George Burdi

George Burdi, also known as George Eric Hawthorne (born 1970), is a Canadian musician, publisher, traditionalist, mysticist, and white supremacist who became known for his role in white nationalist organizations. He led the Canadian branch of the World Church of the Creator, which formed an alliance with the now-defunct white nationalist organization Heritage Front. In addition, Burdi performed with the white power band RaHoWa.[1]

George Burdi
Also known asGeorge Eric Hawthorne
Born1970 (age 49–50)
Canada
GenresWhite power music
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1988–2007, 2017–present
Associated actsRaHoWa

Burdi was convicted of assault causing bodily harm in 1995, and was sentenced to one year in prison. Upon his release from prison, Burdi claimed to have renounced racism. By 2017, he had resumed promoting extremist views and producing white nationalist music.

Early life

Burdi was born in 1970 to Armenian immigrants.[2]

Activism

Burdi came into contact with the white nationalist movement through the father of his then German girlfriend. He became an active White nationalist at the age of 18, and by the age of 21, was the leader of the Canadian branch of the World Church of the Creator, which at its peak had fewer than 20 members.[3] During this period, he wrote a number of articles for the Church of the Creator newspaper, Racial Loyalty, using the name "Rev. Eric Hawthorne" (including the January 1992 cover story, "Enter the Racial Holy War"). He has been credited with helping to secure the survival of Creativity after the death, in 1993, of its founder Ben Klassen.[4]

RaHoWa

Using the pseudonym "Reverend George Eric Hawthorne", Burdi formed the racist band RaHoWa in 1989. The band's name was derived from the phrase Racial Holy War.[1] RaHoWa was one of the largest hate-rock bands throughout the 1990s. Burdi was also the founding president of Resistance Records, which was the distributor for his band, and other white nationalist bands. The company also operated a web site, and published a magazine, Resistance, which covered the white nationalist music scene.

In 2017, Burdi returned to performing with RaHoWa; Appalachian State University political science professor Nancy S. Love, author of Trendy Fascism, remarked, during a 2018 interview with The Financial Times, that Burdi had been "silent for almost 20 years but in 2017 resurfaced, emboldened by the Trump presidency and also the turn to the right in Europe”.[5]

Reckzin incident

In Ottawa, on May 29, 1993, after a RaHoWa concert which was picketed by Anti-Racist Action protesters, Burdi and the leader of the White nationalist Heritage Front, Wolfgang Droege, led their supporters on a march to Parliament Hill, chanting "sieg heil", making racist remarks, and giving the Hitler salute. At Parliament Hill, the two addressed their followers.

Burdi then led the group to the Chateau Laurier, where he led a charge across the street to confront protesters. During the charge, Alicia Reckzin was struck on the head while running from Burdi's supporters. When she fell, she was kicked several times on her right side; Reckzin later reported having seen Burdi kick her in the face.

In 1995, as a result of the violent confrontation, Burdi was convicted of assault causing bodily harm, and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. Burdi appealed both his conviction and the sentence, but on February 14, 1997, the Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld the lower court's 1995 decision (O.J. No. 554 No. C21788/C21820), and Burdi began his sentence. The court "ruled him out as the kicker," but he was found guilty of vicarious liability by having led the charge across the street. Burdi continues to deny having assaulted Reckzin.

Renunciation of racism

In 1997, much of Resistance Record's inventory and business paraphernalia were seized in an April raid by the Oakland County, Michigan Sheriff's Department, the Michigan Department of the Treasury, and the Ontario Provincial Police. The same day this raid was carried out in Michigan, Burdi was arrested in Windsor, Ontario, for contravening the Canadian Criminal Code provisions against promoting hatred.

Convicted in Windsor, Burdi was able to avoid a jail sentence with the condition that he not be involved with RaHoWa or Resistance Records. He sold the company to Willis Carto who soon sold it to National Alliance head William Luther Pierce.[6][7] Burdi then renounced white nationalism.[8][9]

Novacosm

In 1998 Burdi founded the multi-racial band Novacosm.[10] The band, with Burdi on vocals and guitar, B. Valentine on bass and Sy Sylver on guitar, began performing publicly in 2001, and released some recordings as mp3s. Novacosm released one compact disc, Everything Forever, in 2003.[11]

In 2007, Novacosm recorded a new, acoustic version of "Ode to a Dying People", which Burdi had recorded with RaHoWa and released on the band's 1995 album, Cult of the Holy War.

Return to far-right activism and to music

In 2017, Burdi revealed that he felt he had never truly abandoned white nationalism and claimed that the media took statements that he made during his hiatus from "the movement" out of context. Burdi maintained contact with up to 100 individuals active in right-wing extremist movements, mainly in Europe, throughout the period in which he had allegedly abandoned racism. Burdi further stated that the esoteric neo-Nazi Savitri Devi, who combined Nazism with Hinduism, sparked his interest in Hinduism and helped him connect with his Hindu wife. Burdi also stated that he views the development of the alt-right as a positive thing and questions whether he ever would have abandoned neo-Nazism if he had lived in Europe at the time of his disillusionment with the skinhead scene.[12] In the same year, there appeared a bootleg RaHoWa album with lyrics glorifying white supremacy, calling white people "the greatest race to ever walk the earth."[13] Burdi has disclaimed currently holding these views.

In the same interview with the German neo-Nazis, Burdi praises a fascist musical group from France called Les Brigandes and their music video "Le grand remplacement", which promotes a conspiracy theory alleging that Jews are in favor of an "Islamic invasion" of Europe in order to bring about conditions for the coming of the "Messiah of Israel."

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References
  1. Kirsten Dyck (3 October 2016). Reichsrock: The International Web of White-Power and Neo-Nazi Hate Music. Rutgers University Press. pp. 113–. ISBN 978-0-8135-7473-8.
  2. Web of Hate: Inside Canada's Far Right Network by Warren Kinsella (1997) ISBN 0-00-638051-4
  3. SPLCenter.org: Present at the Creation
  4. Michael, George (2010). "The Church of the Creator Part I: Ben Klassen and the Critique of Christianity". Religion Compass. 4: 518. doi:10.1111/j.1749-8171.2010.00234.x.
  5. Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (17 August 2018). "The re-emergence of white supremacist pop". The Financial Times Ltd. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  6. Atkins, Stephen (2011). Encyclopedia of Right-Wing Extremism in Modern American History. ABC-CLIO. p. 62. ISBN 978-1598843507.
  7. Deafening Hate: The Revival of Resistance Records Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Tony Norman (19 February 2002). "'Hatecore' uses music to lure angry white youth". Post-Gazette. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  9. A racist no longer: Ex-white rights fan just wants to be a rock star Archived 11 January 2005 at the Wayback Machine 25 January 2001 article from Toronto's Now Magazine.
  10. Warren Kinsella (27 July 2011). Fury's Hour: A (sort-of) Punk Manifesto. Random House of Canada. pp. 166–. ISBN 978-0-307-36972-7.
  11. "Novacosm Everything Forever EP (plus enhanced CD)". Inc19, music review by Troy Jewell. August 6, 2003
  13. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rahowa/ode+to+a+dying+people_20772418.html
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