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A U.S. Small Business Association-approved lender delivered $20,832 in funds on May 27, 2021, to Jaden McNeil, 聽and close ally of white nationalist Nick Fuentes who stood alongside Fuentes as he appeared to encourage insurrectionists outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Hatewatch determined McNeil received these funds through its review of a public federal loan database from ProPublica. The government intended these loans, part of the Payment Protection Program (PPP), to be for small businesses and self-employed workers to support their employees or themselves through the COVID-19 pandemic.

McNeil, who once claimed, 鈥淭he American regime hates white people,鈥� applied for federal funding in the category of 鈥渋ndependent artists, writers, and performers.鈥� These types of loans are capped at $20,833 for sole proprietors 鈥� in this case, individual creators who do not retain a staff. Under certain circumstances, government-approved lenders can forgive these types of loans. It is unclear if the lending agency behind McNeil鈥檚 loan has permitted him to do so.

The government made PPP loans available to freelancers to compensate them for lost income as a result of the pandemic. However, Hatewatch determined that McNeil earned over $63,000 in donations on the youth-targeted streaming platform DLive聽between spring 2020 and March 2021. During this time, McNeil was one of the 聽on the platform. McNeil left DLive in fall 2021. Now, he livestreams on Cozy.TV, a video-streaming site that Fuentes constructed following the Jan. 6 insurrection. He also maintains a video archive on YouTube.

McNeil is not the only far-right extremist who has received federal aid intended for struggling small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, the 聽found that the SBA distributed between $2.35 and $5.7 million dollars in loans to six groups designated as hate groups by the 澳彩开奖. A subsequent 聽investigation found that 14 澳彩开奖-designated hate groups received $4.3 million, including the white nationalist American Renaissance聽and the anti-immigrant Center for Immigration Studies.

鈥淭ime and time again, the federal government props up hate operations. The IRS continues to grant tax-exempt status to hate groups,鈥� Alex Kotch, a senior investigative reporter at the Center for Media and Democracy and the executive director of the OptOut Media Foundation, told Hatewatch in an email. 鈥淪ending forgivable PPP loans to a white nationalist media personality is equally outrageous.鈥�

鈥淪peech that incites lawbreaking, including hate crimes, is not protected under the First Amendment, so why should U.S. taxpayers have to subsidize dangerous white nationalists?鈥� Kotch added.

Hatewatch reached out to McNeil over email and the messaging app Telegram. Hatewatch also contacted the SBA over email. Neither responded to these requests for comment.聽

鈥榃e have had it鈥�

McNeil mostly streams video games and commentary on Fuentes鈥檚 Cozy.TV platform. But he has also rallied alongside Fuentes at a number of anti-democracy 鈥淪top the Steal鈥� events in late 2020 and early 2021, including the Trump-rally-turned-riot in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.

鈥淭he Republican Party has sold us out, and we have had it. We are done with them,鈥� McNeil said during a Nov. 21, 2020, 鈥淪top the Steal鈥� event in Atlanta.

Hatewatch identified McNeil on the outskirts of the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, standing alongside Fuentes, through video footage posted on Bitchute, a video-streaming site popular with the extreme right. There, Fuentes gave a speech聽in which he appeared to encourage insurrectionists, calling on them to 鈥渂reak down the barricades and disregard the police.鈥� McNeil also posted photos to his personal channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram on Jan. 7, 2021, showing that he attended Trump鈥檚 speech prior to the Capitol riot with Fuentes and Vincent James Foxx, a 聽for the white nationalist Rise Above Movement.

As Hatewatch reported聽in January 2022, the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection subpoenaed Fuentes and another former close ally, Patrick Casey, for their role in that day鈥檚 events.

McNeil serves as the treasurer of Fuentes鈥檚 America First Foundation, according to corporate records that Fuentes, or someone close to him, filed with the state of Texas in June 2021.

Though the nonprofit鈥檚 stated mission is 鈥渢o educate, promote, and advocate for conservative values based on the principles of American Nationalism, Christianity, and Traditionalism,鈥� Fuentes has said his political objectives are to work within the political system to transform the Republican Party into a far-right reactionary movement, while preserving America鈥檚 鈥渨hite demographic core.鈥� Fuentes launched his organization, which is a 501(c)4 nonprofit, in early 2021 during the America First Political Action Conference 鈥� an annual event that takes place alongside the more mainstream Conservative Political Action Conference.

鈥淒ifficult times reveal a man鈥檚 true character. Loyalty is the bedrock of everything we do,鈥� McNeil wrote in a Telegram post from Feb. 12, 2021, one day after another one of Fuentes鈥� former allies accused him of producing a 鈥渃ult-like atmosphere.鈥�

鈥淣ick has always had my back and I鈥檒l always have his. America First Forever,鈥� he added.

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