HuffPost has published an investigation that identifies a man it says is the leader of “Bowl Patrol,” a white supremacist network named after the bowl style haircut of Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black church members in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
According to HuffPost’s report, a 27 year old Northern California man named Andrew has operated under the online alias “Vic Mackey” and led a following of nearly 1,000 people through podcasts, videos and social media. HuffPost says the group celebrated white nationalist attacks and that some members have been arrested in connection with threats or plans for violence. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League have described the network as extremist.
HuffPost reports that the anti fascist research group Anonymous Comrades Collective traced the alias back to Andrew, and that the outlet then confirmed his identity through photos, videos, audio clips and interviews with people who know him. These are allegations from HuffPost and the researchers it cites.
According to HuffPost and leaked chat logs obtained by the media collective Unicorn Riot, Bowl Patrol was formed on Discord and showed activity as early as 2017. HuffPost reports that the group later moved to Gab and other platforms, and that the Vic Mackey persona also hosted a podcast. In a December 2018 episode, HuffPost says, the host praised the Tree of Life synagogue attack in Pittsburgh that killed 11 people.
“Vic Mackey’s biggest contribution to the white power movement has been to normalize violence and glorify acts of terrorism,” Cassie Miller, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, told HuffPost.
HuffPost says calls to numbers associated with Andrew and messages to the Vic Mackey social media account went unanswered. The local sheriff’s office did not respond to HuffPost’s question about whether he is a suspect in vandalism at two local places of worship. An FBI spokesperson told the outlet that the bureau’s investigations into violent extremism focus on criminal activity and not on ideology. No criminal charges against Andrew were reported at the time.
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