2 Texas Men, Members Of White Supremacist Group, Arrested: DOJ

Two Texas men described by federal officials as members of Atomwaffen Division — a white supremacist group — were arrested by federal officials Wednesday. The first man is one of four who targeted Jewish journalists and journalists of color by mailing them posters with Nazi imagery, according to the Department of Justice.

Kaleb Cole, 24, of Montgomery, Texas along with Cameron Brandon Shea, 24, of Redmond, Washington created the posters, which included Nazi symbols, masked figures with guns and Molotov cocktails, and threatening language, the DOJ said. The posters were sent to Atomwaffen Division members online who then delivered or mailed the posters to the journalists and activists they had chosen to target, the DOJ said.

The department said the defendants identified their targets on an encrypted online chat group. Along with Kole and Shea, the DOJ said Taylor Ashley Parker-Dipeppe, 20, of Spring Hill, Florida, and Johnny Roman Garza, 20, of Queen Creek, Arizona were arrested.

"These defendants sought to spread fear and terror with threats delivered to the doorstep of those who are critical of their activities,"U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Brian T. Moran, said in a statement. "As Attorney General William Barr has made clear, rooting out anti-Semitic hate and threats of violence and vigorously prosecuting those responsible are top priorities for the Department of Justice."

In Seattle, the posters were sent to a TV journalist who had reported on Atomwaffen as well as to two people associated with the Anti-Defamation League, officials said. A magazine journalist in Phoenix was also targeted as well as another journalist in Tampa, though the poster was mailed to the wrong Florida address, officials said.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the eastern district of Virginia, a second Montgomery man identified as 26-year-old John Cameron Denton conspired with others to conduct swatting calls between Nov. 2018 to at least April 2019. One of Denton's co-conspirators was identified by federal officials as John William Kirby Kelley.

Denton, who officials said was a former leader of the group, was part of a conspiracy that conducted at least three swatting calls, including to a cabinet official living in Northern Virginia, to Old Dominion University and to Alfred Street Baptist Church, the Virginia U.S. Attorney's office said.

Denton is also accused of swatting the New York City office of ProPublica and a journalist for the non-profit investigative news organization, officials said.

"Denton allegedly chose the two targets because he was furious with ProPublica and the investigative journalist for publishing his true identity and discussing his role in Atomwaffen Division," the Virginia U.S. Attorney's Office said in a press release.

Denton told an undercover law enforcement officer about his role in the swatting conspiracy, officials said.