National Alliance Suffers Internal Upheaval
Posted: February 24, 2005
Despite the National Alliance's widely successful campaign to gain media attention through flyer distributions, billboards and other publicity stunts, the internal structure of the infamous neo-Nazi organization is in turmoil. Several leaders have left the group, following the example of former membership coordinator David Pringle, who resigned in November 2004. On the local level, a number of units and members have discussed breaking from the national organization.
Publicly, the National Alliance still appears active and strong. Since the beginning of 2005, local units have conducted literature drives around the country. The Las Vegas unit won a lawsuit that allowed it to re-post a billboard opposing immigration – along with its Web site address. The St. Louis unit even succeeded in placing ads in local commuter trains, although they were pulled when transit officials learned that the ads had been submitted by a neo-Nazi group.
This public flurry of activities masks the membership's continued distrust of Chairman Erich Gliebe's leadership and suspicions about both his and Chief Operating Officer's Shaun Walker's misuse of the group's funds. Gliebe has been rumored to have used Alliance dollars to buy a fully-equipped sports utility vehicle and to be spending members' dues on his upcoming wedding to a former Playboy model.
Gliebe created an executive committee in an attempt to address the concerns of membership. He filled it with loyalists, however, which has apparently prevented it from gaining rank and file support. A few units have broken completely from the group, while others have split into competing factions. While it appeared to be stabilizing in the fall of 2004, the National Alliance now seems once more to be on a downward spiral.
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