New York Fired Racist Prison Guard for Identity Evropa Membership
Hatewatch obtained public records that show New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) terminated former corrections officer John Metz, 34, in July 2019 over his membership in the white nationalist group Identity Evropa. The records further allege that he sought to smuggle white supremacist propaganda into Shawangunk Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison about two hours north of New York City, on Oct. 21, 2018. The documents include DOCCS allegations against Metz, Metz’s defense and an opinion from an independent arbitrator.
Hatewatch determined Metz’s involvement with Identity Evropa through its review of DOCCS materials. Hatewatch also corroborated research from the antifascist Anonymous Comrades Collective indicating that Metz has continued to be involved with the white supremacist movement following the October 2018 incident. Anonymous Comrades identified Metz, under the alias “El_Civ,” as an active participant in Identity Evropa chats between July 2018 and March 2019, where he discussed engaging in real-life activism with the group, as well as in a chatroom on the messaging app Slack also affiliated with the group.
Hatewatch also tied Metz to the pseudonym "Jack McKraken." As "McKraken," Metz has collaborated with a range of far-right extremists. These include Antelope Hill Publishing, which published “McKraken’s” 2021 memoir, and “Coach Finstock,” the preferred pseudonym of former State Department employee Matthew Q. Gebert, whom Hatewatch identified as the editor of Metz’s book.
Two formerly incarcerated people – including one at Shawangunk – told Hatewatch the documents were likely meant to recruit either guards or inmates at the prison.
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/08/29/new-york-fired-racist-prison-guard-identity-evropa-membership
