The skinhead presence in Dallas was first chronicled in 1979 and like other cities in the USA it was an offshoot of the punk scene. Numbers were quite small in the early 80`s but by 1984 enough seeds had been planted and the USA was ready for a skinhead explosion. Between 1984 and 1987 the skinhead scene in Dallas reached a peak for violence but lacked political direction, with a few exceptions the skinheads in the area had always been geared towards White Power.
Fortunately, there was never a ska, scooter, or mod fashion in the 80`s however Dallas did have a small population of anti-racist skins and punks known as DSB (dumb skater boys). The anti-racist scene was weak but the White Power scene was coming into its own. Most of the skinheads in the area had grown up as such, educated themselves without the help of a central leader and soon realized they could create a force to be reckoned with if they formed a dynamic, focused and productive group.
As 1987 drew to a close a few skinheads got together and decided to try to make the dream a reality, they had the group but needed a name. Many ideas were tossed around but ultimately The Confederate Hammerskins was their final choice. They were from the south and they used the Rebel Flag with the marching hammers in front as a symbol of strength, pride, and solidarity. With this, the first Hammerskin chapter was born. CHS emerged officially in January 1988 and intended to set the standard for skinheads in the US. At that time drug use among skinheads was popular and in many crews exceptions were made for the odd racially confused Mexican or Jew, the Hammerskins wanted to show like minded people that there was a better way a way which would promote the 14 words and end hypocrisy.
In early 1988 Hammerskins were receiving heavy exposure thanks to constant traveling. Hammers would attend marches in Pulaski, Tennessee, the infamous Sedition Trials in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and trips to other cities in the south that led to contacts with many other skinheads. The Hammers had also made strong ties in the past with northern crews such as C.A.S.H (Chicago Area Skin Heads), D.A.S.H (Detroit Area Skin Heads), WAR skins and others. These far away groups would not be forgotten as they would play a large role in the expansion of what would come to be called “The Hammerskin Nation”.
CHS could feel momentum building and began looking up old and new friends to spread the good word about the newly formed Hammerskins. The cry went out, “Let’s pool our strengths and make a real impact”! The band wagon shifted into high gear and people were jumping on right, left, and center, CHS in Dallas were making national headlines and had numerous unaffiliated crews expressing their interest in joining the ranks as well. These were impressive gains for a group in such early stages especially from a city like Dallas. Several years earlier outsiders would routinely receive beatings from Dallas skins and now they were embracing people from all over the country.
By the summer of 1988 skinheads in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma as well as Waco, Texas; and Memphis, Tennessee became part of the CHS crew. After this one of the founders of CHS moved north to Detroit, his job offer seemed to be a good opportunity to strengthen ties with some of the northern cities. Strong crews like C.A.S.H, D.A.S.H, S.H.A.M, and W.A.S.H were already in existence and these names may still be quite memorable to some.
As CHS flourished in the south the NHS was the next region to be founded, Detroit would be the first city to represent “The Northern Hammerskins”. Around the same time of the first Aryan Fest gathering in Oklahoma the skinheads of the north were having their own festival. Skinfest in Milwaukee, Wisconson was a large event and skinheads from many other northern crews were represented, soon after this concert the Skinhead Army of Milwaukee joined with The NHS. With the continued addition of positive individuals the NHS seemed to grow exponentially. A long time friend of the Hammers moved to Chicago and the outcome was the NHS adding another city to their roster, close on Chicago’s heels was Ohio. The summer of 1988 was big for the development of Hammerskins and probably one of the most violent years for the skinhead scene in US history. As the Chaos 88 song appropriately states: “88, it was the summer of hate”!
The Aryan Fest gatherings, which were not organized by Hammers, continued to be a cornerstone for bringing together skinheads eager to help and join in. After Aryan Fest `88 the Springfield, Missouri chapter was and not to long after that Hammers got back in touch with and old friend from Oklahoma who had since moved to Portland, Oregon furthering contacts in the West. A year earlier, in 1987, a founding member of CHS appeared on the Oprah Winfrey talk show and made contacts with a group of WAR skins on set. These skins went on to form a chapter in Northern California during the latter months of 1988. The first big event of ’89 would be “Aryan Wood Stock”, later dubbed “Aryan Wood Flop” as the event tanked due to police pressure and inclement weather. Despite the lame event CHS and NHS members made some fruitful contacts in Southern California. The Hammerskin presence across the nation was becoming a formidable one and on the east coast another contact was made in August of `88 taking the Hammerskin name as far as Portland, Maine. The flurry of growth and activity within the United States seemed like fate, the Hammerskin name was known coast to coast and the reality of a true Hammerskin Nation was now in view.
Back in Dallas things weren’t looking as good as they were for the rest of the nation. A founding member of CHS was jailed for aggravated assault and a Federal Grand Jury was convened to investigate the actions of skinheads in the Dallas area over the past several years. Leading the pack of investigators was federal prosecutor Barry Kowalski who incidentally was involved with the prosecution of Bruce Pierce of “The Order”. The case gained national attention and a press conference was held with the U.S attorney general Dick Thornburgh and president George Bush to announce the witch hunt. It was stated that a founding member of CHS, who was serving time on an unrelated offense, would be the target of the investigation and center of the inevitable show trial to follow. This wouldn’t be the end of political persecution for members of the HSN, at the same time in Milwaukee one of the founding members of CHS and a founding member of NHS had received convictions for shooting at a group of Latin Kings (Mexican gang bangers) who had come to do a drive-by on their homes for being skinheads. Just over a year in existence and The Hammerskins were already falling into the clutches of the anti-white justice system.
Despite the negative events which were occurring there were definitely positive things happening as well. Aryan Fest 1989 was fast approaching and would be one of the great U.S skinhead concerts in history and another chance for the HSN to forge bonds with skinheads nation-wide. The Hammerskins started claiming some very well known bands as their own in these early stages such as The Midtown Boot Boys, Haken Kreuz, One Way, and the Bully Boys. At some point after Aryan Fest `89 the members of a band called Bound For Glory joined on and St. Paul, Minnesota became part of the momentum driving Hammerskins across the USA. BFG, as they would come to be known, would go down as one of the most accomplished skinhead bands in history. Concerning growth at the time it was thanks to strong leadership of a few individuals that momentum in the south had picked up and skinheads from all over Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia were coming into the brotherhood.
As the HSN’s numbers exploded the inevitable growing pains that follow were beginning to be felt as rumors, gossip, back stabbing, and in fighting became all too common and it seemed as if no Hammer was immune. The heavy exposure and publicity which had facilitated the growth of the HSN was now the cause of derision and unrest. The friendship with Tom Metzger and exposure in WAR magazine, Aryan Fest videos, exposure in scene zines such as Blood and Honor, Pure Impact, Final War, and numerous lesser known operations had all contributed and still were contributing to the Hammerskin frenzy. On the flip side of the coin the anti-white media machine was all over Hammerskins as well and calls from TV shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20 amongst others were badgering members for interviews. The exposure was a double edged sword aiding in growth but also producing a target for law enforcement agencies that would do the dirty work in an attempt to bring down the Hammers. This publicity either scared people away or brought them in and hindsight would reveal that publicity of this kind does more to destroy than to uplift and the Hammers would have to learn this lesson the hard way.
Into the fall of 1989 the system continued their campaign against the Hammers in Dallas. Indictments were handed down whichculminated in the convictions of 5 of CHS members in Dallas. The charges were “conspiracy to violate the civil rights of blacks and jews” along with a firearms charge, sentences ranged from four and a half years to nine and a half years. Of the five convicted the harshest sentence was given to the one that would later be discovered as the FBI informant who gave evidence to the prosecutors. All men who had been sent to prison, except for the FBI informer, are currently free and still racialists to this day. The show trials in Dallas hadn’t quenched the FBI’s “thirst for blood” and they pursued events in the effort to hand down more convictions on similar charges. In Tulsa, Oklahoma two members of the band Midtown Boot Boys would become casualties in the growing witch hunt as well as 2 others one of which had been previously convicted in Dallas.
While Hammerskins were sitting in jail on bogus, trumped up and politically motivated charges other members were being slain by enemies of the White Race and their killers going free. Brian Kozel, Eric Banks and Joe Rowan are just the first few entries of an ever growing roster of martyrs. Hammerskins have suffered the loss of brothers and sisters in all forms, from cancer to suicide to outright murder. However, even faced with adversity and hardship we still press on, our goal is larger and more important than our own lives and our actions will live on long after we are gone.
No previous skinhead group had grown at such a rapid pace and as such there was no “big brother” to emulate but growth would continue regardless of the uncharted nature of the territory. In the early 90’s several skinheads started chapters in New Jersey, by this time the chapter in Portland, Maine was dissolved and so the two NJ chapters became the first to come under “The Eastern Hammerskins”. Out west during this same time a group of skinheads in Phoenix, Arizona set themselves up as AHS or the “Arizona Hammer Skins” and it wasn’t long after that Southern California came under the HS banner as well. As a result of the growth in the west a new region was established under the title “The Western Hammerskins” and at the forefront of these chapters were two skinheads who had been involved in racially motivated attacks by non-white gangs. Both had been shot in the back and one had been paralyzed as the result of a severed spinal cord.
In early 1990 the next Hammerskin chapter came into being, The Rocky Mountain Hammerskins were formed adding another region of the nation flying the Crossed Hammers. Future Hammerskin martyr Joe Rowan became involved with EHS in the middle of 1990 bringing the Newtown, Pennsylvania chapter into existence along with Tim Brie of Baltimore, Maryland. EHS was becoming a cohesive unit and the WHS was taking shape as well. Not long after Aryan Fest `90 the acting director of NHS moved to Texas and Ed of BFG fame took the point as the director for the Northern Hammerskins. Tragedy struck in September of that year with the murder of Milwaukee Hammer Brian Kozel by a gang of Mexicans. In two short but productive years the Hammerskins had become a national organization and had a presence in or around almost every major city in the country. With this tsunami of popularity and growth in the United States skinheads from other countries began to take notice and it wouldn’t be long before the Crossed Hammers would fly across the globe.
The early '90s would see the inception of Hammerskins in Europe under the watchful eye of Ed from BFG who was the acting director of NHS at the time. The first two European chapters were to be started in Northern Ireland and Switzerland in 1990 turning the Hammerskins into an International skinhead phenomena. Once the first spark hit the European continent, explosive growth occurred almost as fast as it did in the US and not too long after the first two chapters came Germany, France, The Czech Republic, England, Italy, Spain, and The Netherlands. In 1993 another continent would be conquered by the Hammers, Australia was brought into the fold and Scott from fortress would stay on for the ride. Northern brothers in Canada would not be left behind either and skinheads from Montreal were brought in under the NHS banner, soon other Canadian cities were brought in as well and would become what is known today as VHS or The Vinland Hammerskins. Back in the good old US of A the growth rate of Hammerskins was slowing down substantially although many good shows were being promoted by Hammerskins and Hammer attendance at rallies was impressive. Tragedy ushered in 1993 with the murder of Erik Banks the singer of BFG by SHARP scum in Portland and a black cloud would shroud the New Year.
The loss of so many solid brothers to prison and violence was starting a shift within the psyches of the Hammerskins and as members began to grow older and mature so did their goals. Numbers would cease to be as important as it had once been, quality not quantity was sought and the early ‘90s would mark a change in way Hammerskins viewed their organization. The rapid pace of adding new chapters and regions would slow down but there was still a lot of interest from many different areas. The next edition to the ever growing family was a crew from Jacksonville, Florida who were welcomed in, in `93. Prior to that, aside from a couple lone skinheads in Tallahassee, there were no Hammerskin chapters in Florida however the leader of the American Front operated a renegade chapter in Florida for a time but it was never legitimate. Renegade or “outlaw” chapters would become a thorn in the side of the true Hammerskins for some time to come. From the mid-west USA to Russia and Serbia there are people who cannot accept dismissal or no for an answer, one thing is for sure Hammerskins are often imitated but never duplicated.
The next event of major importance was the creation and formation of “The Hammerskin Nation“ in the summer of 1994. The concept was to do away with the regional titles of CHS, NHS, EHS, and WHS along with the varied patches and unite under one common Hammerskin banner. In creating themselves, Hammerskins had divided themselves and it was time to tear down the walls of division. If Hammerskins were to represent one name together then it was time to become one and represent each other as one nation the Hammerskin Nation!
The fall of ’94 would send another one of our Hammerskin brothers to Valhalla and add another entry into the obituary page of the HSN reading of a strong, young, white man who left us all too early. Inside a convenience store after a memorial concert in Racine, Wisconsin a black savage murdered EHS member and singer of the band Nordic Thunder, Joe Rowan. The tragedy of Joe’s death is not only in the senselessness of the crime and the injustice of the criminal savage who got away with murder but also in the fact that it happened at a gathering in remembrance Ian Stuart a fallen hero who made an impact on all of us involved in the struggle for the security of our race. The night was supposed to be an upbeat but somber memorial to one man and ended up as a night of sorrow and pain in the loss of another. The HSN will always be marred by the slaying of our brothers and we will never forget their ultimate sacrifice or take for granted our brothers of today for they may not be here tomorrow.
The mid to late 90`s were a time of repairing what the Hammerskins had and cutting losses. By this time the Hammerskins had become more technologically advanced and self-sufficient and were able to promote many successful shows in the States, and put out many good publications as well as operating web sites and running record labels. Many brothers made a living at their own “non-movement” related businesses from heating and cooling to tattoo shops. Some of the Hammerskins in Europe had jobs ranging from businesses in skinhead apparel clothing stores to positions in corporate offices and the Hammerskin Nation was now fully operating in quality over quantity mode.
1998 brought two new chapters into the still growing HSN one close to home and one stretching across the ocean. Wichita, Kansas and New Zealand both became official chapters in this year, a year which would not be without tragedy. The loss of a popular member of the Ulster N. Ireland chapter from injuries sustained in a fight was the casualty for this year. It would be a year of trimming the fat, cutting loose those who were involved for the wrong reasons and threatened the integrity of the focus which had been so hard to attain. With the dismissal of members came those who would quit alongside their friends and Florida chapters were very hard hit by this upheaval. As a side effect of the efforts to weed the garden a renegade crew calling themselves “The Outlaw Hammerskins” arose in the Midwest. It was unfortunate that certain individuals weren’t able to uphold the standards that Hammerskins expected from their members but organizations such as the HSN often attracted those with intentions that weren’t aligned with the greater goals and future aims of the organization. It was the realization that “they were only as strong as their weakest link” which forced the dismissal of certain members and in an oppressive anti-white system which was constantly looking to destroy them vigilance to set standards was key. Furthermore, the reality was that those who were dismissed truly had no understanding of what they were involved with in the first place.
The past year had flown by and ’99 had arrived with anticipation of the new millennium and bigger and better things for the Hammerskins. Preparation for a US national conference meeting followed by a large scale public concert billed as Hammerfest, was in the works. This meeting and concert to follow generated tremendous buzz and the previous year fraught with turmoil and strife had served to be a catalyst for the reversal of a negative trend. The meeting in ’99 reinstated the regional system of the original Hammerskins, after a time on hiatus it was realized that coexistence was possible as one nation while still having local organization in separate locales. Regional boundaries were redrawn to make way for a new region called MHS or “The Midland Hammerskins”. Hammerfest went off with a bang and the new line up for the HSN’s own Bully Boys was the highlight of the night. Along with the Bully Boys representing the Hammerskins were Max Resist out of Detroit, Dying Breed, and the Midtown Bootboys among others. Again, the year would not go without tragedy and loss as two members one of NHS and one of MHS succumbed to cancer and left behind wives and children.
The year 2000, unlike the previous ten years, was relatively smooth and the HSN had weathered the storm and overcome their growing pains. With the success of the first Hammerfest a year earlier preparation began for Hammerfest 2000 which would prove to be even more successful than the first. With the likes of Brutal Attack, The Bully Boys, Bound for Glory, Celtic Warrior, and scores more, it proved to be a historic occasion with the highest concert attendance in the history of white power shows in the United States. 2001 and early 2002 sailed by as well with many positive concerts, rallies and get-togethers across America. The most memorable event from that time period was the rally at the White House to protest US support of Israel. This event brought together hundreds and hundreds of White Racialists from all over the country and an EHS sponsored gig to capped off the event. Unbeknownst to many who actually made it to the protest a bus carrying the the band Max Resist from Detroit along with others from Michigan was attacked by SHARP and resulted in the arrest of many of the anti-racist scum. What would have been considered a hate crime had, roles been reversed, became nothing more than “horseplay” and the SHARP scum were never charged with crimes.
In the early 2002 at another rally in Pennsylvania a horde of SHARP scum attacked a member of EHS who was leaving the event in his truck. Not only did the crowd of cowards provoke this altercation they escaped any wrong doing in the eyes of the law because of the fact that the EHS member had driven out of the crazed mob and in the act clipped a few Anti-Racist cowards with his automobile. For saving himself from imminent danger and the obvious reality of great bodily harm he was rewarded with two years in prison by our blatantly anti-white justice system. Along with this incarceration came another loss when a member of England’s BHS passed away. On a more positive note 2002 saw the first European Hammerfest with 1,500 people in attendance despite torrential rain.
This has been an account of the “childhood” of the HSN. We are still growing, we are still active, and we are still fighting for a whiter and brighter future for white people no matter where they may live. The HSN will gain new faces and loose old ones but we will forever remain in a form which promotes brotherhood and the realization that we can achieve more of our goals together than we can apart. We will continue to hold skinheads to a higher standard for the rest of our existence as the world’s oldest leading skinhead organization
v � H , P� �O� along with the varied patches and unite under one common Hammerskin banner. In creating themselves, Hammerskins had divided themselves and it was time to tear down the walls of division. If Hammerskins were to represent one name together then it was time to become one and represent each other as one nation the Hammerskin Nation!
The fall of ’94 would send another one of our Hammerskin brothers to Valhalla and add another entry into the obituary page of the HSN reading of a strong, young, white man who left us all too early. Inside a convenience store after a memorial concert in Racine, Wisconsin a black savage murdered EHS member and singer of the band Nordic Thunder, Joe Rowan. The tragedy of Joe’s death is not only in the senselessness of the crime and the injustice of the criminal savage who got away with murder but also in the fact that it happened at a gathering in remembrance Ian Stuart a fallen hero who made an impact on all of us involved in the struggle for the security of our race. The night was supposed to be an upbeat but somber memorial to one man and ended up as a night of sorrow and pain in the loss of another. The HSN will always be marred by the slaying of our brothers and we will never forget their ultimate sacrifice or take for granted our brothers of today for they may not be here tomorrow.
The mid to late 90`s were a time of repairing what the Hammerskins had and cutting losses. By this time the Hammerskins had become more technologically advanced and self-sufficient and were able to promote many successful shows in the States, and put out many good publications as well as operating web sites and running record labels. Many brothers made a living at their own “non-movement” related businesses from heating and cooling to tattoo shops. Some of the Hammerskins in Europe had jobs ranging from businesses in skinhead apparel clothing stores to positions in corporate offices and the Hammerskin Nation was now fully operating in quality over quantity mode.
1998 brought two new chapters into the still growing HSN one close to home and one stretching across the ocean. Wichita, Kansas and New Zealand both became official chapters in this year, a year which would not be without tragedy. The loss of a popular member of the Ulster N. Ireland chapter from injuries sustained in a fight was the casualty for this year. It would be a year of trimming the fat, cutting loose those who were involved for the wrong reasons and threatened the integrity of the focus which had been so hard to attain. With the dismissal of members came those who would quit alongside their friends and Florida chapters were very hard hit by this upheaval. As a side effect of the efforts to weed the garden a renegade crew calling themselves “The Outlaw Hammerskins” arose in the Midwest. It was unfortunate that certain individuals weren’t able to uphold the standards that Hammerskins expected from their members but organizations such as the HSN often attracted those with intentions that weren’t aligned with the greater goals and future aims of the organization. It was the realization that “they were only as strong as their weakest link” which forced the dismissal of certain members and in an oppressive anti-white system which was constantly looking to destroy them vigilance to set standards was key. Furthermore, the reality was that those who were dismissed truly had no understanding of what they were involved with in the first place.
The past year had flown by and ’99 had arrived with anticipation of the new millennium and bigger and better things for the Hammerskins. Preparation for a US national conference meeting followed by a large scale public concert billed as Hammerfest, was in the works. This meeting and concert to follow generated tremendous buzz and the previous year fraught with turmoil and strife had served to be a catalyst for the reversal of a negative trend. The meeting in ’99 reinstated the regional system of the original Hammerskins, after a time on hiatus it was realized that coexistence was possible as one nation while still having local organization in separate locales. Regional boundaries were redrawn to make way for a new region called MHS or “The Midland Hammerskins”. Hammerfest went off with a bang and the new line up for the HSN’s own Bully Boys was the highlight of the night. Along with the Bully Boys representing the Hammerskins were Max Resist out of Detroit, Dying Breed, and the Midtown Bootboys among others. Again, the year would not go without tragedy and loss as two members one of NHS and one of MHS succumbed to cancer and left behind wives and children.
The year 2000, unlike the previous ten years, was relatively smooth and the HSN had weathered the storm and overcome their growing pains. With the success of the first Hammerfest a year earlier preparation began for Hammerfest 2000 which would prove to be even more successful than the first. With the likes of Brutal Attack, The Bully Boys, Bound for Glory, Celtic Warrior, and scores more, it proved to be a historic occasion with the highest concert attendance in the history of white power shows in the United States. 2001 and early 2002 sailed by as well with many positive concerts, rallies and get-togethers across America. The most memorable event from that time period was the rally at the White House to protest US support of Israel. This event brought together hundreds and hundreds of White Racialists from all over the country and an EHS sponsored gig to capped off the event. Unbeknownst to many who actually made it to the protest a bus carrying the the band Max Resist from Detroit along with others from Michigan was attacked by SHARP and resulted in the arrest of many of the anti-racist scum. What would have been considered a hate crime had, roles been reversed, became nothing more than “horseplay” and the SHARP scum were never charged with crimes.
In the early 2002 at another rally in Pennsylvania a horde of SHARP scum attacked a member of EHS who was leaving the event in his truck. Not only did the crowd of cowards provoke this altercation they escaped any wrong doing in the eyes of the law because of the fact that the EHS member had driven out of the crazed mob and in the act clipped a few Anti-Racist cowards with his automobile. For saving himself from imminent danger and the obvious reality of great bodily harm he was rewarded with two years in prison by our blatantly anti-white justice system. Along with this incarceration came another loss when a member of England’s BHS passed away. On a more positive note 2002 saw the first European Hammerfest with 1,500 people in attendance despite torrential rain.
This has been an account of the “childhood” of the HSN. We are still growing, we are still active, and we are still fighting for a whiter and brighter future for white people no matter where they may live. The HSN will gain new faces and loose old ones but we will forever remain in a form which promotes brotherhood and the realization that we can achieve more of our goals together than we can apart. We will continue to hold skinheads to a higher standard for the rest of our existence as the world’s oldest leading skinhead organization
Source: http://hammerskins.net/
1 comment:
HFFH
Post a Comment