North Dakota mayor wants to dissolve the town to stop white supremacists gaining power

The mayor of a North Dakota town which made global headlines when a neo-Nazi tried to overrun it has announced plans to dissolve the city council to stop white supremacists from gaining power again.

The town of Leith became the subject of a world renowned documentary thanks to Craig Cobb, a white supremacist who bought up plots of land and asked followers to move there in 2012.

It sparked a stand-off with long-time residents who did not agree with their views and were afraid as they strolled through the town toting shotguns. 

Cobb is no longer in the town and has settled quietly in Sherwood, North Dakota. 

However Ryan Schock, the mayor of Leith, fears he has still has a link to the town and he is determined to cut it off.

White supremacist Craig Cobb moved to the town in 2012 and bought up plots of land to try to get other like-minded people to move there. 

Leith Mayor Ryan Schock (left) wants to dissolve the city council to stop who he believes are supporters of white supremacist Craig Cobb (right) who moved to the town in 2012 and wreaked havoc on it

On Wednesday, Michael Bencz and Deby Nelson were elected to the city council via 18 write-in votes. 

They deny having any ties to Cobb and say they are not white supremacists but Schock insists they are. 

The couple moved to Leith from Wisconsin in 2013 and bought property from Cobb who, at the time, made no secret of his attempts to turn the town into a white ‘enclave’. 

They say that they have no intention of pushing Cobb’s agenda.

‘We were plain people when we lived in Wisconsin and we’re plain workers here. There’s nothing special about us, we don’t belong to any clubs, any organizations,’ Nelson told KFYRTV.   

‘We’re not a political party, not so here. We’re just trying to help the city,’ Bencz added. 

This is one of the many Nazi signs that appeared in Leith after Cobb moved in in 2012 

This is one of the many Nazi signs that appeared in Leith after Cobb moved in in 2012 

There are fewer than 50 residents in Leith and Schock insists that the city council is somewhat defunct anyway. 

He says it only receives $2,500 a year in taxes and that all of the money goes on keeping street lights on. 

Cobb's movement sparked protests in the town in 2013 (pictured) 

Cobb’s movement sparked protests in the town in 2013 (pictured) 

Cobb was arrested in 2014 for terrorizing the town by walking through it with guns. 

As part of his four-year probation, he had to stay away from it but it has now expired. 

In March 2017, his name was back in the news when residents in the town of Nome, North Dakota, torched a church he bought with the intention of turning it into the ‘President Donald J Trump Church of Rome.’

The town’s mayor said that if it weren’t for Cobb, he would not have to consider dissolving the city council but he said the move would not necessarily wipe the town ‘off the map’. 

‘If you really look at the nuts and bolts of this thing. Not having a city council, it’s not wiping Leith off of the map. 

‘Leith is always going to be here, the Leith signs are always going to be there. It’s just not going to have a council and a mayor anymore if this resolution goes through.  

‘We have to dissolve the town because that idiot (Cobb) showed up,’ he said. 



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