New Resident Attempts to Turn a Tiny Community Into a White Supremacist Colony

Paul Craig Cobb was welcomed to a small town in North Dakota when he arrived last year and bought 12 plots of land. Now, his neighbors are distressed since learning of his plans to turn Leith, ND into a white supremacist stronghold.

2 minute read

September 8, 2013, 9:00 AM PDT

By Alek Miller


"In the past two years, Mr. Cobb, a longtime proselytizer for white supremacy who is wanted in Canada on charges of promoting hatred, has bought a dozen plots of land in Leith (pronounced Leeth) and has sold or transferred ownership of some of them to a couple of like-minded white nationalists," writes John Eligon. 

"He is using Craigslist and white power message boards to entice others in the movement to take refuge in Leith, about two hours southwest of Bismarck. On one board, he detailed his vision for the community — an enclave where residents fly 'racialist' banners, where they are able to import enough 'responsible hard core' white nationalists to take control of the town government, where 'leftist journalists or antis' who 'come and try to make trouble' will face arrest."

"The revelations have riveted this community and the surrounding area, drawing a range of reactions from disgust to disbelief to curiosity."

The town's residents are concerned about what will happen if Mr. Cobb can actually attract other white supremacists to their town. "People have knocked on Mr. Cobb’s red door to offer to buy back his land and to preach the Gospel. The City Council is looking into potential ordinance or health code violations (his home has no septic tank or running water). There is a doomsday plan in place, [Mayor Ryan] Schock explained: If enough of Mr. Cobb’s friends move in to gain a majority that could vote out the current government, the Council would immediately dissolve the town."

Friday, August 30, 2013 in The New York Times

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