacists as he now aims to stay away from those that are ‘Hitler worshipy.’
East (right) and Woodward (left) were photographed leaving a 2017 speech together given by white nationalist Richard Spencer at Auburn University, Alabama