Soldiers of Aryan Culture

The Soldiers of Aryan Culture (SAC), sometimes referred to as Soldiers of the Aryan Culture and Solders of an Aryan Culture, is a large American white supremacist prison gang.[10]

Soldiers of Aryan Culture
S.A.C. emblem
Years active1997–present
TerritoryFederal prison system, Utah, Texas[1], Massachusetts, Pennsylvania[2] Montana, Virginia[3], Georgia[4] and New Hampshire
EthnicityWhite
Criminal activitiesDrug trafficking[5], assault[6], gun running[7], mail fraud, extortion[8], and murder
Allies
  • Krieger Verwandt
  • Silent Aryan Warriors (SAW)[9]

Initially based in Utah, SAC has since spread across the nation - having members in several states across the US as well as the federal prison system.

History

American prisoner Tracy David Swena founded the Soldiers of Aryan Culture in 1997. According to Tracy Swena's brother, Steve, Tracy had been influenced to establish a white power group after an Aryan Brotherhood affiliate introduced him to white supremacist literature sometime in the mid-to-late 1990s. Prior to that, Steve Swena alleges that his brother was a non-racist who was a once was part of a multi-racial street gang and an avid fan of hip-hop music.

The SAC has grown since the initial founding, making it's way across the United States.

Overview

Organizational structure

The Soldiers of Aryan Culture operate both inside and outside prison walls and are classified as a Security Threat Group. SAC "officers" outside of prison stay in contact with those inside correctional facilities and communicate orders by phone.

Prospective members are required to complete a six to 12-month period of missions. These orders typically call for attacks on other inmates. Once the mission is complete and the member is approved, they receive a SAC ”patch” (tattoo) of the group's insignia: a swastika interwoven with an Iron Cross - sometimes accompanied by the initials "SAC". There also exist special patches for certain accomplishments, such as the SS bolts.[11]

The gang is organized by a paramilitary-esqe ranking structure consisting of generals, captains, lieutenants, sergeants and soldiers. The more criminal activity that a member engages in, the more likely they'll advance to a higher rank. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, SAC members rose through the ranks by committing violence against Hispanic and black inmates chosen at random.

Ideology

Unlike most other white supremacist prison gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood and the Nazi Lowriders, the Soldiers of Aryan Culture are strongly anti-Semitic.[9][12] While many politically-oriented white supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Movement carry such ideologies, it is very unusual for white power prison gangs to hold these views - at least in high regard. The Aryan Brotherhood, for instance, has a high-ranking lieutenant who is part Jewish, even openly sporting a Star of David tattoo.[13][14] For the Soldiers of Aryan Culture, however, hatred towards Jews is rather common.

The SAC code of conduct requires its members to attack known sex offenders and informants. Additionally, members are forbidden from cooperating with law enforcement and engaging in miscegenation, unless the gang leadership approves of it.[15]

Criminal activities

The Soldiers of Aryan Culture engage in a number of different illicit actions, most notably the drug production, extortion and violence. Throughout the group's history, have also been instances of death threats, arms trafficking, courthouse violence and other crimes - including orchestrated assaults on prison guards.[16]

2002 Winter Olympics bomb plot

SAC first gained significant notoriety in 2002 when members of the group, along with members of the Silent Aryan Warriors (another white supremacist prison gang), allegedly planned to attack Jewish athletes at the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City by using pipe bombs.

Scott Biswell standoff

On August 11th, 2002, Scott Biswell, a leader of the Soldiers of Aryan Culture, engaged in an armed confrontation with law enforcement members that ended up leading to his death.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Biswell due to an incident in West Valley City where he reputedly threatened two women and an infant child with a firearm over a traffic dispute. Biswell, who was out on parole, fled with his girlfriend to the Amenity Inn motel in Provo, Utah.[17]

Executing the warrant, members of the Provo police SWAT had approached his motel room and forcibly entered the premises where they came into contact with an armed Biswell, aiming his gun at the SWAT unit. In the heat of the moment, Biswell was gunned down instantly.

RICO indictment

A full twelve SAC leaders were indicted in 2003 following a law enforcement investigation. The indictment resulted in as long as 20-year sentences in federal prison. Additional lower-ranking members were tried and received prison sentences ranging from three to 15 and 1/2 years.[18][19]

Murder of Gabriel Rhone

While being escorted by prison guards at USP Beaumont in 2007, SAC members Mark Isaac "Snuff" Snarr and Edgar Balthazar Garcia were able to free themselves from their restraints and subsequently stabbed the prison guards escorting them with makeshift knives. Using the keys they took off the guards, the two then unlocked the cell door of inmate Gabriel Rhone and proceeded to stab him a total of 50 times. In the process, Snarr and Garcia were quickly detained by prison personnel wielding chemical agents. While the two guards survived the attack, Rhone did not.[20]

Investigators believed that Gabriel Rhone was murdered because of his apparent escalating bizarre and violent behavior. Attorneys for Snarr and Garcia claimed that he had repeatedly threatened to kill their "clients". Rhone had been serving a life sentence for a 1997 armed robbery in Washington DC.[21]

Snarr and Garcia were indicted in 2009, and charged with first degree murder. On the following year, both assailants were sentenced to death as punishment for the incident. As of 2020, they are both on death row at USP Terre Haute, awaiting execution.

Murder of Leo Johns

On March 3rd of 2016, SAC members Christopher Cramer and Ricky Fackrell, fatally stabbed inmate Leo Johns at USP Beaumont. Johns, who was also a members of the Soldiers of Aryan Culture, had allegedly made a remark that had offended a fellow member of the gang - which is thought to be why the attack took place. According to court documents, the killing had been planned for a total 3 months in advance.[22][23]

Cramer and Fackrell were convicted of first-degree murder and subsequently sentenced to death by A federal jury in Beaumont. Both criminals are currently awaiting execution at USP Terre Haute

Additional members and associates
  • Lee Ervin “Dallas” Heyen - drug dealer who was later convicted for the rape of two teenage girls.
  • Jason Robert Widdison - currently serving a sentence of 31 years and eight months in federal prison for the murder of Kenneth Mills, a white inmate who did not object to having an African-American cellmate at the USP Atlanta.[24]
  • Mike Main
  • Lance "Lil' Lance" Vanderstappen - attacked an Hispanic inmate in 2001. The victim, who Vanderstappen stabbed with a homemade knife, suffered non-life-threatening wounds.
  • Joe Rakes
  • John Arthur McGee
  • David Fink
  • Michael Sean Polk[25]
  • Jason Bates
  • Eric Judkins[26]
  • Andrew Beck
  • Jeff Schirado
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See also
  • European Kindred - Another white power prison gang in the United States.
  • 211 Crew - An American white supremacist prison gang with a notorious reputation for violence.
  • Aryan Nations - An anti-Semitic white supremacist hate group, initially based in Idaho.
  • ADX Florence - A supermax prison facility reserved for the most notorious American criminals. Tracy Swena was briefly held here for some time.

References
  1. "White Supremacist Gang Members' 'Vast Criminal Conspiracy' Detailed". Texas Monthly. May 3, 2018.
  2. "2011 National Gang Threat Assessment". Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  3. Arick, Bradford. "Police say there are 5 hate groups we know about here in the FM". https://www.valleynewslive.com. External link in |website= (help)
  4. https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/combating-hate/CR_4499_WhiteSupremacist-Report_web_vff.pdf
  5. Staff, Gephardt Daily (June 20, 2019). "Officials: 'Hundreds of syringes,' drugs, guns, found in Salt Lake gang member's home".
  6. Fattah, Geoffrey (April 30, 2007). "Utah intent on keeping supremacists out". Deseret News.
  7. http://www.louisianaweekly.com/white-supremacists-branch-out-to-drug-and-gun-trafficking/
  8. News, Deseret (January 14, 2004). "Aryan Culture leader appears in court". Deseret News.
  9. "Utah White Supremacist Gang Member Sentenced for Firing Gun at Salt Lake Synagogue". Southern Poverty Law Center.
  10. http://www.wvc-ut.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6752/Gang-Handouts?bidId=
  11. Reavy, Pat (June 28, 2007). "Tattoos tell a tale of intimidation". Deseret News.
  12. "Corrupt American cops kill Scott Biswell in "gangland execution style slaying"". alt.activism.narkive.com.
  13. "Aryan Brotherhood; A Jewish Connection". The Apricity Forum: A European Cultural Community.
  14. "Prison Gang Culture, Segregation, and its Repercussions on the Street". EN Lawyers. May 21, 2013.
  15. "Aryan Culture Secretive and Dangerous". www.ksl.com.
  16. "'General' for White Supremacist Group Gets Prison Sentence". www.ksl.com.
  17. Herald, The Daily. "Police: Forced entry standard". Daily Herald.
  18. Fattah, Geoffrey (March 31, 2008). "Statute is potent anti-gang weapon". Deseret News.
  19. "14 face charges of gang crimes". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  20. Fountain, Ken (May 4, 2010). "Man recalls stabbing incident in murder trial testimony". Beaumont Enterprise.
  21. Fountain, Ken (May 3, 2010). "Video kicks off trial in fatal stabbing of federal inmate". Beaumont Enterprise.
  22. "White supremacists sentenced to death for murdering fellow gang member in Beaumont prison". Dallas News. June 13, 2018.
  23. "Ricky Fackrell and Christopher Cramer Federal Death Row". My Crime Library.
  24. "Two Federal Inmates Sentenced For Racially-Motivated Murder". www.justice.gov. April 8, 2015.
  25. "Two Utah men charged with aggravated robbery in confrontation that led to fatal shooting". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  26. "Heavily tattooed man on the run shouldn't be too difficult to find". August 30, 2017.
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