Meet the League: State Chairmen and Organizers of the League of the South
Hatewatch has previously profiled neo-Confederate League of the South (LOS) President Michael Hill, his Chief of Staff, Michael Tubbs, and various other affiliates and supporters of the organization, including Chief of Security/Intel John Mark 鈥淭iny鈥� Malone.听
Presenting itself as the premier 鈥淪outhern Nationalist鈥� organization, the League purports to stand for 鈥渢he southern people,鈥� which it defines as 鈥渨hite, Christians of Anglo-Celtic stock鈥� who live in a geographic area variously described as 鈥渢he states of the Old Confederacy,鈥� 鈥渢he Bible belt,鈥� and 鈥渨hite man鈥檚 land.鈥�
The following is a rundown of several League of the South state chairmen and leaders across the Southeast who are expected to play a role in the upcoming Charlottesville 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally organized by local blogger Jason Kessler this coming Saturday, August 12.
Isaac 鈥淚ke鈥� Shelby Baker
Identified by Michael Hill as the 鈥淐ommander of the Kentucky Southern Defense Force (SDF),鈥� a Facebook profile apparently belonging to Isaac Baker, 57, describes him as a United States Marine Corps veteran and past employee of CSX Transportation from Harlan, Kentucky.听
Although Baker has been photographed at various LOS rallies in his local area over the past few years (he places the beginning of his involvement with LOS in 2015), he appears to have become deeply embroiled in the League鈥檚 brand of racist organizing and demonstrating after attending an April 2017 rally in Pikeville, Kentucky, organized by Matthew Heimbach and the Traditional Worker鈥檚 Party (TWP).
Michael Hill shared this photograph from the Pikeville rally with the caption: 鈥淚t was my pleasure to finally get to meet and stand with my compatriot Ike Baker [left] in Pikeville.鈥�
After the League鈥檚 annual rally in June of this year, Baker shared a Facebook note titled 鈥淎 Band of Brothers,鈥� that Michael Hill later posted on the League鈥檚 website. In the piece, Baker described the shift in his view of himself as a 鈥渕odern day Cincinnatus, living the rest of my allotted time on this earthly plane as a man of the land,鈥� and praised Hill鈥檚 鈥渕oving call to fight for the survival of our people.鈥�
Baker鈥檚 Facebook profile indicates an affinity for Nazi SS propaganda, including responding to criticisms of 鈥渂oomers鈥� by encouraging older LOS members to adopt a specific patch used by Nazi Germans to indicate affiliation with the early German National Socialist Party.
鈥淕entlemen, this is the Alte K盲mpfer chevron. I'll be affixing this to the upper right sleeve of my SDF uniform. Other Old Fighters interested, contact me at your convenience.鈥�
As the right has been organizing around 鈥淐harlottesville 2.0鈥� in earnest, Michael Hill posted in the League鈥檚 Facebook group that he wants 鈥渘o fewer than 150 League warriors, dressed and ready for action, in Charlottesville, Virginia, on 12 August.鈥�
Baker responded by issuing directives on the League鈥檚 uniform dress code and has since actively encouraged membership to attend the event, and advised them on tactics and equipment in expectation of conflict.
Spencer Borum
Identified on the Kentucky League of the South鈥檚 website as the chairman of the Kentucky LOS, Spencer Borum, outranks Ike Baker despite his relatively young age of 28 years.
In spite of the Kentucky League of the South鈥檚 low membership, which as consisting of just 11 dues-paying members, Borum has apparently attempted to expand his outreach by partnering with hosts at The Right Stuff Confederates鈥� spinoff website Identity Dixie to host a podcast titled 鈥淩adio Free Dixie.鈥�
Seemingly unaware of the hosted by North Carolina NAACP president Robert F. Williams while exiled in Cuba during the Civil Rights Movement, the show鈥檚 host 鈥� who identifies himself as 鈥淏arnwell Rhett,鈥� a reference to the Southern Fire-Eater 鈥� is referred to by several guests as 鈥淪pencer.鈥� 鈥淏arnwell Rhett鈥� also identifies himself as a Florida native living in Kentucky, biographical details that match with available records for Spencer Borum.
Borum/Rhett uses his podcast to expound on his racist views and to interview LOS leadership and personalities on the Neo-Confederate fringe of the Alt-Right that has been dubbed the 鈥淎lt South.鈥�
In one episode of 鈥淩adio Free Dixie鈥� with the pseudonymous Charlie Stewart, who hosts another Identity Dixie podcast titled 鈥淭histle and Briar,鈥� Borum and Stewart identify themselves as veterans and outline the equipment 鈥� including firearms, camouflage, armor and training 鈥� Alt-Right activists will need in the event of a civil conflict in the United States.
Robert Graf 鈥淩.G.鈥� Miller, Jr.
R.G. Miller, 26, is the chairman of the Arkansas League of the South, a role he took on in 2015. Since then Miller has been active in promoting the League both in Harrison, sometimes the 鈥渕ost racist town in America,鈥� and at League functions in other states.
Miller was part of a small cohort of younger League members who broke from the 2016 LOS 鈥淣ationals鈥� conference in Wetumpka, Alabama to attend a nearby Montgomery, Alabama where they hurled epithets like 鈥淕od hates f---.鈥�
More recently, Miller and the Arkansas League hosted a state conference that resulted in a verbal . Miller has been a frequent speaker at several LOS functions including the 2017 National Conference and attended 鈥渢he Battle of New Orleans,鈥� along with other LOS members.
Harold Ray Crews
Harold Ray Crews, 48, runs a family law practice out of Kernersville, North Carolina, and lives in nearby Walkertown, where the NC LOS lists its PO Box. Chairman of the NC LOS, Crews also operates the League鈥檚 Facebook, website and a podcast titled 鈥淪outhern Nationalist Radio,鈥� where he frequently interviews Michael Hill, Mark Thomey of the Alabama League of the South, and Brad Griffin, a League of the South member who operates the blog Occidental Dissent.
Crews also runs a YouTube channel where he lists affiliation with both the League of the South and the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), a group that has lately been greatly maligned by LOS members as a 鈥溾�檞eak sister鈥� who cannot stand to be called a racist, anti-Semite, xenophobe, white supremacist.鈥�
Crews鈥� videos make it apparent that he is responsible for filming the League鈥檚 national conference, including this past year鈥檚 event where Michael Hill shared the stage with notorious ex-Klansman David Duke.
A recent post by Michael Hill on the League鈥檚 website outlining 鈥淟egal Matters regarding The League of the South鈥檚 Participation in the Unite the Right Rally,鈥� included the following:
If you believe an order or command of a public official violates your right to free speech, assembly, or some other matter, report this to our League leaders and we will in turn report to our attorneys on the scene.
While it is unclear how many attorneys the League has among its ranks, it stands to reason that Harold Crews will participate in organizing legal defense for any League members arrested in Charlottesville.
Dennis Durham, Jr.
Dennis Durham, 40, lists himself as the Chairman of the Virginia League of the South. Although that state chapter has not been incredibly active since co-hosting a party with the Maryland state chapter to celebrate the sesquicentennial of John Wilkes Booth鈥檚 assassination of President Lincoln, Dennis Durham has been seen lately with Jason Kessler, the organizer of the Unite the Right Charlottesville rally. Kessler and Durham, along with other LOS affiliates, campaigned with Corey Stewart, a Virginia gubernatorial candidate who staked a hard stance in favor of the preservation of Virginia鈥檚 Confederate memorials.
Pat Hines
A retired military nurse and resident of Tigerville, South Carolina, Pat Hines appears to have stepped into the role of SC LOS chairman after Michael Cushman abandoned the role in 2015 over fears that the League was becoming too radical in its defense of the Confederate Battle flag (CBF) in the wake of Dylann Roof鈥檚 massacre in Charleston.
Hines, on the other hand, was more than willing to defend the CBF, going so far as stating during an on CNN that, 鈥渨ithout slavery, all the black people in the United States wouldn鈥檛 be here,鈥� and referring to the as 鈥渃ultural genocide on the Southern people.鈥�
The South Carolina League has been notably inactive under Hines鈥� leadership. In spite of the recent furor in the state over then-Governor Nikki Haley鈥檚 decision to remove the CBF from the Capitol grounds, Hines seems to have had very little interest in rallying to save the banner beyond his televised appearances.
Hines was not present with other LOS members at Richard Spencer鈥檚 speech in Auburn, Alabama, or in New Orleans, Louisiana, for the 鈥淏attle of New Orleans.鈥� Whether he will be present at the Charlottesville rally remains to be seen. Whether or not he is attending, Hines has posted prolifically on League forums and Brad Griffin鈥檚 Occidental Dissent in the run-up to the event.
Thomas Eugene Davis
The Chairman of the Georgia League of the South, Thomas Davis, took over the role after former Chairman William Flowers defected from the LOS to join Matthew Heimbach鈥檚 TWP in 2015.
Davis, 50, runs a flooring company, Tom Davis Flooring, out of Alma, Georgia, where he lives.
Aside from his flooring business and League activities, Davis has authored a about a confrontation between 鈥淸a] sitting Governor [who] has just designated the President of the United States as an enemy of liberty, a deed that will not go unpunished鈥�.
The most notable activism under Davis鈥檚 leadership occurred when Davis organized an abortive demonstration in Grantville, Georgia, in order to capitalize on the brutal murder of an elderly woman .
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