The White Resistance Manual is a white supremacist handbook written by Axl Hess under the pseudonym Aquilifer. It was published anonymously online in the late 90s or early 2000s. It is an instruction manual on how to perform activities such as weapon and poison-making, as well as guerrilla warfare, in addition to tips on how to avoid criminal investigation and ideological goals for the white supremacist movement.
| Author | Axl Hess (as Aquilifer) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Self-published online |
Publication date | Late 90s or early 2000s |
| Pages | 310 |
Possession of the manual is illegal in the United Kingdom, and several individuals have been jailed for possessing it, in one case for 13 years. It has been found in the possession of jihadists, and was tied to a 2011 plot to kill police officers in the United States.
History and distribution
editIt was written by white supremacist Axl Hess, under the pseudonym Aquilifer.[1][2] It was published anonymously.[3] It was published online in the late 90s[3] or early 2000s.[4] It was distributed online by Blood & Honour and Combat 18, as well as other far-right websites.[3][5] Possession of the manual is illegal in the United Kingdom, and several individuals have been jailed for possessing it, for up to 13 years in one case.[6][7][8] It has also been found in the possession of jihadists.[4][9][10] In 2019 it began resurfacing on far-right communities online.[4] It was one of many far-right manuals or literature used for disseminating these concepts and tactical ideas.[1][5][11] It was tied to a 2011 plot to kill police officers in the United States.[5]
American anarchist activist Sherman Austin (who was then arrested for distributing information useful for committing a terrorist attack) said of the work: "There’s something on the Internet called the White Resistance Manual. It’s pretty much for white supremacists … to carry out a large-scale guerilla campaign through means of assassination, threats, obtaining funds through fraud, everything from firearms to explosives. I’ve seen, not surprisingly, no action taken against those people, but here I am, an anarchist website, not even close to what that is, not even close to what else you can find on the Internet."[12]
Contents
editThe document is 310 pages long, 302 of which deal with tactical issues. It goes over the goals the movement should promote, and recommends certain targets (e.g. Jews, "anti-White" politicians, "race traitors", among others).[4] The four goals of the movement as he expressed them were to 1) exacerbate racial conflict to the point of "open warfare", 2) "smash Jewish power" both nationally and worldwide, 3) "destroy the legitimacy of current government" and offer a replacement, 4) punish whites viewed as "treasonous" to their people.[1]
It has instructions on how to perform activities such as bomb-making, poison-making, arson, in addition to violent guerrilla warfare against the government.[3][4][5][11] Other topics include sabotage, particularly against power systems,[2] other infrastructure targets,[1] and non-violent methods of harassment of targets.[4] It advocates what Hess calls "selective assassination" or targeted assassinations.[1][3][11] It also advises on how to avoid criminal investigation.[4][7]
It is similar to the Lone Mujahid Guide, a shorter manual on similar subject matter published by al-Qaeda.[4] Terrorism researcher Ely Karmon described it as "a long and detailed document";[4] relative to other manuals of this kind, it was noted by the Southern Poverty Law Center as especially comprehensive, prompting alarm.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e Etter, Gregg W. (2005). "Security Threat Groups: The Threat Posed by White Supremacist Organizations". In Snowden, Lynne L.; Whitsel, Bradley C. (eds.). Terrorism: Research, Readings, and Realities. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. pp. 305–306, 315, 320, 323. ISBN 978-0-13-117373-6.
- ^ a b Parfomak, Paul W. (July 2, 2015). Physical Security of the U.S. Power Grid: High-Voltage Transformer Substations (Report). Congressional Research Service. p. 9.
- ^ a b c d e Sanders, Eike (2019). "Normen im Ausnahmezustand: Geschlechtlich konnotierte Identitätsangebote und Feindbilder im Rechtsterrorismus". Wissen Schafft Demokratie (in German) (6): 120. ISSN 2512-9732.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Karmon, Ely (June 2020). The Radical Right and Bioterrorism (PDF) (Report). International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Lenz, Ryan (January 25, 2011). "Investigators: White Power Guerrilla Manual Behind Attacks on Police". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
- ^ "Exeter Synagogue arsonist Tristan Morgan kept in hospital". BBC News. London. July 5, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ a b Vinter, Robyn (August 31, 2023). "Ex-prison officer jailed for possessing white supremacist 'murder manual'". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
- ^ Martin, Amy-Clare (August 31, 2023). "'Neo-Nazi' ex-prison officer jailed for possessing terrorist handbook". The Independent. London. ISSN 1741-9743. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
- ^ Neighbour, Sally (2016). "Operation Pendennis in Australia". In Hoffman, Bruce; Reinares, Fernando (eds.). The Evolution of the Global Terrorist Threat: From 9/11 to Osama Bin Laden's Death. Columbia Studies in Terrorism and Irregular Warfare. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-231-16899-1.
- ^ Doornbos, Harald; Moussa, Jenan (March 6, 2025). "Recipes From the Islamic State's Laptop of Doom". Foreign Policy. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0015-7228. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
- ^ a b c Heitmeyer, Wilhelm (2024). Authoritarian Temptations and Right-Wing Threat Alliance: The Crisis of Capitalistic Societies in an Uncertain Future. Cham: Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 978-3-031-52912-2.
- ^ Frank, Josh (April 2005). "Muzzled Activist in the Age of Terror". Z Magazine. Vol. 18, no. 4. Retrieved January 6, 2007.