State of Indiana Fires Renowned Racist Hired to Work as Child Abuse Case Worker
Matthew Heimbach, widely viewed as an emerging leader in the white nationalist movement, has been fired by the State of Indiana where he was hired as a family case worker by the Department of Child Services.聽
His firing came a month ago after 鈥渉is response to a [training] question suggested violence against a client,鈥� a spokeswoman for the state told Hatewatch on Thursday, confirming Heimbach鈥檚 termination.
The state agency says its mission is to protect 鈥渃hildren who are victims of abuse or neglect鈥� in addition to overseeing child support, child protection, adoption and foster care. One of the agency鈥檚 seven core values, according to , is:聽 鈥淓very person has value, worth and dignity.鈥�
Given that, it鈥檚 not clear why or how someone with Heimbach鈥檚 widely documented history of racism and bigotry would be hired for such a position with a public agency, supported by taxpayers.
Officials with Indiana鈥檚 Department of Child Services referred inquiries about Heimbach鈥檚 hiring and firing to the state鈥檚 personnel office.
Ashley Emswell Hungate, director of communications for the Indiana State Personnel Department, confirmed to Hatewatch that Heimbach had been fired.
The story,聽scheduled for broadcast at 11 p.m. on Thursday, was first reported聽by Kara Kenney聽with in Indianapolis.聽Heimbach told Hatewatch, however, that his firing was political in nature.聽鈥淭hey fired me for my politics and tried to justify it after the fact,鈥� Heimbach said. 鈥淚 had proof for all the trainings that I had taken that I had passed, including a diversity training, up until the day I was fired.鈥�
State of Indiana officials confirmed Heimbach has been fired after working for the state child protection agency for about three weeks.
鈥淢atthew聽Heimbach was employed with DCS from Jan. 11 to Jan. 28, 2016, as a family case manager trainee,鈥� Hungate said in a brief email response. 鈥淗is probationary working test was terminated on Jan. 28.
When pressed, the agency spokeswoman said Heimbach 鈥渨as dismissed for his behavior at work.鈥�
鈥淗is behavior in training was disruptive of the workplace, incompatible with public service, and not protected speech. For example, what I鈥檝e been told is that, while in training, his response to a question suggested violence against a client,鈥� Hungate told Hatewatch.
The spokeswoman for the state personnel office did not say if public complaints about his racist activities also were involved in Heimbach鈥檚 termination.
Heimbach was hired for a child protective services case worker position that deals with people of various racial and cultural backgrounds.
His hiring, Hungate said, came after he cleared background checks by the Indiana State Police and the state鈥檚 sex offender registry. The process also includes driver鈥檚 license verification, tax payments with the Department of Revenue,聽fingerprinting, pre-employment drug screening, past employment and educational verification and a Child Protective Services check.
Heimbach鈥檚 racial legacy is just a computer click away, however.
He founded a campus chapter of Youth for Western Civilization at Towson University in Maryland before starting the White Student Union, which later evolved into a new white nationalist organization called the Traditionalist Youth Network.
鈥淣o longer will the homosexual, Muslim, and black supremacist groups be allowed to hijack our campus,鈥� Heimbach said in a 2012 Youth for Western Civilization blog post.
Upon graduation in 2013, Heimbach assumed a leadership role in the neo-Confederate League of the South as the hate group鈥檚 training director.
In that same year, he said his goal was 鈥渃reating a new homeland for whites around the entire world.鈥�
鈥淭his is our home and our kith and kin,鈥� Heimbach said in 2013. 鈥淏orders matter, identity matters, blood matters, libertarians and their capitalism can move to Somalia if they want to live without rules, in the West we must have standards and enforce them. The 鈥榝reedom鈥� for other races to move freely into white nations is nonexistent. Stay in your own nations, we don鈥檛 want you here.鈥�
He also has made homophobic statements. 鈥淚 do not care if you are a man who 鈥榣oves鈥� another man, you do not have the right, privilege, or ability to marry him and carry on in a degenerate relationship,鈥� Heimbach said in 2013.
鈥淚n any healthy society you would be dragged off to therapy to help you cope with聽your mental illness, not given glitter and assless chaps to parade down the street. A society helps the mentally ill; it doesn鈥檛 parade them around as normal."
He also has made anti-Semitic statements.
鈥淲e are not separate peoples fighting alone,鈥� he said in 2014. 鈥淲e are all comrades in the struggle against International Jewry and the Zionist State.鈥�
He said white nationalists in the United States must stand with and support those in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon 鈥渨ho struggle against the Zionist State and International Jewry.鈥�
鈥淲e face the exact same enemy, one who doesn鈥檛 care if they kill our women, children, and elderly,鈥� Heimbach said. 鈥淲e are facing a truly Satanic enemy, one that cannot be understood except through the lens of Christianity and Christian prophecy.鈥�
