Research & Analysis

Group Status: Active HSN is an acronym used by the Hammerskins, a large racist skinhead gang. It stands for "Hammerskin Nation," which is a collective reference to the various regional Hammerskin gangs such as the Confederate Hammerskins, Western Hammerskins, etc. Additional Images:

The Indiana Aryan Brotherhood is a large white supremacist prison gang based in Indiana. It is active both in Indiana prisons and on the streets. Despite its name, it has no connection to the "original" Aryan Brotherhood, which is based in the California and federal prison systems.

The Inland Empire Skinheads (IES) are a racist skinhead group based in southern Californiia. Their logo consists of a red circle containing two crossed battleaxes.

The Keystone State Skinheads are a regional racist skinhead gang based in Pennsylvania, especially eastern Pennsylvania. Their logo consists of an image of the head of a pitbull superimposed over a keystone colored red, white, and black (the colors of the Nazi flag).

The Mississippi Aryan Brotherhood is a large racist prison gang based in the Mississippi state prison system. Despite the similarity of its name, it has no connection to the "original" Aryan Brotherhood, based in California and the federal prison systems. The logo of the Mississippi Aryan Brotherhood consists of a highly-stylized rendition of a combined A and B.

The National Rebirth of Poland (Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski) is a Nazi-like right-wing extremist group based in Poland that has some followers in the United States.

The New Aryan Empire is an Arkansas-based white supremacist prison gang. Its most common symbols consist of its initials, NAE, as well as the number 234 (in either Latin or Roman numeral forms).

The New Black Panther Party for Self Defense (not related to the original Black Panther Party) is the most extreme organized racist and antisemitic African-American group in the United States. Its symbol consists of a leaping panther (an image appropriated from the original Black Panthers) superimposed over the continent of Africa.

The "Northwest American Republic" is a fictional construct created by Harold Covington, a long-time fringe figure in the neo-Nazi movement. It is based on the so-called "Northwest Imperative," a longstanding call by some white supremacists for White people to move to the Pacific Northwest and establish their own country.

The Ohio Aryan Brotherhood is a longstanding white supremacist prison gang based in the Ohio prison system. Despite its name, it is an independent group and has no connection to the "original" Aryan Brotherhood, based primarily in the California and federal prison systems.

The Oklahoma Aryan Brotherhood is one of several white supremacist prison gangs in the Oklahoma prison system whose name derives from the unrelated "original" Aryan Brotherhood, which is based in the California and federal prison systems. Its patch is a shield on top of two lightning bolts and a sword, with a clover, a swastika, and SS bolts inside the shield.

Peckerwood Midwest is a white supremacist gang based primarily in Missouri, active both in prisons and on the streets. The gang's "patch" tattoo consists of a diamond-shaped swastika inside a larger Iron Cross. Inside the swastika are SS bolts; outside the Iron Cross are the numbers 23/16.

Public Enemy Number 1 is a large white supremacist gang based in the prisons and on the streets of California. Its most common symbol is simply a shortened version of its own name, such as PENI or PEN1. Members may also refer to the gang as the Peni Death Squad or PDS, thus PDS is also a common tattoo.

The Sacred Separatist Group (SSG) is a Missouri-based white supremacist prison gang. The group's "patch" tattoo consists of a shield over a crossed sword and battleaxe, with the initials SSG inside. Typically, the letters SS in those initials are rendered as lightning bolts.

Sadistic Souls is a small white supremacist outlaw biker gang active primarily in the Midwest. It is also a faction of the neo-Nazi group Aryan Nations. Sadistic Souls members may sport Aryan Nations symbology, as well as biker jackets and rockers that depict a Totenkopf image and the group's name, with the first "S" in each word of its name rendered as lightning bolts.

The Saxon Knights are a large, Indiana-based white supremacist prison gang. Their primary symbol is a shield tattoo, with a shield emblem superimposed over a sword, a warhammer, and a battleaxe. The shield has four sections, two of which include the letters "S" and "K." A third section usually contains a knight's helmet. The fourth section is sometimes left blank and sometimes contains one of a number of other symbols.

The Silent Aryan Warriors (SAW) are a large white supremacist gang based in Utah. Their primary tattoo consists of an Iron Cross with SS lighting bolts and a curved swastika at the center. Four Totenkopfs surround the Iron Cross, while around the image are the German phrases "für immer weiss" and "für immer stolz," which translate to "forever white" and "forever proud."

Soldiers of Aryan Culture (SAC) is a large Utah-based white supremacist prison gang. The two symbols most commonly used by the gang are 1) the group's initials, SAC, and 2) a swastika interwoven with an Iron Cross.

The Solid Wood Soldiers are a Texas-based white supremacist prison gang. Their primary tattoo consists of the initials SWS, with the two S's represented by lightning bolts. Above the initials appears the image of a bear claw, with the number 4 in the middle and sometimes the letters HCRL.

The Southern Brotherhood is a large, Alabama-based white supremacist prison gang. Read more about the Brotherhood's most common symbol, the shield tattoo.